On April 7, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) officially issued the EH216-S unmanned manned aircraft system production license to EHang, which is also the first production certificate (PC) in the global eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) industry. In addition to the Type Certificate (TC) and Standard Airworthiness Certificate (AC) previously obtained by EHang, the EH216-S has collected three certificates in the field of civil aviation airworthiness certification in China in more than half a year, taking the lead in entering the stage of large-scale production, which also provides an important guarantee for its next commercial operation.
At present, eVTOL aircraft manufacturers such as EHang, Time Technology, Zero Gravity, Volant, Fengfei Aviation, Xpeng Huitian, Pantuo Aviation, Yufeng Future, and Wofei Changkong are actively collecting certificates. For people outside the industry who are concerned about the future development of this field, they may want to know more about what kind of certificate must be obtained for an aircraft to fly into the sky? What does the type certificate, production license, and stand-alone airworthiness certificate mean?
Volant type certificate accepted (Volant)
Forensics starts with model qualification
According to the Civil Aviation Law of the People's Republic of China and the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Airworthiness, any unit or individual designing a civil aircraft shall apply to the Civil Aviation Administration and obtain a type certificate.
On March 21, the application for the type certificate of the flying body (code: X3-F) of the Xpeng Huitian "Land Aircraft Carrier" flying car was officially accepted by the Central and South Regional Administration of Civil Aviation, marking that the model has taken a key step from research and development to airworthiness, and is about to enter the airworthiness certification stage.
Next, the aircraft has to go through the airworthiness certification process of conceptual design, requirement determination, compliance plan formulation and other stages, and the applicant shall cooperate with the Civil Aviation Administration to carry out compliance verification tests, flight tests, random certification of airborne equipment and other review activities in accordance with the type qualification certification procedures. A type certificate will only be obtained after the design of the aircraft has been inspected to meet the airworthiness standards.
"The type certificate is the approval of the airworthiness authority for the conformity of the aircraft's design," the relevant experts said. It is the first step in the certification of airworthiness and the basis for subsequent production and operation. Without a type certificate, it is impossible to prove the airworthiness of the aircraft design, and thus it is impossible to obtain a production license and a single aircraft airworthiness certificate. Therefore, from the perspective of the entire airworthiness certification process, the acquisition of type certificate has a prerequisite and basic status. ”
After obtaining the type certificate issued by the East China Regional Administration of Civil Aviation, the V2000CG unmanned aircraft system independently developed by Fengfei Aviation Technology will start to obtain the production license (to obtain the license to manufacture civil aircraft) and the single airworthiness certificate (to obtain the license to use civil aircraft). After that, the product can enter the civil aviation market. At present, EHang's EH216-S has the qualification for mass production and has just reached the "threshold" of commercial operation.
Generally speaking, the review process of type certificate is more complicated, and it takes up to 3~5 years. How difficult the process is can be seen from the past certification process of domestic aircraft.
In September 2022, the C919 large passenger aircraft received the type certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China after completing all the airworthiness certification work. Since its first flight in 2017, the C919 has carried out test flights of more than 700 subjects before completing the test flight certification task. Compared with traditional aircraft, eVTOL has huge differences in terms of technical architecture, product configuration, performance, functions, operating modes and flight environment. Lu Chengcheng, Chief Engineer of EHang, said: "In the process of reviewing the airworthiness certificate, we refer to the relevant review process of the C919 airworthiness certificate to ensure that the review of the EH216-S airworthiness certificate meets the standards. Therefore, after more than 500 subject tests, more than 40,000 flight sorties, and 65 major and more than 450 subject verification tests, EHang finally obtained this type certificate.
EH216-S unmanned aerial vehicle demonstrates flight in Latin America (Photo courtesy of EHang)
The completion of the three certificates is not the end
After the civil aircraft passes the type qualification examination and obtains the type certificate, it will enter the next stage of the production and use certification process, and it is the turn of the production license and the single airworthiness certificate to come on.
Different from the type certification for the review of aircraft design, the production license is a verification of the production organization and control, quality management and comprehensive management level of aviation manufacturing enterprises. After review, the Civil Aviation Administration of China will issue a production license for its production system certification if the applicant has established and can maintain a quality control system that complies with relevant regulations, and each civil aircraft produced by it meets the design requirements of the corresponding type certificate or type design approval, supplementary type certificate or modified design approval.
In view of this, from raw material control, supplier management, to the division and control of production links, production quality control, to aircraft factory testing, after-sales maintenance and maintenance, etc., every detail must be rule-based and well-documented, and each production link must be organized in strict accordance with the procedures to ensure that the small parts, the large to the whole machine are traceable and safe and controlled. The purpose of this pass is to confirm that the required quality assurance system is in place, so that the aircraft can be manufactured to produce a safe and usable aircraft in a consistent and consistent manner according to the approved engineering data.
