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[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 14 (Wednesday, January 22, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3659-3660]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-01125]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee Engine Endurance Testing 
Requirements--New Task

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of new task assignment for the Aviation Rulemaking 
Advisory Committee (ARAC).

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SUMMARY: The FAA assigned ARAC a new task to review existing engine 
endurance test requirements, assess its suitability for all engines, 
and consider an alternate endurance test and associated methods of 
compliance. The current regulations may not adequately address the 
technological advances found in modern engines, as related to the 
current engine endurance test. This notice informs the public of the 
new ARAC activity and solicits membership for the Engine Harmonization 
Working Group (EHWG).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dorina Mihail, Rulemaking and Policy 
Branch, ANE-111, Engine and Propeller Directorate, FAA, 12 New England 
Executive Park, Burlington, Massachusetts, 01803, telephone (781) 238-
7153, facsimile (781) 238-7199; email dorina.mihail@faa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

ARAC Task Acceptance

    ARAC accepted the task and assigned the task to the EHWG, under the 
Transport Airplane and Engine (TAE) Subcommittee. The working group 
will serve as staff to ARAC and assist ARAC by providing advice and 
recommendations of the assigned tasks. ARAC must review and approve the 
working group's recommendation report before it will forward it to the 
FAA.

Background

    The FAA established ARAC to provide advice and recommendations to 
the FAA Administrator, through the Associate Administrator for Aviation 
Safety, on the FAA's rulemaking activities. This includes obtaining 
advice and recommendations on the FAA's commitments to harmonize Title 
14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) with appropriate foreign 
authorities' regulations. ARAC's objectives are to improve the 
development of the FAA's regulations by providing information, advice, 
and recommendations related to aviation issues.
    The EHWG will provide advice and recommendations to ARAC on 
existing and alternate endurance tests and associated methods of 
compliance.
    The engine endurance test is an accelerated severity test intended 
to demonstrate a minimum level of engine operability and durability 
within the approved engine ratings and operating limitations. The test 
running conditions cover the declared engine rating and operating 
limitations, but are not intended to simulate the expected in-service 
operation. To run the test at simultaneous speed and temperature 
limits, applicants may need to modify the test engine configuration and 
the required test sequence.
    The current practice and accepted methods of compliance allow 
modifications to the test engine configuration and test sequence, 
provided certain conditions are met. Specifically, that the engine, as 
modified, still represents the durability and operating characteristics 
of the intended type design and complies with Sec.  33.87 requirements. 
However, experience with past engine certifications shows that for some 
engines, those modifications are substantial enough that the engine is 
not conforming to its type design, thus affecting the test outcome. 
These difficulties occur because the required test in Sec.  33.87 has 
not been updated to account for technological advances in gas turbine 
engines and in-service operational characteristics.
    The endurance test requirements originated with the reciprocating 
engine and were later revised for single-shaft turbine engines with 
mechanical controls. The test running conditions were designed to match 
the engine design and operational characteristics during that time and 
have remained the same for the past 60 years. Today's engines have 
evolved by up to 10 times increased compression ratio and 40 times 
increased airflow. They incorporate advanced technologies that include 
three-shaft designs, high-bypass turbofans, sophisticated full 
authority digital electronic controls, and complex turbine cooling. 
Other technological advances provide in-service engine health 
monitoring, thus improving engine reliability and increased mean time 
on wing. Modern engine technologies allow up to 50% lower specific-fuel 
consumption and significant emissions and noise improvements.
    Certification experience shows that, due to the complexity of 
modern engines, the modifications needed to run the required endurance 
test are substantial, greatly affecting the engine operating cycle and 
causing reduced airflow, less cooling, or increased temperatures. To 
compensate for these undesirable effects, applicants make additional 
engine modifications, such as modifying cooling circuits, grinding 
blade tips, or adding thermal barrier coating to blades. As a result of 
these modifications, it becomes increasingly difficult to show that the 
test engine conforms to the type design. The objective of the ARAC task 
is to evaluate whether the requirements for engine endurance testing 
should be revised by adding requirements for an alternate test.

