NAVAIRINST 13034.1 and flight clearances, explained

A NAVAIR flight clearance is the Navy's airworthiness approval for an aircraft, and NAVAIRINST 13034.1 is the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) instruction that governs how one is requested, reviewed, and issued. The general NATOPS manual, CNAF M-3710.7, defines a flight clearance as a temporary airworthiness approval from Commander, Naval Air Systems Command and cites the 13034.1 series as the authority behind it. The only public copy of the instruction found for this page is revision C from 2004, hosted by EverySpec, so this page explains the process from that text, from the current CNAF manual, and from Navy messages and stories that show the process at work. Readers who want the manuals first should start with what NATOPS is.

What a flight clearance is

Two definitions anchor the subject. The glossary of CNAF M-3710.7, dated February 7, 2025, defines a flight clearance as a document that "provides temporary flight operating limits for an aviation system operating in a nonstandard configuration or to a nonstandard envelope," pending issuance of a technical directive or a change to the NATOPS, NATIP, or tactical manuals, and calls it a temporary airworthiness approval from COMNAVAIRSYSCOM. NATIP is the Naval Aviation Technical Information Product, the publication that carries weapons and stores data beside the NATOPS flight manual.

NAVAIRINST 13034.1C, dated September 28, 2004, gives the engineering meaning. A flight clearance is evidence that an independent engineering assessment of airworthiness has been performed and that the assessment indicates the aircraft system can be operated with an acceptable level of technical risk. Paragraph 4e says the process involves an independent engineering assessment of three things: airworthiness, the property of an air system configuration to safely attain, sustain, and terminate flight within approved usage limits; safety of flight, the same property measured against accepted limits for injury, death, and damage; and unusual risk. Where risk is above normal for the intended mission, a Hazard Risk Analysis may be required and a Hazard Risk Index is included in the clearance.

Interim flight clearance versus permanent flight clearance

NAVAIRINST 13034.1C paragraph 4a sets the two categories. A flight clearance can be interim or permanent. An interim flight clearance (IFC) provides temporary flight authorization for an aircraft system operating in a nonstandard configuration, envelope, or operation, pending promulgation of a change to the permanent flight clearance documents. Interim clearances are common in research, development, test and evaluation, and can also be used on a temporary basis for fleet operations. Permanent flight clearances come in three forms: NATOPS, NATIP or the legacy tactical manual (TACMAN), or an operator's manual. The NATOPS provides approved flight limitations and procedures for standardized production configurations; the NATIP provides the additional weapons and stores limitations for those configurations.

The definitions section restates it: the permanent flight clearance "is an aircraft system's NATOPS and NATIP/legacy TACMAN." Paragraph 5h says an interim flight clearance is always temporary and expires on completion of an event or at a time set by the issuing authority, or when it becomes permanent through promulgation of a change to the NATOPS, NATIP, or TACMAN. Paragraph 5a adds the release: once the changes to the permanent documents or the technical directive are issued and available to fleet forces, an interim flight clearance is no longer required.

CNAF M-3710.7 says the same from the NATOPS side. Paragraph 2.3.3 describes three maturity stages. A Draft NATOPS does not contain a letter of promulgation and is not an approved flight clearance; an interim flight clearance from COMNAVAIRSYSCOM is required to operate an aircraft with one. A Preliminary NATOPS is declared by the NATOPS Products Administrator after an engineering review, typically via release of an IFC. A Promulgated NATOPS has a Letter of Promulgation, and promulgated NATOPS are approved permanent flight clearances for that type, model, and series. Paragraph 7.1.1 adds that aircraft operated outside the promulgated NATOPS and NATIP require a modified flight clearance, which may be a NATOPS or NATIP change or an Interim Flight Clearance letter or message, as the Airworthiness and CYBERSAFE Office (ACO) determines.

