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FLIGHT COMPUTER

Do the sums, see the working.

The calculations you do on a flight computer for the exam and for planning: wind, fuel, airspeed, heights, descent and loading. Every answer shows how it was worked out. Then practise them.

Heading
079°T, 067°M
Ground speed
103 kt
Drift
11° left of track
NHeading 079°T, 105 ktWind 360°T, 20 ktTrack 090°T, GS 103.1 kt
Heading and true airspeed, plus the wind, give track and ground speed.
How it works
  1. The wind is 90° off your track, from the left.
  2. Wind correction angle = arcsin(wind × sin(angle) ÷ TAS) = -11.0°. Turn into the wind.
  3. Heading = track + correction = 079°T. Variation east, magnetic least: 067°M.
  4. Ground speed = TAS × cos(correction) − wind × cos(angle) = 103.1 kt.

For learning only. Not for flight planning or use in flight. Answers use the International Standard Atmosphere and textbook formulas, and may differ by a degree or a knot from a mechanical flight computer. Fuel reserves are the Part 91 MOS Table 19.02 (2) figures for piston or turboprop aeroplanes at or under 5,700 kg MTOW.