Definition
A General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) industry standard that defines the recommended format, content, and arrangement of information presented in a Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH). Most POHs for general aviation aircraft built since the mid-1970s are organized according to this specification, which divides the handbook into nine standard sections covering items such as general information, limitations, emergency procedures, normal procedures, performance, weight and balance, systems, handling, and supplements.
Plain English
Specification No. 1 is the industry rulebook that says how a Pilot's Operating Handbook should be laid out. Because of it, most modern POHs have the same nine sections in the same order, so a pilot moving from one aircraft to another knows where to find each piece of information.
Context Anchor
You encounter this term when reading about how Pilot’s Operating Handbooks and Airplane Flight Manuals are organized.
Derivation
GAMA stands for the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, the trade group representing aircraft makers. 'Specification No. 1' was simply the first published standard they issued for POH layout — hence the plain numbering.
Why Pilots Care
Tells the pilot which set of rules and equipment the airplane was legally approved under, affecting what operations are allowed.
Analogy
It is like a standard table of contents for airplane handbooks. The details change with each airplane, but the main sections are arranged in a familiar order.
Intuition Check
Do not read Specification No. 1 as a rule about one specific airplane part or performance number. Here, it means a handbook-format standard used to organize pilot information.
Example Sentence 1
Because the POH was written to GAMA Specification No. 1, the pilot knew the emergency procedures would be in Section 3.
Example Sentence 2
Pilots check the AFM to confirm the aircraft meets Specification No. 1 before planning certain flight operations.