"Travis Marlatte" wrote in message
ink.net...

Speaking of section 23, how do you know which version of section 23 was in
place when a plane was certified? In other words, there are rules there
now
which don't apply to older planes, right? Maybe the fuel gauge wording has
been there all along but how do you know? Section 23 only applies when
applying for certification, not for any plane flying, right?


Every aircraft has a type certificate which details what the condition of
the aircraft must be in order to conform to type. These are kept on file and
are available through such services as Summit Aviation. The certificates are
updated as new models are introduced. There are some real surprising things
in there, such as airframe life limits (if any), etc. There are many
variants of the Cessna 172, for example, and not all of them share the same
type certificate. IIRC, the 172RG and 172 XP share their type certificate
with the 175, not the 172. That implies to me that the 172RG is the same
type aircraft as the 175 fixed gear airplane, but is a different model,
while the 150 and 152 are two different types entirely. I doubt if it is
really all that important for anything except the occasional maintenance
question, since none of these airplanes require a type rating, but I thought
it was interesting anyway.

So, anyway, you look to the type certificate to see what version of section
23 applies to a particular aircraft.