ASTM standards support
development and safety of LSA
By David Sakrison
Representatives from ASTM
International, EAA, the FAA, and various aerospace manufacturers met
Wednesday at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh to review progress on developing
standards and to discuss the possible needs for additional standards for
general aviation.
During the meeting, FAA
Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Nick Sabatini said ASTM has
become a "prime factor" in the safety of recreational
aircraft. The ASTM’s light-sport aircraft (LSA) standards were
originally created to support the FAA’s and EAA’s rulemaking
efforts, and were very successful in that role, he said. In response,
ASTM representatives said the FAA’s support has been excellent:
"We’ve never had a request [to the FAA] that we didn’t get
support for."
ASTM International
develops voluntary standards for materials, products, systems, and
services. With the emergence of the proposed sport pilot/light-sport
aircraft (SP/LSA) rule, EAA asked ASTM to help develop standards for the
airman certificates and the aircraft, an area where few standards and
little guidance existed. In less than two years, the organization
developed the worldwide voluntary standards supporting the rulemaking
process. Today, their work serves as a world standard for LSA design,
production, and operational safety.
The ASTM has completed 27
separate standards, covering every category of aircraft that can operate
under the LSA regulations.
Earl Lawrence, EAA vice
president for government and public affairs, noted that the ASTM’s LSA
safety standards are higher and more stringent than current standards
for Part 23 aircraft and operations because LSAs are recreational
aircraft—"they carry bigger folks [who are] amateur pilots."
Most of the people flying LSAs are not professional pilots, he said, so
it’s appropriate to have a higher margin of safety.
The Light Aircraft
Manufacturers Association (LAMA) recently established a quality control
audit process based on ASTM LSA standards. Lawrence reported that one
company has already completed that audit process and other companies are
working toward completion. Lawrence said EAA will promote the
quality-control process by recommending that LSA buyers look for the
"LAMA seal of approval."
Conformity to ASTM
standards is voluntary, but market forces often make them a de facto
requirement for companies that want to be competitive.
A growing number of
European aircraft manufacturers are calling for adopting the ASTM LSA
standards—and possibly a version of the FAA SP/LSA rule. As more
European aircraft manufacturers enter the U.S. market and purchase
U.S.-built components, they say they want to import and export products
built under a uniform set of standards.
At the meeting on
Wednesday, the group also considered whether voluntary standards are
needed for avionics that "fall below the FAA’s radar"—components
designed for automotive, marine, or land-based uses. One common example
is handheld receivers.
The current market is
"buyer beware," said Lawrence. Manufacturers, he said, are
looking for a voluntary standard that establishes the agreement between
the buyer and seller—a seal of approval that ensures the product meets
a recognized standard of quality. Meeting such a voluntary standard
would be less costly than meeting FAA standards for equipment in
certificated aircraft but would provide recognized standard of quality.
"It’s about consumer awareness and consumer confidence,"
Lawrence said. Insurers might support such a standard by applying
pressure to aircraft owners to operate with "approved"
avionics and equipment.
The FAA representatives
attending the meeting noted that such a standard would also provide
innovators with a path to bring new aviation products to market.
Lawrence said EAA and ASTM will look into the question of a new avionics
standard.
One FAA official told the group,
"The ASTM process is the most innovative and simple process I’ve
come across in all my years of rulemaking." Teleconferencing,
sharing drafts by computer, and "virtual meetings," he added,
make it a very efficient process and result in much higher productivity
for the people involved in the process.
