Plain English Meaning

Keeping the airplane at the right speed and the right height for what you're about to do, by using throttle, pitch, and configuration together. Too much energy and you overshoot or float; too little and you sink or stall.

Full Definition

The pilot's active control of the airplane's total mechanical energy — the combination of altitude (potential energy) and airspeed (kinetic energy) — by adjusting power, pitch, and configuration so the aircraft arrives at each point in flight with the right amount of energy for the or .