“New” Reg Is Old News…
Sometimes a regulation sits in the FAA’s in-basket for so long that when they finally get around to issuing it, it looks new again. Such might be the case with the FAA’s Noise Stringency Increase for Single-Engine Propeller-Driven Small Airplanes, which will amend Part 36 to cut the allowable takeoff noise for light singles by up to 8 percent. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) was issued Feb. 4 and comments will be received until June 10. The rule sets the noise limit for light singles to range from a minimum of 70 dBA for airplanes with a maximum takeoff weight of 1,257 pounds to 85 dBA for the heaviest singles. The new levels will affect type certificates and supplementary type certificates issued starting Nov. 4 … and are based on criteria reached during a meeting in Montreal nine years ago. In 1995, the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Committee on Aviation and Environmental Protection met, with representation from North America and Europe. Delegates, at that time, determined that light singles posed the biggest noise-pollution hazard because they are the most likely to be used for training, with multiple takeoffs and low-level operations. After analyzing the noise outputs of existing aircraft, the committee decided to set the limit for singles at the level of current production models. Although that won’t cut the noise from your local flying school’s airplanes, it will ensure they won’t get any noisier. There’s a chart on page 14 of the FAA document showing the relationship between weight and noise.
