2018-15354. Special Conditions: Cranfield Aerospace Limited, Textron Aviation Inc. Model 525-Series Airplanes; Tamarack Load Alleviation System and Cranfield Winglets-Interaction of Systems and Structures

AGENCY:

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION:

Amended final special conditions; request for comments.

SUMMARY:

These amended special conditions are issued for the Textron Aviation Inc. Model 525-series airplanes. These airplanes—as modified by Cranfield Aerospace Limited—will have a novel or unusual design feature associated with the installation of a Tamarack Active Technology Load Alleviation System and Cranfield Winglets. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These amended special conditions contain the additional safety standards the Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the existing airworthiness standards, change the Type Certificate holder, and remove the special flight permit requirement.

DATES:

These special conditions are effective July 19, 2018 and are applicable on July 10, 2018.

We must receive your comments by September 17, 2018.

ADDRESSES:

Send comments identified by docket number FAA-2016-9409 using any of the following methods:

□ Federal eRegulations Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for sending your comments electronically.

□ Mail: Send comments to Docket Operations, M-30, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W12-140, West Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001.

□ Hand Delivery of Courier: Deliver comments to the “Mail” address between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

□ Fax: Fax comments to Docket Operations at 202-493-2251.

Privacy: The FAA will post all comments it receives, without change, to http://regulations.gov,, including any personal information the commenter provides. Using the search function of the docket website, anyone can find and read the electronic form of all comments received into any FAA docket, including the name of the individual sending the comment (or signing the comment for an association, business, labor union, etc.). DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement can be found in the Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-19478), as well as at http://DocketsInfo.dot.gov.

Docket: You can read the background documents or comments received at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for accessing the docket or go to the Docket Operations in Room @12-140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m., and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mike Reyer, Continued Operational Safety, ACE-113, Small Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service, 901 Locust, Kansas City, Missouri 64106; telephone [phone]; facsimile [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Reason for No Prior Notice and Comment Before Adoption

These special conditions have been subjected to the notice and comment period previously and this amendment is without substantive change from those previously issued. It is unlikely that prior public comment would result in a significant change from the substance contained herein. Therefore, the FAA has determined that prior public notice and comment are unnecessary and finds good cause exists for adopting these amended special conditions upon issuance. The FAA is requesting comments to allow interested persons to submit views that may not have been submitted in response to the prior opportunities for comment.

Comments Invited

We invite interested people to take part in this rulemaking by sending written comments, data, or views. The most helpful comments reference a specific portion of the special conditions, explain the reason for any recommended change, and include supporting data. We will consider all comments we receive by the closing date for comments.

We will consider comments filed late if it is possible to do so without incurring additional expense or delay. We may change these special conditions based on the comments we receive.

Background

On January 25, 2016, Cranfield Aerospace Limited (CAL) applied for a supplemental type certificate to install winglets on the Textron Aviation Inc. (Textron) Model 525, with a Tamarack Active Technology Load Alleviation System to mitigate the winglet's adverse structural effects. The Textron Model 525 twin-turbofan engine airplane is certified in the normal category for eight seats, including a pilot, a maximum gross weight of 10,700 pounds, and a maximum altitude of 41,000 feet mean sea level. Because the applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature, the FAA issued special conditions to provide an equivalent level of safety. After notice and opportunity for comment (81 FR 83737, November 22, 2016), Special Conditions No. 23-279-SC published in the Federal Register on January 5, 2017 (82 FR 1163).

These special conditions address several issues with the operation and failure of the load-relief system. Special Conditions No. 23-279-SC, paragraph 2(h), Further flights with known load-relief system failure, required a special flight permit (“ferry permit”) for additional flights after an annunciated failure or obvious system failure.

On February 15, 2018, CAL requested the FAA amend Special Condition No. 23-279-SC to remove the paragraph 2(h) and replace it with flight limitations used by the European Aviation Safety Agency. In the event of a load-relief system failure, these flight limitations allow the airplane to be moved to an appropriate maintenance facility without the need for a special flight permit.

The FAA will amend the special conditions to remove the special flight permit requirements, but finds no need to include any additional requirement regarding flights with known load relief system failure in these special conditions. Current regulatory requirements address this condition. Inoperative equipment requirements are contained in 14 CFR part 91. Section 91.213, Inoperative instruments and equipment, prohibits taking off in an aircraft with inoperative instruments or equipment unless there is an FAA-approved Minimum Equipment List (MEL) for the specific aircraft type. Without an FAA-approved MEL, operators must obtain a special flight permit in accordance with §§ 21.197, Special flight permits, and 21.199, Issue of special flight permits. Additional operational restrictions are not necessary for these special conditions.

