FAA Pilot Glossary

Plain-English definitions of 23 terms from the FAA handbooks, AIM and 14 CFR: airspace, weather products, aerodynamics, performance and risk management.

• ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast): A satellite-based surveillance system in which an aircraft broadcasts its own GPS-derived position, altitude, and velocity.
• Adverse Yaw: The tendency of an airplane to yaw opposite to the direction of a roll, caused by the extra drag on the rising wing.
• AIRMET vs SIGMET: In-flight weather advisories: AIRMETs cover hazards significant to light aircraft, SIGMETs cover hazards significant to all aircraft.
• Angle of Attack: The angle between the chord line of a wing and the relative wind: the quantity that sets how much lift a wing produces and when it stalls.
• Carburetor Icing: Ice forming inside a carburetor from the temperature drop of fuel vaporization, capable of restricting or stopping airflow to the engine.
• Class B Airspace: Controlled airspace around the nation's busiest airports, requiring an explicit ATC clearance to enter.
• DECIDE Model: A six-step loop for aeronautical decision-making: Detect, Estimate, Choose, Identify, Do, Evaluate.
• Density Altitude: Pressure altitude corrected for non-standard temperature. A critical metric for aircraft performance.
• Ground Effect: The reduction in induced drag and change in airflow when a wing is within about one wingspan of the surface, which can make an airplane float on landing and lift off below normal speed.
• Hypoxia: A state of oxygen deficiency in the body sufficient to impair aviator functions, most commonly encountered at higher altitudes.
• IMSAFE Checklist: A six-item personal checklist for judging whether you are fit to fly: Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue, Emotion.
• Indicated vs Calibrated Airspeed (IAS vs CAS): The difference between the raw airspeed read off the instrument (IAS) and the speed corrected for instrument and position errors (CAS).
• ISA (International Standard Atmosphere): A standard atmospheric model representing average pressure and temperature conditions at various altitudes.
• METAR: A routine, hourly aviation weather report giving current surface conditions at an airport, issued in a fixed coded format.
• NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions): A time-critical notice distributed to alert pilots to hazards or changes not yet reflected on published charts.
• Pressure Altitude: The altitude in the International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) with the same atmospheric pressure as the current altitude.
• Spatial Disorientation: A state in which a pilot's perception of aircraft attitude, position, or motion does not match reality, common in low-visibility flight.
• Stall Speed and Load Factor: How increasing load factor in a bank or maneuver raises the speed at which a wing stalls, independent of the aircraft's weight.
• TAF (Terminal Aerodrome Forecast): A scheduled forecast of expected surface weather conditions at an airport, valid for a set period and covering a five-statute-mile radius.
• V-Speeds (Vx, Vy, Vso, Vne): Standardized velocity codes used to identify critical airspeeds for an aircraft, such as best angle-of-climb (Vx) or best rate-of-climb (Vy).
• VFR (Visual Flight Rules): A set of regulations under which a pilot operates an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to see where the aircraft is going.
• VOR (VHF Omnidirectional Range): A ground-based radio navigation aid that transmits bearing information, allowing a pilot to determine a specific radial from the station.
• Weight and Balance: The process of confirming an aircraft's total weight and its center of gravity fall within limits published by the manufacturer before flight.

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