ATG’s Javelin, a sporty contender in the VLJ market with its two engines and military-looking canted vertical stabilizers, will need the FAA to grant special conditions to achieve certification. The FAA is proposing special conditions that would become part of the Javelin’s type certification basis, due to the location of the airplane’s engines.
FAA Part 23 regulations under which the Javelin is being certified do not address the side-by-side mounting of the two turbofan engines in the aft fuselage, the FAA noted. Critical systems–including a 280-gallon fuel tank forward of the engines, the empennage, primary structure and flight control systems–are located near the engines. “The effects of a fire emanating from an enclosed engine installation are more varied, adverse, and more difficult to predict than an engine fire envisioned for typical Part 23 airplanes,” the FAA stated.
