Here is a cheat sheet showing the difference between true course, headings, & bearings along with a list of what is described in magnetic verses true, and statute miles (SM) verses nautical miles (NM).
I laid it out in Word in 2 columns so when it is printed, you can fold them and they fit perfectly in the binder. See Organizational Video.
*If you see any errors, please leave a comment. Remember all cheat sheets need to be modified for your airport and plane and should not replace anything your CFI tells you!
* Images for these cheat sheets were taken from online and in some cases modified.
thank you!
Beautiful picture, but maybe I’m missing something. Wouldn’t the relative bearing be 49 degrees? Difference from heading of aircraft, not idealized course.
Oh, and I’m really digging the Simpsons reference!
I’m really enjoying this chart. I dug a rabbit hole, though, and reverse engineered the winds to check that 50 kts which sounded high. Turns out would be 25 knots (assuming a C172 with cruising speed of 100 kts). BUT also, technically wind direction would be 183. For some reason winds are reported in direction from which they come, instead of where they are going. Personally that makes me mad because your way seems more intuitive. But such is the world we live in, and I have to admit the standard convention is easier when visualizing crosswind on the runway.
Hi Brian,
Sorry I’m not sure about the exact calculations. This isn’t something I created, but if I’m remembering correctly it came from a one of the ground school books. The visual is more to understand the differences & correlations between each term.