Vaeridion and EASA sign pre-application contract on Microliner certification
Vaeridion has signed a pre-application contract (PAC) with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in a first for a general aviation manufacturer.
The Munich-based OEM is developing a battery-electric regional aircraft known as Microliner, which has successfully passed agency’s maturity assessment. EASA has now assigned a team of specialists to collaborate on a PAC project with Vaeridion. The joint work will lay the foundation for the Microliner certification path, with the first key element being the multi-engine single propeller architecture of the electric power plant, said Vaeridion.
Alain Leroy (pictured left) chief engineer at EASA said: “At EASA, we see general aviation as the incubator for many innovative technologies and the evolution of airframe architecture. Ensuring a sustainable development of the GA sector is one the major challenges for manufacturers and the agency. We welcome this new partnership with Vaeridion that will help all parties to develop new knowledge in the domain and contribute to a transition to greener aviation a few years’ from now.“
Unlike the conventional Type Certification (TC) application process, the PAC serves to determine the provisional novel elements of a certification basis from the early development phases of a product, well ahead of its application for certification.
EASA and Vaeridion will determine the applicable regulatory framework of both the existing specifications and the regulatory gaps to be closed. Subsequently, the respective EASA rulemaking and Vaeridion’s development will run in parallel. Early involvement will help to mitigate certification risk and associated delays, according to Vaeridion.
Dr. Sebastian Seemann (pictured right) CTO and co-founder at Vaeridion added: “Vaeridion sees certification of the Microliner in the centre of our strategic activities. Securing commercial IFR certification is fundamental for scheduled all-weather operation of our battery-electric regional aircraft.”
EASA’s Pre-Application Services are the “perfect initiative” for a transforming aviation industry, said Seemann. “They allow for early de- risking of our novel technologies and give us access to the valuable resources of EASA experts. Once we have determined the provisional certification basis and applicable means of compliance with EASA in the PAC, we can already start addressing our compliance demonstration strategy. This will enable a smoother type certificate application process,” he explained.
