Post-Maintenance Test Flight Checklist
Interactive post-maintenance test flight checklist with tick-off progress saved in your browser — built around the misses that actually happen.
Maintenance-induced issues cluster in the first flight hour — the test profile keeps that hour over a runway instead of over terrain.
Before engine start
Ground & runup
Flight profile
⚠️ Not for operational decisions. This is a record-keeping and planning aid only — not certified avionics, not a source of regulatory truth. Always verify against official sources (FAA) and your operator's approved documents before flying.
Free interactive post-maintenance test flight checklist for pilots flying first flights after maintenance: every item tickable with progress saved in your browser — built around the misses that actually happen.
About Post-Maintenance Test Flight Checklist
The difference between a checklist and a suggestion is whether you actually tick it. This one makes ticking effortless for pilots flying first flights after maintenance — sections in working order, progress persisted locally, a counter that shows what remains — and its content earns the time: maintenance-induced issues cluster in the first flight hour — the test profile keeps that hour over a runway instead of over terrain. Use it live during the task, not as bedtime reading afterwards.
How to use Post-Maintenance Test Flight Checklist
- 1Open the checklist at the start of the task, not the end.
- 2Tick items as actually completed — the counter keeps you honest.
- 3Reset for next time; the structure is the discipline.
Why use Post-Maintenance Test Flight Checklist?
- ✓Interactive ticking with progress saved in your browser
- ✓Content built around real failure points for pilots flying first flights after maintenance
- ✓Sectioned in working order — use it live during the task
- ✓Reset once, reuse forever
- ✓Free, private, no account
Frequently asked questions
Is a post-maintenance test flight legally required?+
Sometimes: 91.407(b) requires an operational check flight (rated pilot, no passengers, logbook entry) when maintenance may have appreciably changed flight characteristics or substantially affected operation — rigging, control work, major repairs. For everything else it's judgement, and the statistics make the case: maintenance-induced failures concentrate in the first hour. A planned profile near the field, benign weather, no passengers costs nothing and intercepts exactly that risk.
Should I adapt this checklist to my specific aircraft?+
Yes — treat it as the airworthy baseline and extend it: your model's known weak points, your shop's or kit maker's supplemental items, the quirks your aircraft has taught you. The structure (sectioned, ordered, ticked live) matters more than any single item, and a checklist that reflects YOUR aircraft gets used, which is the only metric that counts.
Do I need an account or internet connection?+
No account and no connection are needed once the page has loaded — records live in local storage on your device and every calculation runs in your browser. Data doesn't sync between devices, so export the CSV when you want to move or archive your records.
What format does the export use and what reads it?+
A plain CSV with one row per entry and labelled column headers — the most portable format there is. Spreadsheets open it directly, most specialised software can map it on import, and a printed copy is perfectly legible to a human reviewer. Nothing proprietary means your checklist record is never trapped here.
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