On July 29, 2015, Cessna Aircraft Company transferred Type Certificate No. A1WI to Textron. As a result, these proposed amended special conditions reflect the current type certificate holder. In addition, these special conditions were intended to apply to all Model 525 airplanes on Type Certificate No. A1WI, and we have clarified that in this amendment.

Type Certification Basis

Under the provisions of § 21.101, Cranfield Aerospace Limited must show that the Textron Model 525-series airplanes, as changed, continue to meet the applicable provisions of the regulations incorporated by reference in Type Certificate No. A1WI, revision 26, or the applicable regulations in effect on the date of application for the change. The regulations incorporated by reference in the type certificate are commonly referred to as the “original type certification basis.” The regulations incorporated by reference in Type Certificate No. A1WI, revision 26, are 14 CFR part 23 effective February 1, 1965, amendments 23-1 through 23-38 and 23-40.

If the Administrator finds the applicable airworthiness regulations (i.e., 14 CFR part 23) do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for the Textron Model 525-series because of a novel or unusual design feature, special conditions are prescribed under the provisions of § 21.16.

In addition to the applicable airworthiness regulations and special conditions, the Textron Model 525-series must comply with the fuel vent and exhaust emission requirements of 14 CFR part 34 and the noise certification requirements of 14 CFR part 36.

The FAA issues special conditions, as defined in 14 CFR 11.19, in accordance with § 11.38, and they become part of the type-certification basis under § 21.101.

Special conditions are initially applicable to the model for which they are issued. Should the applicant apply for a supplemental type certificate to modify any other model included on the same type certificate to incorporate the same or similar novel or unusual design feature, the FAA would apply these special conditions to the other model under § 21.101.

Novel or Unusual Design Features

The Textron Model 525-series will incorporate the following novel or unusual design features:

Cranfield winglets with a Tamarack Active Technology Load Alleviation System.

Discussion

For airplanes equipped with systems that affect structural performance, either directly or as a result of a failure or malfunction, the applicant must take into account the influence of these systems and their failure conditions when showing compliance with the requirements of part 23, subparts Cand D.

The applicant must use the following criteria for showing compliance with these special conditions for airplanes equipped with flight control systems, autopilots, stability augmentation systems, load alleviation systems, flutter control systems, fuel management systems, and other systems that either directly or as a result of failure or malfunction affect structural performance. If these special conditions are used for other systems, it may be necessary to adapt the criteria to the specific system.

Discussion of Comments

Notice of proposed Special Conditions No. 23-16-03-SC for the Cessna Model 525 airplane was published in the Federal Register on November 22, 2016 (81 FR 83737). No comments were received, and the special conditions were adopted—as proposed—in Special Condition No. 23-279-SC (82 FR 1163, January 5, 2017). Accordingly, these amended special conditions are being issued as final special conditions.

Applicability

As discussed above, these special conditions are applicable to the Textron Model 525-series airplanes. Should Cranfield Aerospace Limited apply at a later date for a supplemental type certificate to modify any other model included on A1WI, revision 26, to incorporate the same novel or unusual design feature, the FAA would apply these special conditions to that model as well.

Conclusion

This action affects only certain novel or unusual design features on one model series of airplanes. It is not a rule of general applicability and it affects only the applicant who applied to the FAA for approval of these features on the airplane.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 23

• Aircraft
• Aviation safety
• Signs and symbols

Citation

The authority citation for these special conditions is as follows:

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40113, 44701, 44702, 14 CFR 21.16, 21.101; and 14 CFR 11.38 and 11.19.

The Special Conditions

Accordingly, pursuant to the authority delegated to me by the Administrator, the following special conditions are issued as part of the type certification basis for Textron Aviation Inc. Model 525-series airplanes modified by Cranfield Aerospace Limited.

1. Active Technology Load Alleviation System (ATLAS)

SC 23.672 Load Alleviation System

The load alleviation system must comply with the following:

(a) A warning, which is clearly distinguishable to the pilot under expected flight conditions without requiring the pilot's attention, must be provided for any failure in the load alleviation system or in any other automatic system that could result in an unsafe condition if the pilot was not aware of the failure. Warning systems must not activate the control system.

