Airworthiness Criteria: Special Class Airworthiness Criteria for the AgustaWestland Philadelphia Corporation Model AW609 Powered-Lift, 37805-37807 [2023-12310]
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lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 111 / Friday, June 9, 2023 / Proposed Rules
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[FR Doc. 2023–11772 Filed 6–8–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Part 21
[Docket No. FAA–2022–1726]
Airworthiness Criteria: Special Class
Airworthiness Criteria for the
AgustaWestland Philadelphia
Corporation Model AW609 PoweredLift
Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of proposed
airworthiness criteria.
AGENCY:
The FAA announces the
availability of, and requests comments
on, the proposed airworthiness criteria
for the AgustaWestland Philadelphia
Corporation (AWPC) Model AW609
powered-lift. This document proposes
airworthiness criteria the FAA finds to
be appropriate and applicable for the
powered-lift design.
DATES: The FAA must receive comments
by July 10, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Send comments identified
by Docket No. FAA–2022–1726 using
any of the following methods:
• Federal eRegulations Portal: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov/ and follow
the online instructions for sending your
comments electronically.
• Mail: Send comments to Docket
Operations, M–30, U.S. Department of
Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE, Room W12–140, West
Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC
20590–0001.
• Hand Delivery of Courier: Take
comments to Docket Operations in
Room W12–140 of the West Building
Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays.
• Fax: Fax comments to Docket
Operations at 202–493–2251.
Privacy: The FAA will post all
comments it receives, without change,
to https://www.regulations.gov,
SUMMARY:
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37805
including any personal information the
commenter provides. Using the search
function of the docket website, anyone
can find and read the electronic form of
all comments received into any FAA
docket, including the name of the
individual sending the comment (or
signing the comment for an association,
business, labor union, etc.). DOT’s
complete Privacy Act Statement can be
found in the Federal Register published
on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477–19478),
as well as at https://DocketsInfo.dot.gov.
Docket: Background documents or
comments received may be read at
https://www.regulations.gov/ at any
time. Follow the online instructions for
accessing the docket or go to Docket
Operations in Room W12–140 of the
West Building Ground Floor at 1200
New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington,
DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Clinton Jones, Strategic Policy
Management Branch, AIR–613, Policy
and Innovation Division, Aircraft
Certification Service, Federal Aviation
Administration, 2200 S 216th St, Des
Moines, WA 98198; telephone and fax
206–231–3181; email Clinton.Jones@
faa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Comments Invited
The FAA invites interested people to
take part in the development of
proposed airworthiness criteria for the
AWPC Model AW609 powered-lift by
sending written comments, data, or
views. Please identify the AWPC Model
AW609 and Docket No. FAA–2022–
1726 on all submitted correspondence.
The most helpful comments reference a
specific portion of the airworthiness
criteria, explain the reason for a
recommended change, and include
supporting data.
Except for Confidential Business
Information as described in the
following paragraph, and other
information as described in title 14,
Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR)
11.35, the FAA will file in the docket all
comments received, as well as a report
summarizing each substantive public
contact with FAA personnel concerning
these proposed airworthiness criteria.
Before acting on this proposal, the FAA
will consider all comments received on
or before the closing date for comments.
The FAA will consider comments filed
late if it is possible to do so without
incurring delay. The FAA may change
these airworthiness criteria based on
received comments.
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37806
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 111 / Friday, June 9, 2023 / Proposed Rules
Confidential Business Information
Confidential Business Information
(CBI) is commercial or financial
information that is both customarily and
actually treated as private by its owner.
Under the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt
from public disclosure. If your
comments responsive to this notice
contain commercial or financial
information that is customarily treated
as private, that you actually treat as
private, and that is relevant or
responsive to this notice, it is important
that you clearly designate the submitted
comments as CBI. Please mark each
page of your submission containing CBI
as ‘‘PROPIN.’’ The FAA will treat such
marked submissions as confidential
under the FOIA, and they will not be
placed in the public docket of this
notice. Submissions containing CBI
should be sent to the individual listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT. Any commentary that the FAA
receives that is not specifically
designated as CBI will be placed in the
public docket for this notice.