Who issues them, AIR-4.0P and the Flight Clearance Officer

The instruction is signed out of AIR-4.0P, the NAVAIR Airworthiness Office, and its definitions describe the people inside it. The Flight Clearance Officer (FCO) is the military head of AIR-4.0P and heads the National Airworthiness Team (NAT), a cross-competency group of empowered personnel dedicated to processing, tracking, and issuing NAVAIR flight clearances. Flight Clearance Release Authorities are individuals empowered by the FCO to sign interim flight clearances at diverse levels of authority according to their experience, and they exist at various NAVAIR sites. A Flight Clearance Facilitator helps move a draft clearance through engineering review.

Paragraph 7 sets the responsibilities. AIR-4.0 promulgates operating limitations and technical data by issuing a flight clearance whenever an aircraft system configuration is modified or a new system is introduced. The NAT is the single point of contact for interim and permanent flight clearances for all naval aircraft systems, and all proposed NATOPS and legacy TACMAN changes are coordinated with the AIR-4.0P airworthiness office, which acts as the interface between the NATOPS Model Managers, the class desks, and the engineering competencies. The NATIP program is managed by AIR-4.0P. Specific individuals are empowered to issue flight clearances through an Empowerment Letter signed by the FCO or Deputy. Paragraph 8f says AIR-4.0P authorizes operating procedures and limitations on behalf of the Chief of Naval Operations for new or modified aircraft systems through formally promulgated NATOPS and NATIP, and may issue interim procedures and limitations via IFC for systems that lack that authorization.

The instruction also marks what AIR-4.0P does not do. Paragraph 4a says AIR-4.0P may issue flight restrictions, not to include grounding bulletins or red stripes, and that the airworthiness process is not part of the configuration management process; neither process authorizes the other. The post on NAVAIR technical directives covers the configuration side.

CNAF M-3710.7 paragraph 7.1.1 fixes the top of the chain. The Commander, Naval Air Systems Command is responsible for conducting all airworthiness assessments for the Department of the Navy, and the waiver authority for airworthiness rests with COMNAVAIRSYSCOM. The next sentence gives COMNAVAIRSYSCOM sole authority to issue declarations of public aircraft operations to contractor operations, with day-to-day execution of that authority delegated to the ACO. ALNAV 052/16 and ALNAV 074/18 both list an AIR 4.0P point of contact for airworthiness questions.

What triggers a flight clearance

Paragraph 5a of NAVAIRINST 13034.1C says a flight clearance is required when an aircraft system will make its first test flight or subsequent developmental test flights in a nonstandard configuration or envelope, undergo developmental or operational testing or fleet operations with a preliminary NATOPS, or operate in the fleet in nonstandard configurations or envelopes not approved by the NATOPS, legacy TACMAN or NATIP, operator's manual, or a NAVAIR technical directive. Paragraph 5b adds that each flight clearance is a stand-alone document valid only for the configurations and envelopes it specifies, that the most restrictive limits apply when several clearances cover one aircraft, and that any change to the specified configuration requires a separate or amended clearance.

The same paragraph lists examples of changes that require one: structural and material changes; modification to the exterior contour or mold line, such as adding or removing an antenna, wing fence, ventral fin, or vortex generator; carriage and release of stores, mixed loads, or expanded limits not authorized by NATIP or NATOPS, including store mass property deviations beyond 5 percent in weight, 0.5 inch in center of gravity, or 10 percent in mass moments of inertia; modification to the weapons release system, including stores management software; modification to the flight control system, including software revisions; a new or modified propulsion system or its control; changes to displays that affect situational awareness, aircraft control, or weapon release; installation of equipment, including commercial-off-the-shelf items, not part of the NATOPS configuration; modification of any subsystem affecting flight operations, propulsion, or weapons control; modification of aviation life support systems; and any change to an unmanned aircraft system, which the instruction defines to include the ground control station and data links as well as the air vehicle.

