Definition
A line of uniformly spaced white stripes and gaps painted down the middle of a runway along its full length, identifying the center of the runway and providing alignment guidance during takeoff and landing.
Plain English
The dashed white line painted down the middle of the runway. Pilots use it to keep the airplane lined up straight with the runway during takeoff and landing.
Context Anchor
Seen when taxiing onto a paved runway, during the takeoff roll, and after touchdown while keeping the airplane aligned with the runway.
Why Pilots Care
They help pilots keep the airplane centered on the runway to prevent veering off the edges during critical phases of flight.
Intuition Check
Do not confuse runway centerline markings with runway edge markings. Centerline markings are the white stripes down the middle of the runway; edge markings define the sides.
Example Sentence 1
On the takeoff roll, she applied right rudder to keep the nosewheel tracking the runway centerline markings.
Example Sentence 2
At night the runway centerline markings became the primary visual cue for maintaining directional control after touchdown.