Could somebody please tell me the purpose of the `course` gauge? In what way is it different to the heading gauge?Cheers,David

'Heading', is the compass direction that your aircraft nose is pointing. 'Course', can be considered to be the direction that your aircraft is actually 'tracking'. For instance, lets say an aircraft is flying from point A, to point B - point B is directly west of point A, there is no wind to affect the aircraft so its course, and its heading are both 270 degrees (so as not to complicate matters lets say that point A and point B are only a few miles apart). However, assume the same example, except that now there is a cross wind from the north...lets say 30 kts. The aircraft will now be 'tracking' a course of 270 degrees, but its 'heading' (the direction the nose is pointing) will be slightly to the north, to compensate for the wind factor.Hope this helps!Regards,Al.

Many thanks for that.David