PwU.S. Depament of Tfansportation Fe&ml Avlatlon Admhdrtrrrtion Advisory Circular Subject:
ANNOUNCDIEIW aF AVAILAE3ILITY: Date: 5123189 ACNo: 61-103 .
INDUSTRY-DEVELOPED TRANSITION TRAINING Initiated by: AFS-840 CbWBgtE:
GUIDELINESFORHIGH
PERFOIUYAKEAIRCRAFT 1 PURPOSE. This advisory circular (AC) informs all Federal Aviation Aknistration (FAA) certificated pilots and flight instructors of the availability of industry-developed guidelines for pilots transitioning into high performance single and mltiengine piston-powered small airplanes and single and multiengine turbopropeller small airplanes.
20 RELATEDFEDERALAVIATIONREGULATIONS (FAR) SECTIONS. FAR Section 61,31(e) prescribes minim requirements for private and carurercial pilots to act as pilot in canmand of high performance airplanes (those with more than 200 horsepower, or that have retractable _.vlanding gear, flaps, and a controllable propeller), . - i
3.
REJxrEDREADINGMATERIAL. AC 61-9 (current edition), Pilot Transition Courses for Ccxnplex Single-Engine and Light Twin-Engine Airplanes.
40 BACKGROUND.
a. Airplanes produced in recent years have become increasingly cosrrplex as large numbers of high performance aircraft have been added to the general aviation fleet. Many of these airplanes include advanced features such as retractable landing gear, turbocharging, pressurization, sophisticated avionics, and other items which add operational complexity.
In addition, an increasing percentage of these aircraft are turbinepowered. Furthermore, the operating environment itself has become complex, requiring pilots to be proficient in operating high performance aircraft in high density air traffic environments.
b To address the need for a standard training syllabus for pilots transitioning into high performance aircraft, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) has developed a Transition Training Master Syllabus (GAMA Specification No. 5). This document is a general outline of the items which GAMA recommends be included in the ground and flight training of pilots transitioning into specific airplanes. !&e master syllabus lists groups of airplane makes and models produced by its member ccmpanies tiich are sufficiently similar so that a pilot train& or experienced in one airplane model would not normally require full transition training to operate another model in that group.
c. The master syllabus developed by @VIA can be used by manufacturers, certificated flight instructors, training organizations, aviation publishers I and others to develop transition training guides for specific airplanes or groups of airplane models. If necessary, these transition training guides could provide for differences in training to cover variations in model groupings. GAMA intends that the master syllabus can be used to produce transition training guides for any high performance airplane and not just those manufactured by its member companies.
d It should be noted that the GWA master syllabus is not intended for use in developing training programs or guides for pilots transitioning into airplanes for which a type rating is required by FAR Section
61.31(a), for airplanes with engines of 200 horsepower or less that do not have retractable landing gear, flaps, and a contollable propeller, or for amateur-built experimental aircraft. Furthermore, it was not developed for rotorcraft gliders,or lighter-than-air aircraft.
e. The FAR do not require specific instruction or training for each\ high performance aircraft model or model grouping, other than the one-time requirement of FAR Section 61.31(e) for a checkout in any model high performance airplane, prior to serving as pilot in command of such an airplane. Operators transitioning into different high performance aircraft - models, however, may wish to use an available transition training guide as an aid to conversion to the new model(s). In such cases, operators could use the GAMA publicationI an FAA publication such as AC 61-9 (current edition), or other similar guidelines published by industry.
5 HOW !I0 ORDER. The Transition Training Master Syllabus may be obtained by writing or calling:
General Aviation Manufacturers Association Suite 801 1400 K Street Washington, D.C.
20005-2485 Telephone: (202) 393-1500 D. C. Beaudette Acting Director, Flight Standards Service 2 Par 4