birdlogic parent
Are you actually getting heading (where the nose is pointing), or are you getting something derived from the ground track? Those are different and really critical for backing out the wind. Have been thinking about this because gliders rely on having really accurate heading info to calculate realtime wind - used in the Hawk and LARUS variometers.
Only airliners transmit heading and indicated airspeed, and even then only in certain locations such as Europe. Smaller planes only transmit GPS position/altitude/track/speed and barometric altitude, and in North America you generally only see this as well as the other data isn't required by FAA or Nav Canada as far as I'm aware.