Plain English Meaning

Flying so that your distance from a chosen spot on the ground stays the same the whole way around, drawing a true circle over the ground.

Full Definition

A flight path in which the airplane maintains the same horizontal distance from a fixed point on the ground throughout a turn or series of turns, producing a perfectly circular ground track regardless of wind.

Context Anchor

Used when practicing a steep spiral around a selected ground reference point, such as a field chosen for a simulated emergency landing.

Derivation

From Latin 'radius', meaning the spoke of a wheel or the line from the center of a circle to its edge. 'Constant' means unchanging. Together: an unchanging spoke length — the airplane's distance from the center point never changes as it goes around.