Introduction to

Aircraft Flight Test Engineering

* The flight testing of new aircraft designs is usually carried out in three phases:
  1. The "shakedown" flight to see if the aircraft will fly at all;
  2. The examination of the handling qualities of the aircraft;
  3. The experimental determination of the performance of the aircraft.

It is the third of the above phases that is addressed in this book. The book is intended both as a text, and as a laboratory manual on the subject for use in aviation colleges and universities. Therefore, the scope is limited to propeller-driven aircraft with piston engines. It is also useful for practicing engineers and designers with the technical ability to evaluate the performance of light airplanes.