The type certificate and production license are for a certain type of aircraft, while the single airworthiness certificate is for the individual aircraft. As an approval of the manufacturing conformity of each aircraft, the single aircraft airworthiness certificate is like the "hukou" of each aircraft that leaves the factory, indicating that the aircraft is manufactured in accordance with the approved design and quality system and can operate safely.
It is worth noting that EHang EH216-S has obtained a standard airworthiness certificate, what is the difference between it and a stand-alone airworthiness certificate?
In fact, the standard airworthiness certificate is one of the types of stand-alone airworthiness certificates, which are used for aircraft products that have been confirmed by the airworthiness department to conform to the approved design and are in a safe and usable state. There are also different types of stand-alone airworthiness certificates, such as export airworthiness certificates and franchised flight certificates, which are used for export aircraft products, flight tests and other purposes.
However, the completion of the three certificates does not mean the beginning of commercial operation, especially the commercial operation of eVTOL is facing many challenges such as investment, regulation, and production. Roland Berger Strategy Consultants predicts that by 2050, there will be 160,000 manned eVTOLs in operation worldwide. Despite the promising prospects, the process of eVTOL from manufacturing, certification to operation is still very "cash-burning", and the track is full of uncertainty and fierce competition. Relevant experts said: "With the rollout of infrastructure construction, it will not only bring good news to suppliers in the fields of upstream planning and design, construction and construction, materials and equipment, but also help accelerate the large-scale deployment process of eVTOL." ”
The road to seaworthiness is "long and difficult"
In July 2023, the AEC 2.0L aero engine independently developed by Wuhu Diamond Aero Engine Co., Ltd. obtained the type certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Administration, and in January this year, the XF2-T 3 propeller ground adjustable pitch fixed-pitch propeller independently developed by Anhui Jincyclone Aviation Technology Co., Ltd. obtained the type certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Administration......
According to the "Provisions on the Qualification Verification of Civil Aviation Products and Parts" (Part CCAR-21), the type qualification certification is not only for civil aircraft, but also for aero engines and propellers. In addition, any materials, parts, components, airborne equipment or software used in civil aviation products or intended for use and installation on civil aviation products also need to pass the airworthiness certification, and the industry also has airworthiness certification documents for relevant models or individual products to ensure safe operation.
In line with the airworthiness certification path taken by commercial transport aircraft, eVTOLs still have to keep up with their progress.
According to the data, in the five years of C919 airworthiness certification, it has completed the ultimate load static test, power unit, fuel and inerting system, power supply system, environmental control system and other ground test verification, flutter, airspeed calibration, load, stability and performance and other subjects of test flight, long-distance transfer flight in the air, flight thrust determination test flight, etc.; in the EH216-S airworthiness certification of more than 1000 days, a large number of laboratory tests, ground tests and flight tests have also been carried out, including main material performance, structural strength, flame retardant, Crash, gas toxicity, equipment, system environment, software simulation, data link, ground control station, complete machine function, electromagnetic compatibility, flight performance and stability characteristics and other test flight verification. "Airworthiness certification is the minimum safety guarantee for an aircraft, and all kinds of tests are aimed at achieving safer and more reliable flights," said the experts. ”
At present, about 50% of the world's eVTOL projects are still in the conceptual design stage, and about 1/4 of the eVTOL projects are in the flight test stage. With the issuance of a variety of airworthiness certifications at home and abroad and the landing of commercial pilots, the industrialization of eVTOL aircraft has officially entered a new stage of "1 to N" from "0 to 1".
From ARJ21 to C919, from the first type certificate, production license, and stand-alone airworthiness certificate in the global eVTOL industry to the world's first eVTOL aircraft above tonnage that has passed the type qualification certification, it not only reflects the continuous improvement of the manufacturing level of domestic civil aircraft in the mainland, but also represents the further improvement of airworthiness certification capabilities. "The mainland's airworthiness certification capacity is constantly increasing. "As a new type of aircraft, eVTOL technology is novel and complex, and the standards and regulations suitable for its airworthiness certification are still evolving and improving, which means that airworthiness certification requires a comprehensive and in-depth understanding and evaluation of these new technologies to ensure their safety and reliability." In the future, as the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) continues to issue type certificates to domestic eVTOLs, it will undoubtedly inject new momentum into many eVTOL manufacturers. (China Civil Aviation News reporter Zhang Renyin)