SAME-DAY SHIPPING GUARANTEED - ORDER BY 5PM
FREE GROUND $250+ | FREE 2-DAY $500+
Technical resource
TSO terminology appears throughout aircraft antenna documentation and is often misread as installation approval. This page explains what a Technical Standard Order is in general terms and what still has to be established separately. It does not state the approval status of any individual product — where TSO information exists for an antenna we stock, it appears on that product page, taken from the manufacturer data.
A Technical Standard Order is a minimum performance standard issued by the FAA for a specified category of article. It defines what the article must be shown to do and how that must be demonstrated, including applicable environmental qualification.
A TSO authorization is granted to a manufacturer for a specific article and allows it to be produced as meeting that standard. It is evidence about the article's design and production — that it has been shown to meet the minimum performance standard — and nothing more.
An article carrying TSO authorization is not automatically eligible for installation on any particular aircraft. Installation eligibility comes from the approved data covering that aircraft and that installation — type design data, an STC, a field approval or other applicable approved data — and takes into account the position, the interfacing equipment and the aircraft's configuration.
The reverse also holds: some antennas are supplied as non-TSO articles and may still be installed where the applicable approved data permits it. Both questions are decided by documentation, not by the catalog.
Environmental qualification standards such as RTCA DO-160 are frequently referenced alongside a TSO. Where a manufacturer publishes qualification details for an antenna, they describe the conditions the article was tested to — again a statement about the article, not about a specific installation.
Before ordering, confirm what the equipment and airframe documentation require, and confirm what the antenna manufacturer's data actually states for the exact part number, including any superseding part numbers. We list the manufacturer documentation we hold on the relevant product pages.
Always verify installation requirements against the antenna manufacturer's installation instructions and the approved data applicable to the aircraft.
