Course Overview
Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) is fundamentally an airworthiness and maintenance discipline. While operational regulations dictate how an aircraft flies in RVSM airspace, it is the continuing airworthiness and maintenance programs that keep the aircraft legal to do so.
This RVSM Maintenance Training course is designed specifically for ground personnel. It deliberately stops at the airworthiness/maintenance boundary, focusing entirely on what the airframe and systems must do, and the tasks, inspections, repairs, and records that keep them doing it.
Through this ~1-hour course, learners will explore the regulatory chain spanning ICAO Doc 9574, EASA CS-ACNS, Reg (EU) 965/2012 Part-SPA, and Reg (EU) 1321/2014. From understanding the Altimetry System Error (ASE) budget to navigating the real-world latency trap of skin-waviness repairs, this training provides the definitive blueprint for how RVSM approval is kept alive on the workshop floor and within the management system.
Target Audience
This course is essential for continuing-airworthiness and maintenance personnel operating within EASA-regulated environments.
Primary Audience:
- CAMO Continuing Airworthiness Staff: Airworthiness review staff, maintenance-programme controllers, and engineering personnel.
- Part-145 Certifying Staff & Technicians: Avionics and structures trades, and planners who physically execute RVSM-critical tasks.
Secondary Audience:
- Quality and Compliance Monitoring Managers.
- CAO Personnel.
- Form 4 Post-Holders (Continuing Airworthiness Managers, Maintenance Managers) who own and audit the RVSM procedures.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this RVSM maintenance training, learners will be able to demonstrate the following:
Knowledge
- Explain the airworthiness basis of RVSM (maintaining 1,000 ft vertical separation between FL290 and FL410 inclusive).
- Identify RVSM-critical systems, including the concept of the Altimetry System Error (ASE) budget.
- Describe the CAMO duties required to build and control an RVSM maintenance programme, including managing inspection frequencies, test-equipment requirements, and instructions for continued airworthiness.
- Recognize the SPA.RVSM.115 reporting thresholds and the periodic height-monitoring obligations (every 2 years or 1,000 flight hours).
Skill
- Apply core Part-145 maintenance practices essential for RVSM, including static-system leak checks, pitot/static probe alignment, skin-waviness assessments, and surface-contour checks.
- Locate the maintenance organization precisely within the regulatory chain (ICAO Doc 9574, EASA CS-ACNS, Part-SPA, and Reg EU 1321/2014).
- Identify restrictions on Built-In Test Equipment (BITE) to ensure it is not incorrectly utilized for calibration.
Competence
- Action a suspected height-keeping error correctly by supporting the height-monitoring and defect-reporting loop.
- Manage configuration control of modifications and repairs, ensuring RVSM approval integrity is preserved during design changes.
- Remove a non-compliant aircraft from RVSM operations safely and legally until the fault is confirmed, isolated, corrected, and verified.
FAQs
What is RVSM maintenance training?
RVSM maintenance training instructs continuing-airworthiness (CAMO) and Part-145 personnel on the specific regulatory and mechanical requirements needed to keep an aircraft approved for Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) flight. It focuses on the maintenance of critical systems like the static-port air-data path, altimetry systems, and airframe geometry.
Who should take this RVSM course?
This training is specifically designed for EASA CAMO and Part-145 continuing-airworthiness and maintenance personnel. This includes engineering staff, maintenance-programme controllers, avionics/structures technicians, and quality compliance managers. It is not intended for flight crew or flight operations.
What is the Altimetry System Error (ASE) budget?
The ASE budget is the strict tolerance allowed between the pressure altitude displayed by the aircraft’s systems and the actual pressure altitude the aircraft is flying. Maintaining this budget is the core focus of Part-145 RVSM maintenance, as tiny geometric defects—like a small dent near a static port—can push an aircraft out of compliance.
Does this course cover EASA regulations?
Yes. The curriculum extensively maps to the EASA regulatory framework, specifically covering EASA CS-ACNS (Subpart E §2), Reg (EU) 965/2012 Part-SPA, and Reg (EU) 1321/2014.
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Course Content
