11958 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 43 / Thursday, March 5, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

complies with the executive order to 

adhere to fundamental federalism 

principles. This proposed rule and IRPS 

would not have a substantial direct 

effect on the states, on the relationship 

between the national government and 

the states, or on the distribution of 

power and responsibilities among the 

various levels of government. NCUA has 

determined that this proposed rule does 

not constitute a policy that has 

federalism implications for purposes of 

the executive order. 

D. Assessment of Federal Regulations 

and Policies on Families 

NCUA has determined that this 

proposed rule and IRPS will not affect 

family well-being within the meaning of 

Section 654 of the Treasury and General 

Government Appropriations Act, 1999, 

Public Law 105–277, 112 Stat. 2681 

(1998). 

List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 791 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Credit unions, Sunshine Act. 

By the National Credit Union 

Administration Board on February 19, 2015. 

Gerard Poliquin, 

Secretary of the Board. 

■ For the reasons discussed above, the 

Board proposes to amend IRPS 87–2 (as 

amended by IRPS 03–2 and IRPS 13–1) 

by revising the second sentence of 

paragraph 2 of Section II and replacing 

the last two sentences of paragraph 2 of 

Section II to read as follows: 

Interpretive Ruling and Policy Statement 

87–2 

II. Procedures for the Development of 

Regulations 

* * * * * 

2. * * * NCUA will designate federally 

insured credit unions with less than $100 

million in assets as small entities. * * * 

Every three years, the NCUA Board will 

review and consider adjusting the asset 

threshold it uses to define small entities for 

purposes of analyzing whether a regulation 

will have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. 

* * * * * 

For the reasons discussed above, the 

Board proposes to amend 12 CFR part 

791 as follows: 

PART 791—RULES OF NCUA BOARD 

PROCEDURES; PROMULGATION OF 

NCUA RULES AND REGULATIONS; 

PUBLIC OBSERVATION OF NCUA 

BOARD MEETINGS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 791 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 1766, 1789 and 5 

U.S.C 552b. 

■ 2. Amend § 791.8(a) to read as 

follows: 

§ 791.8 Promulgation of NCUA rules and 

regulations. 

(a) NCUA’s procedures for developing 

regulations are governed by the 

Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 

551 et seq.), the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), and NCUA’s 

policies for the promulgation of rules 

and regulations as set forth in its 

Interpretive Ruling and Policy 

Statement 87–2, as amended by 

Interpretive Ruling and Policy 

Statements 03–2, 13–1, and 15–1. 

[FR Doc. 2015–03806 Filed 3–4–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7535–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 25 

[Docket No. FAA–2015–0455; Notice No. 25– 

15–04–SC] 

Special Conditions: Bombardier 

Aerospace, Models BD–500–1A10 and 

BD–500–1A11; Electronic Flight 

Control System: Lateral-Directional 

and Longitudinal Stability and LowEnergy Awareness 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed special 

conditions. 

SUMMARY: This action proposes special 

conditions for the Bombardier 

Aerospace Models BD–500–1A10 and 

BD–500–1A11 series airplanes. These 

airplanes will have a novel or unusual 

design feature when compared to the 

state of technology envisioned in the 

airworthiness standards for transport 

category airplanes. This design feature 

is a fly-by-wire electronic flight control 

system that provides an electronic 

interface between the pilot’s flight 

controls and the flight control surfaces 

for both normal and failure states. The 

system generates the actual surface 

commands that provide for stability 

augmentation and control about all 

three airplane axes. 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 April 20, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments identified 

by docket number FAA–2015–0455 

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 9 

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: Joe 

Jacobsen, FAA, Airplane and Flight 

Crew Interface, ANM–111, Transport 

Airplane Directorate, Aircraft 

Certification Service, 1601 Lind Avenue 

SW., Renton, Washington, 98057–3356; 

telephone 425–227–2011; facsimile 

425–227–1320. 

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. 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS

Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 43 / Thursday, March 5, 2015 / Proposed Rules 11959 

We will consider all comments we 

receive by the closing date for 

comments. We may change these special 

conditions based on the comments we 

receive. 

Background 

On December 10, 2009, Bombardier 

Aerospace applied for a type certificate 

for their new Models BD–500–1A10 and 

BD–500–1A11 series airplanes (hereafter 

collectively referred to as ‘‘CSeries’’). 

The CSeries airplanes are swept-wing 

monoplanes with an aluminum alloy 

fuselage, sized for 5-abreast seating. 

Passenger capacity is designated as 110 

for the Model BD–500–1A10 and 125 for 

the Model BD–500–1A11. Maximum 

takeoff weight is 131,000 pounds for the 

Model BD–500–1A10 and 144,000 

pounds for the Model BD–500–1A11. 

