Avionics News May 2015 - 20

ADS-B AROUND THE GLOBE
Continued from page 19

ground stations would add further to the low-altitude
coverage availability.
But Dunstone would not characterize Australia as
"being ahead" of the U.S. "I don't characterize it like
that," he said. "Australia and the U.S. are different
environments with different needs."
Before ADS-B, Australia had very limited surveillance
across the whole country.
"Only 20 radars in an area roughly the same size as the
contiguous U.S.," he said. "And don't forget that the U.S.
had Alaska operating ADS-B very early."
But the path to both coverage and acceptance has not
been without its turbulence.
A missed opportunity
Several voices from the Australian avionics community
noted that had things worked differently, the nation
could have saved itself - and its constituencies - some
significant Australian dollars.
According to Jason Burzacott with Australian Avionics
in North Cairns, "Australia missed a golden opportunity
when the en route radars came up for replacement. There
was an opportunity to spend the money on subsidizing
ADS-B fit outs for operators in lieu of a portion of the
radars. This would have represented significant industry
savings, but agreement could not be reached before the
deadline to replace the radars came around."
Burzacott found agreement from Peter Flanagan of
Pacific Avionics in Bankstown, New South Wales. Said
Flanagan, "This was a very sad, lost opportunity and it
was 'canned' by a bunch of wealthy, influential owners
who did not understand what they were doing. It was a
brilliant scheme Greg (Dunstone) had come up with."
As the two explained the idea, Australia could have paid
for all the aircraft upgrades and still save the taxpayer
$120 million.
"The savings would have come from not having to
upgrade en route radars and other nav aides," Flanagan
said. "It was a tragic loss to GA in this country."
As ADS-B Out stands now in Australia, most in the
avionics community credit Dunstone. Said Burzacott,
"Airservices Australia, in particular Greg Dunstone,
has been a key driver. They have attended many forums
from maintenance, commercial operational and private
operational promoting ADS-B. They have provided
regular updates on the fleet fit out status. They have
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facilitated a lot of technical sessions and brochures and
have also been active in encouraging OEMs to get on
board with this technology. They really have done an
exceptional job."
Added Flanagan, "Greg has been the pivotal reason for
ADS-B success in this country. He has worked tirelessly
to educate, mediate and promote ADS-B. They have also
assisted us enormously to resolve technical issues and
provide us with much needed information by liaising
openly with us and various OEMs. I think that flow of
information has been paramount in the success of ADS-B
so far."
Nonetheless, pressures exist to delay the mandate.
But those pressures went nowhere, according to both
Burzacott and Flanagan. "One key avionics industry
concern is allowing an extension on any mandate as
this encourages operators to wait until the last minute
to comply. There is a building workload as the mandate
date draws near, and some may be disappointed."
All discouraged expectations of any dates sliding.
The first mandate went into effect on Dec. 12,
2013, requiring IFR aircraft flying at or above FL290
be equipped with ADS-B Out; all new additions to
Australia's aircraft registry came under the requirement
on Feb. 6, 2014. By Feb. 2, 2017, all IFR aircraft flying
in Australia's airspace must be fitted with ADS-B Out.
Meanwhile, ADS-B brought the desired effect
to Australia, according to Flanagan, Burzacott and
Dunstone.
"I can say that ADS-B has had a major impact on
ATC in Australia," Dunstone observed. "Controllers no
longer have to exercise as much procedural ATC across
the continent like they did in 2004. We have avoided the
cost of lots of additional radars that would have probably
been required."
Dunstone also expressed pride in how Australia's
aviation community "put away lots of petty differences, to
agree on a vision for surveillance post 2020."
He said, "The key was to discuss what we agreed
upon, rather than debate forever the items on which we
disagreed."
Europe
A region busy with commercial, business and a
modicum of private general aviation traffic, ADS-B
Out requirements in Europe parallel somewhat the
regulations in the U.S. While the ground systems
around Europe and how they function vary in different
countries, ADS-B Out underpins them all.
Avionics News May 2015

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