ADS-B Compliance Continued from page 49 appropriate data, including position, altitude, velocity, and aircraft identification, from the minute the aircraft takes off. What if an Operator Misses the Deadline? If an aircraft is not ADS-B compliant by January 1, 2020, it will be grounded, unless it flies below 10,000 feet and avoids Class A, B, and C airspace. Post-mandate, and on a case-by-case basis, ATC may give permission to relocate the aircraft to have it modified for compliance with the mandate. The operator will then be notified that the aircraft is grounded until it complies. The Myths of ADS-B Obviously, having an aircraft that doesn’t comply with the ADS-B Out mandate by the deadline will have serious ramifications for a business aircraft operator. Grounded aircraft are useless assets that don’t generate profit for a company and don’t help a business meet its mission and goals. In an effort to help businesses mitigate these risks, Duncan Aviation is pushing early ADS-B compliance. After analyzing the number of aircraft that have yet to comply, we have serious concerns. Nearly 9,000 busi- ness aircraft need ADS-B. Roughly one-third of them are in compliance, so 6,000 more need to upgrade. With the deadline roughly 33 months away, more than 180 aircraft will need to be upgraded each month. Yet, many operators are waiting. Those who continue to wait will face scheduling pressure, lack of hangar and labor resources to complete the installations, and higher in- stallation costs. Yet, many unfortunately believe sev- eral myths currently circulating in the industry: ■■ There is plenty of time. Those in the industry need only think back to 2005 and the RVSM mandate. Capable avionics installation facilities were at full capacity 24 months before the mandate and for an additional 12 months AFTER the mandate even though fewer than 1,000 aircraft were impacted. ADS-B installations are similar to RVSM (Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum) installs in complexity and downtime. Aircraft awaiting RVSM modifications could still fly below 29,000 feet and RVSM didn’t affect any piston aircraft and only some turboprops. ADS-B will affect them all, which greatly compounds the capacity issue. Make no mistake. There simply isn’t enough hangar capacity and avionics NextGen: More Than ADS-B We took a hard look at the upcoming ADS-B mandate and its potential effect on business aviation if operators don’t work to mitigate their risk. But ADS-B is just one part of the FAA’s NextGen Initiative. Let’s look at the others. What About Other NextGen Initiatives? The FAA’s NextGen initiatives include more than ADS-B, and operators sometimes get the various tech- nologies and terms confused. In the FAA’s NextGen Implementation Plan Document (dated March 2011), the FAA outlines not only ADS-B, but WAAS with LPV (Localizer Performance with Vertical Guidance) approach procedures and FANS / CPDLC—Future Air Navigation System and Controller Pilot Data Link Communications. 50 Operators may ask about these initiatives. Here is a brief explanation of what they are. What Is WAAS? In 2007, the FAA completed and certified a significant up- grade to the GPS system. This new Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) uses a network of more than 25 precision ground stations to provide corrections to the GPS naviga- tion signal. The stations are strategically positioned across North America, including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico, to collect GPS satellite data. Using this col- lected error information, a message is developed to correct any signal errors. The correction messages are then broad- cast through communication satellites to the airborne GPS receiver in the aircraft using the same frequency as GPS. Aviation Business Journal | 1st Quarter 2017
