China’s Ministry of Transportation today published the highly anticipated new CAAC Part 23 certification rules which will officially comes into effect on 1 August 2021.
Similar to FAA & EASA’s new Part 23, the new CAAC Part 23 consolidates normal, utility, aerobatic and commuter categories and is performance-based, which is expected to ease the certification for light fixed-wing airplanes and to encourage innovation and new product designs.
What is most important in this new rule may be that it establishs a new section H specifically for electric powered airplane. The section H includes certification requirements for electric propulsion, battery and controller, which paves the ground for the certification of Part 23 electric airplane. Currently Liaoning Ruixiang Airplane Co. has been applying for Part 23 certificate for its four-seat single-motor electric airplane called RX4. Liaoning Ruixiang Airplane Co obtained the light sport airplane (LSA) type certificate from CAAC for its RX-1E two-seat electric airplane in Feburary 2015 and received the production certifiate in December 2015, making RX-1E the world’s first type certified LSA electric airplane.
The official annoucement of the Ministry of Transportation: https://xxgk.mot.gov.cn/2020/jigou/fgs/202205/t20220530_3657705.html
PDF file of the full document of CAAC’s new Part 23 certification rule: https://xxgk.mot.gov.cn/2020/jigou/fgs/202205/P020220530535908383307.pdf