FAA Ground School Practice Test

For a pilot flying on a heading of 360 degrees and receiving a traffic advisory stating "10 o'clock, 2 miles, southbound," where should the pilot look?

1. Northwest

2. Southwest

3. North

4. East

The correct answer is: Northwest

To determine where the pilot should look based on the given traffic advisory, it’s essential to understand the reference points of the aircraft's heading and the direction of the traffic mentioned in the advisory. The aircraft is flying on a heading of 360 degrees, which means it is heading directly north. The advisory states that there is traffic at "10 o'clock," which refers to a position relative to the aircraft's heading. In aviation terms, the "o'clock" positions are used to describe relative positions around the aircraft based on its current heading: - 12 o'clock is directly in front of the aircraft (north in this case). - 3 o'clock is directly to the right of the aircraft (east). - 6 o'clock is directly behind the aircraft (south). - 9 o'clock is directly to the left of the aircraft (west). - 10 o'clock would then be slightly ahead and to the left of the aircraft's current heading. The advisory also states that the traffic is "southbound." Since south is 180 degrees, the traffic moving south would typically be coming from a position where it would be traveling towards the south (or the 6 o'clock position) at the time the aircraft is at 10 o'clock