Recording devices have been used to help with the testing and understanding of aircraft behaviour since at least the First World War. Early reports to the Aeronautical Research Council reveal some most ingenious devices which were clearly invaluable in assessing the suitability of early Royal Aircraft Factory aircraft as gun platforms.

Since that time the flight recorder, in one or other of its many forms, has been an essential tool for the aircraft constructor and designer, used to establish the characteristics of the airframe itself and its ability to fly as the designer intended. The use of recorded behaviour, in comparison to that predicted by powerful digital and hybrid computers, has helped in recent years to minimise the amount of test flying required to bring a new design to operational service.