EAA Accepting Flight Test Manual Preorders

October 11, 2018 — EAA’s long-awaited EAA Flight Test Manual (FTM) will be ready to ship within the next two weeks. EAA is now accepting preorders; the member price is $17.95 and $22.95 for nonmembers.

The FTM, previously known under its working title XP³, is a comprehensive program for flight testing your amateur-built aircraft. The product consists of a 47-page manual that discusses each test point in detail, and a booklet of 19 test cards that are designed to be carried in the aircraft for quick reference and data collection while flying.

The test cards are similar to those used by professional civilian and military test pilots, and EAA is excited to bring them to the amateur-built flight testing world. The guidance and data collection of the FTM system will bring simplicity to not just flight testing, but also creating an operating handbook to accompany the aircraft throughout its life.

EAA intends to work with the FAA to create a new, alternative Phase I flight testing program that uses the FTM and other flight testing outlines like it to create a “requirements-based Phase I,” with a significantly reduced hour requirement in exchange for the completion of a step-by-step flight testing program.

“We are immensely proud of this project,” said Sean Elliott, EAA’s vice president of advocacy and safety. “This manual is the result of many years of work by EAA, our volunteer Homebuilt Aircraft Council, and our Board Safety Committee. It builds on other recent projects we have undertaken to improve flight test safety, such as the Additional Pilot Program [AC 90-116].”