Ballooned Drawing Requirements for AS9102 FAI

I have seen FAI packages rejected not because the measurements were wrong, but because the ballooned drawing was missing from the submission. The Form 3 had 95 perfect rows. Every measurement passed. But the customer could not trace characteristic 47 back to the drawing because there was no ballooned drawing showing where balloon 47 points. Understanding ballooned drawing requirements for AS9102 FAI submission is essential because the ballooned drawing is not optional. It is the visual link between the Form 3 data and the physical drawing, and most customers will not approve an FAI without it.

We covered the step-by-step ballooning process in how to balloon a drawing for FAI. This guide focuses on what the customer requires in the final ballooned drawing package: format, numbering, completeness, and the specific rules that cause rejections.

Ballooned Drawing Requirements AS9102 FAI: What the Standard Says

AS9102 Rev C Requirements

AS9102 Rev C requires that each design characteristic in Form 3 be traceable to the design documentation. The standard does not use the word "balloon" explicitly, but it requires that each Form 3 characteristic can be located on the drawing by the reviewer within seconds. In practice, this means a ballooned drawing.

The Rev C traceability requirement means: every Form 3 row has a characteristic number, every characteristic number corresponds to a visually identifiable mark on the drawing, and the mark points to the specific feature being inspected. That mark is the balloon. We covered Rev C requirements in AS9102 Rev C requirements explained.

What Customers Actually Require

While AS9102 implies the need for ballooned drawings, individual customers make it explicit:

Boeing: Requires a ballooned drawing as part of the FAI package. The balloon numbers must match the Form 3 characteristic numbers exactly.

Airbus and Airbus supply chain: Same requirement. The ballooned drawing is a mandatory deliverable alongside Forms 1, 2, and 3.

GE Aerospace: Requires ballooned drawings submitted through Net-Inspect or eCAV alongside the Form 3 data.

Collins Aerospace, Safran, Rolls-Royce: All require ballooned drawings as part of the FAI submission.

If your customer has not explicitly stated the requirement, ask. The answer is almost always "yes, we need it." Submitting an FAI without a ballooned drawing when the customer expects one is a guaranteed rejection and a wasted submission cycle. We covered common rejection reasons in common AS9102 Form 3 rejection reasons.

The Ballooned Drawing Package: What to Include

The Base Document

Start with a clean copy of the drawing. This can be a printed copy with hand-drawn balloons (still accepted by many customers) or a digital PDF with balloons added using software (DISCUS, 1Factory, Bluebeam, Adobe Acrobat, or dedicated FAI tools).

Every sheet must be included. If the drawing has 7 sheets, the ballooned package has 7 sheets. Even Sheet 7 (surface class designations) gets balloons on its Class 1/Class 2 zones with corresponding Form 3 rows.

The original drawing content must remain visible. Balloons must not cover or obscure dimensions, GD&T callouts, notes, or other annotations. If the area is congested, extend the leader line to place the balloon in clear space.

Balloon Format

Shape: Circle (most common) or oval. The balloon is a closed shape containing the characteristic number.

Size: Large enough to read clearly when the drawing is printed at full size. Typically 5 to 8mm diameter on an A3/D-size drawing.

Color: Red is the most common convention. Red balloons on a black-and-white drawing are immediately distinguishable. Some customers accept blue or green. Some require red specifically. Check customer preferences.

Leader line: A thin line (0.3 to 0.5pt) from the balloon to the feature. The line should end with an arrow or dot touching the feature or its extension line. Avoid crossing leader lines from different balloons.

Number inside the balloon: Must match the characteristic number in Form 3 exactly. Balloon 47 on the drawing corresponds to characteristic 47 in Form 3. No exceptions.

Numbering Rules on the Ballooned Drawing

The numbering must be consistent between the ballooned drawing and Form 3. We covered numbering approaches in AS9102 Form 3 characteristic numbering rules. The key rules for the ballooned drawing specifically:

Sequential numbering by sheet. Most common approach. Balloons 1-6 on Sheet 1 (general notes), 7-25 on Sheet 2 (first geometry sheet), 26-45 on Sheet 3, and so on. The reviewer follows the numbering sequentially through the drawing.

No gaps in numbering. If you have 95 characteristics, the balloons should be numbered 1 through 95 with no missing numbers. A gap (jumping from 44 to 46) confuses the reviewer and suggests a characteristic was accidentally deleted.

One balloon per characteristic. Do not place multiple balloons for the same characteristic in different views. If a bore appears in the Top view and Section A-A, balloon it once in the view that shows it most clearly. Note the secondary view in the Form 3 reference location column.

