Definition
A persistent, uncommanded roll toward one wing during straight-and-level flight, caused by aircraft rigging, fuel imbalance, or torque effects, which the pilot must counter with continuous aileron pressure or trim to maintain wings level.
Plain English
The aircraft keeps wanting to lean to one side on its own, so the pilot has to keep gentle pressure on the controls (or use trim) to hold the wings level.
Context Anchor
Seen during instrument practice for straight-and-level flight, especially when checking why the heading is slowly changing.
Why Pilots Care
A wing low tendency creates continuous heading drift that increases pilot workload and can lead to loss of situational awareness if uncorrected.
Grounding Statement
Picture the instrument display showing one wing just a little lower while the heading number slowly moves away from where you wanted it.
Intuition Check
Wing low tendency does not mean a wing is broken or physically hanging low. It means the aircraft is slightly tilted in flight and beginning to turn.
Example Sentence 1
After topping off only the left tank, the pilot noticed a wing low tendency to the right and adjusted aileron trim to compensate.
Example Sentence 2
During the heading check, the instructor pointed out the wing low tendency that had caused the ten-degree drift.