1. Scope

Keywords

Rationale

Emerging aircraft designs increasingly incorporate flight control systems that simplify pilot workload by allowing pilots to command high-level flight objectives rather than direct control inputs. While these Simplified Flight Control concepts are being developed and applied across multiple aircraft categories, there is currently no common industry guidance describing their design principles, operational boundaries, or safe integration into piloted aircraft. Existing standards primarily address primary flight control integrity or indirect control law behavior but do not provide guidance on higher-level control abstraction, pilot–automation interaction, or safe degradation strategies specific to Simplified Flight Control. As a result, manufacturers and regulators lack a shared framework for discussing these systems consistently. This guide is intended to support aircraft designers, system developers, certification applicants, regulators, and pilots by establishing common terminology, architectural concepts, and safety considerations for Simplified Flight Control systems. The guide will inform future certification approaches and potential future standards while preserving flexibility for innovation and continued maturation of the technology. This standard will supplement a separate standard developed for indirect flight control