70384 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 227 / Monday, November 26, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

(e) Alternative Methods of Compliance 

(AMOC) 

(1) The Manager, Safety Management 

Group, FAA, may approve AMOCs for this 

AD. Send your proposal to: Chinh Vuong, 

Aviation Safety Engineer, Safety Management 

Group, Rotorcraft Directorate, FAA, 2601 

Meacham Blvd., Fort Worth, Texas 76137; 

telephone (817) 222–5110; email chinh.

vuong@faa.gov. 

(2) For operations conducted under a 14 

CFR part 119 operating certificate or under 

14 CFR part 91, subpart K, we suggest that 

you notify your principal inspector, or 

lacking a principal inspector, the manager of 

the local flight standards district office or 

certificate holding district office before 

operating any aircraft complying with this 

AD through an AMOC. 

(f) Additional Information 

The subject of this AD is addressed in 

European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) AD 

No. 2011–0190, dated September 30, 2011. 

(g) Subject 

Joint Aircraft Service Component (JASC) 

Code: 2810, fuel storage. 

Issued in Fort Worth, Texas, on November 

8, 2012. 

Lance T. Gant, 

Acting Directorate Manager, Rotorcraft 

Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–28435 Filed 11–23–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 25 

[Docket No. FAA–2012–1241; Notice No. 25– 

12–15–SC] 

Special Conditions: Embraer S.A., 

Model EMB–550 Airplane; Design Roll 

Maneuver for Electronic Flight 

Controls 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed special 

conditions. 

SUMMARY: This action proposes special 

conditions for the Embraer S.A. Model 

EMB–550 airplane. This airplane will 

have a novel or unusual design 

feature(s) associated with the design roll 

maneuver for electronic flight controls, 

specifically an electronic flight control 

system that provides control of the 

aircraft through pilot inputs to the flight 

computer. The applicable airworthiness 

regulations do not contain adequate or 

appropriate safety standards for this 

design feature. These proposed special 

conditions contain the additional safety 

standards that the Administrator 

considers necessary to establish a level 

of safety equivalent to that established 

by the existing airworthiness standards. 

DATES: Send your comments on or 

before January 10, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified 

by docket number [FAA–2012–1241] 

using any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRegulations Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/ and follow 

the online instructions for sending your 

comments electronically. 

• Mail: Send comments to Docket 

Operations, M–30, U.S. Department of 

Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Room W12–140, West 

Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC 

20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: Take 

comments to Docket Operations in 

Room W12–140 of the West Building 

Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 8 

a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, except federal holidays. 

• Fax: Fax comments to Docket 

Operations at 202–493–2251. 

Privacy: The FAA will post all 

comments it receives, without change, 

to http://www.regulations.gov/, 

including any personal information the 

commenter provides. Using the search 

function of the docket Web site, anyone 

can find and read the electronic form of 

all comments received into any FAA 

docket, including the name of the 

individual sending the comment (or 

signing the comment for an association, 

business, labor union, etc.). DOT’s 

complete Privacy Act Statement can be 

found in the Federal Register published 

on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477–19478), 

as well as at http://DocketsInfo. 

dot.gov/. 

Docket: Background documents or 

comments received may be read at 

http://www.regulations.gov/ at any time. 

Follow the online instructions for 

accessing the docket or go to the Docket 

Operations in Room W12–140 of the 

West Building Ground Floor at 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 

DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Todd Martin, FAA, Airframe and Cabin 

Safety Branch, ANM–115, Transport 

Airplane Directorate, Aircraft 

Certification Service, 1601 Lind Avenue 

SW., Renton, Washington, 98057–3356; 

telephone 425–227–1178; facsimile 

425–227–1149. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Comments Invited 

We invite interested people to take 

part in this rulemaking by sending 

written comments, data, or views. The 

most helpful comments reference a 

specific portion of the special 

conditions, explain the reason for any 

recommended change, and include 

supporting data. 

We will consider all comments we 

receive on or before the closing date for 

comments. We may change these special 

conditions based on the comments we 

receive. 