Background
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
The AWPC Model AW609 is a twoengine powered-lift with a maximum
weight of 17,500 lbs., and two crew and
nine passenger seats. The aircraft has
two ‘‘proprotors’’ instead of propellers
or rotors. The AW609 design is a direct
descendant of the Bell Helicopter Model
BA609 certification project, which had
design origins from the experimental
Bell XV–15 aircraft.
After several changes of applicants,
on February 15, 2012, AgustaWestland
Tilt-Rotor Company, now AWPC,
applied for a type certificate for the
Model AW609. Under 14 CFR 21.17(c),
an application for type certification is
effective for three years, unless the FAA
approves a longer period. Section
21.17(d) provides that, where a type
certificate has not been issued within
the time limit established under section
21.17(c), the applicant may file for an
extension and update the designated
applicable regulations in the type
certification basis. Since the project was
not certificated within the established
time limit, the FAA approved a series of
requests for extension by AWPC. As a
result, the date of the updated type
certification basis is March 31, 2021.
Discussion
Powered-lift are type certificated as
special class aircraft because the FAA
has not yet established powered-lift
airworthiness standards as a separate
part of subchapter C of 14 CFR. Under
the procedures in 14 CFR 21.17(b), the
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airworthiness requirements for special
class aircraft are the portions of the
requirements in parts 23, 25, 27, 29, 31,
33, and 35 found by the FAA to be
appropriate and applicable to the
specific type design and any other
airworthiness criteria found by the FAA
to provide an equivalent level of safety
to the existing standards. This notice
announces the applicable regulations
and other airworthiness criteria
developed for type certification of the
Model AW609 powered-lift under
§ 21.17(b).
The powered-lift has characteristics of
both a rotorcraft and an airplane. It is
designed to function as a helicopter for
takeoff and landing and as an airplane
cruising at higher speeds than a
helicopter during the enroute portion of
flight operations. Accordingly, the
proposed Model AW609 certification
basis contains standards from parts 23,
25, and 29, as well as other
airworthiness criteria specific for a
powered-lift.
This certification basis includes part
23, part 25, and part 29 airworthiness
standards. These are part 23 at
amendment 23–62, part 25 at
amendment 25–135 (except § 25.903(a)
at amendment 25–140), and part 29 at
amendment 29–55. The proposed
certification basis incorporates by
reference existing transport category
airplane and rotorcraft standards, one
normal category airplane standard,
Category A rotorcraft standards,
optional Category B rotorcraft standards,
and criteria for operation under
instrument flight rules. This
certification basis is not established for
flight into known icing conditions.
The proposed certification basis also
includes new criteria unique to the
powered-lift design, designated as
Tiltrotor (TR) criteria. Many of these TR
criteria consist of modified part 25 or
part 29 standards. Some include criteria
that combine existing parts 23, 25, and
29 standards, as the maximum weight of
the Model AW609 exceeds the weight
for normal category rotorcraft and most
part 23 category airplanes, but its
passenger seating is less than that of a
transport category airplane or a
transport category rotorcraft. The FAA
also developed TR criteria because no
existing standard captures the poweredlift’s transitional flight modes (during
flight, the powered-lift nacelle rotates
the proprotor system from providing
vertical lift to horizontal propulsion).
The TR criteria also contain definitions
specific for the powered-lift, such as
flight modes, configurations, speeds,
and terminology (‘‘flaperon’’ instead of
‘‘aileron’’ or ‘‘flap;’’ ‘‘proprotor’’ instead
of ‘‘rotor’’ or ‘‘propeller’’).
