An airplane is traveling with an airspeed of 500 mph in the direction N 60° E. A wind blows directly south at 50 mph. What is the plane’s drift angle?

The plane’s airspeed components are about 433 mph east (500 sin 60°) and 250 mph north (500 cos 60°). The southward wind reduces the northward component to 200 mph, so the ground-track angle is arctan(433/200) ≈ 65.21° east of north. Compared with the intended 60° heading, the drift angle is 65.21° − 60° = 5.21°, choice B.

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