Plain English Meaning

The way flying feels in your body — how heavy you feel in the seat, which way you feel pulled, whether you feel like you're climbing or turning. These feelings are useful when you can see outside, but they will lie to you when you can't.

Full Definition

The physical feelings a pilot gets from their body — pressure on the seat, pull on the limbs, sense of tilt or motion — that the brain interprets as information about the aircraft's attitude, acceleration, and direction of flight. These bodily sensations are reliable in visual flight when the horizon is in view, but they are unreliable in instrument conditions because the inner ear and body cannot distinguish between several different flight situations that produce the same physical feeling.

Context Anchor

Commonly encountered during instrument , when acceleration and the lack of can make the feel like it is climbing, turning, or tilting differently than it really is.