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Magnetic Compass Turns

Asked by: 3907 views Commercial Pilot, Flight Instructor, General Aviation, Instrument Rating, Private Pilot

Another question on Mag Compass Turns.

From the book, it says that when we are turning from N to east or west, it initially indicates a turn to opposite and then catches up.

Same with the turn From S to East or West, it initially lead the turn and we have to overshoot few degrees past the desired heading and when wings level, it comes back.

 

So, my question is that what happens to turns made from EAST and WEST heading to North/South?

Does the Mag compass still shows lead/lag ?

 

Steve

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1 Answers



  1. Skyfox on Jun 15, 2016

    There is no compass turning error when turning from a heading of east or west. East and west headings are when the compass is most accurate during turns. However, on headings of east or west is when you start getting acceleration errors when you change speed, while on north and south headings there are no acceleration errors.

    Additionally, the farther away you are from the equator the more pronounced the errors, while at the equator the errors are essentially nonexistent. And the compass errors in the southern hemisphere are the opposite of what you’d see in the northern hemisphere. It all has to do with the compass ball or card being bottom-heavy to stay upright and how the lines of magnetic flux dip down towards the ground at the poles (while running parallel to the ground at the equator).

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