I thought it may be informative to give owners, prospective owners and admirers of Aeroprakt aircraft some idea of the checks the aircraft go through before final release to the customer. So with the help of Mike Rudd and his video equipment, we took one of the latest A32 Vixxen aircraft for a check flight, prior to ferrying it to its new owner, Brian Gerhardy, in South Australia.

In fact, it is a requirement under current light sport aircraft regulations for all such aircraft to be flight tested prior to release by the manufacturer. It is also a requirement for them to be re-tested after shipping should any of the major components (eg wings, tail, controls etc) be removed or disconnected for transportation. In reality, almost all imported LSA aircraft are containerised into Australia, so, although Aeroprakt aircraft are flight tested before shipping, we also have to check them again after re-assembly and before release to owners in Australia.

Not shown in the video is a preliminary series of 6-7 circuits (‘patterns’ to our USA colleagues) which were flown with and without flap to ensure aileron & elevator trims were correctly set and that all the controls functioned correctly. For this aircraft, these were all flown at Moorabbin Airport, where the aircraft was re-assembled after shipping. It was then taken to Tyabb Airport for the main test, where there are fewer airspace restrictions (height limit over Tyabb is 8,500 feet) and air traffic is much less frenetic!

While carrying out these mandatory flight tests, I use a checklist to ensure I cover all the key items. Mike mentioned he thought this may be a useful checklist which all owners could use as a basis for a test flight after every 100-hourly/annual inspection. Please let me know if you’re interested and I’ll post a short item about it.

As usual, either click the photo above of this link to take you to the YouTube video: Aeroprakt a32 Vixxen pre-delivery flight check

View full-screen in hi-res if you can, as you’ll find the instruments easier to read.