Plain English Meaning

Using where your wingtip appears to sit against the ground below as a way to judge how far you are from a line on the ground and how the airplane is tracking around it.

Full Definition

Visual cues taken by looking out at the position of the airplane's wingtip relative to features on the ground (such as a road, fence line, or section line) to judge distance, alignment, and bank angle during ground reference maneuvers.

Context Anchor

Used during rectangular course practice, especially when keeping a steady distance from the sides of a selected field, road, or other ground outline.

Derivation

“Wingtip” means the outer end of the wing. “” comes from the idea of relating one thing to another; here, relates the wingtip to a or line on the ground to judge position.