relative bearing

relative bearing

[′rel·əd·iv ′ber·iŋ]

(navigation)

Bearing relative to heading or to the craft; the horizontal direction of a terrestrial point from a craft expressed as the angular difference between the heading and the direction.

relative bearing

The direction expressed as a horizontal angle measured clock-wise from the fore-and-aft axis of the aircraft or vehicle. To obtain the true bearing from the relative bearing, the aircraft heading must be added to the latter.