Plain English Meaning
How many feet up or down the airplane is moving each minute. A reading of 500 means the airplane is climbing or descending 500 feet every minute.
Full Definition
A unit of vertical speed expressing how many feet the airplane gains or loses in altitude over one minute. Positive values indicate a climb, negative values indicate a descent. FPM is the standard unit displayed on the vertical speed indicator (VSI) and used in published climb and descent performance figures.
Context Anchor
Seen when establishing a climb, checking climb performance, or reading the vertical speed indicator, the cockpit instrument that shows how fast the aircraft is climbing or descending.