FAA officials are noting the $500 ADS-B rebate ends soon. Aircraft owners have until Sept. 18, 2017, to make a reservation to qualify for the rebate.
“But it goes away Sept. 19, as the FAA has no plans to extend the program now,” an FAA official said, noting “there is plenty of room for more sign ups at the moment.”
Does the general public know the potential danger lurking in the forced removal of Navworx ADSB units ordered by the FAA? A non-approved internal GPS (inexpensive) unit is buried inside of hundreds of functioning units providing unbelievable situational awareness. With this unit I can actually see a virtual air to air collision taking place before my very eyes. I have, more than once, altered my course just in time to see, in real life, my collision passing by off my wing. We don’t have TCAS. Ask airline pilots if they felt removing their TCAS would be a safety enhancement.
The internal GPS in the Navworx units should not have put there because it does not meet the exacting standard of position reporting the rules require. The position reporting is amazing but still not exacting enough for the precision of aircraft separation.
So what’s the answer? We have two so far. The FAA says we are to remove and disable them by the end of this year. The result will be hundreds of general aviation no longer anywhere near as safe as they were from air to air collision. The manufacturer can move on. He is now selling a new unit with an approved internal GPS. The FAA is happy that their standards of safety have been upheld while curiously they have just rendered hundreds of aircraft unsafe.
Why isn’t there a third answer? Perhaps one that addresses the safety of the current “box” holders. Why are manufacturers that “dupe” the consumer required to return to square one and start over. If it is shown that a device was manufactured and sold with intentional disregard of the approval standard why is the penalty simply to stop and change “from now on.”? Can not a regulatory agency like the FAA require the manufacturer to “right their wrong” before allowing them to continue?
The story here is not simply one of buyer beware. It is a story of safety. It was sold, it worked and now it is gone. It made us safer than we have ever been. But we can’t have it because we weren’t safe enough. We are better off “unsafe.” Astonishing.
So, you are saying we are as safe as we were prior to ADS-B? I never felt unsafe. Keeping your head out of the cockpit rather than playing with all the electronics is what VFR flying is all about. I disagree with your post. The sky is not falling.