What is "phugoid"

n. An aircraft motion where the vehicle pitches up and climbs, increasing speed, and then pitches down and descends, decreasing speed.

A phugoid or fugoid is an aircraft motion where the vehicle pitches up and climbs, and then pitches down and descends, accompanied by speeding up and slowing down as it goes "uphill" and "downhill." This is one of the basic flight dynamics modes of an aircraft (others include short period, dutch roll, and spiral divergence), and a classic example of a negative feedback system.