Definition
The moving index on the attitude indicator that travels around the banking scale to show the aircraft's angle of bank. As the aircraft rolls left or right, the pointer rotates against the fixed bank-angle markings (commonly 10°, 20°, 30°, 60°, and 90°) at the top of the instrument, indicating how steeply the wings are tilted from level.
Plain English
It's the small arrow on the attitude indicator that points to a number showing how far the wings are tilted from level.
Context Anchor
Seen on the attitude indicator during instrument flying, especially when setting or checking a specific bank angle in a turn.
Derivation
"Banking" comes from the same idea as a road or racetrack being banked — tilted on its side. "Scale" means a marked range of values, and "pointer" is the indicator that moves across it. So a banking scale pointer simply points to where you are on the tilt scale.
Why Pilots Care
Allows the pilot to verify and maintain the precise bank angle needed for coordinated turns and altitude control without outside visual references.
Intuition Check
Do not read “banking” as anything related to money. Here it means the airplane’s wings are tilted left or right; the pointer does not make the airplane bank, it helps you read how much it is banked.
Example Sentence 1
Rolling into the turn, the pilot watched the banking scale pointer settle on the 30° mark and then held that bank.
Example Sentence 2
When the banking scale pointer reached 45 degrees the pilot reduced aileron input to avoid an overbanked condition.