Definition
A method of controlling an aircraft solely by reference to the flight instruments, in which the pilot establishes and maintains the desired pitch and bank by interpreting the instrument indications rather than by looking outside. Power and trim are then adjusted to achieve the desired performance for each phase of flight.
Plain English
Flying the airplane by reading the instruments instead of looking out the window. The pilot sets the nose attitude and wing angle using what the instruments show, then adds the right power to get the speed, climb, or descent they want.
Context Anchor
Encountered in instrument flying, night flying, cloud flying, and jet flying discussions, especially when acceleration or poor visibility can make a pilot’s senses unreliable.
Derivation
Attitude' here comes from the Latin 'aptitudo,' meaning posture or position -- the way something is held in space. In flying, it refers to the airplane's orientation: nose up or down, wings level or banked. So 'attitude instrument flying' literally means controlling the airplane's posture by reference to instruments.
Why Pilots Care
Enables precise aircraft control and prevents spatial disorientation when outside visual references are unavailable.
Grounding Statement
If your body says the airplane is climbing or turning but the instruments show level flight, attitude instrument flying means you trust the instruments and control the airplane from them.
Intuition Check
Attitude here does not mean emotional state. It means the aircraft’s position compared with the horizon, shown by the instruments.
Example Sentence 1
After entering the cloud layer, the pilot transitioned to attitude instrument flying and held a level pitch on the attitude indicator while maintaining heading.
Example Sentence 2
Under the hood, the student practiced attitude instrument flying to hold altitude and heading.