Plain English Meaning

How steep the climb is. A bigger climb angle means the airplane is going up more sharply for each foot it moves forward.

Full Definition

The angle between the airplane's flightpath and the horizontal plane during a climb, measured in degrees. It expresses how steeply the airplane is gaining altitude relative to the distance traveled over the ground.

Context Anchor

Seen in climb performance discussions, takeoff obstacle clearance, and climbing turns.

Derivation

Angle comes from the Latin word angulus, meaning a corner. In aviation, it helps to think of an angle as the measured opening between two directions: here, the airplane’s upward path and a level .