The following list of Aviation Acronyms are the most common in the aviation industry. Please select the first letter of the word from the list above to jump to appropriate section of the glossary.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

- A -

Aviation Acronym	Description
A/C / ACFT	Aircraft
A/P	Autopilot
A/T	Auto Throttle
AAPS	Atmospheric Absolute Pressure Sensor
AC	Alternating Current
ACC	Air Conditioning Controller
ACCEL	Accelerometer(s)
ACCESS	Accessory
ACCUM	Accumulator
ACM	Air Cycle Machine
ACP	Audio Control Panel
ADF	Automatic Direction Finder
ADI	Alttitude Display Indicator
ADM	Air Data Module
ADS	Air Data System
AEDO	Aircraft Engineering District Office (FAA)
AEG	Aircraft Evaluation Group (FAA)
AFC	Automatic Frequency Control
AFCS	Automated Flight Control System
AFGCS	Automatic Flight Guidance and Control System
AFIS	Airborne Flight Information System
AFM	Aircraft Flight Manual
AGC	Automatic Gain Control
AGL	Above Ground Level
AGM	Advanced Graphics Module
AH	Artificial Horizon
AHDG	Alternate Heading
AHRS	Attitude Heading Reference System
AHRU	Attitude Heading Reference Unit
AHTMS	Aircraft Health & Trend Monitoring
AI	Anti-Icing
AIL	Aileron
AIOP	Actuator Input Output Processor
AIU	Audio Interface Units
ALI	Airworthiness Limitation Items
ALN	Align
ALRT	Alert
ALT	Alternate
ALT	Alternate, Altitude, Altimeter or Alternator
ALTM	Altimeter
ALTNR	Alternator
AM	Amplitude Modulation
AMM	Aircraft Maintenance Manual
AMN	Advanced Material Notice
AMP / Amp / amp	Ampere
AN	Air Force-Navy Aeronautical Standard
ANN	Annunciator
ANNUN	Annunciator
ANP	Annunciator Panel
ANSI	American National Standards Institute
ANT	Antenna
AOA	Angle of Attack
AOG	Aircraft on Ground
AP	Autopilot
APE	Autopilot Engage
API	Angle Position Indicator
APM	Aircraft Personality Unit
APP	Approach
APPT	Approach Track
APR	Approach or Automatic Power Restoration
APS	Altitude Pre-select
APU	Auxillary Power Unit
AQL	Acceptance Quality Level
ARINC	Aeronautical Radio Incorporated
ARL	Automatic Range Limiting
ARM	Armed
ARN	Airborne Radio Navigation
ARSA	Airport Radar Service Area
ARTU	Airborne Radio Telephone Unit
AS	Airspeed
ASC	Aircraft Service Change
ASCB	Avionics Standard Communication Bus
ASCII	American Standard Code for Information Interchange
ASI	Aviation Safety Inspector (FAA)
ASL	Above Sea Level
ASSY	Assembly
AT	Antenna
ATA	Air Transport Association of America
ATC	Air Traffic Control
ATC	Air Traffic Controller Transponder
ATG	Aural(Audio) Tone Generator
ATIS	Automatic Terminal Information Service
ATP	Acceptance Test Procedures
ATS	Air Turbine Starter
ATT	Attitude or Attitude Mode
AUTO	Automatic
AUX	Auxiliary
AZ	Azimuth

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- B -

Aviation Acronym	Description
B/A	Bank Angle
B/CU	Battery/Charger Unit
BAC	Bleed Air Control
BAG / BAGG	Baggage
BARO	Barometric
BARO CORR	Barometer Correction
BATT / BATTS	Battery / Batteries
BBW	Brake-By-Wire
BC	Bus Controller, Back Course
BCD	Binary-Coded Decimal
BCN	Beacon
BCP	Best Computed Position
BCS	Brake Control System
BCU	Brake Control Unit
BCU	Bus Coupler Unit
BD429	Bi-Directional Arinc 429
BDI	Bearing Distance Indicator
BEER	Baggage Electronic Equipment Rack
BFCU	Backup Flight Control Unit
BFL	Balanced Fuel Load
BFL	Balanced Field Length
BFO	Beat-Frequency Oscillator
BIN	Binary
BIT	Built-In-Test
BITE	Built-In Test Equipment
BIU	Battery Interface Unit
BL	Butt Line
BLD	Bleed
BLISK	Blended Disk
BMU	Battery Module Unit
BNR	Binary
BOT	Bottom
BOW	Basic Operating Weight
BPCU	Bus Power Control Unit
BPD	Bypass Duct
BRG	Bearing
BRK	Brake
BRT	Bright(ness)
BTL	Bottle
BTMS	Brake Temperature Monitoring System
BYTE	A Single Group or Parallel Binary Bits

