STANDARD INSPECTION GUIDELINES FOR MICROLIGHT AIRCRAFT 3.0 TECHNICAL INFORMATION LEAFLET 044 AUTHOR: BMAA CHIEF INSPECTOR PUBLISHED BY: The British Microlight Aircraft Association The Bullring Deddington Banbury Oxfordshire 0X15 0TT United Kingdom www.bmaa.org STANDARD INSPECTION GUIDELINES FOR MICROLIGHT AIRCRAFT 3.0 AMENDMENT RECORD AMENDMENT NUMBER AMENDMENT DATE INCORPORATED BY INCORPORATED ON SIGMA ISSUE 2.1 10 OCTOBER 2011 BMAA 10 OCTOBER 2011 SIGMA ISSUE 2.1.1 11 APRIL 2013 BMAA 11 APRIL 2013 SIGMA ISSUE 2.1.2 20 JANUARY 2014 BMAA 20 JANUARY 2014 SIGMA ISSUE 2.2 16 NOVEMBER 2015 BMAA 16 NOVEMBER 2015 SIGMA ISSUE 2.3 30 MARCH 2016 BMAA 30 MARCH 2016 SIGMA ISSUE 3.0 1 JANUARY 2019 BMAA 1 JANUARY 2019 LIST OF EFFECTIVE PAGES Vertical bars in the right margin indicate changes from the previous issue on the sections below. CHT. NO. SECTION PART ISSUE DATE 1 INTRODUCTION ALL 3.0 JANUARY 2019 2 FUNDAMENTALS ALL 3.0 JANUARY 2019 3 INSPECTORATE ALL 3.0 JANUARY 2019 ALPHA 4 INSPECTIONS ALL 3.0 JANUARY 2019 5 LAW & LIABILITY ALL 3.0 JANUARY 2019 6 HUMAN FACTORS ALL 3.0 JANUARY 2019 7 INFORMATION ALL 3.0 JANUARY 2019 BRAVO ENGINEERING 8 ALL 3.0 JANUARY 2019 KNOWLEDGE TIL 044 ISSUE 3.0 – JANUARY 2019 CONTENTS STANDARD INSPECTION GUIDELINES FOR MICROLIGHT AIRCRAFT 3.0 TIL 044 ISSUE 3.0 – JANUARY 2019 CONTENTS SIGMA – STANDARD INSPECTION GUIDELINES FOR MICROLIGHT AIRCRAFT CHAPTER ALPHA 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 2 1.1 BMAA Schedule of Approval ..................................................................................................... 3 1.2 The Spirit of Microlighting ......................................................................................................... 3 TIL 044 ISSUE 3.0 – SECTION 1 – JANUARY 2019 CONTENTS SIGMA – STANDARD INSPECTION GUIDELINES FOR MICROLIGHT AIRCRAFT 1 INTRODUCTION In October 2005 Safety Recommendation 2005-089 was made by D S Miller, Deputy Chief Inspector of Air Accidents, Air Accidents Investigation Branch, Department for Transport to the Civil Aviation Authority which said: ”It is recommended that the British Microlight Aircraft Association review and regularly update their document entitled 'Guidelines for the Inspection and Maintenance of Microlight Aircraft”. The BMAA response was to accept the recommendation to its fullest by completely rewriting this document, the result of which you are now reading. Traditionally these guidelines, formerly entitled the “Guidelines for the Inspection and Maintenance of Microlight Aircraft”, have always focused on both aspects of microlight airworthiness – inspection and maintenance. It is apparent that these two activities can mutually conflict if conducted by one person where safety critical components are involved, because it is a basic axiom of continuing airworthiness practice that an inspector cannot sign off his own work when vital points such as primary structure and control systems are involved. This conflict of purpose may have arisen some 25 years ago when the CAA originally granted the BMAA approval to oversee microlight continuing airworthiness as a Maintenance Organisation, based on CAP 553 BCAR Section A “Airworthiness Procedures where the CAA has Primary Responsibility for Type Approval of the Product” Chapter A8-15 Aeroplanes and Rotorcraft not exceeding 2730 kg - Maintenance Organisations - Group M3. As of mid-2015 the BMAA achieved BCAR Chapter A8-26 (Organisations Supporting Recreational Aviation) approval. This expands the potential scope of work that the association may undertake. For these reasons, these guidelines have been renamed the “Standard Inspection Guidelines for Microlight Aircraft” (SIGMA) and make clear that, whilst advice may be given against findings, the responsibility of maintaining the aircraft is not that of the BMAA Inspector but rests solely with the Owner. These Inspection Guidelines depart appreciably from their predecessor by covering the wider factors involved in inspecting aeroplanes. Subjects like role definitions, selection procedures, auditing processes, human factors, legal liability, psychology of error and techniques of observation are covered in addition to generic and type-specific inspection procedures. The early sections of the guidelines contain overviews of all the relevant concepts of inspecting microlight aircraft. These concepts are then developed in more detail in the later sections of the document. The aim of the document is to clarify and record what we do already in more detail and not to “reinvent the wheel”. Figure 1 - Geoff Weighell BMAA CEO, accepting BMAA A8-26 Certificate from Tony Rapson, CAA Head of General Aviation Unit in July 2015. BMAA is the first organization to achieve this