Introduction

Unmanned aircraft in the JARUS/EASA ‘Certified’ category are not only considered aircraft, but also subject to initial and continuous airworthiness processes, in a way similar to manned aircraft. In particular they need a Type Certificate (TC) and a valid individual Certificate of Airworthiness (CofA). But both the TC and the CofA, differently from traditional aviation, shall cover not only the aircraft and the on-board equipment, but the entire Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) / Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS), which includes the remote pilot station (RPS), the command and control (C2) link and any other necessary equipment (e.g. catapult) as specified in the Type design.  This approach is consistent with the new Parts of Annex 8 to the Chicago Convention, adopted in 2022.

In the EU this approach is already applicable, based on  ‘Part 21’ complemented by  a certification basis developed starting from existing certification specifications, as clarified in the EASA policy published in 2009.

EASA has already published a number of special conditions, to facilitate the development of the certfication basis, among which the system safety assessment (so called ‘1309’) is the most relevant. These special conditions  will contribute to the already planned new airworthiness code CS-UAS under development. JARUS has already publishd three airworthiess codes, respectively for unmanned systems in general (CS-UAS), unmanned rotorcraft (CS-LURS) and aeroplanes (CR-LUAS). Furthermore EASA plans to also amend the implementing rules for initial and continuous airworthiness, as well as to complement CS-ETSO with specifications applicable to equipment specific for UAS (e.g. geofencing, detect and avoid and so on), for which Minimum Operational Performance Specifications are emerging from Eurocae WG 105.

For the ‘specific’ category of UAS operations EASA has published the Special Condition Light-UAS and some supporting means of Compliance that will be used to support the Design Verification process or the Type Certification for operations with SAIL higher than III.

In the ‘open’ and for standard scenarios in the ‘specific’ categories of UAS operations, although no formal airworthiness processes involving the aviation authorities are envisaged, the manufacturer, or its importer in the EU, shall sign a declaration of conformity, while ‘1309’ will still apply and ETSO authorised equipment may be used. The declaration of conformity would be based on Regulation 765/2008, for which CEN is developing European Norms (EN).

The course will provide an overview of the developments summarised above for airworthiness of UAS/RPAS, highlighting the differences with traditional aviation and suggesting how the airworthiness could be demonstrated for UAS of different configurations, MTOM and categories, in the context fo the evolving regulations.

Course Content

13 lectures of about 40 minutes, plus 2 group exercises (1.5 h each), plus 45 minutes for final examination, distributed in 2 consecutive days.

The  lectures comprise of:

• Course introduction and objectives
• Overview of Certification processes for UAS
• Certification process in certified category
• AMC RPAS.1309 and SC Light UAS.2510
• Certification Specifications CS-UAS for Unmanned Systems, Light Unmanned Rotorcraft and Aeroplane Systems (CS-LURS and CS-LUAS)
• Command and control equipment
• Detect and avoid equipment
• Initial Airworthiness in Specific Category
• SC Light UAS
• Design Verification process
• Commission Delegated Regulation 2019/945 for putting on the market UAS in the open category.
• Equipment for small UAS (electronic identification, geofencing, etc.)
• Continuing Airworthiness for UAS

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course you will be able to:

• Explain the airworthiness requirements and regulatory processes to put on the EU market UAS indended for the various categories of UAS operations
• Achieve the competence to apply the regulations for airworthiness approval in the certified category of non-military drones, based on provisions from ICAO, JARUS, EU and EASA
• Apply the procedures for compiling the EU declaration of conformity for UAS intended for use in the open and specific category of UAS operations

Who should take this course

Target audience:

• Middle managers, rulemaking officials and inspectors of CAAs;
• Middle managers, designers and aviation professionals desiring to receive detailed information on the international standards and rules applicable to airworthiness of non-military drones;
• Entrepreneurs involved in drone or drone equipment manufacturing and wishing to expand their activity by certyfing or declaring conformity of respective products.

Pre-requisites

• Having attended UAS-INI; and
• University graduation (bachelor); or
• 3 years of experience in airworthiness of traditional aviation; or
• 2 years of experience in conformity assessment of industrial products; or
• 1 year of experience on drones.

Participants are kindly requested to bring a laptop to the course to access course material which will only be provided in electronic format.

Duration

2 Days: 09:00 – 17:00 hrs.