Background 

On May 14, 2009, Embraer S.A. 

applied for a type certificate for their 

new Model EMB–550 airplane. The 

Model EMB–550 airplane is the first of 

a new family of jet airplanes designed 

for corporate flight, fractional, charter, 

and private owner operations. The 

aircraft has a conventional configuration 

with low wing and T-tail empennage. 

The primary structure is metal with 

composite empennage and control 

surfaces. The Model EMB–550 airplane 

is designed for 8 passengers, with a 

maximum of 12 passengers. It is 

equipped with two Honeywell 

HTF7500–E medium bypass ratio 

turbofan engines mounted on aft 

fuselage pylons. Each engine produces 

approximately 6,540 pounds of thrust 

for normal takeoff. The primary flight 

controls consist of hydraulically 

powered fly-by-wire elevators, ailerons, 

and rudder, controlled by the pilot or 

copilot sidestick. 

The flight control system for the 

Model EMB–550 airplane does not have 

a direct mechanical link or a linear gain 

between the airplane flight control 

surface and the pilot’s cockpit control 

device, which is not accounted for in 

Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations 

(14 CFR) 25.349(a). Instead, a flight 

control computer commands the 

airplane flight control surfaces, based on 

input received from the cockpit control 

device. The pilot input is modified by 

the flight control computer before the 

command is given to the flight control 

surface. 

Type Certification Basis 

Under the provisions of 14 CFR 21.17, 

Embraer S.A. must show that the Model 

EMB–550 airplane meets the applicable 

provisions of part 25, as amended by 

Amendments 25–1 through 25–127 

thereto. 

If the Administrator finds that the 

applicable airworthiness regulations 

(i.e., 14 CFR part 25) do not contain 

adequate or appropriate safety standards 

for the Model EMB–500 airplane 

because of a novel or unusual design 

feature, special conditions are 

prescribed under the provisions of 

§ 21.16. 

Special conditions are initially 

applicable to the model for which they 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS

Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 227 / Monday, November 26, 2012 / Proposed Rules 70385 

are issued. Should the type certificate 

for that model be amended later to 

include any other model that 

incorporates the same or similar novel 

or unusual design feature, the special 

conditions would also apply to the other 

model under § 21.101. 

In addition to the applicable 

airworthiness regulations and special 

conditions, the Model EMB–550 

airplane must comply with the fuel vent 

and exhaust emission requirements of 

14 CFR part 34 and the noise 

certification requirements of 14 CFR 

part 36 and the FAA must issue a 

finding of regulatory adequacy under 

§ 611 of Public Law 92–574, the ‘‘Noise 

Control Act of 1972.’’ 

The FAA issues special conditions, as 

defined in 14 CFR 11.19, in accordance 

with § 11.38, and they become part of 

the type-certification basis under 

§ 21.17(a)(2). 

Novel or Unusual Design Features 

The Model EMB–550 airplane will 

incorporate the following novel or 

unusual design features: The Model 

EMB–550 airplane is equipped with an 

electronic flight control system that 

provides control of the aircraft through 

pilot inputs to the flight computer. 

Current part 25 airworthiness 

regulations account for ‘‘control laws’’ 

where aileron deflection is proportional 

to control stick deflection. They do not 

address any nonlinearities, i.e., 

situations where output does not change 

in the same proportion as input, or other 

effects on aileron actuation that may be 

caused by electronic flight controls. 

Discussion 

These special conditions differ from 

current regulatory requirements in that 

they require that the roll maneuver 

result from defined movements of the 

cockpit roll control as opposed to 

defined aileron deflections. Also, these 

special conditions require an additional 

load condition at design maneuvering 

speed (VA), in which the cockpit roll 

control is returned to neutral following 

the initial roll input. 

These special conditions differ from 

similar special conditions previously 

issued on this topic. These special 

conditions are limited to the roll axis 

only, whereas other special conditions 

also included pitch and yaw axes. 

