Bearing and Course, differences?

Hey guys,
I am a presolo guy, about 11 hours now and getting close to solo.
While studying tonight I couldn\'t really figure out the difference
between magnetic/true course and magnetic/true bearing.

So as far as I understand it, bearing is a referenced heading to
somewhere you want to go, for example: I am flying on heading of 060
heading and to and the VOR is on a 090 bearing (Heading of 090
required to fly direct)

Course is an intended flight line, so if I plan to fly from a to b
(with a heading of 090 to b) My course throughout the flight would
be 090, even if I am 30 miles off course, the course would be 090
while the bearing would change, correct?

Can somebody give me easy examples to understand? My next flight
lesson is scheduled for next week...

Thanks guys!

On 30 Aug 2007 05:00:02 GMT, Allen Smith
wrote:

Hey guys,
I am a presolo guy, about 11 hours now and getting close to solo.
While studying tonight I couldn\'t really figure out the difference
between magnetic/true course and magnetic/true bearing.

So as far as I understand it, bearing is a referenced heading to
somewhere you want to go, for example: I am flying on heading of 060
heading and to and the VOR is on a 090 bearing (Heading of 090
required to fly direct)

Course is an intended flight line, so if I plan to fly from a to b
(with a heading of 090 to b) My course throughout the flight would
be 090, even if I am 30 miles off course, the course would be 090
while the bearing would change, correct?

Can somebody give me easy examples to understand? My next flight
lesson is scheduled for next week...

Thanks guys!

Crudely, your bearing is what your compass says at any given time.
Your course is your track over the ground. If there is a wind aloft
that is not directly in line with your course, the two will be
different.

Going from wherever you are to a VOR at point b, the course you have
to fly is what the line on your chart says, or what the Omni Bearing
Selector (OBS) on your VOR head says when the needle is centered and
the flag says TO. Bearing is the compass direction you point the nose
of the airplane in to keep the needle centered.

Just to make your brain hurt, courses and bearings are relative to
magnetic North, while the Winds Aloft forecasts (which you might use
for dead reckoning) give wind direction in terms of the place in the
sky the winds appear to be coming FROM -- in terms of true North.

This is fairly simple stuff when you're sitting at a desk, but it can
be confusing when you're stressed because somebody moved the landmarks
while you weren't looking, or the airplane is bouncing around and
making funny noises, etc. That's why it's good to practice stuff like
wind triangles and dead reckoning on the ground a lot -- to give your
brain some familiar things to latch onto later on -- even if it seems
during your cross countries like all you're ever going to need to do
is follow the magenta line on your GPS.

Don

In rec.aviation.piloting, on Thu 30 Aug 2007 12:00:02a, Allen Smith
wrote:

Can somebody give me easy examples to understand? My next flight
lesson is scheduled for next week...

Basically it boils down to this -- bearing is which way you're pointing and
course is which way you're going. Think about it like paddling a canoe
across a river. You point your canoe directly perpendicular to the river
bank (that would be your bearing / heading), but your actual path is an
angle downstream (your course).

Thanks for both replies! I can visualize it now!

Now I got a question, how is the bearing mag. differrent from the
mag. bearing?
Also, what about a rhumb line? Let's say now wind exist, is the
course and bearing going to be the same?

Don Tuite wrote:
Crudely, your bearing is what your compass says at any given time.
Your course is your track over the ground.

You know, I always thought "bearing" was always relative. For example, if
someone tells me a target is at bearing 90 degrees I always know to look
out over my right shoulder and if they tell me I have a Klingon warship
bearing 180 I know I have a Klingon directly aft - whether I'm traveling
north, south, east, west, up, or down.

But it appears that in navigation the zero degree reference direction is
generally understood to be magnetic north unless context states otherwise.
Here's the Wikipedia info which seems to match your explanation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Course_(navigation)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearing_%28navigation%29

Really-Old-Fart schrieb:

Can somebody give me easy examples to understand? My next flight
lesson is scheduled for next week...

Basically it boils down to this -- bearing is which way you're pointing and
course is which way you're going.

No, this is wrong. Actually, the difference between course and bearing
is quite subtle.


Course is the direction from the start point to the end point of a
navigation segment.

Bearing is the direction from your present actual position to the end
point of the navigation segment. Ideally this would be the same as
course, but it need not, because you can deviate from the straight line.

Heading is the direction in which you point the nose of your aircraft.

And last there is track, which is the path you actually fly.


Without wind and if you fly a perfectly straight line, all four are the
same. With wind, or if are not capable to hold the direct line, of if
you simply choose to deliberately deviate from the straight line, the
four values differ from each otehr.

Stefan

Don Tuite wrote:
On 30 Aug 2007 05:00:02 GMT, Allen Smith
wrote:

Hey guys,
I am a presolo guy, about 11 hours now and getting close to solo.
While studying tonight I couldn\'t really figure out the difference
between magnetic/true course and magnetic/true bearing.

