In simple terms: Pitch is the angle the wing appears to make with the ground and Angle of Attack (AoA) is the angle the wing makes to the airflow. The following diagrams illustrate pitch and AoA, and how deceptive the pitch of an aircraft can be to an observer on the ground.
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Same AoA, different Pitch: Click to view figure 1.
Same Pitch, different AoA: Click to view figure 2.
PPG climb, cruise & glide descent:
Figure 3
Figure 3. A PPG has no elevator control so the pilot can not adjust the AoA much. Consequently the application of extra thrust on a PPG will result in a climb. The pitch of the wing will appear to change a lot, while the AoA (and hence the airspeed) will in fact remain about the same.<<<<Back