Plain English Meaning

How an aircraft actually behaves and feels to fly -- how it responds when you move the controls, how steady or twitchy it is, how it acts at slow speeds, and how it recovers from upsets.

Full Definition

The observable handling qualities and behavior of an aircraft in flight, including how it responds to control inputs, how it behaves at various airspeeds and configurations, its stability tendencies, stall and recovery behavior, and overall maneuverability throughout its flight envelope.

Context Anchor

Seen when comparing airplane types, learning a new airplane, reading a flight manual, or discussing how an airplane handles during training.

Derivation

Flight comes from an old English word meaning the act of flying. Characteristic comes from words meaning a distinguishing mark or trait. Together, flight characteristics means the distinguishing traits an aircraft shows while it is flying.