Special conditions are no longer needed 

for the yaw axis because 14 CFR 25.351 

was revised at Amendment 25–91 to 

take into account effects of an electronic 

flight control system. No special 

conditions are needed for the pitch axis 

because the method that Embraer S.A. 

proposed for the pitch maneuver takes 

into account effects of an electronic 

flight control system. These proposed 

special conditions contain the 

additional safety standards that the 

Administrator considers necessary to 

establish a level of safety equivalent to 

that established by the existing 

airworthiness standards. 

Applicability 

As discussed above, these special 

conditions are applicable to the Model 

EMB–550 airplane. Should Embraer 

S.A. apply at a later date for a change 

to the type certificate to include another 

model incorporating the same novel or 

unusual design feature, the special 

conditions would apply to that model as 

well. 

Conclusion 

This action affects only certain novel 

or unusual design features on one model 

EMB–550 of airplanes. It is not a rule of 

general applicability. 

List of Subjects in 14 CFR Part 25 

Aircraft, Aviation safety, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements. 

The authority citation for these 

special conditions is as follows: 

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 106(g), 40113, 44701, 

44702, 44704. 

The Proposed Special Conditions 

Accordingly, the Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA) proposes the 

following special conditions as part of 

the type certification basis for Embraer 

S.A. Model EMB–550 airplanes. 

1. Design Roll Maneuver for 

Electronic Flight Controls. 

In lieu of compliance to 14 CFR 

25.349(a), the Embraer S.A. Model 

EMB–550 airplane must comply with 

the following. 

The following conditions, speeds, and 

cockpit roll control motions (except as 

the motions may be limited by pilot 

effort) must be considered in 

combination with an airplane load 

factor of zero and of two-thirds of the 

positive maneuvering factor used in 

design. In determining the resulting 

control surface deflections, the torsional 

flexibility of the wing must be 

considered in accordance with 14 CFR 

25.301(b). 

(a) Conditions corresponding to 

steady rolling velocities must be 

investigated. In addition, conditions 

corresponding to maximum angular 

acceleration must be investigated for 

airplanes with engines or other weight 

concentrations outboard of the fuselage. 

For the angular acceleration conditions, 

zero rolling velocity may be assumed in 

the absence of a rational time history 

investigation of the maneuver. 

(b) At VA, sudden movement of the 

cockpit roll control up to the limit is 

assumed. The position of the cockpit 

roll control must be maintained until a 

steady roll rate is achieved and then 

must be returned suddenly to the 

neutral position. 

(c) At VC, the cockpit roll control 

must be moved suddenly and 

maintained so as to achieve a roll rate 

not less than that obtained in paragraph 

(b). 

(d) At VD, the cockpit roll control 

must be moved suddenly and 

maintained so as to achieve a roll rate 

not less than one third of that obtained 

in paragraph (b). 

Issued in Renton, Washington, on 

November 16, 2012. 

Ali Bahrami, 

Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, 

Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2012–28386 Filed 11–23–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Patent and Trademark Office 

37 CFR Part 3 

[Docket No. PTO–P–2012–0047] 

Notice of Roundtable on Proposed 

Requirements for Recordation of RealParty-in-Interest Information 

Throughout Application Pendency and 

Patent Term 

AGENCY: United States Patent and 

Trademark Office, Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting; 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and 

Trademark Office (USPTO) is 

considering promulgating regulations 

that would require greater public 

transparency concerning the ownership 

of patent applications and patents by 

requiring the provision of real-party-ininterest information during patent 

prosecution and at certain times postissuance. As part of this initiative, the 

USPTO is conducting a roundtable to 

obtain public input from organizations 

and individuals on how the USPTO 

could change its rules of practice to 

collect and provide such ownership 

information and make it publicly 

available. The USPTO plans to invite a 

number of roundtable participants from 

among patent user groups, practitioners, 

industry, independent inventor 

organizations, academia, and 

government. The roundtable also is 

open for any member of the public to 

provide input. 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS