uAvionix skyBeacon: ADS-B In An Hour?

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It’s said that the uAvionix skyBeacon ADS-B Out device is the easiest way to comply with the approaching 2020 ADS-B mandate, but how easy is it to install? To find out, Aviation Consumer Editor Larry Anglisano found an airplane that needed to be upgraded, found a competent A&P to install it and rolled his cameras to document the project.

 

Larry Anglisano
Larry Anglisano is a regular AVweb contributor and the Editor in Chief of sister publication Aviation Consumer magazine. He's an active land, sea and glider pilot, and has over 30 years experience as an avionics tech.

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1 COMMENT

  1. I recently installed the sky beacon tail light unit in a Maule,and it did indeed go in very easily. Because of having to turn it to lock it into place,it cracked the finish on the fabric slightly,but nothing that a minor touch up won’t cure. My only real ‘beef’ with the system is that technically you have to run the nav lights on all the time. There is even a placard which goes on the panel reminding you of same. On my Bonanza,an N Model, running the nav lights automatically dims the gear and flap position lights to a level where they are virtually undetectable during daylight hours. It would have been,in my opinion,a better plan to have an external jumper on the Sky Beacon where a different source of power can be selected. Running a small gauge wire back to the tail light and wiring it to The avionics bus seems to me to be a better choice than negating the operation of a required warning light,or modifying the factory lighting to eliminate the dimming feature. This light dimming is also found on many other older aircraft,one which comes to mind is the Piper Aztec.

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