FAA Commercial Pilot Practice Test

To determine the total correction angle needed, it's important to visualize the situation as a triangle where your actual flight path and intended flight path form the sides.

You have flown 52 miles but have strayed 6 miles off course. This lateral deviation can be considered as forming a right triangle where one leg is the distance off course (6 miles), and the other leg is the distance you have already traveled (52 miles). The total distance left to fly (118 miles) is not directly used in the calculation for the correction angle but does indicate the remaining leg of your journey.

To calculate the correction angle, you can use trigonometric functions. The tangent of the angle (\(\theta\)) can be defined as the opposite side (the distance off course) over the adjacent side (the distance flown):

\[

\tan(\theta) = \frac{\text{distance off course}}{\text{distance flown}} = \frac{6}{52}

\]

Now, to find \(\theta\), you would take the arctangent (inverse tangent) of 6/52:

\[

\theta = \tan^{-1}\left(\frac{6}{52}\right)

\]

Calculating this gives you an angle