Legislation titled "Flight 100-Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act" (H.R. 2115) proposes new FAA rules requiring aircraft, engine, and component manufacturers to make it easier and cheaper for operators to obtain maintenance data such as maintenance manuals and service bulletins. (See www.arsa.org for more information.)

The push to create such rules comes from the Aeronautical Repair Station Association, which was able to have Section 419 addressing this issue included in H.R. 2115. The reason, according to ARSA? "There can be no doubt that maintenance manuals are essential in ensuring the highest degree of aviation safety. The FAA requires that they be created during the design phase of a product, furnished to the owner, and made available to persons required to comply with their terms. The FAA requires that repair stations and other maintenance providers have these manuals in their possession and follow them when they perform maintenance."

ARSA is concerned, however, that maintenance data is frequently not made available "under any circumstances" to independent repair stations; charges for manuals, when available, are "exhorbitant;" such actions as making maintenance data expensive or unavailable "are usually taken for competitive reasons because the repair stations affiliated with the manufacturer compete for the same business as independent repair stations;" and "it forces repair stations to obtain the manuals from airlines or other sources, adversely affecting their ability to keep the manuals current and undermining their competitive position in the marketplace for repair services."

Section 419 of H.R. 2115 would:

• Ensure that current regulations regarding instructions for continued airworthiness are more clearly defined. "The amendment would require ICAs to be made available at a cost not to exceed the cost of preparation and distribution."
• Mandate new rules to define what must be included in ICAs; address whether major repairs and alterations should be covered by ICA rules; require that maintenance manuals that the FAA has required be furnished to operators under the same terms as ICAs.
• Give manufacturers one year from the date of the final rule to prepare manuals and ICAs.

Brazil to Accept PMA Parts

In a letter to Northstar Turbine, a manufacturer of FAA-approved PMA parts for Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 engines, the Brazilian aviation authority CTA stated that PMA parts will be accepted in Brazil shortly.

Brazil's CTA, according to the letter, will accept parts manufactured under FAA parts manufacturer approval (PMA) rules as soon as the already agreed "implementation procedures on airworthiness between the FAA and CTA" are signed "in the near future."

The letter goes on to point out that PMA parts sent to Brazil will need an FAA airworthiness approval tag "to be eligible for installation on a Brazilian-registered aircraft..."

Brazil's CTA is holding back a little, however, as the letter points out that "this acceptance does constitute neither an approval nor a recommendation from CTA for use of PMA parts in Brazilian aircraft. In fact, CTA has some concerns regarding the use of PMA replacement parts due to continuing airworthiness problems [that have] occurred in the Brazilian fleet." The letter did not give any details about these problems.

Corp. Rotable's AS3 Motorcycle Winner

Corporate Rotable & Supply gave away another motorcycle at the Aviation Services & Suppliers SuperShow in Las Vegas. A large crowd surrounded the CRS booth when the winner was announced. Armand Peterson, a mechanic for The Parkside Group's corporate flight department in California, was the lucky winner, and he happened to be at the CRS booth to hear his name called. Peterson's new motorcycle is a Yamaha V Star.