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For example, while existing part 25
and part 29 standards for passenger
emergency exits include a size
classification (types I, II, III, IV)
depending on the passenger seating
capacity and other factors, the proposed
certification basis has a TR with criteria
for the specific type of passenger
emergency exit that is part of the design
of the Model AW609. Another example
involves fatigue evaluation. Part 25
contains requirements such as a limit of
validity (LOV) on airframe fatigue for
pressurized fuselages, which are not in
part 29. Instead, fatigue evaluation in
part 29 includes a composite structures
fatigue rule, due to the more extreme
fatigue environment of rotorcraft. For
small airplanes, part 23, amendment
23–48, added a composite airframe
evaluation requirement for bonded
joints, which is included in agency
compliance guidance for parts 25 and 29
but not required by a specific regulation
(the safety requirement is complied with
through other broad existing regulations
in those parts). Since the Model AW609
has a pressurized fuselage, the FAA
developed TR criteria to include the
LOV requirement. The proposed
certification basis incorporates by
reference the part 29 composite
rotorcraft structures fatigue rule, TR
criteria to include the composite
bonding requirements from part 23, as
well as TR criteria to include fatigue
requirements for elastomeric primary
structural elements.
Applicability
These airworthiness criteria,
established under the provisions of
§ 21.17(b), are applicable to the AWPC
Model AW609 powered-lift. Should
AWPC wish to apply these
airworthiness criteria to other poweredlift models, it must submit a new
application for a type certificate.
Proposed Airworthiness Criteria
The FAA proposes airworthiness
criteria for type certification of the
AgustaWestland Philadelphia
Corporation Model AW609 powered-lift.
You may view the airworthiness criteria
on the internet at https://
www.regulations.gov in Docket No.
FAA–2022–1726. You may also obtain a
copy of the airworthiness criteria by
contacting the individual listed in the
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section of this notice.
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 111 / Friday, June 9, 2023 / Proposed Rules
Issued in Washington, DC, on May 19,
2023.
Ian Lucas,
Manager, Certification Coordination Section,
Policy and Standards Division, Aircraft
Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 2023–12310 Filed 6–8–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–13–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Part 39
[Docket No. FAA–2023–1054; Project
Identifier MCAI–2022–01513–G]
RIN 2120–AA64
Airworthiness Directives; SchemppHirth Flugzeugbau GmbH Gliders
Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking
(NPRM).
AGENCY:
The FAA proposes to adopt a
new airworthiness directive (AD) for
Schempp-Hirth Flugzeugbau GmbH
(Schempp-Hirth) Model Ventus–2a and
Ventus–2b gliders. This proposed AD
results from mandatory continuing
airworthiness information (MCAI)
originated by an aviation authority of
another country to identify and correct
an unsafe condition on an aviation
product. The MCAI identifies the unsafe
condition as the uncommanded
extraction of the airbrakes on one or
both wings, possibly resulting in
reduced control of the glider. This
proposed AD would require repetitively
inspecting airbrake bell cranks and
airbrake drive funnels for cracking,
repetitively inspecting the clearance of
the airbrake control system, and taking
corrective action as necessary. This
proposed AD would also require
modifying the airbrake system, which is
terminating action for the repetitive
inspections. The FAA is proposing this
AD to address the unsafe condition on
these products.
DATES: The FAA must receive comments
on this NPRM by July 24, 2023.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments,
using the procedures found in 14 CFR
11.43 and 11.45, by any of the following
methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
regulations.gov. Follow the instructions
for submitting comments.
• Fax: (202) 493–2251.
• Mail: U.S. Department of
Transportation, Docket Operations, M–
30, West Building Ground Floor, Room
W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE,
Washington, DC 20590.
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:22 Jun 08, 2023
Jkt 259001
• Hand Delivery: Deliver to Mail
address above between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
AD Docket: You may examine the AD
docket at regulations.gov under Docket
No. FAA–2023–1054; or in person at
Docket Operations between 9 a.m. and
5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays. The AD docket
contains this NPRM, the MCAI, any
comments received, and other
information. The street address for
Docket Operations is listed above.
Material Incorporated by Reference
• For service information identified
in this NPRM, contact Schempp-Hirth
Flugzeugbau GmbH, Krebenstrasse 25,
Kirchheim unter Teck, Germany; phone:
+49 7021 7298–0; email: info@schempphirth.com; website: schempp-hirth.com.
