[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 176 (Monday, September 13, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 49365-49367]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-23720]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Part 23
[Docket No. CE153, Special Condition 23-096-SC]
Special Conditions; Meridian PA-46-400TP
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Final special conditions; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: These special conditions are issued to The New Piper Aircraft,
Inc., 2926 Piper Drive, Vero Beach, Florida 32960 for a type
certificate for the Meridian PA-46-400TP airplane. This airplane will
have novel and unusual design features when compared to the state of
technology envisaged in the applicable airworthiness standards. These
novel and unusual design features include the installation of
electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) displays for which the
applicable regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate
airworthiness standards for the protection of these systems from the
effects of high intensity radiated fields (HIRF). These special
conditions contain the additional safety standards that the
Administrator considers necessary to establish a level of safety
equivalent to the airworthiness standards applicable to these
airplanes.
DATES: The effective date of these special conditions is August 27,
1999. Comments must be received on or before October 13, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed in duplicate to: Federal Aviation
Administration, Regional Counsel, ACE-7, Attention: Rules Docket Clerk,
Docket No. CE153, Room 1558, 601 East 12th Street, Kansas City,
Missouri 64106. All comments must be marked: Docket No. CE153. Comments
may be inspected in the Rules Docket weekdays, except Federal holidays,
between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ervin Dvorak, Aerospace Engineer,
Standards Office (ACE-110), Small Airplane Directorate, Aircraft
Certification Service, Federal Aviation Administration, 601 East 12th
Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64106; telephone (816) 426-6941.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FAA has determined that notice and
opportunity for prior public comment hereon are impracticable because
these procedures would significantly delay issuance of the approval
design and thus delivery of the affected aircraft. In addition, the
substance of these special conditions has been subject to the public
comment process in several prior instances with no substantive comments
received. The FAA, therefore, finds that good cause exists for making
these special conditions effective upon issuance.
Comments Invited
Interested persons are invited to submit such written data, views,
or arguments as they may desire. Communications should identify the
regulatory docket or notice number and be submitted in duplicate to the
address specified above. All communications received on or before the
closing date for comments will be considered by the Administrator. The
special conditions may be changed in light of the comments received.
All comments received will be available in the Rules Docket for
examination by interested persons, both before and after the closing
date for comments. A report summarizing each substantive public contact
with FAA personnel concerning this rulemaking will be filed in the
docket. Commenters wishing the FAA to acknowledge receipt of their
comments submitted in response to this notice must include a self-
addressed, stamped postcard on which the following statement is made:
``Comments to CE153.'' The postcard will be date stamped and returned
to the commenter.
Background
On February 12, 1997, The New Piper Aircraft, Inc., 2926 Piper
Drive, Vero Beach, Florida 32960, made an application to the FAA for a
new Type Certificate for the Meridian PA-46-400TP airplane. The
Meridian is a derivative of the PA-46-350P Malibu Mirage currently
approved under TC No. A25SO. The proposed modification incorporates a
novel or unusual design feature, such as digital avionics consisting of
an EFIS, that is vulnerable to HIRF external to the airplane.
Type Certification Basis
Under the provisions of 14 CFR part 21, Sec. 21.101, The New Piper
Aircraft, Inc., must show that the Meridian PA-
[[Page 49366]]
46-400TP meets the following provisions, or the applicable regulations
in effect on the date of application for the change to the Meridian PA-
6-400TP:
Federal Aviation Regulations part 23 effective February 1, 1965, as
amended by Amendments 23-1 through 23-52; Federal Aviation Regulations
part 34 effective September 10, 1990, as amended by the amendment in
effect on the date of certification; Federal Aviation Regulations part
36 effective December 1, 1969, as amended by amendment 36-1 through the
amendment in effect on the day of certification; The Noise Control Act
of 1972; exemptions, if any; and the special conditions adopted by this
rulemaking action.
Discussion
If the Administrator finds that the applicable airworthiness
standards do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards
because of novel or unusual design features of an airplane, special
conditions are prescribed under the provisions of Sec. 21.16 to
establish a level of safety equivalent to that established in the
regulations.
Special conditions are normally issued in accordance with
Sec. 11.49, after public notice, as required by Secs. 11.28 and
11.29(b), and become a part of the type certification basis in
accordance with Sec. 21.101(b)(2).
Special conditions are initially applicable to the model for which
they are issued. Should the type certificate for that model be amended
later to include any other model that incorporates the same novel or
unusual design feature, or should any other model already included on
the same type certificate be modified to incorporate the same novel or
unusual design feature, the special conditions would also apply to the
other model under the provisions of Sec. 21.101(a)(1).
Novel or Unusual Design Features
The New Piper Aircraft, Inc., plans to incorporate certain novel
and unusual design features into an airplane for which the
airworthiness standards do not contain adequate or appropriate safety
standards for protection from the effects of HIRF. These features
include EFIS, which are susceptible to the HIRF environment, that were
not envisaged by the existing regulations for this type of airplane.
Protection of Systems From High Intensity Radiated Fields (HIRF)
Recent advances in technology have given rise to the application in
aircraft designs of advanced electrical and electronic systems that
perform functions required for continued safe flight and landing. Due
to the use of sensitive solid state advanced components in analog and
digital electronics circuits, these advanced systems are readily
responsive to the transient effects of induced electrical current and
voltage caused by the HIRF. The HIRF can degrade electronic systems
performance by damaging components or upsetting system functions.