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- C -

Aviation Acronym	Description
C	Capacitance, Centigrade, Celsius, Caution or Coulomb
C of A	Certificate of Airworthiness (FAA)
C/W	Comply or Complied With
CAB (Quality)	Corrective Action Board
CAB	Customer Advisory Board
CAM	Content Addressable Memory(AssociativeStorage)
CAMP	Computerized Aircraft Maintenance Program
CAP	Capture
CAR (Quality)	Corrective Action Request
CAS	Crew Alerting System
CAS	Calibrated Air Speed
CB	Circuit Breaker
CB	Customer Bulletin
CBPC	Cabin Bus Power Control
CCA	Circuit Card Assembly
CCD	Charge Coupled Device
CCD	Cursor Control Device
CCM	Cruise Control Manual
CCW	Counter-Clockwise
CD	Cabin Display or Control Display Unit
CDI	Course Deviation Indicator
CDU	Control Display Unit
CE	Course Error
CFI	Certified Flight Instructor
CFII	Certified Flight Instructor/Instrument
CFR	Code of Federal Regulations (FAA)
CFRP	Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics
CG	Center-of-Gravity
CH	Channel
CHAN / CHNL	Channel
CHG	Change
CHGR / CHRGR	Charger
CHI	Communication+Navigation+Identification
CIO	Control Input Output
CIR	Conformity Inspection Record (FAA 8100-1)
CKPT	Cockpit
CKT	Circuit
CLAW	Control Law
CLB	Climb
CLK	Clock
CLR	Clear
CLS	Contractor Logistic Support
CLSD	Closed
CM	Configuration Management
CMC	Central Maintenance Computer
CMD	Command
CMM (Quality)	Coordinate Measuring Machine
CMM	Component Maintenance Manual
CMOS	Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor
CMP	Computerized Maintenance Program
CMPT	Composite or Compacted
CMPTR	Computer
CMR	Certification Maintenance Requirement
CMS	Central Management System
CND	Could Not Duplicate
CNTOR	Contactor
^oC	Degrees Celcius (or Centigrade)
CO₂	Carbon Dioxide
COBOL	Common Oriented Business Language
COM	Command
COM	Common
COMB	Combined
COMM	Communication(s)
COMP	Compass, Comprehensive, Compensation or Comparator
COMPT	Compartment
COMSEC	Communications Security
CONFIG	Configuration
CONT	Continuous
CONT / CTL / CTRL	Control
CONV	Converter
CORR	Correction
CP	Coupler or CrossPointer
CPAM	Cabin Pressure Acquisition Module
CPC	Cabin Pressure Controller
CPCP	Corrosion Prevention Control Program
CPCS	Cabin Pressure Control System
CPDLC	Controller Pilot Datalink Communication
CPI	Cabin Pressure Indicator
CPL	Couple(d)
CPLR	Coupler
CPM	Cycles Per Minute
CPS	Cycles Per Second
CPU	Central Processor Unit
CQA	Certified Quality Auditor
CRC	Cyclic Redundancy Check
CRS	Course
CRT	Cathode Ray Tube
CRZ	Cruise
CSD	Constant Speed Drive
CSDB	Comnercial Standard Digital Bus
CSO	Communications System Operator
CT	Control,Center Tap or Control Transformer
CTL	Control
CTLR	Controller
CTR	Center
CVR	Cockpit Voice Recorder
CW	Clockwise
CW	Continuous Wave or Clockwise

