Avionics News July 2018 - 16

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

THE VIEW FROM WASHINGTON

Continued from page 15

Continued from page 13

(1) Inspect the ELT or AELS and its
mountings and aerial connection for
general condition particularly for
corrosion or corrosion deposits.
(2) Operate the self-test function of the
ELT or AELS and check for satisfactory
performance in accordance with the
manufacturer's instructions.

List of technical data
The Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand
updated its list of technical data accepted by the
director under the provisions of CAR 21.503(a) to
include the Avidyne Corp. Integrated Flight Display
Models IFD5xx and/or Model IFD4xx. A review of
the document can be found at www.caa.govt.nz/assets/
legacy/aircraft/Acceptable_tech_data.pdf.

Australia
The following information is from the May 2018
edition of The CASA Briefing.
Funds for better positioning technology:
The federal government has allocated $160.9
million to deliver a satellite-based augmentation
system to improve the reliability and the
accuracy of positioning data from 5 meters
to 10 centimeters across Australia and its
maritime zone. In addition, there will be a $64
million investment in the national positioning
infrastructure capability, which will complement
SBAS to improve GPS to an accuracy as precise
as 3 cm in areas of Australia with access to
mobile coverage. The Minister for Resources
and Northern Australia, Matt Canavan, said
the funding in this year's federal budget would
support aviation.
"The increased reliability provided by better
GPS will improve safety for aircraft flying into
regional and remote aerodromes, such as the
Royal Flying Doctor Service fleet," Canavan said.
"It will reduce the impact of weather on flight
cancellations and diversions and improve the
safety of landings. This is a practical investment
to improve the lives of Australians and make
businesses more productive. This technology
provides instant, reliable and accurate positioning
information, anytime and anywhere around
Australia." q
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2018

We know that 14 Code of Federal Regulations § 43.9
describes the content, form and disposition of alteration
records (as well as maintenance, preventive maintenance
and rebuilding records). In a best-case scenario, we have
a few decades of records to sift through to see if there was
an alteration that might affect the current request from
the customer. This in and of itself could take hours, if not
days, to effectively accomplish. To compound the research,
while the FAA requires major alterations to be recorded and
filed in the aircraft permanent records at the FAA's records
section in Oklahoma City, as well as requiring the operator
to keep historic major alteration records, the FAA regulations
only require minor alteration records to be retained in the
maintenance record "until the work is repeated or superseded
by other work or for one year after the work is performed"
(14 CFR 91.417 B(1)). When evaluating the total effect of
alterations and the compatibility of your proposed alteration,
all alteration data would be useful.
Again, how can industry best practices improve this
environment? Similar to how the industry first began
developing aircraft AD logs a couple of decades ago,
long before they became a regulatory requirement, I
believe industry can begin to develop alteration logs such
that all modifications to a particular aircraft are easily
retrievable and reviewable to assist in future alterations and
modifications.
Before you perform an alteration, you should know the
current state of the aircraft and all previous alterations that
might affect your project. If you must do a records search
anyway, document it on a modification log; keep a copy
with the work order to show you did it; give a copy to the
customer (good customer service); and keep a copy in the
aircraft's file (good business for future work). All in all, this
is a good business practice and great customer service.
Adopting industry best practices is not new or novel;
businesses have adopted best practices since the beginning
of commerce. How many times do you walk away from
an AEA Connect Conference with a new "nugget" of
information that makes your processes a bit better? How
many times have you attended the annual AEA International
Convention & Trade Show and returned home with
information that makes you a little more efficient or a
percentage point more profitable?
The regulations provide a minimum standard for safety.
Customer service demands a higher standard for quality.
This industry delivers! These challenges and the options
for solutions are just food for thought. How do you manage
them? q
http://www.caa.govt.nz/assets/legacy/aircraft/acceptable_tech_data.pdf http://www.caa.govt.nz/assets/legacy/aircraft/acceptable_tech_data.pdf
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News July 2018
