Definition
The curved scale at the top of the attitude indicator that shows the aircraft's angle of bank, marked in degrees from level flight. Standard markings are typically at 10°, 20°, 30°, 60°, and 90°, with a pointer or index that moves against the scale (or a fixed pointer with a moving scale, depending on the instrument design) to indicate how far the aircraft is banked left or right.
Plain English
The curved scale of degree markings near the top of the attitude indicator that tells you how steeply the aircraft is tilted left or right.
Context Anchor
Seen on attitude indicators, especially when checking or holding a specific bank angle during instrument flight.
Derivation
Bank' in aviation comes from the older sense of tilting or leaning to one side, like a road or racetrack 'banked' on a curve. 'Scale' means a graduated set of markings used for measurement. Together: a graduated set of markings that measure how far the aircraft is leaning.
Why Pilots Care
Enables precise determination of bank angle for coordinated turns and recovery from unusual attitudes without visual references.
Intuition Check
Do not read “banking” as anything related to money. Here, “banking” means the airplane is leaning left or right around its lengthwise axis.
Example Sentence 1
Rolling into the turn, the pilot stopped the bank when the pointer aligned with the 30° mark on the banking scale.
Example Sentence 2
During the instrument approach, the banking scale confirmed wings level after rollout.