[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 3, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14847-14848]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-8035]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
Proposed Advisory Circular--Flight Test Guide for Certification
of Transport Category Airplanes
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of proposed advisory circular and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: This notice requests comments on a proposed revision to
Advisory Circular (AC) 25-7, ``Flight Test Guide for Certification of
Transport Category Airplanes.'' The proposed revision consists of
several elements that will: (1) Update the existing Subpart B (Flight)
material to reflect current FAA regulations and policy, (2) essentially
harmonize, with the European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) and
Transport Canada Aviation (TCA), the methods and procedures used to
show compliance with the requirements of Subpart B, and (3) add
considerable material related to flight test procedures necessary to
show compliance with regulatory requirements outside of Subpart B
(i.e., propulsion, systems, and equipment, etc.). This notice provides
interested persons an opportunity to present their views on the
proposed revision to the AC.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 30, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Send all comments on the proposed AC to: Federal Aviation
Administration, Attn: Patricia Siegrist, Transport Airplane
Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service, Regulations Branch, ANM-
114, 1601 Lind Avenue SW., Renton, WA 98055-4056. Comments may be
inspected at the above address between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
weekdays, except Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Patricia Siegrist, Regulations Branch, ANM-114, at the above address,
telephone (206) 227-2126 or facsimile (206) 227-1320.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Comments Invited
A copy of the proposed AC may be obtained by contacting the person
named above under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Interested persons
are invited to comment on the proposed AC by submitting such written
data, views, or arguments as they may desire. Commenters must identify
the AC by title and submit comments in duplicate to the address
specified above. All communications received on or before the closing
date for comments will be considered by the Transport Airplane
Directorate before issuing the final AC.
Discussion
The current version of AC25-7, as modified by Change 1 on June 6,
1996, provides guidance only for the flight testing necessary to show
compliance with the airplane performance and handling characteristics
requirements of Subpart B of part 25; flight test guidance for showing
compliance with other part 25 regulatory requirements remains in FAA
Order 8110.8, ``Engineering Flight Test Guide for Transport Category
Airplanes.''
Considerable changes in technology have occurred since AC25-7 was
issued and Order 8110.8 was last revised (1974). The FAA has
established new and revised guidance and policy material during this
time period to keep pace with these changes in technology, and also to
improve certification practices based on service history information.
The proposed revision to AC25-7 updates the existing Subpart B guidance
by incorporating this new and revised material. Similarly, the guidance
material currently contained in Order 8110.8 is updated to reflect
certification standards and flight test methods for
[[Page 14848]]
showing compliance with regulatory requirements outside of Subpart B.
This material has been incorporated in the proposed revision to AC25-7,
and following its issuance, Order 8110.8 will be canceled.
Many of the proposed revisions to the Subpart B guidance have
resulted from efforts to harmonize with the JAA and TCA to establish
standardized regulatory requirements and means of compliance. To aid
the readers in their review of the proposed revisions to the Subpart B
guidance, deletions are denoted by ``strikeout'' text (i.e.,), while
new and revised material is underlined (i.e., new text) and denoted by
revision bars in the left margin.
Since harmonization efforts related to guidance and policy material
not related to Subpart B have been fairly limited to date, the FAA is
unable to make a determination on the feasibility of publishing a fully
harmonized flight test guide during this revision. It is more probable
that the comments received from the JAA and TCA will be transmitted to
the appropriate technical specialists for resolution as part of the
next revision to AC 25-7.
The proposed revision to AC 25-7 provides a means of compliance
with part 25 as amended through Amendment 25-84, effective July 10,
1995. Some of the incorporated material, which reflects established FAA
policy, has also been published in conjunction with proposed part 25
rule changes. An example of an overlap condition is the proposed 1g
stall criteria of NPRM 95-17 (61 FR 1260, January 18, 1996); the 1g
stall criteria has been applied to many transport airplane
certifications over the last decade and consequently is published in an
appendix to the proposed AC 25-7 revision.
The proposed revision to AC 25-7 is also intended to serve as a
repository for historical information related to the certification of
transport category airplanes. The FAA considers it important to retain
those noncurrent regulations and guidance materials that are of
significance, to provide a better understanding of the current
standards. As such, Civil Aviation Regulations (CAR) 4b, Special
Regulations (SR) 422, 422A, and 422B, which developed performance
standards for turbojet-powered airplanes, are contained in Appendix 1.
Similarly, Appendix 2 contains historical guidance material related to
determining accelerate-stop distances, which can also be used for the
certification of derivative and modified airplane types, where
appropriate. Commenters are requested to provide their views on the
merits of retaining such information in AC 25-7.
Order 8110.8 contained what could be termed ``practical aids'' in
some appendices; one appendix provided a cross reference listing of CAR
4b and FAR part 25 regulations, while another presented an example of a
certification flight test program. The FAA considers it worthwhile to
continue publishing a sample flight test program, particularly for the
smaller modification enterprises. To that end, the proposed revision to
AC 25-7 presents a sample flight test program in Appendix 6; that
program is reproduced from Order 8110.8 and is intended only to serve
as an example in terms of format and general content. Commenters are
requested to provide their views on the merits of publishing an updated
version of this sample flight test program in the revised AC 25-7.
Due to the sheer volume of material in the proposed revision to AC
25-7, interested parties are encouraged to either make copies of the
document or to divide it into appropriate segments to ensure adequate
time for review by the pertinent specialists, particularly since some
material will require review by specialists from more that one
discipline.
For the ease of the reader, the FAA has modified the standard AC
page numbering system for the proposed AC 25-7 revision. With the
exception of Chapter 8, which has no specific regulatory reference, a
three-element page numbering system has been used, the first number
being the chapter, the second number the section, and the third number
the page number within that section (e.g., pg. 2-3-6 is page 6 of
Chapter 2, Section 3). Each ``chapter'' of AC 25-7 corresponds to a
Subpart of part 25, and each ``section'' corresponds to the major
subgroups of regulations within individual subparts. The standard AC
page numbering system will be incorporated for the final release of the
revised AC.
Issued in Renton, Washington, on March 20, 1996.
Ronald T. Wojnar,
Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate Aircraft Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 96-8035 Filed 4-2-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-M
