Definition
A turn flown at a bank angle of approximately 20° to 45°, sitting between shallow turns (less than about 20° of bank) and steep turns (45° of bank or more). At medium bank angles, the airplane will generally maintain the bank without the pilot needing to hold aileron pressure to either roll into or out of the turn.
Plain English
A normal, everyday turn — not gentle, not aggressive — using a bank somewhere between 20 and 45 degrees. Once the airplane is rolled into the turn, it tends to stay there on its own.
Context Anchor
Used in training for level turns, where a student learns how different amounts of bank change the feel and control needed in a turn.
Derivation
Medium comes from the Latin word medius, meaning middle. That fits this use because medium turns are the middle category between shallow turns and steep turns.
Why Pilots Care
Medium turns let pilots change heading reasonably quickly during normal maneuvers while remaining easy to coordinate and comfortable for passengers.
Intuition Check
Medium does not just mean average or casual here. In this FAA training context, it means a specific middle range of bank, about 20 to 45 degrees.
Example Sentence 1
Turning from base to final, the student rolled into a medium turn of about 30° of bank to line up with the runway.
Example Sentence 2
During pattern work, the pilot used medium turns to align with the runway on the base-to-final leg.