• You may view this service
information at the FAA, Airworthiness
Products Section, Operational Safety
Branch, 901 Locust, Kansas City, MO
64106. For information on the
availability of this material at the FAA,
call (817) 222–5110.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim
Rutherford, Aviation Safety Engineer,
International Validation Branch, FAA,
1600 Stewart Avenue, Suite 410,
Westbury, NY 11590; phone: (816) 329–
4165; email: jim.rutherford@faa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Comments Invited
The FAA invites you to send any
written relevant data, views, or
arguments about this proposal. Send
your comments to an address listed
under ADDRESSES. Include ‘‘Docket No.
FAA–2023–1054; Project Identifier
MCAI–2022–01513–G’’ at the beginning
of your comments. The most helpful
comments reference a specific portion of
the proposal, explain the reason for any
recommended change, and include
supporting data. The FAA will consider
all comments received by the closing
date and may amend this proposal
because of those comments.
Except for Confidential Business
Information (CBI) as described in the
following paragraph, and other
information as described in 14 CFR
11.35, the FAA will post all comments
received, without change, to
regulations.gov, including any personal
information you provide. The agency
will also post a report summarizing each
substantive verbal contact received
about this NPRM.
Confidential Business Information
CBI is commercial or financial
information that is both customarily and
actually treated as private by its owner.
PO 00000
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37807
Under the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), CBI is exempt
from public disclosure. If your
comments responsive to this NPRM
contain commercial or financial
information that is customarily treated
as private, that you actually treat as
private, and that is relevant or
responsive to this NPRM, it is important
that you clearly designate the submitted
comments as CBI. Please mark each
page of your submission containing CBI
as ‘‘PROPIN.’’ The FAA will treat such
marked submissions as confidential
under the FOIA, and they will not be
placed in the public docket of this
NPRM. Submissions containing CBI
should be sent to Jim Rutherford,
Aviation Safety Engineer, International
Validation Branch, FAA, 1600 Stewart
Avenue, Suite 410, Westbury, NY
11590. Any commentary that the FAA
receives which is not specifically
designated as CBI will be placed in the
public docket for this rulemaking.
Background
The European Union Aviation Safety
Agency (EASA), which is the Technical
Agent for the Member States of the
European Union, has issued EASA AD
2022–0229, dated November 28, 2022
(referred to after this as ‘‘the MCAI’’), to
correct an unsafe condition on all
Schempp-Hirth Model Ventus–2a and
Ventus–2b gliders. The MCAI states that
permanent excessive loads on the
automatic connections of the airbrake
control system can cause damage to the
drive funnels in the fuselage and to the
airbrake bell cranks at the root ribs of
the wings. The MCAI requires
repetitively inspecting the airbrake bell
cranks and drive funnels for damage,
inspecting the airbrake control system
for clearance, corrective actions if
necessary, and modifying the airbrake
control system by replacing the airbrake
bell cranks with reinforced airbrake bell
cranks and replacing airbrake drive
funnels with reinforced drive funnels.
The MCAI states that this modification
is terminating action for the repetitive
inspections.
This condition, if not detected and
corrected, could lead to the
uncommanded extraction of the
airbrakes on one or both wings and
result in reduced control of the glider.
You may examine the MCAI in the
AD docket at regulations.gov under
Docket No. FAA–2023–1054.
Related Service Information Under 1
CFR Part 51
The FAA reviewed Schempp-Hirth
Technical Note 349–43, dated August 9,
2022, which specifies procedures for
inspecting the automatic airbrake
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 111 (Friday, June 9, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 37805-37807]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-12310]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Part 21
[Docket No. FAA-2022-1726]
Airworthiness Criteria: Special Class Airworthiness Criteria for
the AgustaWestland Philadelphia Corporation Model AW609 Powered-Lift
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of proposed airworthiness criteria.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The FAA announces the availability of, and requests comments
on, the proposed airworthiness criteria for the AgustaWestland
Philadelphia Corporation (AWPC) Model AW609 powered-lift. This document
proposes airworthiness criteria the FAA finds to be appropriate and
applicable for the powered-lift design.
DATES: The FAA must receive comments by July 10, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Send comments identified by Docket No. FAA-2022-1726 using
any of the following methods:
Federal eRegulations Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov/ and follow the online instructions for sending
your comments electronically.
