[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