Airspeed is defined as which of the following?

• A. Rate of the aircraft's progress through the air
• B. The aircraft's ground distance traveled per hour
• C. Change in altitude per minute
• D. Rate of turn

Answer: (A)

Airspeed is the rate of the aircraft's motion through the surrounding air. It’s what the airspeed indicator measures, using dynamic pressure from the pitot tube to show how fast the airplane is moving through the air mass, regardless of how that air moves over the ground. This differs from ground speed, which is simply how far you travel over the ground per hour and is affected by wind. The other options describe vertical speed (change in altitude per minute) and angular turning rate (rate of turn), not how fast you’re moving through the air. So the best description is the aircraft’s speed through the air.