The CSeries flight control system 

design incorporates normal load factor 

limiting on a full time basis that will 

prevent the pilot from inadvertently or 

intentionally exceeding the positive or 

negative airplane limit load factor. The 

FAA considers this feature to be novel 

and unusual in that the current 

regulations do not provide standards for 

maneuverability and controllability 

evaluations for such systems. Special 

conditions are needed to ensure 

adequate maneuverability and 

controllability when using this design 

feature. 

Type Certification Basis 

Under the provisions of Title 14, Code 

of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) 21.17, 

Bombardier Aerospace must show that 

the CSeries airplanes meet the 

applicable provisions of 14 CFR part 25 

as amended by Amendments 25–1 

through 25–129. 

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 CSeries airplanes 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 

are issued. Should the type certificate 

for that model be amended later to 

include any other model that 

incorporates the same novel or unusual 

design feature, these special conditions 

would also apply to the other model 

under § 21.101. 

In addition to the applicable 

airworthiness regulations and special 

conditions, the CSeries airplanes 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 CSeries airplanes will incorporate 

the following novel or unusual design 

feature: Fly-by-wire electronic flight 

control system that provides an 

electronic interface between the pilot’s 

flight controls and the flight control 

surfaces for both normal and failure 

states. The system generates the actual 

surface commands that provide for 

stability augmentation and control about 

all three airplane axes. 

Discussion 

In the absence of positive lateral 

stability, the curve of lateral control 

surface deflections against sideslip 

angle should be in a conventional sense 

and reasonably in harmony with rudder 

deflection during steady heading 

sideslip maneuvers. 

Since conventional relationships 

between stick forces and control surface 

displacements do not apply to the ‘‘load 

factor command’’ flight control system 

on the CSeries airplanes, longitudinal 

stability characteristics should be 

evaluated by assessing the airplane 

handling qualities during simulator and 

flight test maneuvers appropriate to the 

operation of the airplane. This may be 

accomplished by using the Handling 

Qualities Rating Method presented in 

appendix 5 of Advisory Circular (AC) 

25–7C, Flight Test Guide for 

Certification of Transport Category 

Airplanes, dated October 16, 2012, or an 

acceptable alternative method proposed 

by Bombardier Aerospace. Important 

considerations are as follows: 

(a) Adequate speed control without 

creating excessive pilot workload; 

(b) Acceptable high and low speed 

protection; and 

(c) Provision of adequate cues to the 

pilot of significant speed excursions 

beyond VMO/MMO and low speed 

awareness flight conditions. 

The airplane should provide adequate 

awareness cues to the pilot of a low 

energy (i.e., a low speed, low thrust, or 

low height) state to ensure that the 

airplane retains sufficient energy to 

recover when flight control laws 

provide neutral longitudinal stability 

significantly below the normal operating 

speeds. This may be accomplished as 

follows: 

(a) Adequate low speed/low thrust 

cues at low altitude may be provided by 

a strong positive static stability force 

gradient (1 pound per 6 knots applied 

through the sidestick); or 

(b) The low energy awareness may be 

provided by an appropriate warning 

with the following characteristics: 

i. It should be unique, unambiguous, 

and unmistakable. 

ii. It should be active at appropriate 

altitudes and in appropriate 

configurations (i.e., at low altitude, in 

the approach and landing 

configurations). 

iii. It should be sufficiently timely to 

allow recovery to a stabilized flight 

condition inside the normal flight 

envelope while maintaining the desired 

flight path and without entering the 

flight controls angle-of-attack protection 

mode. 

iv. It should not be triggered during 

normal operation, including operation 

in moderate turbulence, for 

recommended maneuvers at 

recommended speeds. 

v. It should not be cancelable by the 

pilot other than by achieving a higher 

energy state. 

vi. There should be an adequate 

hierarchy among the warnings so that 

the pilot is not confused and led to take 

inappropriate recovery action if 

multiple warnings occur. 

Global energy awareness and nonnuisance of low energy cues should be 

evaluated by simulator and flight tests 

in the whole take-off and landing 

altitude range for which certification is 

requested. This would include all 

relevant combinations of weight, centerof-gravity position, configuration, 

airbrakes position, and available thrust, 

including reduced and de-rated take-off 

thrust operations and engine failure 

cases. A sufficient number of tests 

should be conducted, allowing the level 

of energy awareness and the effects of 

energy management errors to be 

assessed. 

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 

Bombardier BD–500–1A10 and BD– 

500–1A11. Should Bombardier 

Aerospace apply at a later date for a 

change to the type certificate to include 

another model incorporating the same 

novel or unusual design feature, these 

special conditions would apply to that 

model as well. 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS

11960 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 43 / Thursday, March 5, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

Conclusion 

This action affects only certain novel 

or unusual design features on two 

model series 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 proposes the following 

special conditions as part of the type 

certification basis for Bombardier 

Aerospace BD–500–1A10 and BD–500– 

1A11 series airplanes. 

