Definition
Coordinated adjustments of the airplane's pitch attitude (nose position relative to the horizon, controlled by the elevator) and engine power setting (controlled by the throttle) used together to transition between flight conditions such as climb, cruise, descent, and approach. Because pitch and power each affect both airspeed and altitude, they are managed as a paired input rather than independently.
Plain English
Moving the nose up or down while also adding or reducing engine power, done together, to change how fast the airplane is going or whether it is climbing, level, or descending.
Context Anchor
Seen in normal and emergency procedures when a pilot changes from one phase of flight to another, such as level flight to a climb, descent to level-off, approach to go-around, or cruise to slow flight.
Derivation
“Pitch” has long described the up-and-down nose motion of a ship, and aviation uses the same idea for an airplane’s nose attitude. “Power” comes from the idea of the ability to do work, which fits the engine producing the force available for flight.
Why Pilots Care
Proper coordination prevents unintended speed or altitude deviations, reduces pilot workload, and supports stable flight in all phases including climbs, descents, and approaches.
Intuition Check
Do not read “pitch” here as sound, and do not read “power” as electrical power. In this context, pitch means the airplane’s nose attitude, and power means the engine power setting.
Example Sentence 1
Leveling off at cruise altitude, the pilot made smooth pitch and power changes -- lowering the nose to the level attitude while reducing throttle to cruise power.
Example Sentence 2
During the instrument approach, coordinated pitch and power changes kept the descent rate steady at 700 feet per minute.