ADS-B Update

Think back about ten years when GPS was some faint rumor off in the distance. ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast) is about where GPS was a decade ago. When it's in place, aircraft will use cell phone-type technology to broadcast their GPS positions to ATC and each other, which is one of the keys to free flight. AVweb's Joe Godfrey gives a status update.

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ADS-B status displayADS-B is coming and it’s coming fast. Automatic Dependent Surveillance -Broadcast is picking up where Mode S and TCAS left off. Airplanes equipped withADS-B will broadcast their GPS-derived positions to ground stations and otheraircraft, which opens the door to free flight and should allow for better ops inreduced visibilities, both in the air and on the ground.

There are three components to ADS-B. Item one is an IFR-approved GPS. Itemtwo is a multifunction display (like a Sandel 3308) that can display waypoints,traffic and weather. Item three is the datalink that gets the data from theground. The jury’s still out on which datalink system will prevail. 1090 Mode Sis still in the running. VDL Mode 4 is a TDMA (time division multiple access)system that the European carriers are developing. UPS Aviation Technologies,formerly II Morrow, developed a system from scratch that it hopes will prevail.It uses a 50-watt transmission, which should allow for smaller, cooler systemsthan the 200-watt Mode S technology. It’s the same basic technology used in acell phone.

UPS' ADS-B testbedThe FAA and the Air Cargo Association partnered for July 10th’s test inWilmington, Ohio. Twenty-five airplanes from FedEx, UPS, Airborne, DOD and a P-3Orion from Navy Pax River flew in circles with two-mile separations for 90minutes. The goal is to give tools to pilots and controllers to enhance"see and avoid." The Air Cargo Association hopes that more efficientair traffic control will reduce costs and save time. The advantage for the FAAis the reduced cost of testing. They can take the money they would have spentfor a dozen airplanes to fly donuts, and spend it on R&D.

ADS-B displayThis month, FAA’s Alaska Region will roll out the Capstone Program in Bethel.Two hundred Part 135 airplanes equipped with ADS-B gear are part of a three-yeardata-gathering process. The FAA chose Alaska because CFIT accidents are commonthere and the radar coverage is so spotty. Two tests are planned for next year.Hundreds of Gulf-based helicopters will be tested as part of Operation GOMEX,and a system is being set up for planes inbound to SLC for the 2000 Olympics. GAhasn’t been left out of the picture. AOPA’s Phil Boyer is co-chair of the SafeFlight 21 committee and is working hard to create a system that works for bigiron, air taxis, recreational pilots and controllers.

Right now the hardware runs about $12,000 per airplane. UAT expects that oncethe the units are mass produced, a datalink will cost about what a Mode Ctransponder costs now.

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