Furthermore, the HIRF environment has undergone a transformation
that was not foreseen when the current requirements were developed.
Higher energy levels are radiated from transmitters that are used for
radar, radio, and television. Also, the number of transmitters has
increased significantly. There is also uncertainty concerning the
effectiveness of airframe shielding for HIRF. Furthermore, coupling to
cockpit-installed equipment through the cockpit window apertures is
undefined.
The combined effect of the technological advances in airplane
design and the changing environment has resulted in an increased level
of vulnerability of electrical and electronic systems required for the
continued safe flight and landing of the airplane. Effective measures
against the effects of exposure to HIRF must be provided by the design
and installation of these systems. The accepted maximum energy levels
in which civilian airplane system installations must be capable of
operating safely are based on surveys and analysis of existing radio
frequency emitters. These special conditions require that the airplane
be evaluated under these energy levels for the protection of the
electronic system and its associated wiring harness. These external
threat levels, which are lower than previous required values, are
believed to represent the worst case to which an airplane would be
exposed in the operating environment.
These special conditions require qualification of systems that
perform critical functions, as installed in aircraft, to the defined
HIRF environment in paragraph 1 or, as an option to a fixed value using
laboratory tests, in paragraph 2, as follows:
(1) The applicant may demonstrate that the operation and
operational capability of the installed electrical and electronic
systems that perform critical functions are not adversely affected when
the aircraft is exposed to the HIRF environment defined below:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Field strength
(volts per meter)
Frequency -------------------
Peak Average
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10 kHz--100 kHz..................................... 50 50
100 kHz--500 kHz.................................... 50 50
500 kHz--2 MHz...................................... 50 50
2 MHz--30 MHz....................................... 100 100
30 MHz--70 MHz...................................... 50 50
70 MHz--100 MHz..................................... 50 50
100 MHz--200 MHz.................................... 100 100
200 MHz--400 MHz.................................... 100 100
400 MHz--700 MHz.................................... 700 50
700 MHz--1 GHz...................................... 700 100
1 GHz--2 GHz........................................ 2000 200
2 GHz--4 GHz........................................ 3000 200
4 GHz--6 GHz........................................ 3000 200
6 GHz--8 GHz........................................ 1000 200
8 GHz--12 GHz....................................... 3000 300
12 GHz--18 GHz...................................... 2000 200
18 GHz--40 GHz...................................... 600 200
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The field strengths are expressed in terms of peak root-mean-square
(rms) values.
or,
(2) The applicant may demonstrate by a system test and analysis
that the electrical and electronic systems that perform critical
functions can withstand a minimum threat of 100 volts per meter, peak
electrical field strength, from 10 kHz to 18 GHz. When using this test
to show compliance with the HIRF requirements, no credit is given for
signal attenuation due to installation.
A preliminary hazard analysis must be performed by the applicant,
for approval by the FAA, to identify either electrical or electronic
systems, or both, that perform critical functions. The term
``critical'' means those functions whose failure would contribute to,
or cause, a failure condition that would prevent the continued safe
flight and landing of the airplane. The systems identified by the
hazard analysis that perform critical functions are candidates for the
application of HIRF requirements. A system may perform both critical
and non-critical functions. Primary electronic flight display systems,
and their associated components, perform critical functions such as
attitude, altitude, and airspeed indication. The HIRF requirements
apply only to critical functions.
Compliance with HIRF requirements may be demonstrated by tests,
analysis, models, similarity with existing systems, or any combination
of these. Service experience alone is not acceptable since normal
flight operations may not include an exposure to the HIRF environment.
Reliance on a system with similar design features for redundancy as a
means of protection against the effects of external HIRF is generally
insufficient since all elements of a redundant system are likely to be
exposed to the fields concurrently.
[[Page 49367]]
Applicability
As discussed above, these special conditions are applicable to The
New Piper Aircraft, Inc., Meridian PA-46-400TP. Should The New Piper
Aircraft, Inc., apply at a later date for a change to the type
certificate to include any other model incorporating the same novel or
unusual design feature, the special conditions would apply to that
model as well under the provisions of Sec. 21.101(a)(1).
Conclusion
This action affects only certain novel or unusual design features
on one model of airplane. It is not a rule of general applicability and
affects only the applicant who applied to the FAA for approval of these
features on the airplane.
The substance of these special conditions has been subjected to the
notice and comment period in several prior instances and has been
derived 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. For this reason, and because a
delay would significantly affect the certification of the airplane,
which is imminent, the FAA has determined that prior public notice and
comment are unnecessary and impracticable, and good cause exists for
adopting these 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
described above.
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 and 44701; 14 CFR part 21,
Secs. 21.16 and 21.17; and 14 CFR part 11, Secs. 11.28 and 11.49.
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 The New Piper Aircraft, Inc., Meridian
PA-46-400TP airplane:
1. Protection of Electrical and Electronic Systems from High
Intensity Radiated Fields (HIRF).
Each system that performs critical functions must be designed and
installed to ensure that the operations, and operational capabilities
of these systems to perform critical functions, are not adversely
affected when the airplane is exposed to high intensity radiated
electromagnetic fields external to the airplane.
2. For the purpose of these special conditions, the following
definition applies:
Critical Functions: Functions whose failure would contribute to, or
cause, a failure condition that would prevent the continued safe flight
and landing of the airplane.
Issued in Kansas City, Missouri on August 27, 1999.
Michael Gallagher,
Manager, Small Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 99-23720 Filed 9-10-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P