Software has its own rule. Item 16 is "any changes in software," divided into levels by the systems affected. Direct Critical Software (Level I) directly controls the flight dynamics of the aircraft, or a flight-critical system that has no immediately available backup; the examples are flight control computer software and engine control software. Indirect Critical Software (Level II) provides data to flight-critical systems that have independent backups, or non-critical data to those systems. Non-Critical Software (Level III) controls or provides data to non-flight-critical functions. Subsystem modifications that do not interface with or affect flight operations, propulsion, or weapons control, such as user data file changes, generally do not require a flight clearance. A mission planning system needs a clearance when its output, loaded into the aircraft, affects flight controls, autopilot, or automatic weapons release in a way not already covered by NATOPS, NATIP, or another flight clearance.

Paragraph 5d sets the threshold. For manned or unmanned fixed-wing aircraft, a flight clearance is required when there is intent for flight or the potential for flight, as in high-speed taxi. For rotary-wing and tilt-rotor aircraft, the threshold is engagement or turning of rotors.

What a flight clearance does not do

Paragraph 5c is a list worth reading in full because searchers often assume a clearance is a broader approval than it is. A flight clearance does not authorize operation of the aircraft system; does not authorize modification of the aircraft system; does not authorize installation of equipment; does not grant exemption from the formal NAVAIR configuration management process; does not constitute a safety review, such as those performed by the Naval Safety Center, or imply one has been performed; does not indicate adequate sponsorship or funding; does not assign aircraft or authorize aircrews or operators; does not guarantee the modification will perform its intended function; does not indicate adequate logistics support; does not remove the need to coordinate with the facility, range, or ship; and does not authorize RDT&E ground or flight testing without an approved NAVAIR test plan.

The ownership rule follows. A flight clearance is issued only for an aircraft system owned or leased by the Navy or Marine Corps, with exceptions for a formal agreement naming COMNAVAIRSYSCOM as the authority or for a non-Navy aircraft operating near Navy ships or facilities that require one. Other customers receive a flight clearance recommendation for acceptance at their discretion.

How a request moves

Enclosure (1) of NAVAIRINST 13034.1C is the process, and paragraph 8 summarizes it. The integrated product team manages interim flight clearance development, and the instruction warns that the process can be lengthy and that program plans must account for its cost and schedule. A designated team member generates the request as a naval message or a formal serialized letter sent to the NAT for tracking, with copies to the program manager and team leader. The aircraft controlling custodian must agree to the use of its aircraft before the request is released, and that concurrence is referenced in the message. Requests for test aircraft are released by the appropriate test wing; requests for fleet aircraft are released by the type commander or aircraft owner.

Timing and format are fixed. Email and phone requests are not recognized. When the enclosure's process is followed, the request and the data identified in the Engineering Data Requirements Agreement Plan should be sent at least 21 days before the clearance need date, and considerably more time may be required when it is not. Extensions, reissues, and amendments need a formal request too. Clearances are issued by naval message or another NAT-approved method, and the sample clearance in enclosure (3) carries a line that reads "THIS FLIGHT CLEARANCE EXPIRES" followed by a date. Paragraph 8g gives the FCO a shortcut: a change to the permanent documents may be issued in lieu of an interim clearance.

A NAVAIR story dated June 7, 2007 shows the volume. The story calls flight clearances technical documents explaining how to use new or altered weapons and aircraft configurations, and reports that a new web-based system in the US Navy/Marine Corps Airworthiness Office had cut average turnaround for Global War on Terror support from 45 days to two days, and in some cases to two hours, by letting engineers work on a request in parallel instead of in series. The example was a request for a ramp-mounted machine gun for the CH-46 helicopter after two aircraft were shot down from behind in Iraq.

Two public interim flight clearances

Few flight clearances are public, but two are. The first is a multiplatform interim flight clearance for portable electronic tablets, hosted by Training Air Wing 5 under the Chief of Naval Air Training. The message, which answers a request dated February 22, 2018, cites NAVAIRINST 13034.1F and grants an IFC for a list of more than 60 aircraft types, from the F/A-18 and E-2D to the T-6 and the VH-92A, to use portable electronic tablets in flight within the configuration and limitations it sets. Each new tablet model must pass an electromagnetic compatibility safety-of-flight test with each aircraft type before its first flight in that type, tablets in ejection-seat aircraft need an approved holster, and carrier-based aircraft must stow tablets before catapult launch and arrestment. The message cancels an earlier clearance dated December 7, 2017 and lists the paragraphs it changed.

