FGD135
Many thanks for the kind words... but what I really like is this:
Only if the AFM had expressly forbidden it would it have been illegal. You can't break a law that doesn't exist.
Precisely, and that is what
RadioSaigon and I are saying. There is stuff the AFM forbids, and stuff it tells you how to do, but between those two points there is a vast gulf of information that makes no appearance whatsoever in the AFM. Your examples are particularly pertinent - many thanks.
Another point you made that is worth thinking about is what a "test pilot" actually does - which is to take a machine with unknown flight characteristics and find out what happens when you fly it towards it's limits. Every conceivable manoeuvre is covered during certification, including aeros and other unusual manoeuvres. You can bet your boots that anything particularly dangerous about the flight characteristics of a particular aircraft would result in a big red "DO NOT..." in the AFM. It is almost inconceivable that the average pilot could do anything with the aircraft that had already not been done during certification testing. The lack of info in the average AFM is frustrating, but it is not a prohibition unless specifically stated as such.