Mail: Send comments to Docket Operations, M-30, U.S.
Department of Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room
W12-140, West Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
Hand Delivery of Courier: Take comments to Docket
Operations in Room W12-140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200
New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Fax: Fax comments to Docket Operations at 202-493-2251.
Privacy: The FAA will post all comments it receives, without
change, to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal
information the commenter provides. Using the search function of the
docket website, anyone can find and read the electronic form of all
comments received into any FAA docket, including the name of the
individual sending the comment (or signing the comment for an
association, business, labor union, etc.). DOT's complete Privacy Act
Statement can be found in the Federal Register published on April 11,
2000 (65 FR 19477-19478), as well as at https://DocketsInfo.dot.gov.
Docket: Background documents or comments received may be read at
https://www.regulations.gov/ at any time. Follow the online
instructions for accessing the docket or go to Docket Operations in
Room W12-140 of the West Building Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Clinton Jones, Strategic Policy
Management Branch, AIR-613, Policy and Innovation Division, Aircraft
Certification Service, Federal Aviation Administration, 2200 S 216th
St, Des Moines, WA 98198; telephone and fax 206-231-3181; email
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Comments Invited
The FAA invites interested people to take part in the development
of proposed airworthiness criteria for the AWPC Model AW609 powered-
lift by sending written comments, data, or views. Please identify the
AWPC Model AW609 and Docket No. FAA-2022-1726 on all submitted
correspondence. The most helpful comments reference a specific portion
of the airworthiness criteria, explain the reason for a recommended
change, and include supporting data.
Except for Confidential Business Information as described in the
following paragraph, and other information as described in title 14,
Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) 11.35, the FAA will file in the
docket all comments received, as well as a report summarizing each
substantive public contact with FAA personnel concerning these proposed
airworthiness criteria. Before acting on this proposal, the FAA will
consider all comments received on or before the closing date for
comments. The FAA will consider comments filed late if it is possible
to do so without incurring delay. The FAA may change these
airworthiness criteria based on received comments.
[[Page 37806]]
Confidential Business Information
Confidential Business Information (CBI) is commercial or financial
information that is both customarily and actually treated as private by
its owner. Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552),
CBI is exempt from public disclosure. If your comments responsive to
this notice contain commercial or financial information that is
customarily treated as private, that you actually treat as private, and
that is relevant or responsive to this notice, it is important that you
clearly designate the submitted comments as CBI. Please mark each page
of your submission containing CBI as ``PROPIN.'' The FAA will treat
such marked submissions as confidential under the FOIA, and they will
not be placed in the public docket of this notice. Submissions
containing CBI should be sent to the individual listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Any commentary that the FAA receives that
is not specifically designated as CBI will be placed in the public
docket for this notice.
Background
The AWPC Model AW609 is a two-engine powered-lift with a maximum
weight of 17,500 lbs., and two crew and nine passenger seats. The
aircraft has two ``proprotors'' instead of propellers or rotors. The
AW609 design is a direct descendant of the Bell Helicopter Model BA609
certification project, which had design origins from the experimental
Bell XV-15 aircraft.
After several changes of applicants, on February 15, 2012,
AgustaWestland Tilt-Rotor Company, now AWPC, applied for a type
certificate for the Model AW609. Under 14 CFR 21.17(c), an application
for type certification is effective for three years, unless the FAA
approves a longer period. Section 21.17(d) provides that, where a type
certificate has not been issued within the time limit established under
section 21.17(c), the applicant may file for an extension and update
the designated applicable regulations in the type certification basis.
Since the project was not certificated within the established time
limit, the FAA approved a series of requests for extension by AWPC. As
a result, the date of the updated type certification basis is March 31,
2021.
Discussion
Powered-lift are type certificated as special class aircraft
because the FAA has not yet established powered-lift airworthiness
standards as a separate part of subchapter C of 14 CFR. Under the
procedures in 14 CFR 21.17(b), the airworthiness requirements for
special class aircraft are the portions of the requirements in parts
23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, and 35 found by the FAA to be appropriate and
applicable to the specific type design and any other airworthiness
criteria found by the FAA to provide an equivalent level of safety to
the existing standards. This notice announces the applicable
regulations and other airworthiness criteria developed for type
certification of the Model AW609 powered-lift under Sec. 21.17(b).