The second is the V-22. A Navy story dated December 20, 2024 says NAVAIR issued a fleet bulletin directing inspection of each Osprey to verify the flight hours on its proprotor gearbox before the next flight. Aircraft whose gearboxes met a flight-hour threshold would resume flying under the controls in the March 2024 interim flight clearance, and a new IFC with additional risk mitigation controls covered aircraft below the threshold until their gearboxes were upgraded or passed it. NAVAIR coordinated the bulletin and the IFC with the Navy, Air Force Special Operations Command, and the Marine Corps. The story shows a fleet bulletin and an interim flight clearance issued together, one directing the inspection and the other setting the controls for flight.

The revision history and the current letter

Revision C is the edition EverySpec hosts. Dated September 28, 2004 and signed out of AIR-4.0P, it cancels NAVAIRINST 13034.1B of October 24, 2000 and NAVAIRINST 13034.2 of August 15, 2000, and describes itself as a major revision. The 2009 general instruction, OPNAVINST 3710.7U, lists NAVAIRINST 13034.1C by letter among its references and defines a flight clearance in the same terms the current CNAF manual uses.

Two later letters appear in Navy messages. ALNAV 052/16, dated July 27, 2016, says that, per OPNAVINST 3710.7U, every Navy and Marine Corps owned or leased aircraft, manned or unmanned, must have an airworthiness approval in the form of a flight clearance issued by COMNAVAIRSYSCOM per NAVAIRINST 13034.1E, Flight Clearance Policy for Air Vehicles and Aircraft Systems, dated March 30, 2015. ALNAV 074/18, dated October 23, 2018, cancels that message and cites NAVAIRINST 13034.1F, dated June 30, 2016, under a new title: Airworthiness and Cybersecurity Safety Policies for Air Vehicles and Aircraft Systems. The tablet IFC above cites the same revision and date. The message itself added cybersecurity vulnerability assessment to the compliance list for unmanned aircraft.

The 2025 CNAF M-3710.7 cites the "13034.1 series" in Appendix C without a letter. No public copy of revision E or F was found for this page, and the documents fetched do not name a revision after F, so the process facts above come from revision C and the current letter and title from the 2018 message. A reader who needs the current text should obtain it from NAVAIR rather than rely on the 2004 edition for anything later revisions changed, cybersecurity above all.

The DoD policy above the instruction

Navy flight clearances implement a Department of Defense requirement. DoD Instruction 5030.61, DoD Airworthiness Policy, effective December 3, 2024, reissues the 2013 directive of the same number and states that all air systems owned, leased, operated, used, designed, or modified by a DoD Component must have undergone an airworthiness assessment in accordance with that Component's policy. Military Department airworthiness authorities conduct the assessments and issue the approvals, and the instruction exempts contracted air systems operated as civil aircraft under existing civil certification. CNAF M-3710.7 paragraph 7.1.1, dated February 7, 2025, repeats the DoD rule and names COMNAVAIRSYSCOM as the Navy's assessor, but cites it as DoD Directive 5030.61, the 2013 issuance the instruction cancelled on December 3, 2024.

The engineering criteria sit in a handbook. NAVAIRINST 13034.1C lists MIL-HDBK-516, Airworthiness Certification Criteria, among its references, and the latest edition listed on EverySpec, MIL-HDBK-516C dated December 12, 2014, describes itself as the document that establishes the airworthiness certification criteria for all manned and unmanned, fixed and rotary wing air vehicle systems. The instruction's paragraph 3c adds that the Navy maintains mutual acceptance of Air Force and Army airworthiness certifications for the configuration and usage the originating service authorized. The post on OPNAVINST 3710.7 and CNAF M-3710.7 covers the rest of chapter 7.

