Definition
A control on the autopilot or flight guidance system used by the pilot to set a target airspeed or Mach number that the autopilot or autothrottle system will then maintain by adjusting pitch or thrust.
Plain English
The knob or input you use to tell the autopilot what speed you want it to fly. Once you set a number, the autopilot works to hold the aircraft at that speed.
Context Anchor
Seen on autopilot, flight director, or mode control panels when setting a target speed for climb, descent, approach, or cruise.
Why Pilots Care
It automates speed management so the pilot can focus on navigation and situational awareness without constant manual pitch adjustments.
Intuition Check
A speed selector does not measure the airplane’s speed. It is the control used to set the speed the system should try to hold or use.
Example Sentence 1
After leveling at cruise altitude, the captain rotated the speed selector to set 280 knots and the autothrottle smoothly reduced thrust to capture the new target.
Example Sentence 2
With the speed selector active on approach, the autopilot held 120 knots by adjusting pitch as the aircraft descended.