Design Professionals, LLC 

April 23, 2012 

Docket Operations, M-30 

750 Lexington Avenue, 281

h Floor 

New York, NY 1 0022 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

Room W12-140, West Building Ground Floor, 

Washington DC 20590-0001 

,,,,I 7 '· 0[' '"' '' • ,.., -l '" L ·''· I .· 'u' f\ •..:· '"' i..Uf 1lo d . ..i I I' i"' ..) 

Re: Petition for 24- Month Time Limited Exemption against the new FAA regulatory 

requirements for Design Professionals, LLC (DFDR Regulations, Part 135) for 

Global Express aircraft msn 9428, Registration N979CB 

To Whom this may concern: 

Design Professionals, LLC requests that the FAA grant a 24 - month time limited exemption 

against compliance to the new FAA regulatory requirements for US Operators (DFDR 

Regulations, Part 135) for aircraft msn 9428, a Global Express BD700-1A10 XRS, which 

received a Certificate of Airworthiness on January 26, 2011, with an interior configuration having 

a maximum passenger seating capacity of 13 (Note: The Green aircraft is Type Certificated with 

a maximum seating capacity of 19). Design Professionals, LLC respectfully submits that this 

exemption request meets the FAA's standard for granting without publication in the Federal 

Register or public comment since it is substantially similar to prior exemptions granted (e.g. 

Exemption 10394, 1 0265) where the FAA found the request compliant with the recording 

requirements except for the datalink communication recording requirement. This exemption 

would not set new precedent and is in the public interest. 

The specific request relates to 14 C.F.R. 135.121 U), below: 

§ 135. 152 (j) For all turbine-engine-powered airplanes with a seating configuration, 

excluding any required crewmember seat, of 10 to 30 passenger seats, that are 

manufactured after August 19, 2002 the parameters listed in paragraph (a)(1) through 

(a)(BB) of this section must be recorded within the ranges, accuracies, resolutions, and 

recording intervals specified in Appendix F of this part. 

Note: "(a)(1) through (a)(BB)" is in error and should be replaced by "(h)(1) through 

(h)(BB)" 

309593v1 
U. S. Department of Transportation 

April 23, 2012 

Because it is not economically or technically feasible to upgrade the existing avionics suite to 

comply with the requirement, the exemption would allow aircraft 9428 to operate under FAR 

Part 135 while recording certain flight data parameters at lower data rates than those published 

in Appendix F at amendment 121 for two years or until the aircraft is removed from Part 135 

service and is replaced by a compliant aircraft. The flight data parameters that Design 

Professionals, LLC is requesting a time limited exemption from are Parameters 12a, 13a, 14a, 

15, 16, 17, and 88 from Appendix F of FAR Part 135, and are outlined below: 

Part 135 Operating Requirements: Communter and On-Demand Operations and 

Rules Governing Persons On Board Such Aircraft 

Appendix F to Part 135-Digital Flight Data Recorder Rules 

''The recorded values must meet the designated range, resolution and accuracy 

requirements during static and dynamic conditions. 

Parameter(# Inputs) Current Parameter Rate Required Parameter Rate 

12a. Pitch Control Position _{2) 4Hz 8Hz 

13a. Lateral Control Position (2) 4Hz 8Hz 

14a. Yaw Control Position_{1) 4Hz* 8Hz 

15. Pitch Control Surface 4Hz 8Hz Position (2) 

16. Lateral Control Surface 4Hz 8Hz Position (2) 

17. Yaw Control Surface 4Hz* 8Hz Position ( 1) 

88. All Cockpit Flight Control Input Forces (8) 1Hz 8Hz 

Table 1: Data rates on aircraft with the Honeywell Primus 2000XP avionics suite as implemented on the 

Bombardier BD700 equipped with Honeywell Primus 2000XP system 

Dynamic condition means the parameter is experiencing change at the maximum rate 

attainable, including the maximum rate of reversal. All data recorded must be correlated 

in time to within one second." 

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U. S. Department of Transportation 

April 23, 2012 

The OEM, Bombardier Aerospace, has introduced a replacement avionics suite - Global Vision 

Flight Deck (GVFD) that complies with these new requirements, but the as built configuration of 

aircraft 9428 precludes this upgrade. Unfortunately, no economic or technically feasible solution 

is available to retrofit the GVFD to aircraft 9428. Therefore, this petition is requested for a time 

limit of 24 months and after this period, aircraft 9428 will be removed from Part 135 operation 

and subsequently replaced with an aircraft fully compliant with Part 135. 

Aircraft 9428 is equipped with the Honeywell Primus 2000XP system and is compliant with Part 

135 DFDR requirements for aircraft manufactured prior to December 6, 2010. Manufacture of 

aircraft with this avionics package stopped in February of 2011, less than 3 months after the 

implementation date for increased data recording rates in DFDR systems under amendment 

121 to Part 135. Apart from these seven flight data parameter recording rates, the aircraft 

complies with all other applicable requirements introduced in this amendment, as well as those 

of amendments 135-113. 

