Difference in Pitch v Attitude?
 

What it says on the tin; can anyone tell me the difference between Pitch and Attitude?

cheers

I'll give it a shot...


Pitch - where the aeroplane's pointing compared to the horizon
Attitude - the angle at which the airflow hits the wing

Should be the basics!

I thought attitude was your current state of pitch and bank, (as shown by the Attitude Indicator for example), both defined with respect to the horizon.

They're essentially the same thing, as 24C says?

The pitch being the amount of rotation of the a/c around the pitch axis.

The 'attitude' (or 'pitch attitude' if just considering pitch) is generally the term used for how this rotation is viewed by the pilot with ref to the horizon - i.e. what is seen through the window (or on the AI) for any given pitch amount.

[not the most eloquent definition I know]

How about:

Attitude = pitch + bank + yaw?

Pitch attitude = angle nose up/down

Roll attitude = angle left/right wing up/down

Yaw attitude = yaw angle (not a term commonly used).


G

As I understand it pitch angle would be a measure of rotation around the lateral axis, attitude would be the aircraft's orientation about its own center of gravity.

So pitch is specific to a single plane of motion, attitude a general observation of how the aircraft is orientated in the air.



Edited because reading back I couldn't understand it and I just posted it :ugh:

Mathematically speaking, pitch angle would be a measure of angular displacement of the aircraft's longitudinal axis around it's lateral axis from some predefined "datum". On the other hand if you are speaking about rotation, you should use pitch rate, which would be derivative of pitch angle and presents the change of a pitch angle in unit of time. This being said, I agree with Genghis' definition, which is probably a lot easier to understand.

I don't normally pick on these things, but I assume the discussion will go in this direction, so no point in delaying the obvious. :)

Pitch is just that! Whether you pitch the aircraft nose up or down from a datum point which doesnt have to be the horizontal plain ie you could pitch from a vertical dive etc.

Attitude looks at all the other directions of rotation in total.

Ie an aircraft pitching up while rolling wing down or yawed would be in an attitude.

So we describe unusual attitude etc.

Pace

The trouble is some instructors say things like fly the 'attitude' when I guess they really mean fly the picture you get at a given pitch.

I can see why it is confusing.

I think though agreement, pitch refers to a single plane, attitude applies to all planes at once. Hence pitch attitude if fine as it refers to one element of attitude..

God it could go on all night :}

In aviation, the answer must depend on the context.

If it is an exam question, you MUST learn the expected answer and not question it.

Otherwise, I would think the definition of "attitude" of an aircraft is the current combination of pitch, roll and yaw. Whereas "pitch" is just the pitch.