[[Page 3660]]

The Task

    The EHWG is to review and assess the standards and advisory 
material for 14 CFR 33.87, engine endurance test requirements as 
follows:
    1. Develop an alternate endurance test that would allow an engine 
to be tested in the configuration representative of its type design, 
and
    a. Maintain compliance with the intent, as well as the basic 
elements currently in Sec.  33.87, including the ratings, operating 
limitations, and engine configuration.
    b. The alternate test is to be equivalent to the test currently in 
Sec.  33.87 with regards to demonstrating engine operability and 
durability, and is validated with engine data. The engine data must 
include experience, certification, and additional component and engine 
tests.
    2. Develop and document recommended:
    a. Methods of compliance, and
    b. Rule changes, if considered necessary.
    3. Review the current foreign requirements for engine endurance 
test and determine the need for harmonizing any new methodologies.
    4. Provide initial qualitative and quantitative estimates of costs 
and benefits for any new methodologies.
    5. Develop a report containing the recommendations for rulemaking 
or guidance material, or both, and explain the rationale and safety 
benefits for each proposed change.
    6. The working group may be reinstated to assist the ARAC by 
responding to the FAA's questions or concerns after the recommendation 
report has been submitted.
    The final ARAC recommendation report should include a summary of 
the overall work scope, conclusions, and rationale for all 
recommendations related to the above tasks. It should document both 
majority and minority positions on the findings, and the rationale for 
each position and reasons for any disagreement. Any disagreements 
should be documented, including the rationale for each position and the 
reasons for the disagreement.

Schedule

    The recommendation report must be submitted to the FAA for review 
and acceptance no later than December 31, 2015.

Working Group Activity

    The EHWG must comply with the procedures adopted by the ARAC. As 
part of the procedures, the working group must:
    1. Conduct a review and analysis of the assigned tasks, including 
any related materials or documents.
    2. Draft and submit a work plan for completion of the task, 
including the rationale supporting such a plan for TAE Subcommittee 
consideration.
    3. Provide a status report at each TAE Subcommittee public meeting.
    4. Draft and submit the recommendation report based on the review 
and analysis of the assigned tasks and any related materials or 
documents.
    5. Present the recommendation at a TAE Subcommittee public meeting.
    6. The TAE Subcommittee Chair will provide a status report at each 
ARAC public meeting and present the final recommendation to ARAC for 
review and approval. ARAC will forward the recommendation to the FAA.

Participation in the Working Group

    The EHWG will be composed of technical experts having an interest 
in the assigned task. A working group member does not need to be a 
member representative of the ARAC. The FAA would like a wide range of 
members on the working group to ensure all aspects of the tasks are 
considered in development of the recommendations. However, the June 18, 
2010 memorandum, ``Lobbyists on Agency Boards and Commissions,'' states 
that a member must not be a federally registered lobbyist who is 
subject to the registration and reporting requirements of the Lobbying 
Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA) as amended, 2 U.S.C 1603, 1604, and 1605, 
at the time of appointment or reappointment to an advisory committee, 
and has not served in such a role for a two-year period prior to 
appointment. Therefore, the FAA will not select any person that is a 
registered lobbyist. For further information see the Office of 
Management and Budget final guidance on appointment of lobbyists to 
federal boards and commissions (76 FR 61756, October 5, 2011).
    If you have expertise in the subject matter and wish to become a 
member of the working group, write to the person listed under the 
caption FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT expressing that desire. 
Describe your interest in the task and state the expertise you would 
bring to the working group. The FAA must receive all requests by 
February 11, 2014. The ARAC and the FAA will review the requests and 
advise you if they approve or disapprove your request.
    If you are chosen as a member on the working group, you must 
represent your aviation community segment and actively participate in 
the working group by attending all meetings and providing written 
comments when requested to do so. You must devote the resources 
necessary to support the working group in meeting any assigned 
deadlines. You must keep your management, and those you may represent, 
advised of the working group activities and decisions to ensure that 
the proposed technical solutions do not conflict with the position of 
those you represent when the proposed recommendations are presented to 
the subcommittee and ARAC for approval. Once the working group has 
begun deliberations, they will not add or substitute members without 
the approval of the TAE Subcommittee Chair, FAA Representatives, 
including the Designated Federal Officer, and the working group.
    The Secretary of Transportation determined that the ARAC formation 
and use is necessary, and in the public interest, in connection with 
the performance of duties imposed on the FAA by law.
    ARAC meetings are open to the public. Meetings held by the EHWG 
will not be open to the public, except to individuals selected to 
participate based on interest and expertise. We will make no public 
announcement of working group meetings.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on January 8, 2014.
Lirio Liu,
Designated Federal Officer, Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee.
[FR Doc. 2014-01125 Filed 1-21-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P
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