A rule I use that may clarify and simplify some of what has been said, for use in the air, is:
Pull the tail
Push the head.
i.e. if you wish to return to the correct track inbound (i.e. with the arrow head up) then set the heading the opposite side of the arrow head, to "push" it towards the desired track. Outbound (with the arrow's tail up) then set the heading the same side as the required track, but further off, to "pull" the tail onto the desired track.