Definition
On a glass-cockpit airspeed tape, a vertical magenta or green vector that extends from the current airspeed and predicts what the airspeed will be in approximately six seconds if the present rate of acceleration or deceleration continues.
Plain English
A short line on the airspeed display that shows where your speed is heading next — speeding up or slowing down — based on what it is doing right now.
Context Anchor
Seen on a digital flight display near the airspeed scale, especially during pitch and power changes in instrument flying.
Derivation
Airspeed means the airplane’s speed through the air. Trend comes from an older sense meaning to turn or lean in a direction. Together, airspeed trend means the direction your airspeed is moving, not just the speed it is right now.
Why Pilots Care
Enables the pilot to make small pitch corrections early, preventing unwanted airspeed deviations before they fully develop.
Analogy
It is like noticing a car’s speedometer needle moving downward before the car has actually slowed to the speed you want.
Grounding Statement
If you raise the nose and the airplane begins to slow, the airspeed trend will show that slowdown before the actual airspeed has changed very much.
Intuition Check
Airspeed trend is not the same as current airspeed. Current airspeed is the speed now; airspeed trend shows where that speed is heading if nothing changes.
Example Sentence 1
As she pitched up to level off, the airspeed trend told her to ease the throttle back before the speed dropped below the climb target.
Example Sentence 2
While leveling off, the pilot watched the airspeed trend arrow stabilize before making final power adjustments.