Certification of Civil Avionics

Abstract

This chapter describes the most significant regulatory involvement a developer is likely to encounter in the certification of avionics. It discusses certification activities appropriate to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The chapter discusses some representative differences between FAA practices and those of Europe’s Joint Aviation Authorities. The Federal Aviation Regulations provides several different forms of approval for electronic devices installed aboard civil aircraft. Of these, most readers will be concerned primarily with approvals under the technical standard order system, approvals under a supplemental type certificate (STC), or approvals as part of a type certificate, amended type certificate, or service bulletin. The STC process assumes modification of at least one prototype aircraft. It is in the aircraft modification that all the engineering analysis—aircraft performance, structural and electrical loading, weight and balance, human factors, and so on—comes together. New avionics equipment installed as part of an STC will often lead to new and different procedures for flight crews.