Wind Correction Angle Calculator

Steering into the wind to fly a straight line

Without correcting for crosswind, an aircraft would drift progressively off its intended course over a flight - wind correction angle is exactly how many degrees to offset the heading to counteract that drift and track the desired ground path.

Worked example

For a 20-knot wind at a 90-degree angle to the course, flying at 100 knots true airspeed:

WCA = arcsin((20 x sin(90°)) / 100) = 11.54 degrees

This correction angle is then applied to the true course to find true heading - the direction the aircraft's nose must actually point to track the intended course over the ground despite the crosswind pushing it sideways.