General notes get balloons too. "General tolerances per ISO 2768mk" gets a balloon (typically characteristic 1). "Break all sharp edges 0.3 to 0.5mm" gets a balloon. Surface finish requirements get balloons. These are not dimensions, but they are inspectable requirements that need Form 3 rows. We covered what gets a balloon in how to balloon a drawing for FAI.

What Gets Ballooned and What Does Not

Balloon These:

Every explicitly toleranced dimension. Every untoleranced dimension governed by a blanket tolerance standard. Every GD&T feature control frame. Every surface roughness callout. Every surface class designation. General notes that create inspectable requirements (tolerance standard, edge treatment, process requirements). Fit class callouts. Thread callouts.

Do NOT Balloon These:

Title block metadata (part number, revision, material, weight) repeated on every sheet. These belong in Form 1, not Form 3. Reference dimensions (dimensions in parentheses). Drawing construction elements (section labels, view scales, projection arrows). Informational notes ("this drawing supersedes Rev C," "third angle projection," "dimensions in millimeters").

We covered the full classification in what counts as a characteristic in AS9102 Form 3.

Common Ballooned Drawing Rejection Reasons

Rejection 1: Balloon number mismatch with Form 3. Form 3 says characteristic 23 is "62.0 +/-0.1mm" but balloon 23 on the drawing points to a different dimension. This happens when the quality engineer renumbers the Form 3 after ballooning but does not update the ballooned drawing. The balloon numbering and Form 3 numbering must always be synchronized.

Rejection 2: Missing balloons on later sheets. Sheets 1-4 are fully ballooned. Sheets 5-7 have no balloons. The reviewer finds GD&T callouts on Sheet 6 that are in the Form 3 but have no corresponding balloon on the drawing. Every characteristic in Form 3 must have a balloon on the drawing. No exceptions.

Rejection 3: Balloons obscuring drawing content. A balloon placed directly over a dimension makes the dimension unreadable. The reviewer cannot verify what the balloon refers to. Use leader lines to place balloons in clear space.

Rejection 4: No ballooned drawing submitted at all. The FAI package contains Forms 1, 2, and 3 but no ballooned drawing. The reviewer has no visual reference. Rejection.

Rejection 5: Wrong drawing revision. The ballooned drawing is from Rev A but the Form 3 references Rev B. A drawing revision may have changed dimensions, added features, or modified GD&T. The ballooned drawing must match the current revision.

Rejection 6: Balloons on reference dimensions. A balloon placed on a parenthetical (reference) dimension creates a Form 3 row for a non-inspectable feature. The reviewer flags it as incorrect.

Digital vs Physical Ballooned Drawings

Digital Ballooning (PDF Markup)

Most modern FAI submissions use digitally ballooned PDFs. Software options include dedicated FAI tools (DISCUS, 1Factory, InspectionXpert) and general PDF markup tools (Bluebeam Revu, Adobe Acrobat Pro).

Advantages: clean appearance, easy to revise, searchable, and can be submitted electronically through portals like Net-Inspect. The balloons are precisely placed and consistently sized.

Physical Ballooning (Hand-Marked Printouts)

Some shops still print the drawing, hand-draw red circles with a permanent marker, write the numbers inside, and scan the result back to PDF.

Advantages: no software cost, no training required. Disadvantages: messy appearance (especially after 95 balloons), difficult to revise if errors are found, and the scanned result may be hard to read if the marker is thick or the print quality is poor.

Most customers accept both formats, but digital ballooning is increasingly expected as the standard.

How Ballooned Drawings Affect FAI Preparation Time

Ballooning adds 30 to 90 minutes to the FAI preparation process depending on the number of characteristics and whether you are ballooning digitally or physically. On a 95-characteristic drawing:

Manual physical ballooning: 60 to 90 minutes (hand-drawing circles and numbers on a printed drawing, then scanning).

Manual digital ballooning: 45 to 60 minutes (placing circles in Bluebeam or Acrobat, typing numbers).

Auto-ballooning with review: 15 to 30 minutes (running the auto-ballooning tool and correcting placement errors).

This time is on top of the Form 3 preparation time. We covered the full time breakdown in how long does FAI preparation take in aerospace.

Mavlon Generates the Characteristic List That Maps to Your Balloons

Mavlon pre-populates the Form 3 with sequential characteristic numbers, each tagged with a reference location (sheet, view, feature). This characteristic list maps directly to balloon numbers: characteristic 1 in the Form 3 becomes balloon 1 on your drawing. The quality engineer places balloons on the drawing following the Mavlon numbering, or uses auto-ballooning software and maps the auto-generated numbers to the Form 3 output.

Upload a Drawing to get a characteristic list ready for ballooning.