Plain English Meaning

An instrument that shows the pilot whether the nose is pointing up or down and whether the wings are level or tilted, by using a spinning wheel inside that stays steady while the aircraft moves around it.

Full Definition

A flight instrument that uses a spinning gyroscope to display the aircraft's pitch (nose up or down) and bank (wings tilted left or right) relative to the natural horizon. It presents this information on a fixed reference symbol representing the aircraft against a movable horizon line, allowing the pilot to control attitude without seeing outside.

Context Anchor

Seen in discussions and in older descriptions of the , especially when explaining how pilots control the without relying on the outside .