A plane is 48 miles west and 49 miles north of an airport. The pilot wants to fly directly to the airport. What bearing should the pilot take? In degrees and minutes

4 answers

E arctan(49/48) S = E 45°35' S = 135°45'

Actually, that is the pilot's heading.
It also happens to be the bearing of the airport from the plane.
Since the given:
-48 miles west (plane)
-49 miles north of an airport

Let h be the bearing.

tan h= (opposite/adjacent)
tan h= (49/48)
h= tan-1 (49/48)
h= 45° 35’ 26.37”
60
45.6 degree