The precipitation behaviour of aluminium alloys during continuous cooling from solution annealing has been in-situ analysed by differential scanning calorimetry DSC extensively. Results are plotted as continuous cooling precipitation diagrams, which especially illustrate the critical cooling rate, necessary to suppress premature coarse precipitation, i.e. maintain the complete ageing potential. Typical dimensions of such DSC samples are in the millimetre range. These small dimensions allow microstructure analysis, but limit testing of mechanical properties. Frequently, hardness testing is performed and included in continuous cooling precipitation diagrams. Further mechanical properties like strength, ductility and toughness as well as their dependence on cooling rate would also be of interest. Unfortunately, testing of these properties needs larger samples. One option is, to perform miniature tensile tests in a quenching and deformation dilatometer. Such devices allow flexible as well as controllable inductive heating and gas cooling combined with mechanical testing. Still these samples are rather small (length a few 10 mm) and do not correspond to international tensile testing standards. I.e. strength may be evaluated, but ductility (fracture elongation) is questionable. Thermal homogeneity in sample length direction during inductive heating is another issue. We have developed a new method, to heat treat larger tensile samples from international testing standards in a very flexible, well defined and homogeneous manner. Afterwards, these samples have been tested in a conventional tensile testing device. The method has been successfully applied to a high purity aluminium alloy Al6Zn0.8Mg (similar 7003) over a wide range of cooling rates from 0.0003 to 30 K/s. Reliable strengths and fracture elongations have been determined.