Definition
The rate of altitude gain, expressed in feet per minute, that a pilot intends to achieve during a climb in order to meet a specific operational requirement, such as a published climb gradient, an ATC instruction, or a planned profile to a target altitude.
Plain English
How fast you plan to gain altitude, measured in feet per minute, to meet what the procedure or controller is asking for.
Context Anchor
Seen in aircraft control, instrument departure, and missed approach discussions when the pilot sets pitch and power to climb at a planned rate.
Derivation
Rate means an amount measured against time. In aviation, climb rate means how much altitude the aircraft gains in a given time, usually each minute.
Why Pilots Care
Meeting the desired climb rate keeps the aircraft on the protected path and prevents terrain or traffic conflicts.
Intuition Check
Desired does not mean casual or optional here; it means the target climb performance the pilot or procedure is trying to hold. Rate does not mean airspeed; it means how quickly altitude is increasing.
Example Sentence 1
After calculating the climb gradient for the departure, the pilot set a desired climb rate of 700 feet per minute and pitched the aircraft to maintain it.
Example Sentence 2
During the missed approach the pilot adjusted pitch to maintain the desired climb rate shown on the approach chart.