1. Purpose of This Notice. This notice explains to airworthiness aviation safety inspectors (ASI) a different rating for the maintenance of night vision goggles (NVG).

2. Audience. The primary audience for this notice is airworthiness ASIs who certificate repair stations that maintain night vision goggles.

3. Where You Can Find This Notice. You can find this notice on the MyFAA employee web site at https://employees.faa.gov/tools_resources/orders_notices. Inspectors can access this notice through the Flight Standards Information Management System (FSIMS) at http://fsims.avs.faa.gov. Operators can find this notice on the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Web site at http://fsims.faa.gov. This notice is available to the public at http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/orders_notices.

4. Distribution. The following offices will receive this notice:
• Flight Standards Service (AFS) divisions located at the FAA headquarters (HQ) in Washington, DC;
• Regulatory Support Division (AFS-600) at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center (MMAC);
• Regional AFS offices at the branch-level; and
• All Flight Standards District Offices (FSDO).

5. Background. NVGs have progressed over time from an emerging military technology to one that is now in daily civilian use. As NVG technology first became available for civil-use, repair stations (that performed maintenance on this emerging technology) developed their own process or used military maintenance specifications. Since NVG technology was considered unique, and maintaining the equipment was unusual, this limited the scope and availability of NVGs, NVG maintenance providers, and NVG maintenance documentation. As a result, it was appropriate for the FAA to issue repair stations a limited rating for specialized services for performing such  work.

Distribution: Electronic Only  Initiated By: AFS-300