True bearing is defined relative to which reference direction?

True bearing is defined relative to which reference direction?

• A. Magnetic North
• B. True North
• C. Aircraft Heading
• D. Relative Bearing

Answer: (B)

A bearing is the direction from you to a target expressed as an angle, and the reference direction you use defines what that angle means. True bearing uses True North as the reference direction, so the angle is measured clockwise from True North to the line toward the target. This keeps the bearing aligned with geographic coordinates and maps, since True North corresponds to the geographic North Pole. Magnetic North would give a different bearing because it changes with location and time, so that would be a magnetic bearing, not a true bearing. Aircraft heading and relative bearing describe other concepts: heading is where the aircraft’s nose points, which can differ from the target’s bearing due to wind or drift, and relative bearing is the angle between your current heading and the target, not a fixed global reference. For example, if a beacon is directly east on the map, the true bearing to it is 090 degrees.

A bearing is the direction from you to a target expressed as an angle, and the reference direction you use defines what that angle means. True bearing uses True North as the reference direction, so the angle is measured clockwise from True North to the line toward the target. This keeps the bearing aligned with geographic coordinates and maps, since True North corresponds to the geographic North Pole. Magnetic North would give a different bearing because it changes with location and time, so that would be a magnetic bearing, not a true bearing. Aircraft heading and relative bearing describe other concepts: heading is where the aircraft’s nose points, which can differ from the target’s bearing due to wind or drift, and relative bearing is the angle between your current heading and the target, not a fixed global reference. For example, if a beacon is directly east on the map, the true bearing to it is 090 degrees.