Roll rate

nounStandard termAviation

The speed at which an aircraft can rotate around its longitudinal axis.

Roll rate measures how quickly an aircraft can bank or complete a full aileron roll, expressed in degrees per second. Fighter jets require extremely high roll rates to quickly change their lift vector during dogfights or evasive maneuvers. It is governed by aileron authority, wingspan, and the mass distribution along the wings.

Heard on the job

The new wingtip stores significantly degraded our maximum roll rate.