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The standard practice when flying with a gyro-stabilized compass (or heading indicator) is to read the magnetic compass only while in straight and level unaccelerated flight. This reading is then used to set the gyro-stabilized compass. The gyro compass will read correctly in a turn, whereas the magnetic compass can't be read properly while ...
A magnetic compass points to magnetic north, not geographic (true) north. Compasses of the style commonly used for hiking (i.e., baseplate or protractor compass) utilize a dial or bezel which rotates 360 degrees and is independent of the magnetic needle. To manually establish a declination for true north, the bezel is rotated until the desired ...
Magnetic variation (also known as magnetic declination) is different depending on the geographic position on the globe. The Magnetic North Pole is currently in Northern Canada and is moving generally south. A straight line can be drawn from the Geographic North Pole, down to the Magnetic North Pole and then continued straight down to the equator.
Some more expensive heading indicators are "slaved" to a magnetic sensor, called a flux gate. The flux gate continuously senses the Earth's magnetic field, and a servo mechanism constantly corrects the heading indicator. [4] These "slaved gyros" reduce pilot workload by eliminating the need for manual realignment every ten to fifteen minutes.
The primary instrument of navigation is the magnetic compass. The needle or card aligns itself to magnetic north, which does not coincide with true north, so the pilot must also allow for this, called the magnetic variation (or declination). The variation that applies locally is also shown on the flight map.
The azimuth compass still had great value in letting the master of a ship determine how far the magnetic compass varied from true north, so he could set a more accurate course while following a line of constant latitude or using dead reckoning to navigate. In 1795 a British First Rate ship would have up to eight compasses, of which one was an ...
A compass rose, showing absolute bearings in degrees. In nautical navigation the absolute bearing is the clockwise angle between north and an object observed from the vessel. If the north used as reference is the true geographical north then the bearing is a true bearing whereas if the reference used is magnetic north then the bearing is a ...
6 – Magnetic variation, caused by variations in Earth's magnetic field. 7 – Compass heading or compass course, before correction for magnetic deviation or magnetic variation. 8 – Magnetic heading, the compass heading corrected for magnetic deviation but not magnetic variation; thus, the heading reliative to magnetic north.