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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 0176.PDF
11 J\ iigijULA-fJUND im\wviM\Am standard orders (TSO), even airworthi ness directives (AD). "It lays out how we're going to operate together, our responsibilities and roles," says Mike Gallagher, manager of the Small Airplane Directorate. "We agree to abide by the principles." To move into CPI requires the two participants to collaborate up front on a specific programme, identifying processes and standards that the project must meet to earn a type certificate. In both cases, communications are the key. "We're trying to lay out the plan ahead of time, and start thinking about a method of compliance (MOC) up front, decide what we can delegate and what we can't," Gallagher says. The manufacturer has the responsibil ity for complying with the rules; the FAA finds compliance by sampling what the manufacturer has done and how they've done it. Otherwise, the process relies on the DERs as the FAA authority. "We think CPI will significantly streamline and speed up the certification process," Gallagher asserts. "Earlier involvement of the FAA helps us to avoid later problems." Right now, the FAA is working with 25 manufacturers under the PSP umbrella, including engine- maker Allison-Rolls, Aviat, Boeing, Cessna, Gulfstream, Raytheon Aircraft and Williams International. To date, companies like Aviat and Cessna, which have used CPI as a guide, have been generally pleased with the results, even though not all have worked as well as hoped - usually because of cir cumstances not anticipated by the CPI road map. "We'd like to see CPI as our normal way of doing business, but it's not required," Gallagher says. The SR22: A CPI success story resulted from those ongoing PSP initiatives. PSPs include Free Flight and CAPSTONE on the avionics and operational sides. Early successes and the expectation of smoother relations with the FAA has con tributed to a growth in PSP participants. Negotiations are under way with Eclipse Aviation - the developer of the Eclipse 500 very light jet - in a risk-sharing partnership with Williams International. Likewise, the number of certification process improvement-guided (CPI) certification pro grammes see P2T) continues to grow with last month's addition of Adam Aircraft Industries, developer of the Burt Rutan-designed M-309 inline-thrust twin. And efforts to apply CPI streamlined certification are underway for avionics and engines. RECOGNISING OTHER NEEDS "Without question, one of the biggest issues we have is certification - period," says Tom Poberezny, president of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). "Technology new to aviation creates a quandary because we want aviation to progress as fast as the new technolo gies can take us. But the [FAA] isn't equipped to move quickly." In fact, certification and agency inertia are at the top of most groups' lists of concerns: for the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, which has spearheaded certification simplifica tion; for the EAA, whose members receive most of the type certificates the FAAissues each year, and for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), whose members own, fly and buy most of the general aviation aircraft in the USA. According to Dennis Roberts, AOPA vice- president of government and technical affairs, agency inflexibility has been only one part of the problem. A continuing frustration centres on differingvoices reading different meanings into identical regulations, and uneven application of national rules from region-to-region. They all point to the need for one voice - one source with one interpretation, he told Flight International. Another PSP initiative offers hope for resolv ing that decades-long complaint. According to Mike Gallagher, the FAAs manager of the Small Airplane Directorate, many certification and compliance regulations and interpretations are available on FAAs internet site. By next summer, Gallagher says, FAA and industry employees should be able to find all current regulations and interpretations there: "Where we want to get is that anybody calling in gets the same answers and same guidance for the same issues, regard less of where they are." The FAA will provide printed guides that show what the goals are under each area of con cern, describe how to approach them and explain the processes to be used. Another FAA initiative should bring about a new type of pilot's 26 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 16 - 22 January 2001
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