Those who own and fly old, rare and discontinued aircraft are being urged to comment on a draft order (MS Word document) under consideration by the FAA that would determine how the agency handles what it calls “abandoned” and “orphaned” type certificates and supplementary type certificates. The agency’s preamble makes the point that it needs to be in reliable contact with the custodians of TCs and STCs for all certified aircraft still flying and the proposed national policy is aimed at that. That naturally has the owners of historic airplanes nervous about their future flying and they’re hoping everyone with an interest in the issue will comment by the deadline on Oct. 5.
In an earlier letter to members, Antique Aircraft Association Executive Director Brent Taylor said it’s crucial that those voices be heard. “This is a very important piece of legislation that will directly effect the owners and restorers of a large portion of the antique airplane fleet in this country and we need let the FAA know both what is good about this draft as well as what is not so good before it is enacted into the FARs.” The association was successful in getting the comment period extended from Sept. 3 to Oct. 5.