Sporting Approval. TIL 044 ISSUE 3.0 – SECTION 1 – JANUARY 2019 P1-2 SIGMA – STANDARD INSPECTION GUIDELINES FOR MICROLIGHT AIRCRAFT 1.1 BMAA SCHEDULE OF APPROVAL This document contains guidance which is applicable to all types of aircraft administered by the BMAA. The pretext of Microlight has mainly been used historically; consider this to mean all BMAA aircraft unless specifically stated to the contrary. The scope of the BMAA Schedule of Approval was extended on the 7th of November 2011 as below: Amateur built or assembled solely for the builder’s education and recreation where the amateur builder’s work-content is a significant amount (i.e. not less than 500 hours or 51% of the work of the construction activities but excluding painting, trimming and the installation of non-essential avionics), not on a commercial or production basis and: • Within the microlight definition of the Air Navigation Order and where the design has been shown to meet BCAR Section S or • Up to 750kg weight & within the applicability of CS-VLA but with additional criterion of Vd<140kts, and where the design has been shown to meet, CS-VLA, in consultation with the CAA, or • As otherwise agreed with the CAA 1.2 THE SPIRIT OF MICROLIGHTING Microlight flying sets us apart from others founded on the principle that the owner is wholly responsible for operating and maintaining their aircraft safely. We are privileged to be able to re-live those pioneering days where the sky was the limit and our destiny rested in our own hands. The BMAA’s job, therefore, is to encourage owners to willingly shoulder this responsibility for continuing airworthiness and safe operation of their aircraft through the regular contact and support of the Inspectorate, who are there to provide independent oversight and guidance through the necessary regulation and paperwork. TIL 044 ISSUE 3.0 – SECTION 1 – JANUARY 2019 P1-3 SIGMA – STANDARD INSPECTION GUIDELINES FOR MICROLIGHT AIRCRAFT TIL 044 ISSUE 3.0 – SECTION 1 – JANUARY 2019 P1-4 SIGMA – STANDARD INSPECTION GUIDELINES FOR MICROLIGHT AIRCRAFT CHAPTER ALPHA 2 The Fundamentals ............................................................................................................................... 2 2.1 The Definition of Inspection ...................................................................................................... 2 2.2 The Scope of the Inspector ........................................................................................................ 3 2.3 Airworthiness ............................................................................................................................. 4 2.3.1 Legality ................................................................................................................................... 4 2.3.2 Serviceability .......................................................................................................................... 4 2.3.3 Assurance ............................................................................................................................... 5 2.4 Implicit Understandings ............................................................................................................ 5 TIL 044 ISSUE 3.0 – SECTION 2 – JANUARY 2019 CONTENTS SIGMA – STANDARD INSPECTION GUIDELINES FOR MICROLIGHT AIRCRAFT 2 THE FUNDAMENTALS 2.1 THE DEFINITION OF INSPECTION A dictionary definition of the word ‘inspect’ gives it in two parts: • to look carefully, to view closely and critically and • to view or examine formally or officially The FAA definition of the word ‘inspect’ is: • the examination by sight and/or touch This implies a process of preparation, search, discovery and decision carried out in an official capacity. By drawing on this wording and relating it to the inspection of aircraft we have arrived at our definition of an inspection. The BMAA definition of an inspection is as follows: “an independent examination of the aircraft’s parts and paperwork from which the inspector will make a judgement as to its airworthiness at that point in time” It is upon this very simple definition that the rest of this Guide is based. TIL 044 ISSUE 3.0 – SECTION 2 – JANUARY 2019 P2-2 SIGMA – STANDARD INSPECTION GUIDELINES FOR MICROLIGHT AIRCRAFT 2.2 THE SCOPE OF THE INSPECTOR The scope of the of the inspector’s job is simply to inspect. • To find the defect – not to fix it • To monitor the amateur build – not to build it • To examine the repair – not to repair it • To look at the modification – not to modify it • To verify the documentation – not to rewrite it • To ensure compliance against BMAA standards – not against his own • To act on behalf of and under the control of the BMAA – not the