[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 19 (Tuesday, January 29, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 4215-4217]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-2143]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 23

[Docket No. CE171; Notice No. 23-01-04-SC]


Special Conditions: Eclipse Aviation Corporation, Model 500; Fire 
Extinguishing System for Aft Mounted Engine Installations

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed special conditions.

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SUMMARY: This action proposes special conditions for the Eclipse 
Aviation Corporation Model 500 airplane. This airplane design includes 
aft mounted turbine engines. The applicable airworthiness regulations 
do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design 
feature. These proposed special conditions contain the additional 
safety standards that the Administrator considers necessary to 
establish a level of safety equivalent to that established by the 
existing airworthiness standards.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 28, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Comments on this proposal may be mailed in duplicate to: 
Federal Aviation Administration, Regional Counsel, Attention: Rules 
Docket No. CE171, 901 Locust, Room 506, Kansas City, Missouri 64106; or 
delivered in duplicate to the Regional Counsel at the above address. 
Comments must be marked: Docket No. CE171. Comments may be inspected in 
the Rules Docket weekdays, except Federal holidays, between 7:30 a.m. 
and 4 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Lowell Foster, Federal Aviation 
Administration, Aircraft Certification Service, Small Airplane 
Directorate, ACE-111, 901 Locust Street, Kansas City, Missouri, 816-
329-4111, fax 816-329-4090.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Comments Invited

    Interested persons are invited to participate in the making of 
these proposed special conditions by submitting 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 proposals described

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in this action 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. 
Persons wishing the FAA to acknowledge receipt of their comments 
submitted in response to this action must include with those comments a 
self-addressed, stamped postcard on which the following statement is 
made: ``Comments to Docket No. CE171.'' The postcard will be date 
stamped and returned to the commenter.

Background

    On November 9, 2000, Eclipse Aviation Corporation applied for a 
type certificate for their new Model 500.
    The Model 500 design includes turbine engines mounted aft on the 
fuselage, which means early visual detection of engine fire is 
precluded. The applicable existing regulations do not require fire 
extinguishing systems for engines. Aft mounted turbine engine 
installations, along with the need to protect such installed engines 
from fires, were not envisioned in the development of part 23; 
therefore, a special condition for a fire extinguishing system for the 
engines of the Model 500 is required.

Type Certification Basis

    Under the provisions of 14 CFR 21.17, Eclipse Aviation Corporation 
must show that the Model 500 meets the following:
    (1) Applicable provisions of 14 CFR part 23, effective December 18, 
1964, as amended by Amendments 23-1 through 23-54 (September 14, 2000).
    (2) Part 34 of the Federal Aviation Regulations effective September 
10, 1990, plus any amendments in effect on the date of type 
certification.
    (3) Part 36 of the Federal Aviation Regulations effective December 
1, 1969, as amended by Amendment 36-1 through the amendment in effect 
on the date of type certification.
    (4) Noise Control Act of 1972.
    (5) Special Conditions:
    a. Special Conditions for Protection from High Intensity Radiated 
Fields (HIRF) will be required.
    b. Special Conditions for aft mounted engines to include Engine 
Fire Extinguishing System or Fire Detection and Control will be 
required. A fire extinguishing system is not required if Eclipse 
Aviation Corporation can show that a fire that starts in any engine 
compartment is detectable and controllable.
    c. Special Conditions for an Electronic Engine Control System will 
be required.
    (6) Exemptions approved by the FAA (14 CFR 11.27).
    (7) Equivalent Level of Safety Findings, as necessary.
    If the Administrator finds that the applicable airworthiness 
regulations (i.e., part 23) do not contain adequate or appropriate 
safety standards for the Model 500 because of a novel or unusual design 
feature, special conditions are prescribed under the provisions of 
Sec. 21.16.
    In addition to the applicable airworthiness regulations and special 
conditions, the Model 500 must comply with the part 23 fuel vent and 
exhaust emission requirements of 14 CFR part 34 and the part 23 noise 
certification requirements of 14 CFR part 36, and the FAA must issue a 
finding of regulatory adequacy pursuant to section 611 of Public Law 
92-574, the ``Noise Control Act of 1972.''
    Special conditions, as appropriate, as defined in Sec. 11.19, are 
issued in accordance with Sec. 11.38 after public notice and become 
part of the type certification basis in accordance with 
Sec. 21.17(a)(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, the same novel or unusual design feature, the 
special conditions would also apply to the other model under the 
provisions of Sec. 21.101.

