Flight Test Evaluation of a Transport Aircraft

Guidelines for the flight test evaluation of transport airplanes [2,3] provide an acceptable means of demonstrating confirmation with the applicable airworthiness requirements. Many of these procedures are also applicable to fighter aircraft. These methods have evolved over several years of flight testing of several such airplanes in air as well as on ground flight simulators and careful analysis of the data gathered. The guidelines are not mandatory; however, it would be definitely advisable to follow them to help compliance with the airworthiness (authorities’) requirements for a given transport aircraft undergoing flight testing. Some important aspects of flight testing from aircraft certification point of view are [2,3,8] (1) effect, if any, of altitude on controllability, stability, trim, and stall characteristics should be evaluated and studied, (2) performance of the aircraft in terms of stalling speed, takeoff speed, takeoff path, takeoff distance, climb, and landing should be evaluated during flight tests, (3) controllability, static stability, and maneuverability should be evaluated, (4) longitudinal and lateral-directional (LD) dynamic stability should be demon­strated and evaluated, (5) stall characteristics should be demonstrated/evaluated and stall warning system/software (SW) should be evaluated, (6) critical engine performance should be evaluated, and (7) vibration, buffeting, and other high-speed characteristics should also be evaluated.