Complex and High-Performance Aircraft

The CEO of the award-winning Rocky Mountain Construction Company, Greg Daviscourt has been serving in the industry for three decades. He provides renovation, restoration, and construction services to many companies across the continental United States and Alaska. Greg Daviscourt is also a pilot who specializes in high-performance aircraft.

Before 1997, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) considered high-performance and complex aircraft to be aircraft with at least 200-horsepower engines or a controllable pitch propeller and retractable gear and flaps.

However, the FAA has created separate definitions for both high-performance and complex aircraft. High-performance is now considered aircraft with a greater than 200-horsepower engine, which rules out numerous planes that previously were in this category.

Planes with retractable flaps, gear, and controllable pitch propellers are now considered complex aircraft. If an airplane is complex and comes with an engine of more than 200 hp, pilots require endorsements for both high-performance and complex aircraft.