Novel or Unusual Design Features

    The Eclipse Model 500 will incorporate the following novel or 
unusual design features: Turbine engines mounted on the aft of the 
fuselage. Aft mounted turbine engine installations need to be protected 
from fire since early visual detection of engine fires is not possible. 
This notice proposes a special condition for a fire extinguishing 
system for the engines of the Model 500.

Applicability

    As discussed above, these special conditions are applicable to the 
Eclipse Model 500. Should Eclipse Aviation Corporation apply at a later 
date for a change to the type certificate to include another 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.

Conclusion

    This action affects only certain novel or unusual design features 
on one model 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 and 44701; 14 CFR 21.16 and 
21.17; and 14 CFR 11.38 and 11.19.

The Proposed Special Conditions

    Accordingly, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposes the 
following special conditions as part of the type certification basis 
for the Eclipse Aviation Corporation Model 500.

Engine Fire Extinguishing System

    (a) Fire extinguishing systems must be installed and compliance 
must be shown with the following:
    (1) Except for combustor, turbine, and tailpipe sections of 
turbine-engine installations that contain lines or components carrying 
flammable fluids for which a fire originating in these sections can be 
controllable, a fire extinguisher system must serve each engine 
compartment.
    (2) The fire extinguishing system, the quantity of the 
extinguishing agent, the rate of discharge, and the discharge 
distribution must be adequate to extinguish fires. An individual ``one 
shot'' system may be used.
    (3) The fire extinguishing system for a nacelle must be able to 
simultaneously protect each compartment of the nacelle for which 
protection is provided.
    (b) Fire extinguishing agents must meet the following requirements:
    (1) Be capable of extinguishing flames emanating from any burning 
of fluids or other combustible materials in the area protected by the 
fire extinguishing system.
    (2) Have thermal stability over the temperature range likely to be 
experienced in the compartment in which they are stored; and
    (3) If any toxic extinguishing agent is used, provisions must be 
made to prevent harmful concentrations of fluid or vapors from entering 
any personnel compartment even though a defect may exist in the 
extinguishing system.
    (c) Fire extinguishing agent containers must meet the following 
requirements:

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    (1) Have a pressure relief to prevent bursting of the container by 
excessive internal pressures.
    (2) The discharge end of each discharge line from a pressure relief 
connection must be located so the discharge of the fire extinguishing 
agent would not damage the airplane. The line must also be located or 
protected to prevent clogging caused by ice or other foreign matter.
    (3) A means must be provided for each fire extinguishing agent 
container to indicate that the container has discharged or that the 
charging pressure is below the established minimum necessary for proper 
functioning.
    (4) The temperature of each container must be maintained, under 
intended operating conditions, to prevent the pressure in the container 
from falling below that necessary to provide an adequate rate of 
discharge, or rising high enough to cause premature discharge; and
    (5) If a pyrotechnic capsule is used to discharge the fire 
extinguishing agent each container must be installed so that 
temperature conditions will not cause hazardous deterioration of the 
pyrotechnic capsule.
    (d) Fire extinguisher system materials must meet the following 
requirements:
    (1) No material in any fire extinguishing system may react 
chemically with any extinguishing agent so as to create a hazard, and
    (2) Each system component in an engine compartment must be 
fireproof.

    Issued in Kansas City, Missouri on January 14, 2002.
James E. Jackson,
Acting Manager, Small Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification 
Service.
[FR Doc. 02-2143 Filed 1-28-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P