Beech 300 Airworthiness Certificate
by Darin
(United States)
I have a Beech 300 with a standard airworthiness certificate issued when new in 1989. Block 5 of the certificate states, "this airplane at weights in excess of 5700kg does not meet the airworthiness requirements of ICAO, as prescribed by Annex 8 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation."
1. Can I fly outside the U.S. above 5700 kg?
2. What are the implications of this exception?
Discussion:
As part of an aircraft type certification program, a document called a type certificate data sheet (TCDS) is prepared. This is the first document referred to by an FAA DAR before performing a certification function.
The requirement to include the statement on your airworthiness certificate can be found in the TCDS Notes 7 and 11. You can download a copy of the TCDS for your aircraft by clicking here.
The FAA classifies a small aircraft as an aircraft that has a maximum certificated take-off weight of less then 12,500 lbs. Those aircraft are certificated to a standard outlined in FAR 23.
The FAA classifies a large aircraft as an aircraft that has maximum certificated take-off weight of more then 12,500 lbs. Those aircraft are certificated to a standard outlined in FAR 25.
Your aircraft “the Beech 300” was type certificated under special federal aviation regulation (SFAR) 41. This allows the manufacturer to follow the standards of FAR 23 even though the aircraft is slightly more then the 12,500 lb. weight distinction.
I believe one of the issues with ICAO is that SFAR 41 allows you to have only one pilot on the flight deck whereas FAR 91.531 requires two pilots for an aircraft with a gross weight over 12,500 lbs.
Answer:
1. Yes, you can fly your aircraft outside the United States, as long as you don’t exceed the approved flight manual (AFM) weight and balance limits.
2. If you were to sell your airplane to someone located in one of the foreign countries listed in note 7 of the TCDS the aircraft would have to modified using one of the Beech Kits identified before it could be certificated in that country.
Even though not mandatory for you to do so, if you were to modify your aircraft using Raytheon Kit Drawing #101-5084 the statement could be removed from your airworthiness certificate.
