Plain English Meaning

What you look at outside the airplane to tell which way you're pointed, how level you are, and how you're moving — mainly the horizon, the runway, and landmarks on the ground.

Full Definition

Cues a pilot uses by looking outside the airplane — such as the horizon, runway, terrain features, and the airplane's own nose and wingtips relative to those features — to judge attitude, alignment, altitude trend, and rate of movement during visual flight.

Context Anchor

Encountered during takeoff, climb, landing, and any flying where the airplane mainly by looking outside.