Definition
The speed at which an aircraft rotates about one of its axes, expressed as degrees or radians per second. In a spin, it refers specifically to how quickly the airplane is turning around its vertical (yaw) axis as it descends.
Plain English
How fast the airplane is spinning around — measured by how many degrees it turns each second.
Context Anchor
Seen in spin training and spin-recovery discussions, especially when describing what happens after the spin has become fully established.
Derivation
‘Angular’ comes from the Latin angulus, meaning ‘corner’ or ‘angle’ — anything measured in degrees rather than distance. So angular rotation rate is rotation measured by angle (degrees per second), not by distance traveled. This is why a tight, fast spin has a high angular rate even though the airplane isn’t moving far through the air.
Why Pilots Care
Recognizing when the angular rotation rate has stabilized confirms the spin is fully developed and helps the pilot time the correct recovery sequence.
Analogy
If a chair spins one full turn each second, its rotation rate is faster than a chair that takes three seconds to make one full turn. Angular rotation rate is the airplane version of that idea, using turning angle over time.
Intuition Check
Do not read “rate” here as forward speed or descent speed. Angular rotation rate is about how fast the airplane is turning around its spin, not how fast it is traveling across the ground or downward.
Example Sentence 1
In the developed phase of a spin, the angular rotation rate stabilizes and the airplane settles into a consistent rate of turn around the vertical axis.
Example Sentence 2
The pilot noted the steady angular rotation rate before applying recovery controls.