Aviation Glossary

At Dauntless, our editorial staff maintains the web's largest unified glossary of aviation terms. This glossary is built from a combination of official, quasi-official, and proprietary sources (including original material that we develop oursselves). Uniquely, we often provide multiple definitions of a given term so that you can find that which best applies to you. In order to maximize your learning efficiency, this glossary (and similar ones for our international users) is incresingly fully integrated into our aviation learning apps, including our FAA written test prep and FAA practical test prep software and apps. If you like this glossary, you'll love them with their polished learning environments and world's best and clearest content (please do give them a try.).

AOA

The acute angle at which a moving airfoil meets the airstream.

source: FAA Aerosense Glossary

Angle of Attack (AoA): The acute angle between the chord line of the airfoil and the direction of the relative wind.

source: FAA Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3A)

The acute angle formed between the chord line of an airfoil and the direction of the air striking the airfoil.

source: FAA Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25A)

Angle of attack is the angle between the oncoming air or relative wind, and some reference line on the airplane or wing.

source: FAA Upset Recovery Training

Angle of attack (AOA): The acute angle between the chord line of the airfoil and the direction of the relative wind.

source: FAA Weight Shift Control Handbook (FAA-H-8083-5)

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Disclaimer: While this glossary in most cases is likely to be highly accurate and useful, sometimes, for any number of editorial, transcription, technical, and other reasons, it might not be. Additionally, as somtimes you may have found yourself brought to this page through an automated term matching system, you may find definitions here that do not match the cotext or application in which you saw the original term. Please use your good judgement when using this resource.