J. MAC MCCLELLAN
COMMENTARY /
LEFT SEAT
ADS-B Paying Off Early
Free uplinked weather is now readily available
AS YOU NO DOUBT
already know, the FAA is in a decades-long process of
converting the air traffic control system from one that relies on ground-
based radars to a system that uses equipment in every airplane to track
the location and flight path of each airplane. The FAA calls the system
NextGen, for next generation, and any pilot who wants to fly in the sys-
tem after January 1, 2020, must have approved equipment installed.
NextGen is based on GPS satellite positioning and promises to give
pilots and controllers a much more precise picture of the location and
flight path of all airplanes in the system. The enhanced precision in flight
tracking can eventually allow airplanes to fly closer together without
compromising safety, and that can increase system capacity.
The unique hardware for Stratus is the compact, no-external- antenna unit made by Appareo. The display is an iPad.
However, NextGen actually transfers
much of the expense of air traffic
control from the ground to each
airplane. Instead of the FAA paying for a
new system of radars, or navigation
equipment on the ground, the most
important equipment to make NextGen
work must be installed in every airplane.
Nobody can say with certainty yet what
the lowest-priced NextGen approved
system will cost, but when all elements
necessary are considered, it will be at
least several thousand dollars.
This transfer of air traffic control
costs from the FAA to airplane owners
is not going down all that well. No sur-
prise there. The airlines will be hit
with the biggest bill because they need
the most robust equipment, and they
will need to install multiple sensors so
they can dispatch after the failure of
some of the equipment. The final cost
is going to be in the billions of dollars
for airplane owners.
When the FAA began discussing
NextGen and the move to ADS-B at
least 15 years ago there was pushback
from general aviation. AOPA and EAA
correctly pointed out that the FAA was
moving much of the cost of traffic sepa-
ration from the government budget to
the airplane owner’s wallet. The FAA
was getting a benefit, but the typical
general aviation airplane owner is no
better off with ADS-B than with the
Mode C transponder he or she has
already been required to buy.
The FAA agreed and devised a way
to sweeten the pot so GA aircraft own-
ers can see tangible benefits from their
spending on ADS-B. The new benefits
are called TIS-B (traffic information
service—broadcast) and FIS-B (flight
information service—broadcast).
Cover
IFC
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
IBC
OBC
Zoom level
fit page
fit width
A
A
fullscreen
one page
two pages
share
print
download
SlideShow
fullscreen
Open Article
article text for page
< previous story
|
next story >
add comment
|
read comments
Share this page with a friend
Save to “My Stuff”
Subscribe to this magazine
Search
Help
