Standards committee on safety and performance of light sport aircraft

Citation

(2003), "Standards committee on safety and performance of light sport aircraft", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 75 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2003.12775baf.008

Standards committee on safety and performance of light sport aircraft

Standards committee on safety and performance of light sport aircraft

Keywords: Standards, Safety, Aircraft

ASTM International, one of the largest voluntary standards development organisations in the world, recently announced that it has formed a new committee to develop safety and performance standards for light sport aircraft (LSA). The committee is comprised of a diverse range of stakeholders from around the world including manufacturers of LSA (aeroplanes, gliders, powered parachutes, weight shift controlled aircraft, gyroplanes), product suppliers, trade associations, maintenance professionals, pilot associations, financial organisations, and the members of the regulatory community.

The new ASTM committee, F37 on LSA, comes together following the most significant regulatory changes by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the last half century. As part of new regulations under Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 23 released earlier this year, the FAA established a new airworthiness certification program appropriate to recreational flying, and a new aircraft category – LSA – that would allow kit and ready-to-fly aircraft to be purchased and flown.

Rather than require the recreational aircraft industry to meet the same requirements assigned to business and transportation aircraft, the FAA has ruled that the industry must develop consensus standards for the design, operation, and maintenance of LSA. Recognising the role that standardisation will play in improving consumer confidence in the safety of recreational aircraft, a broad range of industry stakeholders have come together within ASTM to develop these voluntary consensus standards.

Thomas A. Peghiny, President of Flightstar Sportplanes commented, "The creation of the LSA category is a unique opportunity for the sport of recreational flying. This will be the first time that all the parts will be in place for our industry: a simple license – for operating simple light aeroplanes, and appropriate certification standard for selling ready-to-fly aircraft, and improved access to financing and insurance."

"The FAA has given our industry the opportunity to shape the future of our sport. We believe that developing the standards with the help of ASTM will increase both international acceptance and the quality of our products", Peghiny added.

F37 will bring together hundreds of technical experts from around the world to write voluntary consensus standards pertaining to LSA design and performance criteria including:

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  definition of minimum safety and performance requirements of an acceptable product, and

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  quality assurance system requirements, providing control over all phases of production including supplier-finished parts and services.

ASTM forms new LSA committee/add one:

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  completed aircraft production acceptance procedures, assuring that the finished aircraft will meet flight manual performance;

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  a system for continued operational safety monitoring, creating a base line plan for continuing airworthiness.

Earl A. Lawrence, Vice President, government relations for the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), said, "This new committee is an example of how consumers, government, and manufacturers can come together to develop standards that address the needs of the market, creating a better product than would have been developed by the traditional regulatory methods, while also improving safety and reducing cost to consumers."

"Standards developed by the F37 committee will facilitate the production of the first purpose-built recreational-aviation products in the United States. EAA expects that with the international recognition of ASTM specifications and the growth of the US recreational aviation market, these new standards will become globally accepted for recreational aviation products", added Lawrence.

F37 has already attracted over 200 members with broad global participation.

Phillip Lockwood, President, Lockwood Aviation Supply said, "This is a very exciting period in the history of recreational aviation. Since the creation of the modern, two place, light sport/ultralight type aircraft our industry has faced a serious predicament. Approximately 95 per cent of our potential customers want to purchase finished, factory built aircraft, yet we have been without an appropriate way to provide such a product. Most of the aircraft that have been sold, in this category, were supplied as kits. These new rules together with the industry-developed ASTM standards will make the magic of flying simple aircraft available to a much larger group of Americans than ever before."

"How curious that this opportunity should come as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers first powered flight", added Lockwood.

Industry feedback and comments on the new ASTM Committee F37 should be directed to Earl Lawrence, Experimental Aircraft Association (Tel: +1 9201426-6522; E-mail: elawrence@eaa.org) or Dan Schultz, F37 staff manager, ASTM International Technical Committee Operations (Tel: +1 6101832-9716; E-mail: dschultz@astm.org).

Established in 1898, ASTM International provides a global forum for the development and publication of voluntary consensus standards for materials, products, systems and services. ASTM standards are accepted and used in research and development, product testing, quality systems, and commercial transactions around the globe.

For further details contact: ASTM International. Tel: +1 610 832 9500; Fax: +1 610 832 9555; E-mail: service@astm.org; Web site: www.astm.org