Definition
The direction an aircraft is pointed measured in degrees clockwise from true north, where true north is the geographic North Pole. True heading is independent of magnetic variation and is the reference used in flight planning before correcting for wind and magnetic variation.
Plain English
The direction the nose of the aircraft is pointing, measured against the actual top of the Earth (the geographic North Pole) rather than against a compass.
Context Anchor
Seen in navigation planning when converting from true heading to magnetic heading for cockpit use.
Derivation
‘True’ here means ‘aligned with the real geographic pole,’ as opposed to magnetic. The word distinguishes this heading from one based on a compass needle, which points to the magnetic pole and drifts depending on location.
Why Pilots Care
True heading provides the accurate directional reference needed on charts before applying magnetic variation and wind corrections to obtain a flyable compass heading.
Intuition Check
True does not mean “correct” in the everyday sense here. It means the heading is measured from true north rather than magnetic north.
Example Sentence 1
After plotting the course on the chart, she measured a true heading of 045° and then applied the local variation to get the magnetic heading to fly.
Example Sentence 2
On a direct flight east, the true heading matched the course line drawn on the chart at exactly 090 degrees.