(b) The design of the load alleviation system or of any other automatic system must permit initial counteraction of failures without requiring exceptional pilot skill or strength, by either the deactivation of the system or a failed portion thereof, or by overriding the failure by movement of the flight controls in the normal sense.

(1) If deactivation of the system is used to counteract failures, the control for this initial counteraction must be readily accessible to each pilot while operating the control wheel and thrust control levers.

(2) If overriding the failure by movement of the flight controls is used, the override capability must be operationally demonstrated.

(c) It must be shown that, after any single failure of the load alleviation system, the airplane must be safely controllable when the failure or malfunction occurs at any speed or altitude within the approved operating limitations that is critical for the type of failure being considered;

(d) It must be shown that, while the system is active or after any single failure of the load alleviation system—

(1) The controllability and maneuverability requirements of part 23, subpart D, are met within a practical operational flight envelope (e.g., speed, altitude, normal acceleration, and airplane configuration) that is described in the Airplane Flight Manual (AFM); and

(2) The trim, stability, and stall characteristics are not impaired below a level needed to permit continued safe flight and landing.

SC 23.677 Load Alleviation Active Control Surface

(a) Proper precautions must be taken to prevent inadvertent or improper operation of the load alleviation system. It must be demonstrated that with the load alleviation system operating throughout its operational range, a pilot of average strength and skill level is able to continue safe flight with no objectionable increased workload.

(b) The load alleviation system must be designed so that, when any one connecting or transmitting element in the primary flight control system fails, adequate control for safe flight and landing is available.

(c) The load alleviation system must be irreversible unless the control surface is properly balanced and has no unsafe flutter characteristics. The system must have adequate rigidity and reliability in the portion of the system from the control surface to the attachment of the irreversible unit to the airplane structure.

(d) It must be demonstrated the airplane is safely controllable and a pilot can perform all maneuvers and operations necessary to affect a safe landing following any load alleviation system runaway not shown to be extremely improbable, allowing for appropriate time delay after pilot recognition of the system runaway. The demonstration must be conducted at critical airplane weights and center of gravity positions.

SC 23.683 Operation Tests

(a) It must be shown by operation tests that, when the flight control system and the load alleviation systems are operated and loaded as prescribed in paragraph (c) of this section, the flight control system and load alleviation systems are free from—

(1) Jamming;

(2) Excessive friction; and

(3) Excessive deflection.

(b) The operation tests in paragraph (a) of this section must also show the load alleviation system and associated surfaces do not restrict or prevent aileron control surface movements, or cause any adverse response of the ailerons, under the loading prescribed in paragraph (c) of this section that would prevent continued safe flight and landing.

(c) The prescribed test loads are for the entire load alleviation and flight control systems, loads corresponding to the limit air loads on the appropriate surfaces.

Note: Advisory Circular (AC) 23-17C, “Systems and Equipment Guide to Certification of Part 23 Airplanes,” provides guidance on potential methods of compliance with this section and other regulations applicable to this STC project.

SC 23.685 Control System Details

(a) Each detail of the load alleviation system and related moveable surfaces must be designed and installed to prevent jamming, chafing, and interference from cargo, passengers, loose objects, or the freezing of moisture.

(b) There must be means in the cockpit to prevent the entry of foreign objects into places where they would jam any one connecting or transmitting element of the load alleviation system.

(c) Each element of the load alleviation system must have design features, or must be distinctively and permanently marked, to minimize the possibility of incorrect assembly that could result in malfunctioning of the control system.

SC 23.697 Load Alleviation System Controls

(a) The load alleviation control surface must be designed so that during normal operation, when the surface has been placed in any position, it will not move from that position unless the control is adjusted or is moved by the operation of a load alleviation system.

(b) The rate of movement of the control surface in response to the load alleviation system controls must give satisfactory flight and performance characteristics under steady or changing conditions of airspeed, engine power, attitude, flap configuration, speedbrake position, and during landing gear extension and retraction.

SC 23.701 Load Alleviation System Interconnection

(a) The load alleviation system and related movable surfaces as a system must—

(1) Be synchronized by a mechanical interconnection between the movable surfaces or by an approved equivalent means; or

(2) Be designed so the occurrence of any failure of the system that would result in an unsafe flight characteristic of the airplane is extremely improbable; or

(b) The airplane must be shown to have safe flight characteristics with any combination of extreme positions of individual movable surfaces.

