Avionics News November 2016 - 16

ADS-B PROGRESS

Continued from page 15

craft flying below Flight Level 180 - 18,000 feet mean sea level.
The Ohio River Valley project, undertaken with UPS as the test
operator, set the stage for the two-tiered ADS-B program we have
today. The Ohio River Valley project employed 1090 MHz Mode
S transponders using an extension of its embedded identification
code carrying the flight-status data. Accepted as the international
standard for ADS-B Out, we now know that function as Extended
Squitter, and the 1090 ES option is usable at all altitudes.
The FAA opted to go with a two-tiered system to help avoid
the inevitable congestion problems that would arise if all U.S.
aircraft used 1090 ES. It helped that the 978 UAT option cost
significantly less than the Mode S 1090 ES transponders.
The FAA started work on an advanced notice of proposed
rulemaking in 2007 and charged its aviation rulemaking committee to work with the constituent communities; a final NPRM
was published in 2008. After a longer-than-usual comment period
and a lengthy review of the comments in the rulemaking docket,
the FAA published the final rule in May 2010. That started the
process we now have ongoing.
While this was happening, the FAA began the installation
of the ground-based network of broadcast transceiver stations
needed to make ADS-B Out functional and declared the system
operational in 2013. Stations installed in the Gulf of Mexico and
Florida were some of the first to go operational, providing IFR
services in the Gulf never before available.
Since then, the FAA has completed the build-out of the
ground-station network, with more than 600 stations operating
today.
The stations are at work relaying ADS-B Out data to controllers and other aircraft, while simultaneously broadcasting traffic
and weather data to all aircraft equipped with ADS-B In. The
FIS-B provides equipped aircraft with graphical weather data,
Doppler weather radar images - with about 7 to 12 minutes of
latency in the process - and graphic traffic images via the TIS-B.
ADS-B Out is mandatory; ADS-B In is optional. But thanks to
the wide range of ADS-B In options, about as many aircraft are
so equipped as are fitted with ADS-B Out.
INCENTIVES AND DEALS:
A BATCH OF ADS-B OUT CARROTS
The industry hasn't been idle in trying to support the need to
upgrade aircraft to meet the FAA's 2020 deadline.
On June 6, the FAA announced the launch of an incentive
program - slated to start in September - offering rebates of $500
to owners of U.S.-registered, single-engine piston aircraft based
on their purchase of avionics that are certified to FAA technical standard orders and meet the requirements of the 2010 rule.
The program is limited to one rebate per owner, regardless of the
number of aircraft owned. With $10 million available, as many
16

avionics news

november

2016

as 20,000 aircraft can be equipped under the program that ends
when the money runs out or after 12 months from launch, whichever comes first.
More information on the FAA's rebate program is available at
www.faa.gov/go/rebate.
To qualify for the rebate, the FAA requires the following:
1. Decide: Owner schedules the installation of the TSOcertified avionics for an eligible aircraft.
2. Reserve: The owner reserves a rebate from the FAA's
ADS-B Rebate website for each eligible aircraft before
avionics installment occurs.
3. Install: The TSO-certified ADS-B avionics are installed
on the eligible aircraft.
4. Fly and Validate: Not later than 60 days after the installation, the aircraft must be flown in "rule airspace" as
defined in 14 CFR 91.225 for a minimum of 30 minutes
with at least 10 aggregate minutes of maneuvering (AC
20-165B contains flight maneuver recommendations).
After the flight, the aircraft owner must validate the
performance of the eligible aircraft's ADS-B installation
by requesting a Public Compliance Report available on
the FAA's ADS-B Rebate website. A validated installation
will provide the owner with an incentive code.
5. Claim: Not later than 60 days after the installation date,
the aircraft owner gathers their Rebate Reservation Code
and Incentive Code and navigates to the ADS-B Rebate
website to claim the rebate.
WHAT HAS TO HAPPEN NOW
First, not all aircraft are required to comply with the FAA
mandate. Sailplanes, ultralight aircraft, free balloons and aircraft
delivered without an electrical system are exempt. That's somewhere in the range of 10,000 to 12,000 aircraft, many of them
vintage designs from the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s.
Similarly, ADS-B Out is not required in all airspace. In
general, however, if the airspace required a Mode C transponder
before, it will require ADS-B Out after midnight Jan. 1, 2020.
From now until the end of 2019, the ability to book an installation date is expected to get more difficult; shops can help
themselves and their clients by proactively reaching out with
offers for dates weeks and months in the future and committing to the customers by booking firm orders for the equipment
they'll need.
But beating the rush is the advice across the board, because
the FAA remains steadfast, from Administrator Michael Huerta
down, that there will be no extension on the deadline.
And groups like flying clubs, FBO rental-fleet operators and
hangar neighbors might even consider approaching shops for a
group purchase - with the benefit of the shop getting all those
installation jobs in exchange for discounting a group buy.
The world could see a smaller active fleet come Jan. 1, 2020,
unless the community picks up the pace. q

http://www.faa.gov/go/rebate

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