Balloon Repair Specialist

by Brent Stockwell

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is revising Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 65, the requirements for certification of aircraft maintenance personnel. Goals of the program are to make aircraft maintenance less costly, more accessible, and to enhance safety. The Balloon Repair and Maintenance Association (BRMA) is working with the FAA to formulate criteria for balloon maintenance personnel, and BRMA is actively seeking participation from all segments of the balloon community.

Under current regulation, there are two FAA-certifications which authorize a person to perform an annual inspection on a balloon: a Repairman, working for an FAA-Certificated Balloon Repair Station (CRS), and an Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic with Inspection Authorization (A&P/IA) who has all required knowledge, documents, and tools. The FAA has very few regulations for balloon repair personnel; as a result, requirements and operating standards are set by local Plight Standards District Offices (FSDOs), via balloon repair stations, which are approved and certificated by individual FSDOs, and vary significantly from office to office.

Balloonists are ensnared in a Catch 22 under current regulations governing granting of certificates for balloon repair personnel; in order to earn a repairman certificate, you must work for an FAA-certificated balloon repair station (CRS), and in order to become a CRS, you must have a certificated balloon repairman on staff.

Most certificated balloon repair personnel earned their Repairman Certificate by working for a balloon CRS for a minimum of 18 months. This minimum time period was set by the FAA for aviation mechanics who work on airplanes, up to and including jets. Because there is no specific regulation for balloon repair personnel, balloonists, have been forced to comply with the minimum time requirement established for much more complex and diverse aircraft. There is no provision or possibility, under current regulation, of offering a formal FAA approved training program for balloon maintenance personnel. The way the regulation is now written, the only way a person may pursue formal education for balloon repair is by going through a lengthy, costly, and inappropriate course for airplane mechanics.

With the revision of Part 65, we believe we can achieve a regulation that will be tailored to the requirements of balloon repair, and not adapted from fixed-wing regulations.

The FAA has created a new title, Aviation Repair Specialist (ARS), which will replace the current designation of Repairman. Current plans call for different classes of ARS, one of which will include maintenance personnel for balloons.

The Program Manager for the Part 65 Rewrite has requested that the Balloon Repair and Maintenance Association (BRMA) submit to his office an Action Plan with recommendations for requirements and privileges of an ARS for balloons. In order to represent the ballooning population, we would like to hear from owners, manufacturers, repair station operators, and repairmen.

Some of the ideas being considered for Part 65 by the FAA and BRMA are:

Creation of provisions for formal training for a balloon repair specialist;
The establishment of balloon ARS privileges external to a repair station, in other words, an independent ARS similar to an A&P/IA mechanic;
A list of qualifying tasks a balloon ARS must be able to perform;
A list of equipment an ARS must have available to perform maintenance and inspections;
reduction of apprentice time.

We believe there will be other ideas and standards you would like to have included in the Action Plan for the FAA, and problems you may have encountered that might be solved with revised regulations. We solicit your ideas and opinions.

Our plans are to print a questionnaire in an upcoming issue of Balloon Life and ask that you write (BRMA, 1241 High Street, Oakland, CA 94601), or call (510 261 4222), or fax (510 261 7908) the Balloon Repair and Maintenance Association with your ideas and requests.

With the revision of Part 65, the balloon community has an opportunity to participate in the rule making process of the regulations that govern those who maintain our balloons.

Brent Stockwell is the FAA Liaison for the Balloon Repair and Maintenance Association, an organization of balloon repair stations and balloon repair personnel.