Producing an certified aircraft
I found this interesting about production certificates, something in my area of aviating where little detail is ever revealed. Anybody else have experience in this area?
"Once the airplane is certified, manufacturing automatically falls (for up to 6 months) into a category called, "Production Under Type Certificate." ……..only the FAA can issue the Certificate of Airworthiness on completed airplanes.
During this period, it is a judgement call on the part of the FAA inspectors on the factory floor as to what gets inspected. To quote my source, "The FAA inspects to the level of satisfaction."
Will the FAA inspect every part in the stockroom, inspect every sub-assembly? Not if the on-site personnel have some assurance the parts or assemblies were built and inspected with proper procedures.
While I have never followed the issuance of the Production Certificate, I would expect that with each new delivered airplane there would be less and less involvement by the FAA as the company begins to get their Quality Control act together.
From the company's standpoint, there should not be any difference in the inspection process before and after the PC. It is just a matter of earning the trust of the FAA so that the FAA delegates the authority to issue the C of A's to the company.
To prevent the company from taking shortcuts after the Production Certificate is granted and the FAA is out the door, there are automatic audits defined by FAA order # 8120.2D. Suffice to say, "He who giveth, can also taketh away!"
On the matter of assemblies produced off shore, both Japan and France have reciprocity with the U.S.. Which means that parts and assemblies manufactured in these countries are treated the same as if they were mfg in the U.S."