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Certification Testing

Comprehensive testing remains an absolute necessity in the development and certification of aircraft propulsion installations.  For many aircraft-level regulatory requirements, testing is the only means allowed. At BAC Aerospace, we can help you with aircraft-level testing, both development and for official cert credit.

Our Testing Expertise 

 

We have the expertise to help you with the necessary development and certification tests in the field of aircraft propulsion and engine-airframe integration.  Foremost of all, for a given aircraft, we tell you which tests are essential for certification, what to test, and how to do it.  Testing is expensive.  As a client, you do not want to spend your limited resources performing unnecessary tests or having to repeat a test again and again, simply because some critical detail had been neglected.

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Our scope covers practically all tests required for powerplant/engine installations on fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, including component and assembly rig level tests, as well as full-scale aircraft ground & flight tests. Note we are not a test laboratory per se. Instead, we design tests, write and approve test plans and reports while working with accredited labs or your flight operations facilities to execute them. 

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Below is a list of the propulsion system tests we are authorized to oversee and approve.  Note not all tests apply to a specific design. Some cases are obvious: for example, electrical propulsion does not use fuel, jets do not feature a propeller, and so on.  For other tests, we identify the minimum level of testing necessary and sufficient as part of the project Certification Plan.

Aircraft flight & ground testing

  • In-flight restart

  • Operability

  • Vibration

  • Inlet distortion

  • Cooling

  • Ventillation

  • Drainage

  • Fire extinguishing

  • Fire detection

  • Water ingestion

  • Propeller vibration & flutter

  • Propeller feathering & reversing

  • Propeller-airframe integration

  • Function and reliability

  • Indication & fault injection

  • Rotocraft drive system & control mechanism

  • Thrust reverser endurance

  • Negative g testing

  • Hot fuel test

  • Rotor lock test

  • Thrust reversering tests

  • Noise testing

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  • Freezing fog

  • Snow ingestion

  • Falling & blowing snow

  • Natural icing

  • Fuel icing

  • Cold weather (cold soak)

  • Propulsion system starting

  • Fuel venting

  • Fuel flow

Rig testing: airplane, helicopter / VTOL and engine ​projects

  • Fire tests

  • Icing tests

  • Cold weather chamber testing

  • System Integration Testing (SITS)

  • Drive system fatigue testing

  • Gearbox endurance testing

  • Gearbox loss of lube test

  • DO-160 environmental qualification testing*

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* Sections relevant to aircraft powerplant / engine change / engine design

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Engine-level testing (to Part 33 / CS-E requirements)

  • Bird ingestion

  • Rain ingestion

  • Ice sheet

  • Hailstone

  • Hailstorm

  • Engine icing

  • Cold start

  • Overspeed

  • Inlet distortion

  • Rotor integrity

  • Low cycle fatigue

  • Continued rotation

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Non-delegated testing*

  • Structural testing

  • Aircraft cabin smoke detection

  • Aircraft cabin smoke penetration

  • Gaseous and particulate emissions testing

  • Fan blade off (FBO)

  • Block endurance

  • Engine overtemp

  • Engine overtorque

  • Engine operability

  • Initial Maintenance Inspection Test (IMIT)

  • Axial containment

* Non-delegated means for those specific tests, we need Transport Canada approval of our test plans and reports.

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