Definition
On an electronic flight display, vertical vectors are the small graphic indicators that show trends or rates of change in the vertical plane — primarily vertical speed (climb or descent rate) and altitude trend. They are the vertical-axis counterparts to horizontal vectors, which display lateral movement and turn information.
Plain English
These are the moving pointers and trend lines on a glass cockpit display that show how fast the airplane is climbing or descending, and where it will be vertically in a few seconds.
Context Anchor
Seen on electronic flight displays when reading performance instruments such as altitude and vertical speed information.
Derivation
Vertical comes from the Latin verticalis, meaning ‘overhead’ or ‘upright’ — directly above. Vector comes from the Latin vector, ‘carrier,’ used in math and physics to mean a quantity that has both size and direction. Put together, vertical vectors are direction-and-size indicators along the up-down axis.
Why Pilots Care
They allow the pilot to instantly confirm whether the airplane is meeting the desired vertical performance without having to interpret raw numbers alone.
Grounding Statement
If the airplane keeps moving up or down the way it is right now, the vertical vector shows the short-term result of that movement.
Intuition Check
Do not read vectors here as ATC heading instructions. In this context, vertical vectors are display cues showing up-and-down trend, not a controller telling you where to fly.
Example Sentence 1
As the autopilot captured the assigned altitude, the vertical vector shrank and settled at zero, confirming level flight.
Example Sentence 2
When the vertical vectors flattened on the display, the pilot knew the airplane had leveled off at the assigned altitude.