(c) If an interconnection is used in multiengine airplanes, it must be designed to account for unsymmetrical loads resulting from flight with the engines on one side of the plane of symmetry inoperative and the remaining engines at takeoff power. For single-engine airplanes, and multiengine airplanes with no slipstream effects on the load alleviation system, it may be assumed that 100 percent of the critical air load acts on one side and 70 percent on the other.

Sections 23.675, “Stops;” 23.681, “Limit Load Static Tests;” and 23.693, “Joints”

The load alleviation system must comply with §§ 23.675, 23.681, and 23.693 as written and no unique special condition will be required for these regulations.

Applicability of Control System Regulations to Other Control Systems

If applicable, other control systems used on the Textron Model 525-series may require a showing of compliance with §§ 23.672, 23.675, 23.677, 23.681, 23.683, 23.685, 23.693, 23.697, and 23.701 as written for this STC project.

2. Interaction of Systems and Structures

(a) The criteria defined herein only address the direct structural consequences of the system responses and performances and cannot be considered in isolation but should be included in the overall safety evaluation of the airplane. These criteria may in some instances duplicate standards already established for this evaluation. These criteria are only applicable to structure whose failure could prevent continued safe flight and landing. Specific criteria that define acceptable limits on handling characteristics or stability requirements when operating in the system degraded or inoperative mode are not provided in this special condition.

(b) Depending upon the specific characteristics of the airplane, additional studies may be required that go beyond the criteria provided in this special condition in order to demonstrate the capability of the airplane to meet other realistic conditions such as alternative gust or maneuver descriptions for an airplane equipped with a load alleviation system.

(c) The following definitions are applicable to this special condition.

(1) Structural performance: Capability of the airplane to meet the structural requirements of 14 CFR part 23.

(2) Flight limitations: Limitations that can be applied to the airplane flight conditions following an in-flight occurrence and that are included in the flight manual (e.g., speed limitations, avoidance of severe weather conditions, etc.).

(3) Reserved.

(4) Probabilistic terms: The probabilistic terms (probable, improbable, extremely improbable) used in this special condition are the same as those used in § 23.1309. For the purposes of this special condition, extremely improbable for normal, utility, and acrobatic category airplanes is defined as 10⁻⁸ per hour. For commuter category airplanes, extremely improbable is defined as 10⁻⁹ per hour.

(5) Failure condition: The term failure condition is the same as that used in § 23.1309, however this special condition applies only to system failure conditions that affect the structural performance of the airplane (e.g., system failure conditions that induce loads, change the response of the airplane to inputs such as gusts or pilot actions, or lower flutter margins).

(d) General. The following criteria (paragraphs (e) through (i)) will be used in determining the influence of a system and its failure conditions on the airplane structure.

(e) System fully operative. With the system fully operative, the following apply:

(1) Limit loads must be derived in all normal operating configurations of the system from all the limit conditions specified in subpart C (or defined by special condition or equivalent level of safety in lieu of those specified in subpart C), taking into account any special behavior of such a system or associated functions or any effect on the structural performance of the airplane that may occur up to the limit loads. In particular, any significant nonlinearity (rate of displacement of control surface, thresholds or any other system nonlinearities) must be accounted for in a realistic or conservative way when deriving limit loads from limit conditions.

(2) The airplane must meet the strength requirements of part 23 (static strength and residual strength for failsafe or damage tolerant structure), using the specified factors to derive ultimate loads from the limit loads defined above. The effect of nonlinearities must be investigated beyond limit conditions to ensure the behavior of the system presents no anomaly compared to the behavior below limit conditions. However, conditions beyond limit conditions need not be considered when it can be shown that the airplane has design features that will not allow it to exceed those limit conditions.

(3) The airplane must meet the aeroelastic stability requirements of § 23.629.

(f) System in the failure condition. For any system failure condition not shown to be extremely improbable, the following apply:

(1) At the time of occurrence. Starting from 1-g level flight conditions, a realistic scenario, including pilot corrective actions, must be established to determine the loads occurring at the time of failure and immediately after failure.

(i) For static strength substantiation, these loads, multiplied by an appropriate factor of safety that is related to the probability of occurrence of the failure, are ultimate loads to be considered for design. The factor of safety is defined in figure 1.

