Definition
An unintended flight attitude in which the aircraft's nose is pitched well above the level-flight position, typically accompanied by decreasing airspeed and, if uncorrected, leading toward a stall. It is one of two recognized categories of unusual attitude (the other being nose-low) and requires a specific recovery procedure: simultaneously add power, lower the nose to reduce the angle of attack, and level the wings.
Plain English
The plane has ended up pointing too far upward without the pilot meaning to put it there. Speed is dropping, and if nothing is done the aircraft will eventually stop flying properly. The fix is to add power, push the nose down, and get the wings level.
Context Anchor
Encountered in instrument flying, especially during unusual attitude recognition and recovery practice using the flight instruments.
Derivation
“Nose-high” comes from the airplane’s nose appearing high relative to the horizon. “Attitude” in aviation means the airplane’s position compared with the horizon, not a person’s mood.
Why Pilots Care
Failure to recognize and recover promptly can lead to an aerodynamic stall or loss of control.
Grounding Statement
Picture the airplane climbing too steeply: the nose is up, the speed is bleeding off, and the pilot must recover before control margins shrink.
Intuition Check
Do not read “attitude” as emotion or “unusual” as merely odd. Here it means the airplane’s nose-and-wing position is outside the normal range needed for safe flight right now.
Example Sentence 1
On the instruments, the pilot saw the airspeed dropping and the attitude indicator showing a steep climb, recognized a nose-high unusual attitude, and added full power while lowering the nose.
Example Sentence 2
The pilot applied forward pressure and added power to recover from the nose-high unusual attitude before airspeed decayed further.