1. Electronic Flight Control System: 

Lateral-Directional and Longitudinal 

Stability and Low-Energy Awareness. In 

lieu of the requirements of §§ 25.171, 

25.173, 25.175, and 25.177: 

(a) The airplane must be shown to 

have suitable static lateral, directional, 

and longitudinal stability in any 

condition normally encountered in 

service, including the effects of 

atmospheric disturbance. The showing 

of suitable static lateral, directional, and 

longitudinal stability must be based on 

the airplane handling qualities, 

including pilot workload and pilot 

compensation, for specific test 

procedures during the flight test 

evaluations. 

(b) The airplane must provide 

adequate awareness to the pilot of a low 

energy (low speed/low thrust/low 

height) state when fitted with flight 

control laws presenting neutral 

longitudinal stability significantly 

below the normal operating speeds. 

‘‘Adequate awareness’’ means warning 

information must be provided to alert 

the crew of unsafe operating conditions 

and to enable them to take appropriate 

corrective action. 

(c) The static directional stability (as 

shown by the tendency to recover from 

a skid with the rudder free) must be 

positive for any landing gear and flap 

position and symmetrical power 

condition, at speeds from 1.13 VSR1, up 

to VFE, VLE, or VFC/MFC (as appropriate). 

(d) The static lateral stability (as 

shown by the tendency to raise the low 

wing in a sideslip with the aileron 

controls free), for any landing-gear and 

wing-flap position and symmetricpower condition, may not be negative at 

any airspeed (except that speeds higher 

than VFE need not be considered for 

wing-flaps-extended configurations nor 

speeds higher than VLE for landing-gearextended configurations) in the 

following airspeed ranges: 

i. From 1.13 VSR1 to VMO/MMO. 

ii. From VMO/MMO to VFC/MFC, unless 

the divergence is— 

(1) Gradual; 

(2) Easily recognizable by the pilot; 

and 

(3) Easily controllable by the pilot. 

(e) In straight, steady sideslips over 

the range of sideslip angles appropriate 

to the operation of the airplane, but not 

less than those obtained with one half 

of the available rudder control 

movement (but not exceeding a rudder 

control force of 180 pounds), rudder 

control movements and forces must be 

substantially proportional to the angle 

of sideslip in a stable sense; and the 

factor of proportionality must lie 

between limits found necessary for safe 

operation. This requirement must be 

met for the configurations and speeds 

specified in paragraph (c) of this 

section. 

(f) For sideslip angles greater than 

those prescribed by paragraph (e) of this 

section, up to the angle at which full 

rudder control is used or a rudder 

control force of 180 pounds is obtained, 

the rudder control forces may not 

reverse, and increased rudder deflection 

must be needed for increased angles of 

sideslip. Compliance with this 

requirement must be shown using 

straight, steady sideslips, unless full 

lateral control input is achieved before 

reaching either full rudder control input 

or a rudder control force of 180 pounds; 

a straight, steady sideslip need not be 

maintained after achieving full lateral 

control input. This requirement must be 

met at all approved landing gear and 

wing-flap positions for the range of 

operating speeds and power conditions 

appropriate to each landing gear and 

wing-flap position with all engines 

operating. 

Issued in Renton, Washington, on February 

24, 2015. 

Jeffrey E. Duven, 

Manager, Transport Airplane Directorate, 

Aircraft Certification Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–05048 Filed 3–4–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2015–0251; Directorate 

Identifier 2014–NM–200–AD] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Airbus 

Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM). 

SUMMARY: We propose to adopt a new 

airworthiness directive (AD) for all 

Airbus Model A318, A319, A320, and 

A321 series airplanes. This proposed 

AD was prompted by a determination 

that, in specific flight conditions, the 

allowable load limits on the vertical tail 

plane could be reached and possibly 

exceeded. Exceeding allowable load 

could result in detachment of the 

vertical tail plane. This proposed AD 

would require modification of the pin 

programming flight warning computer 

(FWC) to activate the stop rudder input 

warning (SRIW) logic; and an inspection 

to determine the part numbers of the 

FWC and the flight augmentation 

computer (FAC), and replacement of the 

FWC and FAC if necessary. We are 

proposing this AD to prevent 

detachment of the vertical tail plane and 

consequent loss of control of the 

airplane. 

DATES: We must receive comments on 

this proposed AD by April 20, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, 

using the procedures found in 14 CFR 

11.43 and 11.45, by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Fax: 202–493–2251. 

• Mail: U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Docket Operations, M– 

30, West Building Ground Floor, Room 

W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC 20590. 

• Hand Delivery: U.S. Department of 

Transportation, Docket Operations, M– 

30, West Building Ground Floor, Room 

W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., 

Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 

5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 

Federal holidays. 

For service information identified in 

this proposed AD, contact Airbus, 

Airworthiness Office—EIAS, 1 Rond 

Point Maurice Bellonte, 31707 Blagnac 

Cedex, France; telephone +33 5 61 93 36 

96; fax +33 5 61 93 44 51; email 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS