Aviation Word Of The Day - Drift Angle

 Although we're almost fully vested in basic navigation terms,there are still a few definitions to look at.An example is an aircraft's drift angle.One would ask,what is drift? In plain terms,drift is a gradual deviation from a set adjustment, or from a direction. Drift is the extent to which an aircraft is driven off its course by adverse winds.  As seen in the picture below,drift is caused by the wind effect on an aircraft and is defined as the angle between the aircraft heading and the aircraft track.

Therefore,the angle between the desired course and the track is known as the drift angle.