Plain English Meaning

How the airplane is currently set up — gear up or down, flaps in or out, and so on — for whatever it is doing right now, like taking off, cruising, or landing.

Full Definition

The current physical arrangement of an airplane's movable components — including landing gear (up or down), wing flaps (retracted or extended to a specific setting), cowl flaps, spoilers, and other variable surfaces or systems — that together determine how the airplane is set up for a particular phase of flight.

Context Anchor

You see this term when discussing how the airplane is set up before takeoff, during approach, during landing, or during any change that affects speed, , or handling.