If a pilot realizes they are two miles off track after 30 miles, how many degrees should they correct their track?

To determine how many degrees a pilot should correct their track after realizing they are two miles off course while traveling 30 miles, we can apply some basic principles of navigation and geometry.

The track correction can be understood using the concept of drift angle. If a pilot is two miles off track after flying 30 miles, they need to calculate the angle required to correct their course back to the intended path. The relationship can be visualized as a right triangle, where:

• One leg of the triangle is the 2-mile distance off track.
• The other leg represents the 30-mile distance traveled along the original track.

Using the tangent of the angle (drift angle), we can set up the following formula, where the angle is the correction needed:

[ \tan(\theta) = \frac{\text{opposite}}{\text{adjacent}} = \frac{2 \text{ miles}}{30 \text{ miles}} ]

Calculating this gives us:

[ \tan(\theta) = \frac{2}{30} = \frac{1}{15} ]

To find the angle, we will need to compute the arctangent of ( \frac{1}{15} ). The result can be