The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has published a “Notification of a Proposal to issue a Certification Memorandum, Approval of Flight Conditions for development flights of a new small aircraft type EASA CM No.: Proposed CM–21.A-P-002.”
This Certification Memorandum clarifies the major elements related to the establishment and approval of flight conditions for a Permit to Fly for development flights of small aircraft (CS-23,CS-27 up to Class III,SC VTOL up to Category Basic III, SC Light UAS. CS-VLR Level III) up to 250kts, MTOM up to 5700kg.
EASA classifies eVTOL aircraft primarily under a dedicated Special Condition for VTOL (SC-VTOL).
“Contrary to a full type certification, flight conditions and related demonstrations for their adequateness for tests of prototypes e.g. in the frame of development flights, for proof-of-concept aircraft, demonstrators, etc., are established to be safe for a specific (flight test) operation while considering the following aspects:
- piloted by specifically skilled flight crew;
- aircraft configuration controlled by the design organisation
- at limited or particular environmental conditions;
- Within a specified airspace and area;
- During a limited period and number of flight hours;
- Within a limited part of a flight envelope;
- Accepting preliminary or reduced safety margins through appropriate mitigations.
“The demonstrated safety level of the aircraft design may be orders of magnitude lower in comparison to the nominal type certification target, as long as the safety of the flight crew and third parties (on-ground and in-air) is appropriately addressed.”
For more information
CM-21.A-P-002 Issue 01 — PROPOSED
(Image: Volocopter)