With a true airspeed of 360 knots and a crosswind of 15 knots, what is the approximate drift angle?

With a true airspeed of 360 knots and a crosswind of 15 knots, what is the approximate drift angle?

• A. 1°
• B. 4°
• C. 2°
• D. 3°

Answer: (C)

Drift angle is the angle you must offset your heading to keep your track straight when a crosswind pushes you sideways. The relation is tan(drift) = crosswind component / true airspeed. Here that’s tan(drift) = 15 / 360 = 0.0417. Taking the arctangent gives about 2.4 degrees, so the drift angle is roughly 2 degrees. Since the wind is small relative to your airspeed, this small angle makes sense, and 2 degrees is the closest match among the options.

Drift angle is the angle you must offset your heading to keep your track straight when a crosswind pushes you sideways. The relation is tan(drift) = crosswind component / true airspeed. Here that’s tan(drift) = 15 / 360 = 0.0417. Taking the arctangent gives about 2.4 degrees, so the drift angle is roughly 2 degrees. Since the wind is small relative to your airspeed, this small angle makes sense, and 2 degrees is the closest match among the options.