Definition
A turn flown so that the airplane's path over the ground traces a circle of unchanging radius. To hold the radius constant when wind is present, the pilot must continuously vary bank angle and adjust the rate of turn to compensate for the changing groundspeed as the airplane heads into, across, or with the wind.
Plain English
A turn where the airplane's track over the ground stays the same distance from a center point all the way around. Because wind pushes the airplane more on some headings than others, the pilot has to keep changing the bank to keep the circle round.
Context Anchor
Used in ground reference maneuvers, especially when learning how wind changes the airplane’s path over the ground during a turn.
Derivation
Constant means staying the same. Radius comes from Latin and originally meant a spoke or rod; in geometry, it is the distance from the center of a circle to its edge. Together, constant-radius points to the main idea: keep the same distance from the center while turning.
Why Pilots Care
Allows the pilot to maintain a predictable path around obstacles or reference points, which builds essential wind-correction skills and supports safe, precise maneuvering near the ground.
Analogy
It is like walking around a post while holding a rope pulled tight. If the rope length stays the same, your path makes a constant-radius circle around the post.
Intuition Check
Constant-radius does not mean holding the same bank angle the whole time. It means keeping the same size turn over the ground, which may require changing the bank angle as wind changes your groundspeed.
Example Sentence 1
During turns around a point, the student steepened the bank on the downwind side to fly a constant-radius turn around the silo.
Example Sentence 2
During the turns-around-a-point exercise, the instructor emphasized that only a true constant-radius turn demonstrates proper wind correction.