Plain English Meaning

A compass system where the part that senses magnetic north is mounted out in a wingtip or tail — away from cockpit metal and electrical noise — and sends the heading electrically to a dial in front of the pilot. That cockpit dial then reads steadier and more accurately than a regular compass.

Full Definition

A magnetic direction-sensing system in which the magnetic-sensing element (a flux valve) is mounted in a part of the aircraft with minimal magnetic disturbance — typically a wingtip or vertical stabilizer — and electrically transmits heading information to a heading indicator in the cockpit. The system is normally slaved to the magnetic so that the cockpit indicator continuously corrects itself to magnetic north, eliminating the of an ordinary heading indicator and the turning, , and of a panel-mounted .