How do I measure range and bearing on the scope?

Understand distance and direction first

Range means distance from your chosen starting point. Bearing means the direction from that point towards the contact. On the game’s north-up map, 000° points north, 090° east, 180° south and 270° west. The range tools use nautical miles (NM), not the ordinary miles on UK road signs. 1 nautical mile = 1.852 kilometres. Changing the starting point changes the question you are measuring.

Before measuring

Finish or cancel any aircraft-target or working-location selection first. Close open menus and move the pointer onto the map. Choose the aircraft you want to measure; the tool will keep that aircraft until you switch it off.

Measure from the cursor to a track

1. Hook the track you want to measure and place the pointer near it. If several tracks are hooked, the tool chooses the hooked track nearest the pointer.
2. Press B, the default range/bearing binding, or click the middle mouse button. Check the white box around the chosen track.
3. Move the pointer to your reference position. The readout gives range in nautical miles, then bearing from the cursor towards the boxed track.
4. Press B or the middle mouse button again to turn the tool off.

Read the numbers in the right order

A readout of 025/090 means about 25 nautical miles, on a map bearing of 090° from the cursor to the track. It does not mean bearing 025° and range 90 miles. The cursor readout rounds range to whole nautical miles.

Reverse the direction, not the distance

Imagine B is 25 nautical miles east of A. From A to B, the reading is 025/090. From B to A, the distance is still 25 nautical miles, but the direction is west: 025/270. The arrow in the diagram shows which way you are measuring.

For the cursor tool, your pointer is the start and the boxed aircraft is the end. Moving the pointer changes that starting point. The bearing is not the aircraft’s heading: it tells you where the aircraft is from your chosen point, not which way its nose is pointing. Read the track data for aircraft movement information.

If the wrong track is boxed

Turn the tool off, check which tracks are hooked and activate it with the pointer beside the intended one. With no hooked tracks, the tool falls back to the track nearest the pointer. Always verify the box before using the reading.

Measure from different places

1. With the intended aircraft boxed, move the pointer to your first reference position on the map. Read the distance and direction from that position towards the aircraft.
2. Move the pointer to another reference position. The box stays with the same aircraft, while the starting point for the measurement changes.
3. Press B or the middle mouse button again to finish. This is a measurement control, not an aircraft order.

The chosen aircraft stays selected by the tool

The range/bearing tool keeps the aircraft chosen when you activate it. Moving the pointer beside another aircraft does not change the box. Turn the tool off, activate it beside the intended aircraft and check the white box before reading.

When a measurement does not appear or change

If you report a problem, include the boxed contact, pointer position, readout and screenshot.

Use a measurement for the right question

The readout measures map distance and direction. It does not establish sensor coverage, fuel endurance or whether an intercept can be completed. Use coverage and fuel planning alongside the geometry.