In a new post, AirFacts blogger John Zimmerman notes that over the past 25 years, pilots have complained about three different transponder rules: Mode C, Mode S and now ADS-B. Is the FAA really this incompetent, or do pilots just like to gripe? As usual, the answer is a little bit of both, he says, but adds that he thinks the “ADS-B glass is half full.”
Doomsday scenarios suggest thousands of airplanes will be parked on Jan. 1, 2020, orphaned by an arbitrary FAA rule. The more likely scenario is a lot less dire: Pilots who don’t equip with ADS-B will simply avoid busy airspace. Pilots have decades of experience at muddling through; that will come in handy once again. And, he notes, ADS-B actually offers some benefits. Read his full post here.
I fully believe that by 2019 the total cost of equipping for ADS-B will drop, at least 30% over current requirements for people who don’t have that WAAS source. By 2022/23 it will be 50% cheaper than today to equip using second hand equipment, plus its only a matter of time until we get a fully integrated moving map / simplified FMS / WAAS / ILS / COMM / VOR / ADSBinout equipment.
The certified market is slow to evolve, but it does evolve.
BTW we should focus on the real problem which is the insane cost of certifying anything electronic for aviation usage. There is room to half the cert cost if the FAA gets the right (ginormous) pressure to rationalize. But we need to be willing to put the pressure on.
This is all confusing to me. I probably won’t be flying come 2020, but if I am, then my little 172 will be happy to stay away from your precious B C & D airspace! This is just going to prove to be another un-necessary big government boondoggle that will just cost alot more than it needs too. That being said, what good will it be to you to spend a small fortune for this stuff on your airplane if I don’t?
Yes,… ADS-A, ADS-B, and ADS-C as a “concept” each can offer both ANSPs and operators benefits. But this is true IF and ONLY IF ADS is first properly specified and implemented. For ADS-B this means by using more simple and globally accepted requirements for NIC and NAC (as in Canada and Australia). This would allow for use of position data derived from any aviation quality GPS (and NOT need obsolete WAAS), or even be derived from RNAV based on RNP (some times even related to D-D or even DD-IRS3), or from Galileo, or from Glonass… or from any other suitable RNP qualified source. Such a revised specification would allow for both a much more effective ADS-B system, and a much lower cost ADS-B system for a wide variety of users (from LSAs, to UAVs, to military, to launching and recovering spacecraft), yet still allow for a safe and effective airspace system separation processes. But FAA’s present ADS-B concept and requirement is an unmitigated disaster in the making, that is going to simply cripple GA and the airlines both, while still NOT PROPERLY WORKING. Thus, a complete review and redesign of NextGen is needed, BEFORE GA or the airlines waste any more money on FAA’s present foolish, poorly designed, and overspecified ADS-B, ADS-R, and UAT. FAR 91.225 and FAR 91.227 need to be suspended or rescinded ASAP, before it’s too late. Wise GA and airline operators will not spend so much as a dime yet on equipping to meet FAA’s present misguided ADS-B requirements, because those requirements don’t currently stand a chance of being sustained in 2020 within the US or globally, as presently written.
I don’t care if ADSB has “some benefits”. The only benefit to me was that the mode c transponder got me into places I couldn’t get into like under the Class B and into a Class C. But I’m through with the oppressive requirements. On January 1, 2020 I plan to remove the mode C transponder because I will not spend any money on ADSB and will no longer have to spend money on mode C transponder checks every 2 years and maintenance on the thing because it won’t allow me into those places anymore and that’s the only reason I had it. If they want to see me in the air they will have to keep and use their old radar sets – I hope they like that. And yes I won’t be frequenting the 100 dollar hamburger places any longer in those areas requiring ADSB. Too bad they ripped their britches this time. And another thing, everybody knows that has done a little research that the ELT’s do not work as intended to the point of ridiculousness and is another oppressive rule that does nothing but cost me money for batteries. And another thing, the third class medical sucks too – and everybody knows it……………..