Ed Haywood
En-Route
I have a 1978 Bellanca Decathlon 8KCAB. The Type Certificate holder for that aircraft is now American Champion Aircraft (ACA). The aircraft is still in production. ACA has made various design improvements and specification changes over the years. Some updates are very trivial, like swapping the rubber battery box for an aluminum one. Others are very non-trivial, like replacing wood spar wings with metal spar wings.
Appendix A to Part 43 states (emphasis added):
So does that mean that any updates to an aircraft to conform to the new TC specifications would be minor alterations and require only a logbook entry?
Or, would the nature of the alteration sometimes cause it be considered a major repair, if listed in Appendix 43(b) Major Repairs, and thus require a 337?
Appendix A to Part 43 states (emphasis added):
(a) Major alterations -
(1) Airframe major alterations. Alterations of the following parts and alterations of the following types, when not listed in the aircraft specifications issued by the FAA, are airframe major alterations.
(1) Airframe major alterations. Alterations of the following parts and alterations of the following types, when not listed in the aircraft specifications issued by the FAA, are airframe major alterations.
So does that mean that any updates to an aircraft to conform to the new TC specifications would be minor alterations and require only a logbook entry?
Or, would the nature of the alteration sometimes cause it be considered a major repair, if listed in Appendix 43(b) Major Repairs, and thus require a 337?