Definition
The angle, measured clockwise from the nose of the aircraft to a line drawn from the aircraft to a navigation station (typically an NDB). It is expressed in degrees from 0° through 359°, with 0° being directly off the nose.
Plain English
The angle between where your aircraft is pointing and the direction to the radio station, measured clockwise around from the nose.
Context Anchor
Used in NDB navigation when reading a bearing indicator and when converting a direction relative to the airplane into a compass direction.
Derivation
‘Relative’ comes from the Latin relativus, meaning ‘in relation to something.’ Here it’s the bearing relative to the aircraft’s nose — not relative to north. That’s what makes it different from a magnetic bearing.
Why Pilots Care
It shows the pilot exactly where the station lies relative to the aircraft's current direction of travel.
Intuition Check
Relative bearing is not a compass direction by itself. It is the direction to the station measured from where the aircraft’s nose is pointing.
Example Sentence 1
With the ADF needle showing a relative bearing of 045°, the NDB was off the right front of the aircraft.
Example Sentence 2
We turned right until the relative bearing reached 000 to fly straight toward the beacon.