Advisory Circulars

Provides many answers to questions regarding the purchasing of surplus military aircraft (type certification, is the aircraft flyable, is it sold for spare parts, scrap?).

Provides guidance material for acceptable means of demonstrating compliance with the requirements of Part 33 of the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) relative to surge and stall characteristics and thrust response of turbine engines. These guidelines do not constitute a regulation and are therefore not mandatory.

Describes the standards and provides guidance in the development of a Surface Movement Guidance and Control System (SMGCS) plan for U.S. airports where scheduled air carriers are authorized to conduct operations when the visibility is less than 1,200 feet runway visual range.

Provides guidance for engineers, airport managers, and the public in the design and maintenance of airport surface drainage systems. Combines existing surface drainage topics covered in different agency manuals into one Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC) document that will serve as the design and analysis standard for surface drainage for FAA and the Department of Defense. Consolidated file contains Change 1.

The AC is 12.7 MB (see Complete file). Because of its size, the AC has been broken into several parts to make it easier to download (see Parts 1-13).

Sets forth an acceptable means for complying with rules governing aircraft equipment installations in cases involving the substitution of technical standard order equipment for functionally similar TSO approved equipment.

Provides guidelines on providing airport data to the FAA  using FAA Forms 5010-3 and 5010-5.

See also Form 5010-3 and Form 5010-5.

This advisory circular (AC) provides guidance for creating a complete data package when data is submitted to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), aircraft certification office (ACO) or to FAA designees, to support a major repair or major alteration.

Advises the general aviation community of the importance of proper maintenance of capacitive discharge strobe light systems which are installed within or near fuel systems.

This circular provides the public with the current publication status of the looseleaf Federal Aviation Regulations, prices, and order form. This Advisory Circular will be updated later this year because of the frequent changes.

Provides guidance on the use of remote sensing technologies in the collection of data describing the physical infrastructure of an airport. This version is a substantial rewrite and includes new sections on remote sensing technologies other than aerial imagery (primarily LIDAR) for collecting airport data. See also the Airports GIS website.

Provides standards for the construction of airports. Items covered in this AC include general provisions, earthwork, flexible base courses, rigid base courses, flexible surface courses, rigid pavement, fencing, drainage, turfing, and lighting installation.

Access related Pay Reduction Spreadsheets on our Airport Design Software page.

Contains standards for the siting and installation of signs on airport runways and taxiways, including taxiway ending markers, location signs, runway distance remaining signs, mandatory hold signs associated with POFZ and CAT II/III operations, and many others.

Contains the FAA standards for markings used on airport runways, taxiways, and aprons. This AC cancels the Signs and Marking Supplement (SAMS).

This document is consolidated to include Change 1, dated November 17, 2010.

Describes standardized procedures for requesting field approvals for certificated products. It describes the field approval process, data that supports making an alteration or repair, and the purpose and uses of the Aircraft Flight Manual Supplements (AFMS) and Instructions for Continued Airworthiness (ICA). This AC also gives instructions for completing the Field Approval Checklist and shows a sample Compliance Checklist format.

Provides guidance for using the standardized International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) method, called the Aircraft Classification Number – Pavement Classification Number (ACN-PCN) method, to report airport runway, taxiway, and apron pavement strength. Includes instructions for using the COMFAA program to calculate ACN values to determine PCN.

Also provides guidance for reporting changes to airport data that is generally published on Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Form 5010, Airport Master Record, particularly those data elements associated with Gross Weight (Data Elements 35 through 38) and Pavement Classification Number (Data Element 39).

Access COMFAA and related Support Spreadsheet on our Airport Design Software page.

The AC acknowledges the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) Publication #12, “Recommended Practices and Guidelines for an Integrated Flightdeck/Cockpit in a 14 CFR (or equivalent) Certificated Airplane,” as an acceptable means for showing compliance with applicable requirements for electronic displays in part 23 airplanes. Guidance in AC 23.1311, SAE, and RTCA documents was used in developing the GAMA Publication #12. (GAMA Publication #12 is available from GAMA. Their website is 222.gama.aera.) A combined industry and FAA team developed the GAMA publication.

Presents background, basic concepts and philosophy in respect to SOP. SOP’s are universally recognized as basic to safe aviation operations. Effective crew coordination and crew performance, two central concepts of crew resource management depend upon the crew’s having a shared mental model of each task. That mental model, in turn, is founded on SOP’s. This AC emphasizes that SOP’s must be clear, comprehensive, and readily available in the manuals used by flight deck crewmembers. A comprehensive SOP template is provided.

The information contained in this advisory circular (AC) was developed based on a review of recommended practices developed by major airplane manufacturers, labor organizations, air carriers, training organizations, simulator manufacturers, and industry representative organizations. This AC does not provide guidance for full aerodynamic stall training, which industry and government stakeholders are now developing. Once developed, this AC will be revised to include that guidance.

The goal of this AC is to provide best practices and guidance for training, testing, and checking for pilots, within existing regulations, to ensure correct and consistent responses to unexpected stall warnings and stick pusher activations. This AC emphasizes reducing the angle of attack (AOA) at the first indication of a stall as the primary means of approach-to-stall or stall recovery. Additionally, this AC provides guidance for operators and training centers in the development of stall and stick pusher event training.

This advisory circular (AC) provides suggestions to improve sport parachuting safety and disseminates information to assist all parties associated with sport parachuting in compliance with Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 105. It also contains information for jumpers and riggers on parachuting equipment, on-airport parachuting operations, jump pilot training, aircraft maintenance programs, parachute rigging, and procedures for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorization for flight operations with a door removed or modified.

Contains a specification for wind cone assemblies to be used to provide wind information to pilots of aircraft.

Contains the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) specifications for series to series isolation transformers for use in airport lighting systems.

Contains the FAA specifications for unlighted and lighted signs to be used on taxiways and runways. See also Engineering Brief 67: Light Sources Other than Incandescent and Xenon for Airport and Obstruction Lighting Fixtures.