Avionics News January 2014 - 13

The AEA also played host to two Regional Meetings in the U.S., along with international meetings in
Europe, Canada, South America and the South Pacific. In addition to the demands of our own meetings
and conferences, we also were present at other numerous industry events.

keeping our activities with the international regulatory
bodies transparent. The other mission of written
communication is to promote standardization - what
better way to promote standardization than to publish a
standardized message?
On the communication front, we also have a role as a
trainer. The AEA, in general, provides hundreds of hours
of training annually for our membership. The topics range
from the upcoming new Avionics Installation & Integration
Training Course offered this month at the AEA headquarters
to the dozens of topics covered at the annual AEA
International Convention & Trade Show in March. Most of
the regulatory topics originate with the AEA's government
and industry affairs team. Our relationships with the aviation
authorities result in their attendance at AEA functions.
The regulatory trainings at the formal AEA functions are
normally handled directly by our staff or consultants, in
addition to the semiannual week-long regulatory training on
starting and managing a Part 145 repair station, which takes
place at the international headquarters. We also were able
to work in some additional Safety Management System and
regulatory training at the AEA headquarters last June.
During early spring, we try to facilitate Federal Aviation
Administration and member requests to support local FAA
inspector authorization training programs and other industry
events. Unfortunately, with more than 130 days of travel
a year, it is difficult to support all the programs we would
like to attend, but we try to support as many requests as
our schedule allows. It is important to not only "preach to
the AEA choir," but also take advantage of other events to
promote a consistent and standardized regulatory message at
non-association functions.
Back to our primary roles of advocacy and consultation,
we participate on a number of working groups and regulatory
committees. We actively hold a seat in four of the major
regulatory bodies: the FAA; Transport Canada Civil Aviation;
European Aviation Safety Agency; and the Australian
government's Civil Aviation Safety Authority. The activities
with the FAA and EASA are handled through the AEA's

D.C. office, while the direct interface with the TCCA and
CASA rulemaking activities are attended by our regional
consultative team.
2013 saw the AEA active in aviation rulemaking
committee work on Part 21 and Part 23. The Part 23
rewrite should result in simpler, more cost-effective retrofit
installations with a risk-based approach to oversight.
Unfortunately, like all rulemaking activities, these are slow
and painful processes. The ARC itself may take months, if
not years, to develop a recommendation, and then the report
is submitted to the FAA. Once submitted, the proposal is
viewed, reviewed and edited by everyone with an interest.
This often takes years. For example, in the case of a Part
135 ARC I participated on a decade ago, we still haven't
seen the fruit of that multiyear effort. Then, once the
recommendations do see the light of day through rulemaking,
it is another two years before a final rule and often another
year before implementation. This is the reason for the Small
Airplane Revitalization Act of 2013 that you read about late
last year. With the help of SARA, we might see the fruits of
the industry efforts to modernize the design, certification and
continued airworthiness of Part 23 aircraft.
In response to another mandate, the Federal Aviation
Administration Modernization and Reform Act of 2012,
which was signed into law Feb. 15, 2012, the administrator
of the FAA, in consultation with representatives of the
aviation industry, shall conduct an assessment of the
certification and approval process. The charter created the
Aircraft Certification Process Review and Reform Aviation
Rulemaking Committee, which the AEA participated in
throughout the end of 2012 and early 2013. From the
recommendations of this committee, the FAA chartered the
Part 21 Safety Management Systems Aviation Rulemaking
Committee in early 2013. The purpose of this committee is to
develop recommendations that will improve the effectiveness
and efficiency of the existing certification procedures
for products and parts. We should be wrapping up the
Continued on page 64
avionics news

january

2014

Avionics News January 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News January 2014