What to check

• Which document is the permanent flight clearance for the aircraft in question, and does the NATOPS copy carry a Letter of Promulgation?
• Does the interim flight clearance name the configuration, the envelope, and an expiration date or event, as the sample in NAVAIRINST 13034.1C enclosure (3) does?
• When several clearances apply to one aircraft, has the most restrictive set of limits been identified?
• Does a proposed change touch a trigger in paragraph 5b: mold line, stores, flight control or engine software, displays, mounted equipment, or any part of an unmanned system?
• Is the clearance being read as an authorization to modify, install, fund, or operate? Paragraph 5c says it is none of those.
• Which revision letter does the citing document name? Public Navy messages give E (March 30, 2015) and F (June 30, 2016, retitled); EverySpec hosts C (September 28, 2004).

Azcuna's ELLMENT, the E-2D Large Language Model Entity, was proposed to NAVAIR PMA-231 under Navy SBIR Phase I topic DON26BZ01-NV010. The prototype, built at private expense on publicly available doctrine, answers with a page-level citation and refuses when the documents do not support an answer. The proposal has been submitted.

Questions people ask

What is NAVAIRINST 13034.1?

NAVAIRINST 13034.1 is the Naval Air Systems Command instruction that sets policy, responsibilities, and procedures for granting flight clearances for air vehicles and aircraft systems. Revision C, dated September 28, 2004 and hosted by EverySpec, states that purpose and applies the instruction to all manned and unmanned air vehicles and aircraft systems owned or leased by the Navy or Marine Corps. CNAF M-3710.7 cites the 13034.1 series as the authority for airworthiness certification in the form of a flight clearance.

What is a NAVAIR flight clearance?

CNAF M-3710.7 defines a flight clearance as a temporary airworthiness approval from Commander, Naval Air Systems Command that provides temporary flight operating limits for an aviation system operating in a nonstandard configuration or to a nonstandard envelope, pending a technical directive or a change to NATOPS, NATIP, or tactical manuals. NAVAIRINST 13034.1C adds that a flight clearance is evidence that an independent engineering assessment of airworthiness has been performed and shows acceptable technical risk.

What is the difference between an interim flight clearance and a permanent flight clearance?

NAVAIRINST 13034.1C says there are two categories. An interim flight clearance is temporary approval to fly an aircraft system in a nonstandard configuration or outside the envelopes defined in NATOPS and NATIP, and it expires on a date or event or when its content becomes permanent. The permanent flight clearance is the aircraft system's NATOPS and NATIP. CNAF M-3710.7 says a promulgated NATOPS, one with a Letter of Promulgation, is an approved permanent flight clearance.

Who issues flight clearances for Navy aircraft?

NAVAIRINST 13034.1C names the Flight Clearance Officer, the military head of AIR-4.0P, as head of the National Airworthiness Team, which it calls the single point of contact for interim and permanent flight clearances for all naval aircraft systems. The FCO empowers Flight Clearance Release Authorities at NAVAIR sites to sign interim clearances. CNAF M-3710.7 says the waiver authority for airworthiness in the Department of the Navy rests with Commander, Naval Air Systems Command, and that modified flight clearances take the form the Airworthiness and CYBERSAFE Office determines.

When is a flight clearance required?

NAVAIRINST 13034.1C requires one when an aircraft system will make its first test flight or later development flights in a nonstandard configuration, undergo testing or fleet operations with a preliminary NATOPS, or operate in the fleet in a configuration or envelope not approved by NATOPS, NATIP, an operator's manual, or a NAVAIR technical directive. The threshold for fixed-wing aircraft is intent or potential for flight, including high-speed taxi; for rotary-wing and tilt-rotor aircraft it is engaging or turning the rotors.

Does a software change require a flight clearance?

Yes, when the software affects flight. NAVAIRINST 13034.1C lists any change in software among the configuration changes that require a flight clearance and divides software into three levels: direct critical software such as flight control and engine control, indirect critical software that provides data to critical systems, and non-critical software. The instruction says subsystem modifications that do not interface with or affect flight operations, propulsion, or weapons control, such as user data file changes, generally do not require a clearance.

