1. OVERVIEW OF FAA CERTIFICATIONS: TCs STCs PMAs TSOs (3 Day Session)
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The Drake Group Aviation Program is a unique training program for aviation personnel involved in the many aspects of the aerospace industry. This three day seminar is for those wishing to have an overview of the process for obtaining the four basic FAA certifications (TCs STCs PMAs & TSOs) by aviation manufacturers. The sessions are taught from an industry perspective in understandable language, by persons routinely performing these certifications. In addition to the FAA procedural material, valuable tips are discussed on how to plan, budget and control a certification project. Typical attendees are from engineering, quality, project management, marketing, procurement and management… as well as any person just needing to understand the subject better. Depending upon previous experience, a seminar attendee will have a much better appreciation for the following topics:
By the way, our motto is...
"DON'T SOUND STUPID IN FAA MEETINGS !"
Attendees with some familiarity with FAA certifications leave The Drake Aviation Program with the skills necessary to successfully plan and execute aviation programs. Attendees new to FAA certifications leave with an overview of the process.
The Program is periodically conducted in Las Vegas providing attendees a full three days of informative aviation sessions. As a bonus attendees have access to the relaxation of evening entertainment and numerous weekend outdoor activities of the Las Vegas vacation area.
ATTENDEE COMMENTS
"I have been to several aviation seminars in (aviation city) but this one is far superior."
"...the seminar lifts the veil of mystery surrounding FAA certification while emphasizing that it cannot be trivialized..."
"I wished we had your seminar presented to our company at the start of our last program."
The training sessions are conducted at The Drake Group Inc's professional training studio facility only 2 miles from "The Strip". Please refer to www.vegas.com for room reservations. The Drake Group also provides stretch limousine service back to the strip hotels for those arriving via taxi. Many attendees find renting a car unnecessary.
SEMINAR DETAILS...
1. WHAT CAN BE FAA CERTIFICATEDJust to clarify what FAA certification is, we discuss what can be certificated (TC STC PMA TSO) and what a certification authorizes its owner to do. We discuss what cannot be FAA certificated and some common misconceptions. We discuss when an FAA certificate becomes an asset that can be sold or used as collateral... but most of all when a certification effort recovers its investment. Attendees will view obtaining the FAA certificate as the number one priority when funds are limited... and funding is always limited.
2. PSCP: THE PROJECT SPECIFIC CERTIFICATION PLANThe PSCP has become the backbone of FAA certification projects... all the way down to a small STC modification and a replacement part PMA. Learn what should be in a PSCP. Sometimes a subset of the previous PSCP, the Conformity Inspection Plan is probably the most mis-executed part of certification for new FAA applicants. We review what should be in a conformity plan in terms of line items, persons, locations, conformity requests and delegations. Even the “big boys” with lots of cert experience stumble on this issue of conformity from time to time.
3. THE PRELIMINARY PHASELearn how to lay a healthy foundation for a certification effort. Learn what inputs to collect to obtain accurate tasks, budgets and schedules. Finally, get every department to sign up to the PSCP and product specification... "Next Stop... Program Launch!"
4. THE DESIGN & BUILD SCHEDULE PHASEHeadcount and expenditures begin to soar after program launch... and so can problems. The "Preliminary Phase" and the "Design and Build Phase" are the most critical program phases to maintain program control. Learn to watch for "Red Flag" indicators in each area and address these problem indicators... immediately... before they consume too much time and money and sink the ship!
5. THE LABORATORY / GROUND TEST & INSTRUMENTATION PHASEThe Laboratory / Ground Test and Instrumentation Phase requires considerable amount of planning involving test plans, FAA concurrence of test program, test article fabrication, FAA conformities, instrumentation, data reduction, final reports, and sometimes a complete "iron forest" for a test article. All these items need meticulous attention to support first flight, TIA and FAA Certification.
