The US Federal Aviation Administration has launched a new aviation rulemaking committee (ARC) that could produce a slate of more pragmatic certification standards for light business jets and general aviation aircraft several years from now, simplifying and streamlining the path to market for new aircraft.
Called the Part 23 reorganization aviation rulemaking committee, the government and industry group will review existing Part 23 airworthiness standards over the next 12-24 months.
This will start with the recommendations made in a 2009 report - the Part 23 certification process study. Results of the ARC will become the baseline for proposed rules to revamp Part 23.
The Part 23 certification process study looked at the patchwork of existing Part 23 rules, to evaluate how well they address the total life cycle of an aircraft.
The overall conclusion was to restructure Part 23 into performance- and complexity-based divisions, rather than by the weight- and propulsion-based metrics originally put in place in the 1940s, when there was a direct correlation between aircraft size, performance and engine type.
"As the FAA has worked to address airplanes with increased complexity and performance, the certification process for light aircraft has become over-burdensome," said Pete Bunce, president and CEO of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA).
"The rewrite of these certification rules will align the requirements to address simple products with equivalent rules, while eliminating the need for special conditions on high-performance and complex aircraft such as light jets. This makes certification and manufacturing for a particular product more efficient, thereby decreasing the cost of these airplanes and acting as a catalyst for the resurgence of the light end of the market."
Bunce said he expects the new rules to result in a lower cost for entry-level, certified airplanes and growth opportunities for the existing factory-built light sport aircraft manufacturers as well.
Source: Flight International