So as far as I understand it, bearing is a referenced heading to
somewhere you want to go, for example: I am flying on heading of 060
heading and to and the VOR is on a 090 bearing (Heading of 090
required to fly direct)

Course is an intended flight line, so if I plan to fly from a to b
(with a heading of 090 to b) My course throughout the flight would
be 090, even if I am 30 miles off course, the course would be 090
while the bearing would change, correct?

Can somebody give me easy examples to understand? My next flight
lesson is scheduled for next week...

Thanks guys!

Crudely, your bearing is what your compass says at any given time.
Your course is your track over the ground. If there is a wind aloft
that is not directly in line with your course, the two will be
different.

No, this is magnetic heading.


Going from wherever you are to a VOR at point b, the course you have
to fly is what the line on your chart says, or what the Omni Bearing
Selector (OBS) on your VOR head says when the needle is centered and
the flag says TO. Bearing is the compass direction you point the nose
of the airplane in to keep the needle centered.

No it is not.


Just to make your brain hurt, courses and bearings are relative to
magnetic North, while the Winds Aloft forecasts (which you might use
for dead reckoning) give wind direction in terms of the place in the
sky the winds appear to be coming FROM -- in terms of true North.

This is fairly simple stuff when you're sitting at a desk, but it can
be confusing when you're stressed because somebody moved the landmarks
while you weren't looking, or the airplane is bouncing around and
making funny noises, etc. That's why it's good to practice stuff like
wind triangles and dead reckoning on the ground a lot -- to give your
brain some familiar things to latch onto later on -- even if it seems
during your cross countries like all you're ever going to need to do
is follow the magenta line on your GPS.

Yes, simple, but you still got it wrong.

Matt

"Allen Smith" wrote in message
...
Hey guys,
I am a presolo guy, about 11 hours now and getting close to solo.
While studying tonight I couldn\'t really figure out the difference
between magnetic/true course and magnetic/true bearing.

So as far as I understand it, bearing is a referenced heading to
somewhere you want to go, for example: I am flying on heading of 060
heading and to and the VOR is on a 090 bearing (Heading of 090
required to fly direct)

Course is an intended flight line, so if I plan to fly from a to b
(with a heading of 090 to b) My course throughout the flight would
be 090, even if I am 30 miles off course, the course would be 090
while the bearing would change, correct?

Can somebody give me easy examples to understand? My next flight
lesson is scheduled for next week...

Thanks guys!

Oh no, not another one!

Bearing "To"
Course "From"
is what I was taught..

BT

"Allen Smith" wrote in message
...
Hey guys,
I am a presolo guy, about 11 hours now and getting close to solo.
While studying tonight I couldn\'t really figure out the difference
between magnetic/true course and magnetic/true bearing.

So as far as I understand it, bearing is a referenced heading to
somewhere you want to go, for example: I am flying on heading of 060
heading and to and the VOR is on a 090 bearing (Heading of 090
required to fly direct)

Course is an intended flight line, so if I plan to fly from a to b
(with a heading of 090 to b) My course throughout the flight would
be 090, even if I am 30 miles off course, the course would be 090
while the bearing would change, correct?

Can somebody give me easy examples to understand? My next flight
lesson is scheduled for next week...

Thanks guys!

Can I inject a little sanity to this thread? The AIM's Pilot/Controller
Glossary says that bearing is "The horizontal direction to or from any
point, usually measured clockwise from true north, magnetic north, or some
other reference point, through 360 degrees." It defines course as "The
intended flight direction in the horizontal plane measured in degreee from
north."

Bearing has nothing to do with direction of travel. If a controller says
"You have traffic at three o'clock," that traffic is on a bearing of 90
degrees from you.

Course is a line on the chart; heading is the actual direction the airplane
is pointing, which differs from course by the wind correction angle. Ground
track is, hopefully, the same as course (if the wind correction angle is
exactly right).

Bob Gardner
THE COMPLETE PRIVATE PILOT

"Allen Smith" wrote in message
...
Hey guys,
I am a presolo guy, about 11 hours now and getting close to solo.
While studying tonight I couldn\'t really figure out the difference
between magnetic/true course and magnetic/true bearing.

So as far as I understand it, bearing is a referenced heading to
somewhere you want to go, for example: I am flying on heading of 060
heading and to and the VOR is on a 090 bearing (Heading of 090
required to fly direct)

Course is an intended flight line, so if I plan to fly from a to b
(with a heading of 090 to b) My course throughout the flight would
be 090, even if I am 30 miles off course, the course would be 090
while the bearing would change, correct?

Can somebody give me easy examples to understand? My next flight
lesson is scheduled for next week...

Thanks guys!