The FAA today published a Notice of Issuance of Advisory Circular for AC 23-17B, Systems and Equipment Guide for Certification of Part 23 Airplanes and Airships. AC 23-17B sets forth an acceptable means, but not the only means, of showing compliance with 14 CFR 23, for the certification of systems and equipment in normal, utility, acrobatic, and commuter category airplanes and airships. The AC consolidates existing policy documents, and certain ACs that cover specific paragraphs of the regulations, into a single document, adds new guidance and includes preamble material, in italics, under the applicable rule and amendment level.
The AC is applicable only to an original applicant seeking issuance of a Type Certificate (TC), an Amended Type Certificate (ATC), or a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for the initial approval of the new type design or a change in the approved type design. It is important to note that this AC is not mandatory or regulatory and does not constitute a regulation. Also, the AC only covers policy available through September 30, 2003. Any policy that became available after September 30, 2003, will be covered in future revisions to the AC.
AC 23-17B was issued April 12, 2005 and supercedes AC 23-17A, Systems and Equipment Guide for Certification of Part 23 Airplanes. You can obtain a paper copy of AC 23-17B by writing to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Subsequent Distribution Office, DOT Warehouse, SVC-121.23, Ardmore East Business Center, 3341Q 75th Avenue, Landover, MD 20785, telephone 301-322-5377, by faxing your request to the warehouse at 301-386-5394 or online here.