6. THE FLIGHT TEST SCHEDULE PHASEFlying is fun... but we must get the aircraft (or aircraft modification) performing properly during the development company flying phase... aircraft down times, modifications, instrumentation problems... finally all flight cards flown... the precious TIA is issued and the FAA verifies certification flight data. If we did our homework we are close to a big "Certification Party."
7. KEY ABBREVIATIONS & DEFINITIONSLike any other specialty, FAA certification has its own language. The seminar covers the common words, terms and their definitions that have very specific meanings to the FAA. Knowing this language and the definitions greatly enhance the communication between a new applicant and his FAA counterparts.
8. FAA "DESIGNEES: DERs DARs ODARs DMIRsA new certification effort almost invariably requires the use of persons delegated certain FAA authorities. These FAA designee ("D" people) are from the FAA engineering offices and the FAA inspection offices. However, attendees learn that there are very different types of FAA "D" people that, on the surface, sound the same. Attendees learn how to look into the backgrounds of these FAA "D" people and select the correct ones that closely match their requirements.
9. FAA CONFORMITY & FORMS 8130-9 & 8130-3Probably one of the most misunderstood and mis-executed portions of a certification program is FAA conformity. It is a simple subject to understand but a difficult one to perform. The seminar studies the process and the pitfalls.
10. THE FAA ORGANIZATIONS: ACOs MIDOs AEGsWhen working with the FAA one must understand some of the inner workings of the FAA and what each FAA office adds to the certification process. The seminar examines the FAA organization and how the applicant needs to interface with each office.
11. A FEW IMPORTANT FAA FORMSYou may have heard that when the weight of the paperwork equals the weight of the airplane that certification is near. Well, much of the paperwork is company and FAA forms. The seminar gives attendees an overview of the important FAA forms, what they do, who initiates them, and when these forms need to be generated. Attendees learn that many of the forms are for data approval and for "FAA conformity" inspections. The "Form Mill" is quite easy if the applicant starts early in the program.
12. OVERVIEW OF FAA REGULATIONS CFR PART 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29, 33, 34, 36The seminar introduces the basic regulations for TCs, STCs PMAs and TSOs such as CFR Part 21 Certification Procedures for Products and Parts, CFR Part 23 Airworthiness Standards: Normal, Utility, Acrobatic, and Commuter Category Airplanes, CFR Part 25 Airworthiness Standards, Transport Category Airplanes, CFR Part 26 Continued Airworthiness and Safety Improvements for Transport Category Airplanes, CFR Part 27 Airworthiness Standards: Normal Category Rotorcraft, CFR Part 29 Airworthiness Standards: Transport Category Rotorcraft, CFR Part 34 Fuel Venting and Exhaust Emission Requirements for Turbine Powered Airplanes, CFR Part 36 Noise Standards, Aircraft Type and Airworthiness Standards.
13. THE INTERNET & FAA PUBLICATIONSWhile the days of paper library reference files are not totally over, the FAA web site has certainly made access to FAA documents easier. The seminar examines the different types of FAA documents and what each type does.
14. APPLICANT AND SUBCONTRACTOR INTERFACEAny FAA certification program uses subcontractors and suppliers to some degree. Knowing the correct guidelines to use in the area of subcontractors is vitally important. The seminar introduces attendees on what the attendee needs to do to maintain control of the design and the inspection process of their suppliers.
15. COMPONENT QUALIFICATION TESTING & DO-160 STANDARDSThe FAA will look to the applicant to have appropriate qualification testing for components that they either purchased or manufactured. Attendees are exposed to the contents of a document called DO-160 “Environmental Condtions and Test Procedures for Airborne Equipment”. The seminar discusses how to establish what qualification is expected. Component qualification, like FAA conformity, is often understood by applicants too late in the program.
16. OVERVIEW OF XX.1309 FHA / SSA FUNCTIONAL HAZARDS ASSESSMENTS & SYSTEMS SAFETY ANALYSESThe topic of FHAs and SSAs can take a month to cover and a few years to understand. However, the seminar explains what the subject is and how a certification manager should plan for FHA SSA efforts. A few examples are presented to explain the concepts. (This session is not intended to be a detailed FHA SSA seminar.)
