Definition
An FAA Advisory Circular that provides guidance and accepted methods for showing compliance with the airworthiness standards for transport category rotorcraft set out in 14 CFR Part 29. It explains how manufacturers should demonstrate that a transport category helicopter meets certification requirements, including those affecting flight manual limitations, performance, and operating procedures.
Plain English
It's an FAA guidance document that tells helicopter manufacturers how to prove their larger helicopter designs meet the rules. Pilots see its influence in the limitations and procedures printed in the helicopter's flight manual.
Context Anchor
Seen when FAA material discusses helicopter flight manual limitations and the certification guidance behind those limitations.
Derivation
AC' stands for Advisory Circular, the FAA's series of non-regulatory guidance documents. The number '29' ties it to 14 CFR Part 29 (the rules for transport category rotorcraft), and '-2' identifies it as the second AC in that series. Knowing this tells you immediately what kind of aircraft and rules it relates to.
Why Pilots Care
It establishes the approved operating limits and required information that must appear in the helicopter flight manual, directly affecting what a pilot can and cannot do.
Intuition Check
Do not read advisory as meaning the helicopter's flight manual limits are optional. The circular gives guidance, but the approved limitations in the flight manual are binding for operation.
Example Sentence 1
The flight manual limitations on this transport category helicopter were established during certification using methods described in AC 29-2.
Example Sentence 2
Before flight, the instructor referred to AC 29-2 for clarification on required performance data in the rotorcraft manual.