Classic example of asking a leading question, and then interpreting the response to mean whatever you want it to.
The pilot's answer was that the plane flies with the nose tilted up 3 degrees. This is called the angle of attack, and is needed to generate lift (to keep the plane from just falling). If you don't tilt the nose up, the plane will descend, not fly level. Anyone who has studied flight dynamics (I have, have you?) can tell you this.
Also, as has been mentioned multiple times, you need to go study calculus and wrap your head around the concept of a tangent line. It's rather relevant.