Definition
A condition in which the airplane's nose tends to pitch downward, requiring aft (back) pressure on the controls to maintain the desired pitch attitude. It commonly occurs during descents when power is reduced, as the loss of propeller slipstream over the tail and the change in trim conditions cause the nose to drop.
Plain English
The airplane wants to point its nose down on its own, so the pilot has to pull back slightly on the controls to keep it where they want it.
Context Anchor
Encountered during descents, especially after reducing power, changing speed, or adjusting the airplane for a new phase of flight.
Why Pilots Care
Uncorrected nose heaviness can produce an unintended steepening descent or loss of control in instrument conditions.
Intuition Check
Nose heaviness does not mean the front of the airplane is physically too heavy. It means the airplane is tending to pitch nose-down unless the pilot corrects it with control pressure or trim.
Example Sentence 1
As the pilot reduced power for the descent, they felt the nose heaviness and applied gentle back pressure to hold the target pitch attitude.
Example Sentence 2
In the cloud the student noticed nose heaviness and maintained attitude by holding light forward pressure until the trim could be reset.