Comments: GAMA Concurs on FAA's Good RVSM Transition

Ron Swanda, the interim president of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) agrees that the FAA did a good job on handling the recent transition to RVSM operations in U.S. airspace, and points out some other lesser known RVSM aspects.

Comments of Ron Swanda, Interim President of GAMA

GAMA certainly agrees that the FAA did a fine job of transitioning all U.S. airspace to RVSM in a safe and orderly manner.

I would like to point-out that in addition to military, foreign government, and medical aircraft noted by FAA's Steve Creamer, manufacturers doing production and experimental flight tests are also allowed to operate a non-RVSM compliant aircraft in RVSM airspace.  Of course, such operations are always subject to FAA controller workload.  This issue was especially significant to Kansas City Center, which handles most of the flight test activity for four manufacturers based in Wichita, Kansas.

The guidance provided FAA controllers, which was based on the European RVSM transition experience and FAA simulations, is that only one non-RVSM compliant airplane should be allowed to operate in any single sector at a time.  As controllers gain experience with RVSM, however, we hope this guidance might be relaxed.

Thanks to a great effort by controllers and management of the Kansas City Center, GAMA believes that procedures are in place to also allow adequate access to flight test airspace without interrupting the transcontinental flow of traffic through the Center.  The effectiveness of these procedures and airspace designs will be proven over the course of the next two to three weeks.

Immediately before Jan 20th, FAA's Office of Aircraft Certification issued a flurry of new guidance about the process a manufacturer should use to gain approval to flight-test non-RVSM compliant airplanes in RVSM airspace.  These issues now appear to be adequately resolved.

However, FAA is still wrangling with how a repair station can gain approval to fly a non-RVSM compliant airplane into RVSM airspace for post-maintenance or modification flight tests.  The issue surrounds the fact that manufacturers and repair stations are regulated by different sets of FAA regulations, and by different parts of the FAA (Aircraft Certification versus Flight Standards). 

Ron Swanda
Interim President
General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA)

02-07-2005.

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