[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 134 (Wednesday, July 13, 2011)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 41045-41046]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-17534]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 25

[Docket No. NM461; Special Conditions No. 25-440-SC]


Special Conditions; Gulfstream Aerospace LP (GALP) Model G250 
Airplane, Design Roll-Maneuver Requirement

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 Gulfstream 
Aerospace LP (GALP) Model G250 airplane. This airplane will have novel 
or unusual design features associated with electronic flight controls 
as they relate to design roll-maneuver requirements. 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 July 1, 2011. 
We must receive your comments by August 29, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You must mail two copies of your comments to: Federal 
Aviation Administration, Transport Airplane Directorate, Attn: Rules 
Docket (ANM-113), Docket No. NM461, 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. NM461. 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: Carl Niedermeyer, Transport Airplane 
Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service, 1601 Lind Avenue, SW., 
Renton, Washington 98057-3356; telephone (425) 227-2279; facsimile 
(425) 227-1149.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FAA has determined that notice of, and 
opportunity for prior public comment on, these special conditions are 
impracticable because these procedures would significantly delay 
issuance of the design approval 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 may change these special conditions based on the comments 
we receive.
    If you want us to acknowledge receipt of your comments on these 
special conditions, include with your comments a self-addressed, 
stamped postcard on which you have written the docket number. We will 
stamp the date on the postcard and mail it back to you.

Background

    On March 30, 2006, GALP applied for a type certificate for their 
new Model G250 airplane. The G250 is an 8-10 passenger (19 maximum), 
twin-engine airplane with a maximum operating altitude of 45,000 feet 
and a range of approximately 3,400 nautical miles. Airplane dimensions 
are 61.69-foot wing span, 66.6-foot overall length, and 20.8-foot tail 
height. Maximum takeoff weight is 39,600 pounds and maximum landing 
weight 32,700 pounds. Maximum cruise speed is mach 0.85, dive speed is 
mach 0.92. The avionics suite will be the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 
Fusion.

Type Certification Basis

    Under the provisions of 14 CFR 21.17, GALP must show that the Model 
G250 airplane meets the applicable provisions of part 25 as amended by 
Amendments 25-1 through 25-117.
    If the Administrator finds that the applicable airworthiness 
regulations (i.e., 14 CFR part 25) do not contain adequate or 
appropriate safety standards for the Model G250 airplane because of a 
novel or unusual design feature, special conditions are prescribed 
under the provisions of Sec.  21.16.
    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.
    In addition to the applicable airworthiness regulations and special

[[Page 41046]]

conditions, the Model G250 airplane 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 14 CFR 11.19, in 
accordance with Sec.  11.38, and they become part of the type-
certification basis under Sec.  21.17(a)(2).

Novel or Unusual Design Features

    The Model G250 airplane will incorporate the following novel or 
unusual design features:
    The Model G250 airplane is equipped with an electronic flight 
control system that provides control through the pilot inputs to the 
flight computer. This novel design feature is not covered in the 
current roll-maneuver airworthiness regulations of Sec.  25.349(a). The 
current regulations do not address any nonlinearities or other effects 
upon roll control that may be caused by electronic flight controls. 
Therefore, special conditions are necessary to establish appropriate 
design standards for the GALP Model G250 airplane type design.

Discussion

    The GALP Model G250 airplane is equipped with an electronic 
spoiler-control system and a mechanical aileron-control system that 
provide roll control of the aircraft through pilot inputs. An 
electronic control unit operates the roll spoilers to assist the 
ailerons in roll control of the aircraft. Current part 25 airworthiness 
regulations account for control laws for which lateral control-surface 
deflection is proportional to control-stick deflection. They do not 
address any nonlinearities or other effects on roll-control-surface 
actuation that may be caused by electronic flight controls. Since this 
type of system may affect flight loads, and therefore the structural 
capability of the airplane, specific regulations are needed to address 
these effects.
    These special conditions differ from current requirements in that 
they require roll maneuvers to result from defined movements of the 
cockpit roll control, as opposed to defined aileron deflections. These 
special conditions require an additional load condition at design 
maneuvering speed VA, in which the cockpit roll control is 
returned to neutral following the initial roll input.
    These special conditions are limited to the roll axis only. Special 
conditions are no longer needed for the yaw axis because Sec.  25.351 
was revised at Amendment 25-91 to take into account the effects of an 
electronic flight control system for this control axis.

Applicability

    As discussed above, these special conditions are applicable to the 
GALP Model G250 airplane. Should GALP 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 
on the GALP Model G250 airplane. 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.
    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.

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 25

    Aircraft, Aviation safety, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    The authority citation for these special conditions is as follows:

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

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 GALP Model G250 airplane.
    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 of 
two-thirds of the positive maneuvering factor used in the design. In 
determining the resulting control-surface deflections, the torsional 
flexibility of the wing must be considered in accordance with Sec.  
25.301(b):
    In lieu of compliance with Sec.  25.349(a):
    1. Conditions corresponding to steady rolling velocities must be 
investigated. In addition, conditions corresponding to maximum angular 
acceleration must be investigated for airplanes with engines or other 
weight concentrations outboard of the fuselage. 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, sudden 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 design cruising speed VC, the cockpit roll control 
must be moved suddenly and maintained so as to achieve a roll rate not 
less than that obtained in Special Condition 2, above.
    4. At design diving speed 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 Special Condition 2, above.

    Issued in Renton, Washington, on July 1, 2011.
Jeffrey E. Duven,
Acting Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-17534 Filed 7-12-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P