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- D -

Aviation Acronym	Description
DA	Drift Angle
DADC	Digital Air Data Computer
DADS	Digital Air Data System
DAFCS	Digital Automatic Flight Control System
DAMP	Damper
DAR	Designated Airworthiness Representative (FAA)
DAS	Designated Alteration Station (FAA)
DAU	Data Acquisition Unit(s)
DBDI	Digital Bearing/Distance Indicator
DC	Display Control(ler) or Direct Current
DCV	Directional Central Valve
DDRMI	Dual Digital Remote Magnetic Indicator
DDU	Display Drive Unit
DEC	Decrease
DECEL	Deceleration
DEFL	Deflection
DEFLT	Default
DEG	Degree or Degraded
DEL	Delete
DEMOD	Demodulator
DEP	Data Entry Plug (FADEC)
DER	Designated Engineering Representative (FAA)
DES	Descent
DESEL	Deselect(ed)
DEST	Destination
DET	Detent, Detector or Detachment
DETECT	Detection
DEV	Deviation or Deviate
DFDR	Digital Flight Data Recorder
DFRN	Differential
DGIO	Dual Generic Input Output
DGP	Dual Gauging Probe
DGRAD	Degraded (Accuracy-or-Performance)
DH	Decision Height
DIA	Diameter
DIFF	Differential
DIFM	Due In For Maintenance
DIP	Dual In-Line Package
DIR	Direct(to)
DIS	Display(ed)
DISC	Disconnect
DISCH	Discharge
DISCH / DSCHG / DISCHD	Discharge, Discharged
DISP	Display
DISPL	Displacement
DIST	Distance
DITS	Digital Information Transfer System
DL	Data Loader
DLMU	Dataloading Management Unit
DMA	Direct Memory Access
DME	Distance Measuring Equipment
DMIR	Designated Manufacturing Inspection Representative(s) (FAA)
DMT	Discrepant Material Tag
DN	Down
DOPI	Drop Out Pull In
DOT	Department of Transportation
DP	Digital Processor,Data Processing
DPDT	Double Pole Double Throw
DPI	Differential Pressure Indicator
DPST	Double Pole Single Throw
DR	Dead Reckoning
DRC	Dual Remote Compensator
DS	Detail Specification
DSPL	Display
DSPLSEL	Display Select(or)
DSR	Desired
DTA	Damage Tolerance Analysis
DTMF	Dual-Tone Multiple Frequency
DTO	Direct To
DU	Display Unit(s)
DUP	Duplicate
DV	Direct Vision
DVM	Digital Voltmeter

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- E -

Aviation Acronym	Description
E	East or Electromotive Force
E2PROM	(EEPROM)Electronically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory
EB	Electric Backup
EBHA	Electrical Backup Hydrostatic Actuator
EBU	Engine Build Up
ECM	Electronic Control Module or Electronic Counter Measures
ECS	Environmental Control System
ECU	Electronic Control Unit
ED	Environmental Damage / Edge Distance
EDS	Electronic Display System
EDT	Electronic Data Transfer
EEC	Electronic Engine Control
EED	Emergency Exit Door
EER	Electronic Equipment Rack
EFFECT	Effectivity
EFIS	Electronic Flight Instrument System
EGPWM	Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Module
EGPWS	Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System
EGT	Exhaust Gas Temperature
EHSA	Electro Hydraulic Servo Actuator
EHSI	Electronic Horizontal Situation Indicator
EHSV	Electro-Hydraulic Servo Valve
EI	Engine Instrumentation
EICAS	Engine Instrument-Crew Advisory System
E-INV	Emergency Inverter
EIS	Entry Into Service
El	Engine Instrument
ELEV	Elevator
ELINT	Electronic Intelligence
ELT	Emergency Locator Transmitter
E-LTG	Emergency Lighting
EMC	Electromagnetic Compatibility
EMG / EMER / EMERG	Emergency
EMI	Electromagnetic Interference
ENG	Engaged
ENG	Engine
ENR	Enroute
ENT	Enter
EO	Easy-On or Engineering Order
EOL	End of Life
EP	Electro-Pneumatic
EPBP	Emergency Power Battery Pack
EPMP	Electric Power Management Panel
EPR	Engine Pressure Ratio
EPROM	Erasable Prom
EPS	Electrical Power System
EQUIP	Equipment
EROPS	Extended Range Of Operations
ESAD	Equivalent Still Air Distance
ESDSD	Electro-Static Discharge Sensitive Devices
ESM	Electronic Surveillance Measures
ESS	Essential
ET	Elapsed Time
ETA	Estimated Time of Arrival
ETC / etc	Et cetera (and the like)
ETD	Estimated Time of Departure
ETE	Estimated Time Enroute
EVAC	Evacuate
EVM	Electronic Vibration Monitoring or Engine Vibration Monitor
EVS	Enhanced Vision System
EXC	Exceedance
EXC	Excluding
EXLOC	Expanded Localizer
EXT	External or Extended
EXT	Extinguisher

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- F -

Aviation Acronym	Description
F	Fahrenheit
F&R	Function and Reliability
F/D	Frequency to Digital
FAA	Federal Aviation Administration
FADEC	Full Authority Digital Engine Control
FAF	Final Approach Fix
FAI	First Article Inspection
FAR	Federal Aviation Regulations (FAA)
FAV	Fan Air Valve
FBS	Front Beam Station
FBW	Fly By Wire
FCC	Flight Controls Computer
FCS	Flight Control System
FCS	Fuel Characteristics Sensor
FCU	Flush Control Unit
FCU	Fuel Control Unit
FD	Fatigue Damage
FDCU	Fire Detector Control Unit
FDR	Flight Data Recorder
FECU	Flaps Electronic Control Unit
FGC	Flight Guidance Computer
FGS	Flight Guidance System
FLIR	Forward Looking Infrared
FMC	Flight Management Computer
FMEA	Failure Modes & Effect Analysis
FMS	Flight Management System
^oF	Degrees Fahrenheit
FOD	Foreign Object Damage
FPGA	Field Programmable Gate Array
FPM	Feet Per Minute
FPS	Feet Per Second
FQI	Fluid Quantity Indication
FQSC	Fuel Quantity Signal Conditioner
FRACAS	Failure Reporting Analysis and Corrective Action System
FS	Fuselage Station
FSDO	Flight Standards District Office
FSECU	Flap Stab Electronic Control Unit
FTS	Fuel Temperature Sensor
FWD	Forward

