By Clifton Stroud, FAA NextGen Outreach and Reporting
Adrian Eichhorn is passionate about aviation. When he isn’t flying as a first officer with JetBlue based out of Boston, he’s flying his 1962 P35 Beechcraft V-Tail Bonanza based at Manassas Regional Airport, close to his home in Northern Virginia.
Eichhorn bought the Bonanza in 1988 and has completely rebuilt it over the years, doing most of the work himself. The effort included a completely rebuilt engine, a specially modified large cargo door, and a custom-designed avionics panel with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out and In.
He is a huge believer in the numerous safety benefits of ADS-B Out and In.
“My passion in life is flying,” said Eichhorn, who is also an airframe and power plant mechanic — he was the 2016 FAA National Maintenance Technician of the Year — and served as an engineer in the Army Corps of Engineers.
“I looked at the capability of the L3 Lynx NGT-9000 ADS-B unit and realized I could get continuous subscription-free weather. That’s unprecedented in a general aviation aircraft. Even though weather is available through Stratus on an iPad, having this subscription-free service and all the other products that are offered with ADS-B Out and In — that’s priceless.”
The touchscreen Lynx NGT-9000 offers four models, each with a complete ADS-B package.
The Lynx NGT-9000 series provide 1090ES (Mode S Extended Squitter) ADS-B Out, as well as 1090 MHz and 978 MHz (UAT) ADS-B In. This gives the pilot ADS-B traffic, including Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Rebroadcast, a service that relays ADS-B information transmitted by an aircraft broadcasting on one link to aircraft equipped with ADS-B In on the other link, as well as Traffic Information Services-Broadcast and Flight Information Services-Broadcast input.
The weather display includes METARs, AIRMETs, SIGMETs and Next Generation Weather Radar information overlaid on a moving map. The unit also displays winds aloft, temperatures aloft, NOTAMS and TFRs.
“The quality of the graphic display on the ADS-B unit is amazing,” Eichhorn said. “It’s full-color and very easy to read. Like most avionics on a general aviation aircraft, it’s small because of the limited panel space. But with Bluetooth, I can put the display on my iPad.”
Eichhorn is adamant that pilots should equip with the optional added benefits of ADS-B In.
“The ADS-B products enhance safety to the greatest degree I’ve seen since I started flying in the 1980s — not just the weather display you are given, but the picture of traffic in the area — especially flying in and out of airports without radar,” he said. “For those pilots who only have ADS-B Out and not In, they are really missing out.”
According to Eichhorn’s contact at Park Rapids Avionics, which helped him install ADS-B on his Bonanza, many customers initially were reluctant to comply with the ADS-B mandate. But once the installation was complete, no customers said that the installation was a waste of money. Quite the contrary: They quickly realized all the safety benefits ADS-B offers.
Eichhorn added that repair stations have become quite proficient with ADS-B installations, which minimizes aircraft downtime.
Around the World in Five Weeks
Before signing on with JetBlue about 10 years ago, Eichhorn served as a pilot for the FAA, NASA, General Dynamics and the Washington Redskins. He loves flying the Airbus A320 for JetBlue as much as he loves flying his personal aircraft.
Early in 2016, he completed a solo around-the-world trip in his Bonanza — a five-week, 163-hour voyage of more than 23,000 nautical miles made possible by rigorous planning, reliable avionics with plenty of redundancy, and lots of help from friends.
The longest leg, Honolulu to Oakland, took about 17 hours and was made possible by his tip-tank modification, giving him 200 more gallons of fuel.
He overcame several challenges along the way: A non-functioning autopilot during one of the longest legs, a headset that did not work on one leg, and $26 per gallon fuel in the United Arab Emirates — plus a $1,000 “handling” fee in Dubai.
The flight was something he wanted to do for a long time.
“You have things you want to do? Go do them,” Eichhorn told AOPA.
Speaking of getting things accomplished, Eichhorn urges his fellow pilots to equip with ADS-B as soon as possible. If pilots are waiting to install ADS-B because they think that the cost will come down any lower than it already is, he said that will probably not be the case.
“Flying a general aviation airplane comes with a cost,” he said. “You can’t put a price on safety. The cost of ADS-B is very reasonable for what you get. I personally would not wait. It’s making the entire National Airspace System safer.
“Your situational awareness with ADS-B is so much better,” he added. “Your flight will be more enjoyable. You are doing a huge disservice to yourself and your fellow pilots by waiting.”
Find out more at FAA.gov/NextGen/EquipADSB
I love the article & advertisement for the L-3 Lynx . I have studied the available systems for over a year and was going to install a Navworx system as the most economically viable option on my airplane. I was interested in the L-3 & Garmin systems but they are “old school” in only allowing their systems to be installed by “authorized dealers” unless you are “Experimental” so that basically leaves owners balancing aircraft values at to low of a VREF to the mercy of an avionics shops rediculous high labor charge for the installation. Until someone breaks this “authorized Dealer” glass ceiling no one is going to install a Lynx for 10K Ina 40/50k Airplane. Btw I have done avionics installs & upgrades on airliners for 20 years but L3 will not sell me a Lynx for my aircraft directly.
It’s great to see Clif Stroud’s by-line in GAN! Clif, let your buddies in the NextGen program office know that there will be one more ADS-B equipped Cherokee in Virginia starting next month. Maybe the next article could look at the Appareo’s Stratus ESG solution?
I added a Garmin GDL- 84 ADS-B “In” & “Out” to my Maule about two years ago. Since I live and fly in Alaska where you do not receive weather or other services once in the mountains, it is still a great addition to safe flying. Most of my many close calls with other aircraft have been in the big valley where Anchorage International and many smaller airports are located. With marine waters, mountains, military restricted air space, almost all of the high air traffic in the area is channeled into the same corridors. Thus even using ANC Approach I have had a number of near mid airs since Approach control only gives you traffic when they have time. They catch about 50% of my close calls. Now my AD-B catches all the transponder equipped planes within radar coverage. I tend to fly higher than the many Super Clubs down in the weeds without transponders. Since I added the ADS-B I find myself changing either altitude or heading about half of my flights in the high traffic areas to avoid a potential air traffic conflict. I also am now award that I actually have had many more close calls I never saw before since a pilot in most G.A. aircraft can’t see about 62% of the area around them. Once you have flown with much greater awareness of the air traffic around you, you will not want to go without it. I have also flown with my ADS-B in the lower 48, but found it used to avoid conflicting air traffic more around Anchorage.