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Heading to correct for wind or current drift.
Syntax
Description
heading = driftcorr(course,airspeed,windfrom,windspeed) computes the heading which corrects for drift due to wind (for aircraft) or current (for watercraft). Course is the desired direction of movement (in degrees), speed is the speed of the vehicle relative to the moving air or water mass, windfrom is the direction facing into the wind or current (in degrees), and windspeed is the speed of the wind or current (in the same units as airspeed).
[heading,groundspeed,windcorrangle] = driftcorr(...) also returns the groundspeed and wind correction angle. The wind correction angle is positive to the right, and negative to the left.
Example
An aircraft with a cruising at a speed of 160 knots plans to fly to an airport due north of its current position. If the wind is blowing from 310 degrees at 45 knots, what heading should the aircraft fly to remain on course?
course=0; airspeed=160;windfrom=310; windspeed = 45; [heading,groundspeed,windcorrangle] = driftcorr(course,airspeed,windfrom,windspeed) heading = 347.56 groundspeed = 127.32 windcorrangle = -12.442
The required heading is 348 degrees, which amounts to a wind correction angle of 12 degrees to the left of course. The headwind component reduces the aircraft's groundspeed to 127 knots.
See Also
driftvel |
Wind or current from heading, course, and speeds |
| | dreckon | driftvel | |