Originally Posted by
fairb
Please could someone explain what the difference is between a Flight Manual and Pilot's Operating Handbook?
While it depends on the country of manufacturer, in general, the POH is a "voluntary" industry document and the Airplane Flight Manual (AFM) is a regulatory required document for certain information. However, those terms were sometimes inter-changed by some OEMs prior to the AFM regulatory requirement. For example, for Cessna and Piper after March 1979 the FAA requires each TC holder to provide a current regulatory AFM at delivery. Prior to that date it was whatever document format and nomenclature the TC holder wanted to use.