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- G -

Aviation Acronym	Description
GAMPS	Gulfstream Aerospace Manufacturing Process Specifications
GCMS	Gulfstream Cabin Management System
GCU	Generator Control Unit
GFI	Ground Fault Interruption
GLA	Gust Load Alleviation
GND	Ground
GPS	Global Positioning System
GPWS	Ground Proximity Warning System
GSCP	Ground Service Control Panel

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- H -

Aviation Acronym	Description
HA	Hydraulic Actuator
HAPS	Hydrostatic Absolute Pressure Sensor
HCM	Hydraulic Control Module
HCM	Heater Control Module
HF	High Frequency (3-30 mhz)
HID	High Intensity Discharge
HIRF	High Intensity Radiated Fields
HLS	High Level Sensor
HMG	Hydraulic Motor Generator
HPA	High Power Amplifier
HPC	High Pressure Compressor
HPT	High Pressure Turbine
HSA	Horizontal Stab Actuator
HSCU	Horizontal Stabilizer Control Unit
HSTA	Horizontal Stab Trim Actuator
HSTS	Horizontal Stabilizer Trim System
HTR	Heater
HUD	Head Up Display
HV	Height-Velocity
HVOF	High Velocity Oxygen Fuel
HYD	Hydraulic
Hz	Hertz (cycles per second)

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- I -

Aviation Acronym	Description
I/0	Input/Output
IAS	Indicated Airspeed
IAW	In Accordance With
IB	Iron Bird (Hydraulic Simulation Facility)
IBIT	Initiated Build-In-Test
ICAO	International Civil Aviation Organization (FAA)
ICD	Interface Control Document
ICS	Inter-Communication(s) System
ICU	Interface Control Unit (TR)
ICU	Isolation Control Unit
ID	Identification
IDG	Integrated Drive/Generator
IDS	Intrusion Detection System
IETM	Interactive Electronic Technical Manual
IF	Intermediate Frequency
IFR	Instrument Flight Rules
IFSD	In-Flight Shut Down(Rate)
IGN	Ignition
ILS	Instrument Landing System / Integrated Logistics Support
IM	Inner Marker
IMC	Instrument Meteorological Conditions / Interim Message Change
IMPA	Integrated Motor Pump Assembly
IN	Input
INBD	Inboard
INC	Increase
IND	Indicator or Independent
INIT	Initialize/Initiate
INS	Inertial Navigation System
INSP	Inspection
INSTL	Installation
INT	Internal
INTGL	Integral
INTL	International
INTLK	Interlock
INU	Inertial Navigation Unit
INV	Inverter or Invert
IOC	Initial Operational Capability
IP	Intermediate Pressure/Initialization Point/Instructor Pilot
IPC	Illustrated Parts Catalog
IPCA	Intermediate Pressure Cooling Air
IR	Infrared
IRAN	Inspect and Repair as Necessary
IRC	Instrument Remote Controller
IRDS	Infrared Detection System
IRS	Inertial Reference System(s)
IRU	Inertial Reference Unit
IS	Inspection Schedule
ISA	International Standard Atmosphere
ISC	Industry Steering Committee
ISDU	Inertial System Display Unit
ISO	Isolation/lsochronal
ISO	International Standards Organization
ISS	Information Systems and Services
ITF	Integrated Test Facility
ITU	International Telecommunications Union
IVV	Instantaneous Vertical Velocity

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- J -

Aviation Acronym	Description
JAA	Joint Aviation Authorities
JAR	Joint Aviation Regulations (European FAR)
JCT	Junction
Jmp	Jumper(Wire)
JSA	Job Safety Analysis

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- K -

Aviation Acronym	Description
K	Kilo(1Thousand)
KCAS	Knots Calibrated Airspeed
Kg	Kilogram(s)
KHz	Kilohertz
KIAS	Knots Indicated Airspeed
KTAS	Knots True Airspeed
Kts	Knots

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- L -

Aviation Acronym	Description
L	Left
L/D	Lift-To-Drag(Ratio)
LAN	Local Area Network
LAT	Latitude or lateral
LB	Pound(s)
LBL	Left Butt Line
LBS	Lateral Beam Sensor
LCD	Liquid Crystal Display(s)