vincent p. norris wrote:
If I'm not mistaken, a rhumb line is a line that crosses all meridians
at the same angle.

OK, now you gone and done it. You made me go look it up. Bowditch says:

RHUMB LINE. A line on the surface of the earth making the same oblique
angle with all meridians; a loxodrome or loxodromic curve spirals toward
the poles in a constant true direction. Parallels and meridians, which
also maintain constant true directions, may be considered special cases
of the rhumb line. A rhumb line is a straight line on a Mercator
projection. Sometimes shortened to RHUMB. See also FICTITIOUS RHUMB LINE.

So, yup, you're right.

The last time I remember flying a loxodromic spiral, I was practicing
NDB approaches for my CFI-I ride :-)