This Day in FAA History: December 10th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19511210: The Kaman K-225, the world’s first turbine-powered helicopter, made its initial flight. The Kaman Aircraft Corporation had developed the K-225 under contract for the U.S. Navy.
19641210: The Airman’s Information Manual (AIM) replaced three basic FAA flight information publications: the Airman’s Guide (see April 1946), the Directory of Airports and Seaplane Bases, and the Flight Information Manual. The AIM was divided into five sections that were revised either monthly, quarterly, or semiannually. In 1978, Parts 2 and 3 were discontinued as parts of the AIM and were published as the Airport/Facility Directory. Parts 3A and 4 were also separated from the AIM and published under the title Notices to Airmen. The Part 1 data, concerning basic flight information and air traffic control procedures, continued to be issued as the AIM. On July 20, 1995, the AIM’s title was changed to Aeronautical Information Manual.
19761210: FAA announced completion of the conversion of the airway intersection and waypoint identifiers on en route aeronautical charts to five-letter code names specifically designed for use in the filing of computerized flight plans. Under the old system, pilots had listed the identifier using a geographic name based on a nearby terrain feature or town, making it necessary for persons receiving the flight plan to change the name to a computer code–a task that took time and greatly increased the chance for coding error. On the same date, FAA also announced a similar program to convert the fix names on approach and departure charts within 2 to 3 years.
19921210: Northwest Airlines began the first commercial flight to transport U.S. troops to Somalia in support of Operation Restore Hope, an international effort to counter famine and disorder in that nation. U.S. forces remained in Somalia until March 1994, and returned briefly during Feb-March 1995 to aid the evacuation of United Nations peacekeepers.
20011210: FAA amended the list of airspace locations where Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM) could be applied to include the New York flight information region (FIR) portion of West Atlantic Route System airspace. RVSM procedures allowed vertical separation to be reduced between aircraft at certain higher altitudes if the aircraft met stringent altimeter and auto-pilot performance requirements. The rule also required any aircraft equipped with the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System, version II (TCAS II) flying in RVSM airspace to incorporate a version of TCAS II compatible with RVSM operations. (See February 24, 2000; May 10, 2002.)
20071210: Effective this date, FAA amended regulations for certification and operation of transport category airplanes. These changes improved the design, installation, and maintenance of airplane electrical wiring systems and aligned the amended requirements as closely as possible with those affecting fuel tank system safety. The rule organized and clarified design requirements for wire systems by moving existing regulatory references to wiring into a single section of the regulations specifically for wiring and by adding new certification rules. Under the rule, manufacturers had to complete FAA-approved instructions for new wiring-related maintenance and inspection tasks within 24 months for existing airplanes. U.S. scheduled air carriers and foreign airlines operating U.S.-registered aircraft had to develop maintenance and inspection programs for wiring based on the manufacturers’ instructions within 39 months, and had to update those programs, as needed, for subsequent aircraft modifications. (See October 6, 2005.)
20131210: The New York ARTCC became the last of FAA’s three oceanic control areas to implement reduced oceanic separation standards for aircraft that used advanced navigation technology and fly satellite-based routes. To qualify for the standards, planes traveling through the control area had to have
* FANS-1/A avionics, which enabled controllers to communicate clearances to pilots, pilots to submit requests to controllers, and controllers to track aircraft positions;
* Controller-pilot data link communications, or CPDLC, which streamlined conversations between pilots and controllers via text messages;
* Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Contract, or ADS-C, which reported flight positions to the center within approved timeframes
The Ocean21 automation system at the ARTCC collected data from the aircraft’s equipment so controllers knew what each aircraft could do, its location, flight path, and any potential future conflicts. Controllers could then separate qualified pairs of planes by either 30 nautical miles lateral and longitudinal or 50 nautical miles lateral and longitudinal. The 30/30 standard was applied to flights that used a category of navigation known as RNP-4. The 50/50 standard was for plane pairings that used RNP-10. RNP is short for required navigation performance, a term for procedures that used satellites to guide aircraft on more precise flight paths.
20141210: FAA granted five regulatory exemptions for UAS operations to four companies representing several industries that showed promise to benefit from UAS technology. Trimble Navigation Limited, VDOS Global, LLC, Clayco, Inc., and Woolpert, Inc. (two exemptions) received exemptions to fly UAS to perform operations for aerial surveying, construction site monitoring, and oil rig flare stack inspections. FAA earlier granted exemptions to seven film and video production companies. (See September 25, 2014; February 15, 2015.)
20181210: FAA extended a ban on flights over Syria until 2020, citing the “threat to civil aviation from the multifaceted conflict and extremist threat, and militant activity.” The prohibition originally issued in December 2014, applied to all U.S. carriers and commercial operators, as well as anyone flying with a FAA-issued airman certificate or operating a U.S.-registered civil aircraft, except when flown by a foreign carrier. While the ban did not extend to foreign carriers, Transportation Department codeshare authorizations forbid foreign carriers using a U.S. partner’s code from operating in prohibited airspace. (See August 18, 2014.)
20201210: The U.S. Air Force gave a safety endorsement to Joby Aviation’s electric-powered vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) vehicle – the first safety endorsement the service has given to an eVTOL. The endorsement allows Joby Aviation to use its vehicle to transport military equipment, but industry and military officials said the endorsement could be the first step towards eventual civilian certification.