Definition
The electronic systems installed in an aircraft used for communication, navigation, flight management, and the display of flight information.
Plain English
All the electronic gear in the aircraft — the radios, navigation equipment, and electronic displays the pilot uses to communicate, navigate, and monitor the flight.
Context Anchor
You will encounter avionics during cockpit familiarization, preflight checks, instrument use, radio communication, and navigation setup.
Derivation
A blend of 'aviation' and 'electronics,' coined in the 1940s as electronic equipment became central to flying. Knowing the origin makes the meaning obvious: aviation electronics.
Why Pilots Care
Avionics power nearly all modern navigation and communication; a failure can require immediate backup procedures or limit flight options.
Intuition Check
Avionics does not mean every electrical part in the airplane. It means the aircraft’s electronic systems used for flight information, communication, navigation, monitoring, or control support.
Example Sentence 1
The aircraft's avionics included a GPS navigator, two communication radios, and a transponder.
Example Sentence 2
The new avionics suite combined GPS navigation with weather radar on a single display.