U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration Advisory Circular: Amateur-Built Aircraft and Ultralight Flight Testing Handbook

This advisory circular (AC) provides suggestions and safety related recommendations primarily to assist amateur and ultralight builders in developing individualized aircraft flight-test plans. It also provides guidance for experimental light sport aircraft flight testing after modifications to the aircraft. It provides recommendations and suggestions you can combine with other sources on test flying, such as the aircraft plan/kit manufacturer’s flight testing instructions and other flight testing data. This will help you develop a detailed flight-test plan, tailored for your aircraft and resources.

This AC attempts to make you aware that test flying an aircraft is a critical undertaking, which you should approach with thorough planning, skill, and common sense. The flight-test plan is the heart of all professional flight testing. The plan should account for every hour spent in the flight-test phase and you should adhere to it with the same respect for the unknown that all successful test pilots share. The time allotted for each phase of a personalized flight-test plan may vary, and each phase may have more events or checks than suggested in this AC, but your goals, should be the same. You should add flight-test operational and performance data to the aircraft’s flight manual so you can reference the data prior to each flight.

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