{"id":14214,"date":"2025-06-03T16:11:57","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T10:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ibexaviation.com\/pilot-training\/?p=14214"},"modified":"2026-07-26T10:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T04:41:13","slug":"one-in-sixty-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ibexaviation.com\/pilot-training\/one-in-sixty-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"One in Sixty Rule Technique"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ibexaviation.com\/page-show\/general-navigation\/g7-one-in-sixty-rule-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<h2>One in Sixty Rule<\/h2>\n<p>The One in Sixty Rule is a simple navigation rule used to estimate an aircraft&#8217;s track error. This rule helps pilots quickly calculate heading corrections during flight. It is widely used in dead reckoning and visual navigation. The One in Sixty Rule improves navigation accuracy and helps keep the aircraft on its planned route.<\/p>\n<h3>Logic of One in Sixty Rule<\/h3>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ibexaviation.com\/page-show\/general-navigation\/g7-one-in-sixty-rule-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Calculate the tangent (tan) of angles up to <strong>20&deg;<\/strong> and multiply the value by <strong>60<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>For example, <strong>tan 10&deg; &times; 60 = 10.56<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The One in Sixty Rule is based on the approximation that, for angles up to 20&deg;, the angle in degrees is nearly equal to <strong>tan(angle) &times; 60<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Angle (&deg;) = (Opposite Side \/ Adjacent Side) &times; 60<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>One in Sixty Rule Formula<\/h3>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ibexaviation.com\/page-show\/general-navigation\/g7-one-in-sixty-rule-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Replace the <strong>Opposite Side<\/strong> with <strong>Distance Off-Track<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Replace the <strong>Adjacent Side<\/strong> with <strong>Distance Gone<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Track Error (&deg;) = (Distance Off-Track \/ Distance Gone) &times; 60<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>When the adjacent side is replaced with <strong>Distance to Go<\/strong>:<\/li>\n<li><strong>Closing Angle (&deg;) = (Distance Off-Track \/ Distance to Go) &times; 60<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Use of One in Sixty Rule<\/h3>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ibexaviation.com\/page-show\/general-navigation\/g7-one-in-sixty-rule-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The One in Sixty Rule enables pilots to make quick mental calculations of heading and track corrections.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rule Statement:<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>One unit off-track after travelling 60 units along track results in a track error of approximately <strong>1&deg;<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Example: If an aircraft is <strong>1 NM<\/strong> off-track after flying <strong>60 NM<\/strong>, the track error is approximately <strong>1&deg;<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Pilot Navigation<\/h3>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ibexaviation.com\/page-show\/general-navigation\/g7-one-in-sixty-rule-5.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The One in Sixty Rule provides acceptable accuracy only for angles up to <strong>20&deg;<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Beyond 20&deg;, the approximation becomes increasingly inaccurate.<\/li>\n<li>The rule is commonly used to determine the required heading correction.<\/li>\n<li>Two common methods are:\n<ul>\n<li>Closing Angle Method<\/li>\n<li>Double Track Error Method<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Closing Angle Calculation<\/h3>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ibexaviation.com\/page-show\/general-navigation\/g7-one-in-sixty-rule-6.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This method is used to calculate the heading required to reach the destination directly.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alter Heading = Track Error + Closing Angle<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The heading correction must always be applied in the opposite direction to the drift.<\/li>\n<li>Turn <strong>right<\/strong> if the aircraft has drifted left.<\/li>\n<li>Turn <strong>left<\/strong> if the aircraft has drifted right.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Double Track Error Calculation<\/h3>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ibexaviation.com\/page-show\/general-navigation\/g7-one-in-sixty-rule-7.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This method is used to regain the planned track.<\/li>\n<li>First calculate the Track Error:<\/li>\n<li><strong>Track Error = (Distance Off-Track \/ Distance Gone) &times; 60<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The required heading alteration equals <strong>2 &times; Track Error<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Regaining Track Using Double Track Error<\/h3>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ibexaviation.com\/page-show\/general-navigation\/g7-one-in-sixty-rule-8.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Apply a heading change equal to <strong>twice the calculated Track Error<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The heading correction is always applied opposite to the direction of drift.<\/li>\n<li>Turn <strong>right<\/strong> if the aircraft has drifted left.<\/li>\n<li>Turn <strong>left<\/strong> if the aircraft has drifted right.<\/li>\n<li>The aircraft will regain the planned track after flying approximately the same distance and for the same time as the distance and time already flown off-track.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One in Sixty Rule The One in Sixty Rule is a simple navigation rule used to estimate an aircraft&#8217;s track error. This rule helps pilots quickly calculate heading corrections during flight. It is widely used in dead reckoning and visual navigation. The One in Sixty Rule improves navigation accuracy and helps keep the aircraft on its planned route. Logic of One in Sixty Rule Calculate the tangent (tan) of angles up to 20&deg; and multiply the value by 60. For example, tan 10&deg; &times; 60 = 10.56. The One in&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[324],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cpl-atpl-general-navigation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ibexaviation.com\/pilot-training\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ibexaviation.com\/pilot-training\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ibexaviation.com\/pilot-training\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibexaviation.com\/pilot-training\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibexaviation.com\/pilot-training\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14214"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ibexaviation.com\/pilot-training\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16624,"href":"https:\/\/ibexaviation.com\/pilot-training\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14214\/revisions\/16624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ibexaviation.com\/pilot-training\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibexaviation.com\/pilot-training\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ibexaviation.com\/pilot-training\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}