17. AN OVERVIEW OF SOFTWARE CLASSIFICATION AND CERTIFICATIONSLike the above FHA SSA, software certification can take a career to master, but a certification manager needs to realize the scope of the subject and how quickly it can derail a project. Some basic concepts are presented. (This session is not intended to be a detailed software certification seminar.)
18. A SAMPLE AIRCRAFT MODIFICATION STC PROJECTThis seminar also takes the attendees in the class through an FAA certification project using the knowledge and tools learned in the previous seminar sessions. The seminar leader will propose a simple modification to an airplane that will require an STC approval of the design and a PMA for the production of parts. The seminar places the attendees in an ad hoc situation of running a certification program. This exercise focuses on program issues as well as the certification activities. Attendees leave the exercise realizing that just understanding the FAA certification steps is only half of the task. Successful certification efforts need knowledge of the correct FAA procedures and correct industry implementation.
19. ELEMENTS OF A PRODUCTION APPPROVAL HOLDER (PC FIS PMA)Once an applicant obtains an FAA approval of a design, the applicant must then obtain a production approval to build units for sale. The seminar reviews what the FAA requires the applicant to have documented and operational at the manufacturing facilities.
20. ELEMENTS OF AS9100 QUALITY SYSTEMSThis session will help the certification manager understand the basic building blocks of an FAA Production Approval Holder (PAH), ISO 9000-2000 and AS9100. The FAA has certain quality system requirements. There is quite a bit of overlap between the FAA requirements and the industry standards, but the FAA does not currently fully accept the industry certifications without audits.
21. INCORRECT ASSUMPTIONS AND MISCONCEPTIONS BY FAA APPLICANTSQuite often new certificate applicants have many misconceptions about the FAA's role in a certification effort. Attendees learn what the FAA does and does not do during certification. In particular attendees learn what the applicant's role is and what responsibilities it encompasses. Understanding the roles of both parties makes certification much more manageable. Many people new to FAA certification have some very incorrect preconceived ideas about the overall certification process. Many times new applicants have, unfortunately, received this bad information from persons within the aviation industry. Attendees learn about these common incorrect assumptions so their program planning will be sound from the beginning.
22. COMMON REASONS WHY PROGRAMS FAIL1. INCOMPLETE FAA TASK IDENTIFICATION
2. UNDERESTIMATED COSTING
3. UNDERESTIMATED SCHEDULING
4. LACK OF CERT MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE
It has been said that the penalty for not knowing the lessons of history is having to relive them again. The same can be said for certification. There are numerous reasons why a certification program can fail. The seminar takes a look at the most common reasons... and tips on how to avoid them. In particular, attendees are shown how to task, cost and schedule a certification effort.
23. TWELVE KEY TOOLS TO MANAGE A CERTIFICATION EFFORTThis portion of the seminar series examines 12 Tools for Certification Managers and those involved on projects. One could also call it “Tools from Guys That Have Done It Before”. Like any tool, use the ones that are appropriate for your project… but all the tools need to be addressed somehow in all certifications… even if just mentally for very simple projects.
24. WHAT IS THIS NEW (ODA) ORGANIZATION DELEGATION AUTHORIZATIONOver the near term future the FAA will be converting and issuing a new authorization called ODA to companies involved in TCs STCs PMAs to replace previous delegations. The class will review what the scope of ODA is and how it can affect your project planning.
25. BONUS: HOW TO STAY AWAKE IN THREE DAY SEMINARSIf you are taking this session literally you need to lighten up!... but... The Drake Group has made a conscious effort to make the material as interesting as possible. We even (in good natured jest) made fun of stupid applicants, grumpy FAA personnel, "talk-the-talk" seminar leaders and "out-of-town-in-Vegas" seminar attendees. After all, three days of our lives in a seminar should be informative… but pleasant as possible also.
