Bit late, and admittedly haven't read all the way through all 10 pages of posts, but to answer the initial question about how to come up with 292.5 degrees for WNW heading, it's done like this:
North = 0 deg
East = 90 deg
South = 180 deg
West = 270 deg
These are the basic cardinal directions.
Now add in the four midpoint directions:
NE = 45 deg (halfway between North and East)
SE = 135 deg (halfway between East and South)
SW = 225 deg (halfway between South and West)
NW = 315 deg (halfwy between West and North)
Now, to get the non-standard headings such as NNE, or ENE, it's simply halfway between the midpoint direction and the cardinal direction:
NNE = (0+45) / 2 = 22.5 deg
ENE = (45 + 90)/2 = 67.5 deg
ESE = (90+135)/2 = 112.5 deg
SSE = (135+180)/2 = 157.5 deg
SSW = (180+225)/2 = 202.5 deg
WSW = (225 + 270)/2 = 247.5 deg
WNW = (270 + 315) / 2 = 292.5 deg
NNW = (315 + 360) / 2 = 337.5 deg (yes, used 360 instead of 0 - if you use 0 for north here, the calculation will be way off)
Hope that helps anyone still looking for the quick and dirty translations from direction to degree heading.
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