High performance and complex: 61.31
Two distinct definitions, two distinct endorsements - and tailwheel too.
14 min read · Advanced aerodynamics
After this lesson you can
- State the exact, cumulative definition of a complex airplane and the single-number definition of a high-performance airplane.
- Explain why a tailwheel airplane requires its own endorsement, using the ground-loop mechanism.
- Describe how a 61.31 endorsement is earned, logged, and how long it remains valid.
- Recognize the gap between satisfying 61.129's experience requirement and holding the complex-airplane endorsement.
Three phrases get used almost interchangeably in American flight schools, as if they meant the same thing: complex airplane, high-performance airplane, tailwheel airplane. They are three separate categories under three different provisions of the same regulation, each requiring its own logbook endorsement.
The most common mix-up is assuming that a complex airplane is simply "one with more than 200 horsepower." That is wrong on both counts: horsepower plays no part in the complex definition, and equipment plays no part in the high-performance definition.
None of these three are ratings. There is no written or practical test for any of them, they never expire, and they live in exactly one place: the pilot's logbook, signed and dated by the instructor who provided the training and found the pilot proficient.
The rest of this lesson
- 1.Complex airplane: three systems, all at once
- 2.High-performance airplane: one number
- 3.Two more categories, built the same way: high-altitude pressurized, and tailwheel
- 4.The endorsement itself: how it works, and its limits
- 5.Why this matters for the commercial certificate
- 6.What to remember
These 6 sections, their figures, the checks along the way and the end-of-lesson quiz come with the CPL track. Paid once, yours for good.
Key terms
Try to recall each definition before turning the card.