Flight test

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Flight test is a branch of aeronautical engineering that develops and gathers data during flight and then analyses the data to evaluate the flight characteristics of the aircraft and validate its design, including safety aspects. Flight test can range from the test of a single new aircraft system to the complete test and certification of a new aircraft. The time of a flight test can vary from a few days to more than a year.

There are two primary aspects to a flight test program, handling qualities and performance. Handling qualities evaluates the aircraft's controllability and response to pilot inputs throughout the range of flight. Performance evaluates aircraft in relation to its projected abilities, such as speed, range, power available, drag, airflow characteristics, and so forth.

Because the primary goal of a flight test program is to gather accurate engineering data, often on a design that is not fully proven, piloting a flight test aircraft requires a high degree of training and skill, so such programs are typically flown by a specially trained test pilot, and the data is gathered by a flight test engineer, and often visually displayed to the a test pilot and/or flight test engineer using flight test instrumentation.