Definition
A gyroscopic flight instrument that displays the rate at which the aircraft is turning about its vertical axis, expressed in degrees per second. A standard-rate turn shown on the instrument equals 3 degrees per second, which completes a 360-degree turn in two minutes. The instrument is presented either as a turn-and-slip indicator (using a needle) or as a turn coordinator (using a miniature aircraft symbol), and it also includes an inclinometer to show whether the turn is coordinated.
Plain English
An instrument that tells the pilot how fast the airplane is turning left or right. It also shows whether the turn is being flown smoothly with the rudder and ailerons working together.
Context Anchor
Seen during instrument flying and analog instrument failure practice, when a pilot may need to control turns without the usual attitude or heading display.
Derivation
Rate comes through older French and Latin roots meaning a reckoned or calculated amount. That helps here because the instrument is not just showing that the airplane is turning; it is showing how much direction change is happening over time.
Why Pilots Care
Enables maintenance of coordinated standard-rate turns when other instruments are unavailable, supporting precise instrument approaches and holding patterns.
Grounding Statement
When the indication is centered, the aircraft is not turning; when it moves left or right, the aircraft is turning in that direction.
Intuition Check
Do not read “rate-of-turn” as “amount of wing tilt.” A tilted-wing turn and a higher turn rate often go together, but this instrument is showing how fast the aircraft is changing direction, not the exact wing angle.
Example Sentence 1
After the attitude indicator failed, the pilot used the rate-of-turn indicator to hold the wings level and fly a standard-rate turn back toward the airport.
Example Sentence 2
During the partial panel exercise, the rate-of-turn indicator confirmed the aircraft was rolling out on the desired heading at the correct rate.