Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) and ITT Exelishave entered into a licensing agreement for Exelis to provide its real-time integrated Next Generation flight-tracking data for ERAU’s academic research and analysis. “The agreement with Exelis permits Embry-Riddle’s faculty, staff and students to evaluate, analyze and research air traffic control-quality surveillance in real-time,” said Steven Hampton, associate dean […]
NextGen
So is NextGen really NextGen?
By JEFFREY BOCCACCIO. This is the ninth in a series of articles looking at the impact of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) on GA pilots. What the heck is this all about? NextGen really not NextGen? Over the course of the last 10 months we have reviewed quite a few navigation techniques that […]
NextGen update now available
The FAA’s NextGen Implementation Plan is now available. The 100-page report chronicles the accomplishments of NextGen in 2011 and outlines plans for the current year and moving forward. During 2011, the FAA improved airport access for general aviation by continuing to publish Wide Area Augmentation System Localizer Performance with Vertical Guidance approaches, bringing the total […]
By demand: More on WAAS
By JEFFREY BOCCACCIO. This is the eighth in a series of articles looking at the impact of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) on GA pilots. First I would like to thank all the readers who have responded to the NextGen series. Feedback is always beneficial in providing a clearer understanding of each article’s […]
Could NextGen ground GA?
WASHINGTON, D.C. — When good developments are made, most people are delighted and few consider the secondary effects. These, however, are often significant. Take the unintended consequences of NextGen. It has been said a secondary effect of the development of the cheap transistor radio was important in bringing turmoil in the Middle East. Prior to […]
Trilateration: A must for NextGen and ADS-B
By JEFFREY BOCCACCIO. This is the seventh in a series of articles looking at the impact of NextGen on GA pilots. Last post we discussed where GPS came from and how its implementation was successfully completed by using ground base pseudolites. We also reviewed how triangulation was used for navigation. Triangulation basically emulates what we […]
GAO: NextGen over budget and behind schedule
WASHINGTON, D.C. — After causing the FAA to limp along on 23 temporary funding extensions, Congress finally passed a four-year authorization last month. A question now facing FAA watchers is: Will this steadier funding mean a smoothing of the turbulence the agency has seen in developing the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen)? A report […]
NextGen contracts over budget, behind schedule
More than one-third of the 30 contracts critical to building the Next Generation Air Transportation System, commonly known as NextGen, are over budget, while half are delayed, according to a Bloomberg BusinessWeek story on a new Government Accountability Office report. The GAO report notes that 11 of the 30 contracts exceed projected costs by a […]
AOPA boss warns House committee of threats to GPS
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association President Craig Fuller offered recommendations on new protections needed to preserve GPS’s critical role in the national airspace system in testimony today before a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s aviation subcommittee hearing. Fuller noted that pilots rely on satellite-based systems for everything from en route navigation to precision approaches. “Just […]