Avionics News November 2016 - 15

els. The potential for greater airspace capacity and higher runway
Across the general aviation community, the question circulates
acceptance rates - as close as wake-turbulence allows, in good
and recycles with every aviation convention and trade show: Will
weather and bad - drove the research.
we - the community of aircraft owners and operators - be ready?
With the advent of the first Global Positioning System receivWill owners beat the deadline?
ers approved for use en route and for instrument flight rules
The consensus among observers inside aviation businesses is
approaches and the Wide Area Augmentation System on the way,
... no. After six-plus years, the general aviation community is not
even one-fourth to being compliant.
the research turned to ways to leverage the extreme accuracy posSaid one shop owner, "We passed the critical mass of options
sible from WAAS GPS. The solution selected: A system based on
and lower prices about two years ago, and we're still far short of
in-aircraft gear informing controllers of the information needed:
saturation." Depending on the base numbers used, somewhere
altitude, horizontal speed, vertical speed and direction of flight -
around 10 percent to 12 percent of the fleet is compliant with the
all updated dozens of times a minute.
ADS-B Out mandate.
The result of this research led the FAA
Noted an avionics company executo launch both new test programs.
For Capstone, which ran between
tive, "The fleet needs nearly 200 in1999 and 2006, the FAA equipped a
stalls every business day from now to
cross section of Alaska-based general
deadline to complete the fleet upgrade.
aviation aircraft with:
At least we have a great variety of op* An instrument flight rules-certified
tions from which owners can chose to
GPS receiver for enhanced navigation
meet the requirement."
capabilities.
As of mid-August, nearly 22,000
* A Universal Access Transceiver
general aviation aircraft had been fitted
data link radio to provide the pilot with
with one of the two options available
current decision-making information.
for satisfying the mandate, with nearly
BUT
THANKS
TO
THE
These services include a capability
800 airliners also compliant.
to "see and avoid" other ADS-BFor a general aviation fleet numberWIDE RANGE OF ADS-B
equipped aircraft; Traffic Information
ing about 200,000 - projected to be
IN OPTIONS, ABOUT AS
Service-Broadcast to display additional
220,000 by 2020 - that general aviaradar targets on an aircraft multifunction compliance number leaves a lot of
MANY AIRCRAFT ARE SO
tion display; and Flight Information
work to do in three years. Presuming
EQUIPPED AS ARE FITTED
Service to transmit graphical weather
another 1,800 equipped in September
WITH ADS-B OUT.
maps including Next Generation
and October, that still requires an averWeather Radar and textual weather
age of about 150 installations per day
information reports in the form of
- every day, seven days a week.
Meteorological Aviation Reports and
Despite this outlook, no one quesTerminal Area Forecasts. Additional services available
tions that the system has made considerable progress since the
through ADS-B include surveillance information that
mid-1990s brought the launch of ADS-B's founding test proair traffic controllers can use for providing air traffic
grams: Capstone and the Ohio River Valley programs.
service and information that aircraft operators/dispatchers can use for aircraft monitoring.
HOW WE GOT HERE
* A panel-mounted multifunction color display to present
Back in the 1990s, the world's aviation authorities sought an
alternative to ground-based radar for air traffic surveillance, air
information from the above components and to present
traffic control and airspace management. The goal centered on
a terrain advisory database to help avoid collisions with
ways to improve accuracy, frequency of updates and increasterrain.
ing the data available to controllers. Radar at its best is accurate
The lessons learned from Capstone in Alaska gave us today's
vertically about 50 feet, plus or minus - down to about 200 feet ...
Universal Access Transceiver, a low-cost approach with integral
again, plus or minus.
abilities to see other aircraft and receive weather from ground
Lateral accuracy deteriorates to miles, plus or minus, the more
stations, all on 978 MHz. UATs were designated an option for airdistant the target gets from the radar antenna. En route spacing
Continued on following page
and runway acceptance rates are predicated on those accuracy lev-

ADS-B OUT IS
MANDATORY;
ADS-B IN IS
OPTIONAL.

avionics news

november

2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News November 2016