How do I certify a one seat SLSA for manufacture?

I suggest you contact Terry Chastain at the FAA Small Airplane Directorate in Kansas City, MO.  Terry is the FAA's lead guy on LSA certification and he can give you answers to your questions.  You can contact him via the Small Airplane Directorate at (816) 329-4100.

Thanks Joe, for the FAA contact. But I was hoping to get some questions answered from the point of view of an EAA member. And I think other members might want to learn about the process here as well.

Bill Berson

EAA 89061

Bill,

The answers to your questions are fairly complex. The answers given here are thus VERY simplistic.  Full answers can be found in the ASTM standards that have been accepted by the FAA.

so, with that in mind, here are some basic answers to your questions.  Since you mentioned "airplane" these answers will be from the viewpoint of certification of a fixed-wing airplane.  Answers may be different for other classes (powered parachute, weight-shift, glider, etc.)

1) For SLSA certification the airplane engine must either meet ASTM standard F2339 or be type and production certificated by either FAA or JAR.  I don't know of any Honda engine that would fit this criteria, but there may be a Volkswagen derivative that does (Limbach??).

2) There is no specific requirement in the airplane standard for the propeller to be certificated.  There are performance limits for the propeller called out in the standard.

3) There is a great deal of testing called out in the performance standards, including loading, performance and stability.  Far too much info to cover in this forum.  In order to get a full understanding of the testing required one would have to look at ASTM standard F2245. 

The potential manufacturer will also have to meet standard relating to quality assurance, production acceptance testing, maintenance and inspection procedures, aircraft operating instructions, and several others.  The list of applicable standards can be found here. 

If you're really serious about wanting to pursue this, you really need to spend $75 and join ASTM. This gives you full access to all the applicable standards, and is much cheaper than buying the standards individually.  The standards are not public domain documents and they do not belong to the FAA or government, so you cannot access them without joining ASTM or purchasing them individually.

Hope this helps!

Joe

Yes, that helps quite a bit. Joining ASTM makes sense at some point. 

My question was about designing a single seat SLSA. I just checked the EAA list of current approved SLSA and could not find any single seaters listed. There was one that may have been a single seater, I wasn't sure. 

Perhaps the single seater could be one way to get the cost down with lower power and lower cost engines.  But It looks like for a SLSA approval, I would need an approved engine. I doubt there are any affordable 20-30hp four-stroke approved engines.  Maybe that is why we don't see any low powered  single seat SLSA yet.

Could also consider making a trip to a public library, to see if they have the standards in their collection. Not sure if those are common in a library, but at the college I attend, we've got them in our library. Gives a good way to see what the planes are actually built around.

Joel,

I tried to get a look at the ASTM standards at the EAA library during Airventure 2010. Actually, I called the EAA library in April to see if the EAA library had the standards.   The library did not have it available, but someone from EAA promised to print a copy when I got to Oshkosh. Unfortunately that did not happen. Oh well.   At the time, I suspected that ASTM might prohibit library use and so I gave up asking at the EAA library. 

But if your college has them available, I think EAA could as well.

I probably will not manufacture any aircraft under ASTM standards because it requires an approved engine. But I am consulting with others about aircraft manufacture and I need to know all the options.

 For now, it appears the Experimental/ Amateur Built kit option makes more sense than SLSA. The issue of product liability is a big concern that probably favors E/AB as well. That is another complex issue to address.

Thanks for you interest.

Bill

This article explains how engines are approved with the ASTM standards:

http://www.aviationsafetymagazine.com/newspics/0508-ATSM-LSA-ENGINE-STANDARDS.pdf

And this article talks about the three engines that have been approved:

http://www.aviationsafetymagazine.com/airplane/LSA-Engine-Safety.html

Nothing in the low horsepower range unfortunately.  I wonder if a Honda or VW engine could be converted by someone and approved? 

Bill

Dear Bill,  The basis of Special Light Sport Aircraft is ASTM accepted materials an methods.  That means that evert single part, from rivets to engines, must meet ASTM standards.  Based upon your questions it is not a practical option for you.  Ed Connelly

  Is it practical for one person to get a SLSA approval?

No.