Definition
A unit of vertical speed expressing how many feet an aircraft climbs or descends in one minute. It is the standard unit shown on the vertical speed indicator (VSI) and is used to describe rates of climb, descent, and sink.
Plain English
How many feet you go up or down in one minute. If you are descending at 500 feet per minute, you lose 500 feet of altitude every minute.
Context Anchor
Seen during climbs, descents, and approaches, especially when checking whether the airplane is descending at an acceptable rate on final approach.
Why Pilots Care
Maintaining the correct rate prevents an unstabilized approach and ensures a safe, controlled descent to landing.
Analogy
It works like miles per hour, but for altitude change instead of travel across the ground. Miles per hour tells how fast you move forward; feet per minute tells how fast you move up or down.
Intuition Check
Do not read feet per minute as a distance. It is a rate: the number of feet tells how much altitude changes, and the minute tells the time used to measure that change.
Example Sentence 1
On final approach, the pilot adjusted pitch and power to hold a steady descent rate of 500 feet per minute.
Example Sentence 2
After liftoff the airplane climbed at 900 feet per minute until reaching pattern altitude.