[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 27 (Thursday, February 8, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4809-4810]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-2632]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration


Proposed Advisory Circular (AC) 21.25-X, Issuance of Type 
Certificate: Restricted Category Agriculture Airplanes

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of availability of Proposed Advisory Circular (AC) 
21.25-X, and request for comments.

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[[Page 4810]]


SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of and request for 
comments on a proposed advisory circular (AC) which provides 
information and guidance for obtaining a type certificate in the 
restricted category, under 14 CFR part 21, Sec. 21.25, for small piston 
and turbo-propeller driven airplanes, which will be used for 
agricultural special purpose operations. The AC provides an acceptable 
means, but not the only means, of meeting the requirements of part 21 
for the issuance of a type certificate in the restricted category. This 
procedure incorporates the appropriate normal category airworthiness 
standards of 14 CFR part 23, Airworthiness Standards: Normal, Utility, 
Acrobatic, and Commuter Category Airplanes. This material is neither 
mandatory nor regulatory in nature and does not constitute a 
regulation. Because the information and guidance presented in this AC 
is not mandatory, the term ``must'' used in this AC only applies to an 
applicant who chooses to follow these procedures. The applicant may 
elect to follow an alternate procedure provided the Administrator finds 
it to be acceptable.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 8, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Send all comments on the proposed AC to: Federal Aviation 
Administration, Attention: Standards Office, ACE-100, Small Airplane 
Directorate, Aircraft Certificate Service, 601 East 12th Street, Kansas 
City, Missouri 64106.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Terre Flynn, Regulations and Policy Branch, ACE-111, at the address 
above, telephone number (816) 426-6941.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Any person may obtain a copy of this 
proposed AC by contacting the person named above under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.

Comments Invited

    Interested parties are invited to submit such written data, views, 
or arguments as they may desire. Commenters must identify the AC and 
submit comments to the address specified above. All communications 
received on or before the closing date for comments will be considered 
by the Standards Staff before issuing the final AC. Comments may be 
inspected at the Standards Office, ACE-110, Suite 900, 1201 Walnut, 
Kansas City, Missouri, between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. 
weekdays, except Federal holidays.

Background

    The current philosophy concerning type certification of restricted 
category agricultural airplanes is historically based on part 8 of the 
Civil Air Regulations (CAR). Under this part, the applicant for a new 
aircraft was required to show compliance with all of the airworthiness 
requirements of any other aircraft category prescribed by the CAR, 
except those requirements which the Administrator found inappropriate 
for the special purpose for which the aircraft was to be used. This 
part also established new standards for the issuance of type 
certificates, alterations to type certificates, and type certification 
procedures. The preamble for part 8 stated that for such restricted 
operations where public safety is not endangered it appears 
unreasonable to require the same level of safety as that required for 
passenger carrying aircraft. The intent of part 8 was to place the 
minimum possible burden consistent with public safety on the applicant 
for a type certificate in the restricted category. Since the inception 
of part 8 of the CAR and following recodification of the CAR into the 
CFR, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has continued using the 
basic concepts of that part. On February 8, 1965, the FAA issued AC 20-
33. This AC notified the public that policy information contained in 
Civil Aeronautics Manuals (CAM) 1, 3, 4a, 4b, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 
and 14 could be used in conjunction with specific sections of the CFR, 
which correspond with the sections of the CAR to which the policies 
were applicable. Approximately 10 years later, in March 1975, AC 20-33A 
temporarily deleted the reference to CAM 8 in AC 20-33 from being 
applied to any sections of the FAR. However, in two months time, AC 20-
33B reinstated CAM 8 for use with part 21, Sec. 21.25, for small 
restricted category agricultural airplanes. This policy continued until 
July 1981 when FAA Order 8130.2, Airworthiness Certification of 
Aircraft and Related Approvals, eliminated CAM 8 from being used for 
certificating new restricted category agricultural airplanes.
    In October of 1992 two manufacturers of small restricted category 
agricultural airplanes petitioned the FAA to develop a new set of 
certification requirements strictly for agricultural airplanes. In 
February of 1993 representatives from the FAA's Small Airplane 
Directorate met with a representative for the Agricultural Airplane 
Manufacturers who had petitioned the FAA to discuss the certification 
problems that had developed between the Agricultural Airplane 
Manufacturers and the FAA. At this meeting a draft AC that had been 
developed by the Small Airplane Directorate to solve the certification 
problem was presented to the Agricultural Airplane Manufacturer's 
representative. It was mutually agreed upon between the two parties 
that the development of an AC that addressed the certification of new 
restricted category agricultural airplanes would be the quickest way of 
resolving the issues that had developed between the FAA and the 
Agricultural Airplane Manufacturers. After several months of discussion 
between both parties, it was agreed that the most efficient way for the 
FAA to revise the draft AC was to form a team of engineers and pilots. 
This team would then visit agricultural operators and pilots out in the 
field and interview them to determine what their needs were for newly 
certificated agricultural airplanes. The Agricultural Airplane 
Certification Team that was formed visited many agricultural operators 
and pilots across the south from Georgia to Texas. The team finished 
performing these interviews in the summer of 1994 and met in the fall 
of 1994 to review their experiences and revise the existing draft AC. 
In January of 1995 the team met with representatives of the 
Agricultural Airplane Manufacturers, at the Small Airplane 
Directorate's Office, to discuss the revised AC and portions of its 
policy. The AC that has been developed is a product of the combined 
efforts of the FAA's Agricultural Airplane Certification Team and 
representatives of the Agricultural Airplane Manufacturers.

    Issued in Kansas City, Missouri, on January 31, 1996.
Michael Gallagher,
Manager, Small Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 96-2632 Filed 2-7-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-13-M