Who We Are
“It’s not that all validations are different, it’s just that they are not all the same…” a colleague once said as he was mentoring a new employee.
1994
Our story began in 1994 when our colleague, Jim, worked for Beechcraft in the airworthiness and certification group. Jim was responsible for ensuring that all Beechcraft and Hawker models met the importing requirements of countries around the world. International deliveries continued to grow in the late 90s and by 2008 accounted for approximately 40% of the company’s contracted deliveries. Ensuring that aircraft were type accepted by the countries of registration and operation was vital to the company’s success.
2008
In 2008, with the downturn in the economy there was an increase in the use of third-party modifications on the production line which enabled Beechcraft to incorporate additional options and upgrades into the aircraft build without further impact on the resources of the engineering design group. These modifications, installed as Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs), helped to bring improvements and upgrades to new and derivative models to market quicker but at the same time introduced challenges when it came time to export aircraft outside of the US.
Delivery dates were frequently impacted due to STCs not being approved in time by the country of import, holding up the issuance of the Export Certificate of Airworthiness and thus impacting sales recognition. In most cases the root cause was that STC holders lacked the experience with the process of obtaining approval for their products – known as the “validation process”. Other reasons included lack of qualified personnel, competing priorities with other OEMs and financial expenses required to support a validation outside of the US.
As international aviation authorities continued to refine their acceptance and approval procedures for FAA certified aircraft and products it was crucial to have dedicated personnel that could keep up on the ever-changing regulations and requirements. This was a challenge for STC holders that were focusing on product development and didn’t have the resources to support full-time certification and validation personnel.
2014
In 2014, Textron’s acquisition of the Beechcraft Corporation brought together the Cessna, Beechcraft, and Hawker model product lines together under one company, Textron Aviation Inc. The team was now responsible for supporting the international approvals of 20+ current production aircraft, production line STCs, aftermarket STCs, propellers and Special Missions modifications.
Jim’s experience, guidance and mentoring had shaped a “dream team” of validation experts able to meet each validation challenge with successful solutions. The challenges never ceased due to the number of validations required and the complexity introduced into the validation processes by the evolving working agreements between aviation authorities, but each challenge was viewed as an opportunity to continue to streamline the process while building long-term relationships with the FAA and the international civil aviation authorities.
The team worked validations, full-time, every day, all year round for the largest general aviation manufacturer in the world and became experts at problem solving validation and export issues. Relationships with the FAA and international civil aviation authorities combined with experience of problem-solving type validation issues was instrumental in navigating around delays and working through issues – further streamlining the process.
2017
With the growing need for STC validation support outside of Textron Aviation’s interests, in 2017, Global Aircraft Certification Experts LLC (Global ACES) was founded by Laura Sandoval in Wichita, Kansas with the purpose of providing the aviation industry with access to unmatched validation experience and expertise. Today, Global ACES provides Type Certificate and Supplemental Type Certificate validation services to aircraft, engine and propeller manufacturers and modifiers desiring to obtain foreign design approval of their products so they can enter the global market.
Global ACES is located in the center of the US in the Air Capital of the World, Wichita, Kansas.