What does a flight clearance not do?

NAVAIRINST 13034.1C lists eleven things a flight clearance does not do. It does not authorize operation of the aircraft, authorize modification or installation of equipment, exempt anyone from NAVAIR configuration management, constitute a safety review such as those the Naval Safety Center performs, indicate funding, assign aircraft or aircrews, guarantee the modification will work, indicate logistics support, remove the need to coordinate with the range or ship, or authorize test flights without an approved NAVAIR test plan.

What is the current revision of NAVAIRINST 13034.1?

The newest revision named in a public Navy document fetched for this page is NAVAIRINST 13034.1F, dated June 30, 2016. ALNAV 074/18 cites it under the title Airworthiness and Cybersecurity Safety Policies for Air Vehicles and Aircraft Systems, and a NAVAIR interim flight clearance for electronic tablets cites the same revision and date. ALNAV 052/16 cites revision E, dated March 30, 2015. The 2025 edition of CNAF M-3710.7 cites the 13034.1 series without a letter.

What is the relationship between a flight clearance and NATOPS?

NATOPS is the permanent flight clearance. NAVAIRINST 13034.1C says permanent flight clearances come as NATOPS, NATIP or legacy tactical manuals, or an operator's manual, and that once a change to those documents is issued, an interim clearance is no longer required. CNAF M-3710.7 says an interim flight clearance is required to operate an aircraft with a Draft or Preliminary NATOPS, and that the Airworthiness website posts interim flight clearances and NATIP alongside NATOPS products.

How long does a NAVAIR flight clearance take?

NAVAIRINST 13034.1C says a request and its supporting data should be sent at least 21 days before the clearance is needed when the enclosure's process is followed, and that considerably more time may be required when it is not. A NAVAIR story dated June 7, 2007 reported that a new web-based system had cut the Airworthiness Office's average turnaround for Global War on Terror support requests from 45 days to two days, and in some cases to two hours, by letting engineers work on a request in parallel.

Sources

1. 1NAVAIRINST 13034.1C, Flight Clearance Policy for Air Vehicles and Aircraft Systems (September 28, 2004) · Naval Air Systems Command, hosted by EverySpec
2. 2CNAF M-3710.7, NATOPS General Flight and Operating Instructions Manual (February 7, 2025) · Commander, Naval Air Forces, hosted by Navy Medicine (Naval Aerospace Medical Institute)
3. 3OPNAVINST 3710.7U, NATOPS General Flight and Operating Instructions (November 23, 2009) · Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, hosted by Headquarters Marine Corps Aviation
4. 4ALNAV 052/16, Guidance on Procurement and Operation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (July 27, 2016) · Secretary of the Navy, hosted by MyNavy HR
5. 5ALNAV 074/18, Guidance on Procurement and Operation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (October 23, 2018) · Secretary of the Navy, hosted by MyNavy HR
6. 6Multiplatform Interim Flight Clearance for Use of Portable Electronic Tablets in Flight · Commander, Naval Air Systems Command, hosted by Chief of Naval Air Training (Training Air Wing 5)
7. 7NAVAIR issues V-22 bulletin and interim flight clearance · U.S. Navy (December 20, 2024)
8. 8Web-based Airworthiness flight clearance system cuts turnaround from 45 days to two · Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), June 7, 2007
9. 9DoD Instruction 5030.61, DoD Airworthiness Policy (December 3, 2024) · Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment
10. 10MIL-HDBK-516C, Department of Defense Handbook: Airworthiness Certification Criteria (December 12, 2014) · Department of Defense, hosted by EverySpec

Where this shows up in our work

• ELLMENT, the offline LLM for E-2D crews answers a crew's question from the aircraft's own manuals and cites the page, with no network.
• TRACE, the offline S1000D and IETM viewer opens S1000D, MIL-STD-3001 and PDF technical manuals on a tablet with every marking intact.