During testing of a gas turbine engine with strain‐gauged parts, a three‐dimensional plot of stress amplitude and frequency against time (or engine speed) greatly facilitates presentation of data in an easily understandable form. It is shown how advances can be made from such ‘3D’ plots while presenting data rapidly, automatically and still in traditional formats. Examples are presented to indicate how such techniques can save analysis time, improve engineering understanding and enable a more rapid turn‐round of engine tests. The methods described also assist recovery of information which, by conventional methods, would be lost in background int