AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 1958 - (Page 34) Your plane does not h e to be a "bird-dog" to get you home if you know the basic rules. AF Captain tells yow what they are > by CAPT. J. G. & L , JR., U3AF LG AORA ttWa erly deviation in changing from compass heading to true heading, doesn't it ?" "Oh no, you do that i going from n true course to cornpaan heading, I think." "Aw hellÑheading track, east, west, drift, shmiftÑlet' ask Joe, hell know." Ridiculous, int it? But it's a rare s' pilot who hasn't heard this typical balled-up conversation in the lounge et's see, 'East i least, and West s " is most.' hat means you subtract easterly variation and add west- I . of a pilot training school. It is a product of the "quickie" course, the mictmght bone-up session with pots of coffee and a pack of true-false questions designed to squeak you through the CAA exam. Whether the pilot be a professional or not, this i s ft pitiful plight. Why substitute a bunch of tricky memory crutches, easily confused and easily forgotten, for a few simple concepts which, if once understood, will stick with you forever ? If you are. a pilot you must likewise be a navigator, and it ia easier good one than to bury your bean in the clouds. To make my point, let's consider a simple but often confused subject basic to any navigator, that of "directions." As a pilot you are interested i n four directions, only four, so let's atart with a clear understanding of what they are. The first one, "heading,'' is the direction i which the n nose of your aircraft Is pointing or heading. For the present let's forget such terms as true heading, magnetic heading, or cornpaas heading. They all refer to the same direction. After to be a THE AOPA PILOT
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