New Airplanes

NPRM Offers New Part 23 Airplane Lexicon

March 14, 2016 by Scott Spangler

If the recently released Part 23 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking survives the comment and review period and makes it to a final rule, old, new, and prospective pilots will have to learn a new airplane lexicon. But don’t hyperventilate, like the NPRM itself, it is simple and straightforward.

Based on aircraft weight and propulsion, the existing Part 23 divisions are Normal, Utility, Acrobatic, and Commuter. As proposed, say good-bye to the last three. All new Part 23 airplanes will be certificated as Normal, in one of four Airplane Certification Levels (ACL) determined by the maximum number of seats:

Level 1 — for airplanes with a maximum seating configuration of 0 to 1
passengers.
Level 2 — for airplanes with a maximum seating configuration of 2 to 6
passengers.
Level 3 — for airplanes with a maximum seating configuration of 7 to 9
passengers.
Level 4 — for airplanes with a maximum seating configuration of 10 to 19 passengers.

This works in concert with the Airplane Performance Level (APL). It replaces the existing propulsion-based divisions, which were established with piston-powered airplanes were traditionally slower than those with turboprops. To quote the NPRM, “These assumptions are no longer valid. Airplane certification based on performance levels would apply regulatory standards appropriate to airplane’s performance and complexity.” So the Normal Part 23 airplane will be either:

Low Speed — for airplanes with a design cruising speed (VC) or maximum operating limit speed (VMO) â‰¤ 250 KCAS (or MMO â‰¤ 0.6).
High Speed — for airplanes with a VC or VMO > 250 KCAS (or MMO > 0.6).

Aircraft Development Awaits Disruptive Tech

May 28, 2013 by Scott Spangler

Catching up on the news after a two-week vacation that was, like my last two week respite in 1975, totally disconnected from the wider world, on May 5 The New York Times reported that there are new aircraft designs in the works because “Jet Makers Avoid Risk by Redoing Old Models.”

Certainly, the realities of business weigh heavily in decisions that lead to new airplanes, but so does the state of aviation technology. Right now it seems to have reached a plateau, as piston-powered propellers had during World War II. Aviation will take the next big step when the disruptive technology, like the jet engines, appears on the horizon.

What that technology will be is anyone’s guess, and I’m sure the tech geeks might have more of a clue than I. But right now the technology that will lead to a sea change in aerospace designs and their capabilities it is not readily apparent.

So why not make proven aerial workhorses more efficient? Unlike other aspect of modern life, aviation does not easily fit into our disposable society, where new is better. If that were true, why is the DC-3 still earning its keep as the Basler Turbo Conversion BT-67?

AirVenture Debuts Offer Better Flying Future

July 31, 2012 by Scott Spangler

With its huge, preselected aviation audience, EAA AirVenture is the ultimate dog-and-pony stage on which many companies debut new hardware and software. Significant this year are new airplanes that offer a good balance between price and performance, technology that improves the educational process, and flight schools that, one hopes, make training more efficient, economical, and palatable to today’s time-stressed prospective pilots. If properly adopted and employed, individually and as a whole, they have the potential to create a brighter future for aviation.

Cognizant of the demands on your time, I’ll share this AirVenture bounty by topic in separate posts. Let’s start with the surprise debut of the RV-14. The IO-390-powered side-by-sider is an aerobatic two-seat RV-10. Preceded by no warning and few rumors, it led a line of every Van’s RV model down to the restored RV-1, flown by Dick VanGrunsven himself, which was presented to the EAA AirVenture Museum.

The RV-14 embodies 40 years of Van’s Aircraft kit building experience, so its match-holed aluminum pieces will become an airplane quicker and with less head scratching. With an 810-pound useful load, on 210-hp it’ll cruise at 195 mph. More important to the future of aviation, two large people fit in it comfortably. That includes me, at 6-foot-5, 260 pounds, with a 38-inch inseam and size 15 feet. Estimated build cost is around $90K, depending how much glass one puts in the panel. Compare that to a new store-bought airplane of similar performance, and DIY really pays off. A taildragger version is in the works.