(ii) For residual strength substantiation, the airplane must be able to withstand two thirds of the ultimate loads defined in subparagraph (f)(1)(i).

(iii) For pressurized cabins, these loads must be combined with the normal operating differential pressure.

(iv) Freedom from aeroelastic instability must be shown up to the speeds defined in § 23.629(f). For failure conditions that result in speeds beyond V_D/M_D, freedom from aeroelastic instability must be shown to increased speeds, so that the margins intended by § 23.629(f) are maintained.

(v) Failures of the system that result in forced structural vibrations (oscillatory failures) must not produce loads that could result in detrimental deformation of primary structure.

(2) For the continuation of the flight. For the airplane, in the system failed state and considering any appropriate reconfiguration and flight limitations, the following apply:

(i) The loads derived from the following conditions (or defined by special condition or equivalent level of safety in lieu of the following conditions) at speeds up to V_C/M_C, or the speed limitation prescribed for the remainder of the flight, must be determined:

(A) The limit symmetrical maneuvering conditions specified in §§ 23.321, 23.331, 23.333, 23.345, 23.421, 23.423, and 23.445.

(B) The limit gust and turbulence conditions specified in §§ 23.341, 23.345, 23.425, 23.443, and 23.445.

(C) The limit rolling conditions specified in § 23.349 and the limit unsymmetrical conditions specified in §§ 23.347, 23.427, and 23.445.

(D) The limit yaw maneuvering conditions specified in §§ 23.351, 23.441, and 23.445.

(E) The limit ground loading conditions specified in §§ 23.473 and 23.493.

(ii) For static strength substantiation, each part of the structure must be able to withstand the loads in paragraph (f)(2)(i) of this special condition multiplied by a factor of safety depending on the probability of being in this failure state. The factor of safety is defined in figure 2.

(iii) For residual strength substantiation, the airplane must be able to withstand two thirds of the ultimate loads defined in paragraph (f)(2)(ii) of this special condition. For pressurized cabins, these loads must be combined with the normal operating pressure differential.

(iv) If the loads induced by the failure condition have a significant effect on fatigue or damage tolerance then their effects must be taken into account.

(v) Freedom from aeroelastic instability must be shown up to a speed determined from figure 3. Flutter clearance speeds V′ and V″ may be based on the speed limitation specified for the remainder of the flight using the margins defined by § 23.629.

(vi) Freedom from aeroelastic instability must also be shown up to V′ in figure 3 above, for any probable system failure condition combined with any damage required or selected for investigation by §§ 23.571 through 23.574.

(3) Consideration of certain failure conditions may be required by other sections of 14 CFR part 23 regardless of calculated system reliability. Where analysis shows the probability of these failure conditions to be less than 10⁻⁸ for normal, utility, or acrobatic category airplanes or less than 10⁻⁹ for commuter category airplanes, criteria other than those specified in this paragraph may be used for structural substantiation to show continued safe flight and landing.

(g) Failure indications. For system failure detection and indication, the following apply:

(1) The system must be checked for failure conditions, not extremely improbable, that degrade the structural capability below the level required by part 23 or significantly reduce the reliability of the remaining system. As far as reasonably practicable, the flightcrew must be made aware of these failures before flight. Certain elements of the control system, such as mechanical and hydraulic components, may use special periodic inspections, and electronic components may use daily checks, in lieu of detection and indication systems to achieve the objective of this requirement. These certification maintenance requirements must be limited to components that are not readily detectable by normal detection and indication systems and where service history shows that inspections will provide an adequate level of safety.

(2) The existence of any failure condition, not extremely improbable, during flight that could significantly affect the structural capability of the airplane and for which the associated reduction in airworthiness can be minimized by suitable flight limitations, must be signaled to the flightcrew. The probability of not annunciating these failure conditions must be extremely improbable (unannunciated failure). For example, failure conditions that result in a factor of safety between the airplane strength and the loads of subpart C below 1.25, or flutter margins below V″, must be signaled to the flightcrew during flight.

(h) Fatigue and damage tolerance. If any system failure would have a significant effect on the fatigue or damage evaluations required in §§ 23.571 through 23.574, then these effects must be taken into account.

Issued in Kansas City, Missouri, on July 10, 2018.

Pat Mullen,

Manager, Small Airplane Standard Branch, Aircraft Certification Service.