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EASA validation of FAA STCs classified as Basic and limited to one serial number (FAA and EASA Aviation Safety Agreement)

The PA18 certainly isn’t on the list of EASA types:

https://www.easa.europa.eu/downloads/136198/en

Avionics geek.
Somewhere remote in Devon, UK.

hypoxiacub wrote:

EASA tell me that the PA-18 is an Annex I airplane and that I cannot use this process for it. Has anyone run into this? I think they are wrong.

They are quite right. A PA-18 is Annex I and so nationally regulated. You have to ask the national authority where the aircraft is registered.

ESKC (Uppsala/Sundbro), Sweden

Never mind! So apparently the entire “single serial number validation of FAA STC” process is not for Annex I aircraft – not that it says it anywhere clearly. It is buried down in unpublished rules inside of EASA. A somewhat cranky person at the Norwegian CAA validated that STC approval falls under their purview and more or less that the CAA there accepts “State of Design” STCs at face value with no additional validation. At least EASA said I’ll get my 507 EUR back….!

I guess what puzzles me is the lineage of how all pre-2003 national STC approvals are grandfathered and, from what I understand, interchangeable (ie, German approval in 1999 works on Norwegian plane now….?). Then starting 2003, EASA comes out with this lovely procedure that…..can’t be used on anything other than a tiny list of aircraft.

So if an FAA STC is approved in Germany in, say, 2012, is it solely usable for D-reg aircraft, or is interchangeability still valid? This is nauseating.

hypoxiacub wrote:

EASA comes out with this lovely procedure that…..can’t be used on anything other than a tiny list of aircraft.

I wouldn’t say it is tiny. Among normal category aircraft, every aircraft type which was either

  • initially designed in or after 1955; or
  • in production on or after 1975

is an EASA type (i.e. not Annex I).

On the other hand, the PA-18 was in production after 1975 so why is it considered Annex I? Possibly aircraft manufactured from 1975 on had a different type certificate (it happens, even if the basic type designation is the same) so that some PA-18 are Annex I and some are not?

ESKC (Uppsala/Sundbro), Sweden

hypoxiacub wrote:

So if an FAA STC is approved in Germany in, say, 2012, is it solely usable for D-reg aircraft, or is interchangeability still valid? This is nauseating.

Given that it was approved by Germany and not EASA, I presume it was for an Annex I aircraft? In that case it is not (automatically) approved in other countries. But I assume that getting it approved by another country will be easy if it was first approved by Germany. German authorities have a reputation for being very thorough – e.g. ultralight types are typically first approved by Germany with other countries basing their approvals of the German one.

Last Edited by Airborne_Again at 07 Jul 09:16
ESKC (Uppsala/Sundbro), Sweden

So if an FAA STC is approved in Germany in, say, 2012, is it solely usable for D-reg aircraft

No. 2003 relates to the year the law was published, not to any STC approval date of NAA vs EASA.

1) FAA STC → EASA validation for single serial number
Only applicable to one aircraft serial number. It’s not an EASA STC, but a validation of a „basic“ FAA STC.

2) EASA STC
You can use any grandfathered NAA STC approved pre EASA.
After EASA inception, NAAs do not approve STCs, EASA does. You can obviously also use them.

So for EASA aircraft, if there is an STC approved by a NAA you can use it just as well as a „newer“ STC approved by EASA.

Any STC approved or validated by any member state before the establishment of EASA is deemed to be ‘Grandfathered’ under Regulation 1702/2003 Article 2 (3)(a).

Obviously only for EASA types. For Annex 1, the NAA decides.

always learning
LO__, Austria

Post-2003 you also have access to all European national approvals, which can be found in some databases such as the UK CAA AAN database. Unfortunately a lot of these approvals are in not readily searchable places.

For Annex 1 it will be the State of Registry that decides.

FWIW, in the UK, an Annex 1 type which nevertheless has an ICAO TC is quite valuable because some UK papers can be used to fly them, but not “certified” types. This is partly why RVs sell here for so much money.

Having spoken to lots of LAA / annex 1 owners over the years, the story seems to be that inspectors vary from “could not care less if you buy me a beer” to “totally anal”, so obviously the owners shop around. Same way you shop around for an “easy” IRE for your annual IR reval. The result is a wide variation in the, shall we say, build quality. But I would find it amazing that a mod which has a Part 23 approved status would be refused by an annex 1 inspector. What would he be smoking??

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Post-2003 you also have access to all European national approvals, which can be found in some databases such as the UK CAA AAN database. Unfortunately a lot of these approvals are in not readily searchable places.

Not sure if you mean „the database works post 2003“ or applicability of NAA STCs.

I believe there is no limit how far back the previously national STCs are applicable… could be some french STC from the 60s or a german one from the 70s etc..

Any STC approved or validated by any member state before the establishment of EASA is deemed to be ‘Grandfathered’ under Regulation 1702/2003 Article 2 (3)(a).

always learning
LO__, Austria

All national approvals, starting on any date, and effective in 2003, were grandfathered for pan-EU use. But this is for CofA aircraft, not Annex 1.

Many previous threads e.g. this search digs out lots of reading.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom
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