[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 72 (Monday, April 16, 2007)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 18861-18862]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-1809]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 25

[Docket No. NM374: Special Conditions No. 25-351-SC]


Special Conditions: Dassault Aviation, Model Falcon 7X; Design 
Roll Maneuvering Conditions

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Final special conditions; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: These special conditions are issued for the Dassault Aviation 
Falcon 7X airplane. This airplane will have a novel or unusual design 
feature associated with an electronic fly-by-wire flight control 
system. The applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain 
adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These 
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: The effective date of these special conditions is April 4, 2007. 
We must receive your comments by May 16, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You must mail two copies of your comments to: Federal 
Aviation Administration, Transport Airplane Directorate, Attn: Rules 
Docket (ANM-113), Docket No. NM374, 1601 Lind Avenue, SW., Renton, 
Washington, 98057-3356. You may deliver two copies to the Transport 
Airplane Directorate at the above address. You must mark your comments: 
Docket No. NM374. You can inspect comments in the Rules Docket 
weekdays, except Federal holidays, between 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rich Yarges, FAA, Airframe/Cabin 
Safety Branch, ANM-115, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft 
Certification Service, 1601 Lind Avenue, SW., Renton, Washington 98057-
3356; telephone (425) 227-2143; facsimile (425) 227-1232.

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

    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 ask 
that you send us two copies of written comments.
    We will file in the docket all comments we receive as well as a 
report summarizing each substantive public contact with FAA personnel 
about these special conditions. You can inspect the docket before and 
after the comment closing date. If you wish to review the docket in 
person, go to the address in the ADDRESSES section of this preamble 
between 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.
    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 expense or delay. We may change these special 
conditions based on the comments we receive.
    If you want us to let you know we received your comments on these 
special conditions, send us a pre-addressed, stamped postcard on which 
the docket number appears. We will stamp the date on the postcard and 
mail it back to you.

Background

    On June 4, 2002, Dassault Aviation, 9 rond Point des Champs 
Elysees, 75008, Paris, France, applied for a type certificate for its 
new Model Falcon 7X. The Dassault Aviation Falcon 7X is a 19 passenger 
transport category airplane, powered by three aft mounted Pratt & 
Whitney PW307A high bypass ratio turbofan engines. The airplane is 
operated using a fly-by-wire electronic flight control system. This 
flight control system does not provide a mechanical link between the 
airplane flight control surface and the pilot's cockpit control device 
as there is on more conventional airplanes. This will be the first 
application of such a system in an airplane primarily intended for 
private or corporate use. However, several models of airplanes 
certificated under part 25 have incorporated fly-by-wire electronic 
flight control systems.

Type Certification Basis

    Under the provisions of 14 CFR 21.17, Dassault Aviation must show 
that the Model Falcon 7X meets the applicable provisions of Part 14 CFR 
part 25, as amended by Amendment 25-1 through 25-107.
    If the Administrator finds that the applicable airworthiness 
regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for 
the Model Falcon 7X 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 Dassault Model Falcon 7X 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, and the FAA must issue a 
finding of regulatory adequacy under Sec.  611 of Public Law 92-574, 
the ``Noise Control Act of 1972.''
    The FAA issues special conditions, as defined in Sec.  11.19, under 
Sec.  11.38, and they become part of the type certification basis under 
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 special conditions would also apply to the 
other model.

Novel or Unusual Design Features

    The Falcon 7X is equipped with an electronic flight control system. 
In this

[[Page 18862]]

system, there is not a direct mechanical link between the airplane 
flight control surface and the pilot's cockpit control device as there 
is on more conventional airplanes. Instead, a flight control computer 
commands the airplane flight control surfaces, based on input received 
from the cockpit control device. The pilot input is modified by the 
flight control computer--based on the current airplane flight 
parameters--before the command is given to the flight control surface.

Discussion

    The formulation of airplane design load conditions in 14 CFR part 
25 is based on the assumption that the airplane is equipped with a 
control system in which there is a direct mechanical linkage between 
the pilot's cockpit control and the control surface. Thus, for roll 
maneuvers, the regulation specifies a displacement for the aileron 
itself and does not envision any modification of the pilot's control 
input. Since such a system will affect the airplane flight loads and 
thus the structural strength of the airplane, special conditions 
appropriate for this type of control system are needed.
    In particular, the special condition adjusts the design roll 
maneuver requirements specified in Sec.  25.349(a), so that they take 
into account the effect of the Falcon 7X's electronic flight control 
computer on the control surface deflection. The special condition 
requires that the roll maneuver be performed by deflection of the 
cockpit roll control, as opposed to specifying a deflection of the 
aileron itself as the current regulation does. The deflection of the 
control surface would then be determined from the cockpit input, based 
on the computer's flight control laws and the current airplane flight 
parameters.

Applicability

    As discussed above, these special conditions are applicable to the 
Dassault Aviation Model Falcon 7X. Should Dassault Aviation 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.

Conclusion

    This action affects only certain novel or unusual design features 
of the Dassault Aviation Model Falcon 7X of airplane. It is not a rule 
of general applicability.
    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 public comment would result in a significant change from 
the substance contained herein. Therefore, 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 that 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 25

    Aircraft, Aviation safety, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

0
The authority citation for these special conditions is as follows:

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40113, 44701, 44702, 44704.

The Special Conditions

0
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 Dassault Aviation Model Falcon 7X 
airplanes.

Design Roll Maneuvering Conditions

    In lieu of compliance with 14 CFR 25.349(a), the following special 
conditions apply:
    Maneuvering: The following conditions, speeds and cockpit roll 
control motions (except as the motions may be limited by pilot effort) 
must be considered in combination with an airplane load factor of zero 
and the two-thirds of limit positive maneuvering load factor. In 
determining the resulting control surface deflections, the torsional 
flexibility of the wing must be considered in accordance with 14 CFR 
25.301(b):
    (1) Conditions corresponding to maximum steady rolling velocities 
and conditions corresponding to maximum angular accelerations must be 
investigated. For the angular acceleration conditions, zero rolling 
velocity may be assumed in the absence of a rational time history 
investigation of the maneuver.
    (2) At VA, movement of the cockpit roll control up to 
the limit is assumed. The position of the cockpit roll control must be 
maintained until a steady roll rate is achieved and then must be 
returned suddenly to the neutral position.
    (3) At VC, the cockpit roll control must be moved 
suddenly and maintained so as to achieve a roll rate not less than that 
obtained in sub-paragraph (2) of this paragraph.
    (4) At VD, the cockpit roll control must be moved 
suddenly and maintained so as to achieve a roll rate not less than one 
third of that obtained in sub-paragraph (2) of this paragraph.

    Issued in Renton, Washington, on April 4, 2007.
Stephen P. Boyd,
Acting Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification 
Service.
[FR Doc. 07-1809 Filed 4-13-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-M