Flight Testing of Fixed-Wing Aircraft

The measurement of performance during an airplane's flight testing is one of the more important tasks to be accomplished during its development, as it impacts both the airplane's safety and its marketability. Performance sells airplanes.

This book discusses performance for both propeller-driven and jet aircraft. However, its principal emphasis is on propeller-driven aircraft, because much of the methodology for testing of propeller-driven aircraft has been lost with time.

The book is intended as a text for those teaching courses in fixed-wing flight testing. It is also a reference for those involved in flight test on a daily basis or those who need knowledge of flight testing to manage those activities. The book is divided into three sections. The first two sections--Performance, and Stability and Control--are arranged so that they might be taught as a semester course at the upper-level undergraduate or graduate level. The third section, Hazardous Flight Tests, provides information based upon more than 30 years of experience in performing and directing such tests and serves as a valuable reference.