Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

2 Answers

Inbound/outbound

Asked by: 10555 views ,
Student Pilot

How is being inbound determined, for example im flying on a heading of 360 and bearing to station is also 360 (i.e im on 180 radial). So will it be called being "inbound 360" or "inbound 180"

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

2 Answers



  1. Mark Kolber on Dec 15, 2017

    I must be misunderstanding your question.

    “Inbound” and “outbound” with reference to a VOR mean exactly the same thing as they do with reference to anything else. It’s just plain English: “inbound” is traveling toward someplace; “outbound” is traveling away from it.

    Rush hour traffic jams are generally “inbound” to the city in the morning and “outbound” from the city in the evening.

    Same with VORs. If your are heading 360 (or any other heading for that matter) and flying directly to a VOR, you are “inbound” to it. If you are heading 360 (or any other heading) and flying directly away from a VOR you are outbound.

    -1 Votes Thumb up 2 Votes Thumb down 3 Votes



  2. Mark Kolber on Dec 15, 2017

    Wait. I think I might understand, but maybe not…

    im flying on a heading of 360 and bearing to station is also 360 (i.e im on 180 radial).

    So will it be called being “inbound 360” or “inbound 180”

    Neither. It is called being “inbound on the 180 degree radial” or on an “inbound course of 360 degrees”

    The radial does not change depending on whether or not you are inbound or outbound. Only your course to or from it does.

    +10 Votes Thumb up 10 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.