Definition
A display orientation on a moving map or electronic flight instrument in which the aircraft's current heading is shown pointing toward the top of the screen, so the map rotates beneath a fixed aircraft symbol as the aircraft turns.
Plain English
The map is set up so that whichever way the airplane is pointed appears as 'up' on the screen. Turn left, and the map rotates to the right; turn right, and it rotates to the left. The airplane symbol stays still in the middle.
Context Anchor
Seen when choosing the orientation of a cockpit moving-map or navigation display during flight planning or in flight.
Derivation
Heading comes from head, meaning the front or leading end of something. In aviation, heading is the direction the aircraft’s nose is pointed. Up refers to the top of the display, so heading up means the aircraft’s nose direction is placed at the top of the screen.
Why Pilots Care
Allows faster correlation between the display and the outside world, reducing head-down time and supporting better situational awareness.
Analogy
It is like a phone map that rotates as you turn, so the top of the screen shows the direction you are facing instead of always showing north.
Intuition Check
Heading up does not mean climbing, looking upward, or improving a heading. Here it means a map display mode where the aircraft’s current nose direction is kept at the top of the screen.
Example Sentence 1
She set the moving map to heading up so the runways on the screen lined up with what she could see through the windshield.
Example Sentence 2
During the approach briefing the instructor switched the display back to heading up so the student could visualize the runway alignment more clearly.