Plain English Meaning

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.

Full 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.

Context Anchor

Used in , especially when how wind changes the airplane’s path over the ground during a turn.