We’re mere weeks away from seeing the FAA’s first take on revised small aircraft certification standards, what has come to be known as the Part 23 rewrite. FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said the notice of proposed rulemaking should be published before the end of the year, a time table he’s hopeful the agency can meet as preparations are made for sweeping changes in the way the FAA certifies light general aviation airplanes.
Make no mistake, this is a big deal. It will free designers from the shackles of decades-old certification requirements, permitting them to create airplanes that would be impossible to bring to the market under the current rules, and do it for less money.