The powered-lift has characteristics of both a rotorcraft and an
airplane. It is designed to function as a helicopter for takeoff and
landing and as an airplane cruising at higher speeds than a helicopter
during the enroute portion of flight operations. Accordingly, the
proposed Model AW609 certification basis contains standards from parts
23, 25, and 29, as well as other airworthiness criteria specific for a
powered-lift.
This certification basis includes part 23, part 25, and part 29
airworthiness standards. These are part 23 at amendment 23-62, part 25
at amendment 25-135 (except Sec. 25.903(a) at amendment 25-140), and
part 29 at amendment 29-55. The proposed certification basis
incorporates by reference existing transport category airplane and
rotorcraft standards, one normal category airplane standard, Category A
rotorcraft standards, optional Category B rotorcraft standards, and
criteria for operation under instrument flight rules. This
certification basis is not established for flight into known icing
conditions.
The proposed certification basis also includes new criteria unique
to the powered-lift design, designated as Tiltrotor (TR) criteria. Many
of these TR criteria consist of modified part 25 or part 29 standards.
Some include criteria that combine existing parts 23, 25, and 29
standards, as the maximum weight of the Model AW609 exceeds the weight
for normal category rotorcraft and most part 23 category airplanes, but
its passenger seating is less than that of a transport category
airplane or a transport category rotorcraft. The FAA also developed TR
criteria because no existing standard captures the powered-lift's
transitional flight modes (during flight, the powered-lift nacelle
rotates the proprotor system from providing vertical lift to horizontal
propulsion). The TR criteria also contain definitions specific for the
powered-lift, such as flight modes, configurations, speeds, and
terminology (``flaperon'' instead of ``aileron'' or ``flap;''
``proprotor'' instead of ``rotor'' or ``propeller'').
For example, while existing part 25 and part 29 standards for
passenger emergency exits include a size classification (types I, II,
III, IV) depending on the passenger seating capacity and other factors,
the proposed certification basis has a TR with criteria for the
specific type of passenger emergency exit that is part of the design of
the Model AW609. Another example involves fatigue evaluation. Part 25
contains requirements such as a limit of validity (LOV) on airframe
fatigue for pressurized fuselages, which are not in part 29. Instead,
fatigue evaluation in part 29 includes a composite structures fatigue
rule, due to the more extreme fatigue environment of rotorcraft. For
small airplanes, part 23, amendment 23-48, added a composite airframe
evaluation requirement for bonded joints, which is included in agency
compliance guidance for parts 25 and 29 but not required by a specific
regulation (the safety requirement is complied with through other broad
existing regulations in those parts). Since the Model AW609 has a
pressurized fuselage, the FAA developed TR criteria to include the LOV
requirement. The proposed certification basis incorporates by reference
the part 29 composite rotorcraft structures fatigue rule, TR criteria
to include the composite bonding requirements from part 23, as well as
TR criteria to include fatigue requirements for elastomeric primary
structural elements.
Applicability
These airworthiness criteria, established under the provisions of
Sec. 21.17(b), are applicable to the AWPC Model AW609 powered-lift.
Should AWPC wish to apply these airworthiness criteria to other
powered-lift models, it must submit a new application for a type
certificate.
Proposed Airworthiness Criteria
The FAA proposes airworthiness criteria for type certification of
the AgustaWestland Philadelphia Corporation Model AW609 powered-lift.
You may view the airworthiness criteria on the internet at https://www.regulations.gov in Docket No. FAA-2022-1726. You may also obtain a
copy of the airworthiness criteria by contacting the individual listed
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this notice.
[[Page 37807]]
Issued in Washington, DC, on May 19, 2023.
Ian Lucas,
Manager, Certification Coordination Section, Policy and Standards
Division, Aircraft Certification Service.
[FR Doc. 2023-12310 Filed 6-8-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P