The Honeywell Primus 2000XP system on the BD-700 cannot be further upgraded to meet 

current data rate recording requirements without major redesign and excessive cost. An 

explanation of the technical obstacles is given in Appendix A to this petition. 

Design Professionals, LLC recognizes the contribution of flight data recorders to accident and 

incident investigations, and ultimately to the safety of the design and operation of future aircraft; 

moreover, Design Professionals, LLC does not believe the time limited exemption would 

adversely affect airplane or passenger safety because the current equipment is able to record 

DFDR parameters at the previous amendement recording rates. However, we are unable to fully 

comply with FAR Part 135 DFDR Regulations using aircraft msn 9428 due to the 

aforementioned technical reasons. If the two year time timit exemption is not granted, Design 

Professionals, LLC does not have the ability to make full use of the earning potential of the 

asset as a charter aircraft. 

Current statistics on the Global Express BD700-1 A 1 0 /11 fleet; 

• There are approximately 425 GX aircraft operating world wide 

• Of these 425 GX aircraft, approximately 225 GX aircraft are on the US registry 

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U. S. Department of Transportation 

April 23, 2012 

• Of these 225 GX aircraft, approximately 1 0% (25 GX aircraft) operate under Part 135 pre 

amendment 121. 

• All new production aircraft incorporate the GVFD which is compliant with Part 135 post 

amendment 121. 

• Only one aircraft pre-GVFD (serial number 9428 operating in the US) is affected by the 

effectivity of Part 135 at amendment 121. 

Therefore, Design Professionals, LLC believes there is no appreciable negative impact on 

operational safety by granting this 24 month time limited exemption against the new FAA 

regulatory requirements for US Operators (DFDR Regulations, Part 135) for aircraft 9428. 

In light of this information, the removal from Part 135 operations as of May 2014, and the actual 

delivery date of March 30, 2012, Design Professionals, LLC believes there are sufficient 

grounds to justify a 24 month time limited exemption for the new FAA regulatory requirements 

for US Operators (DFDR Regulations, Part 135) for aircraft 9428 only, and respectfully requests 

the FAA to rule favorably to this petition. In the interest of time, we request that this petition be 

processed expiditiously without publication and comment in the Federal Register. 

Should you require any clarification or have any further questions, please contact me by phone 

at (212) 590-5226 or by email at scherniak@cohenbrothers.com. 

Sincerely, 

DESIGN PROFESSIONALS, LLC 

SMC/bm 

4 
Appendix A- Technical Limitations ofthe BD-700-1A10 DFDR System as provided by 

Bombardier Aerospace 

The technical issues with the flight data recorder rate of the Honeywell Primus 2000XP avionics 

platform as installed in the 80700 product line are as follows: 

The BD-700 (Global) aircraft's Avionics Standard Communication Bus (ASCB) system 

transmits data between the Line Replacement Units (LRUs), including parameter data to 

the Data Acquisition Units (DAUs). The DFDR connects to DAU 4 to receive data from 

ARINC 717 bus. Bombardier has assessed design alternatives, both within the existing 

aircraft architecture and options bypassing the ACSB. 

To meet strict compliance with the final rule's increased recording rate for parameters 

13a and 88 using existing architecture, remapping of the source equipment (ASCB and 

all LRUs communicating with the ASCB), and potential LRU hardware upgrades would 

be required. The scope of this modification is extensive, and not practical given the 

scope and schedule established by the final rule. To bypass the ASCB would require 

hardware installations (additional LRU and/or data bus) further to what is currently 

available on the source equipment. Sending the data independently and bypassing the 

ASCB creates a time lag that differs from the data being sent over the ASCB. 

The time required to receive, process, and transmit the bits will lead to a time lag 

between parameter data. Parameters 13a and 88 will not be synchronous with the other 

DFDR data transmitted on the ASCB. 

Additionally, parameters 12a (pitch control position), 14a (yaw control position), 15 (pitch control 

surface position), 16 (lateral control surface position) and 17 (yaw control surface position) 

remain non-compliant with the current data rate requirements. Data rates for these parameters 

vary from 1-4Hz, depending on the parameter and are summarized in Table 2. 

5 
Parameter(# Inputs) Current Parameter Rate Required Parameter Rate 

12a. Pitch Control Position (2) 4Hz 8Hz 

13a. Lateral Control Position _{2) 4Hz 8Hz 

14a. Yaw Control Position (1) 4Hz* 8Hz 

15. Pitch Control Surface 4Hz 8Hz Position (2) 

16. Lateral Control Surface 4Hz 8Hz Position (2) 

17. Yaw Control Surface 4Hz* 8Hz Position ( 1) 

88. All Cockpit Flight Control Input Forces (8) 1Hz 8Hz 

Table 2: Data rates on aircraft with the Honeywell Primus 2000XP avionics suite as implemented on the 

Bombardier 80700 equipped with Honeywell Primus 2000XP system 

6