ground loop

English

Noun

ground loop (plural ground loops)

1. (electricity) A (usually unwanted) current that flows between two points that are meant to be at the same potential, but are not.
2. (aviation) A sudden, potentially damaging turn made by an aircraft while on the ground, owing to user error or adverse weather conditions.

Translations

a sudden, potentially damaging turn made by an aircraft — see also a sudden, potentially damaging turn made by an aircraft

• French: cheval de bois (fr) m

Verb

ground loop (third-person singular simple present ground loops, present participle ground looping, simple past and past participle ground looped)

1. (aviation) To suffer a ground loop manoeuvre.
   • 2000, JG Ballard, Super-Cannes, Fourth Estate, published 2011, page 41:

     I slewed into the deep grass, throttled up again to regain runway speed, tried to abort the take-off and ground-looped through the perimeter fence.