Caravan down outside Houston

killbilly said:
At the risk of sounding callous, tough •. ADS-B isn't tough, and it's not a massive power draw. This can be done. Read on.



The financial burden is minimal. If you own and operate an aircraft, you can afford the measly $2000 to install a Uavionix skybeacon. It's cheap, dependable and popular. There's really no excuse not to have ADS-B out anymore. If you really cannot afford that while owning an airplane, I'd be seriously interested in your cost-saving measures while participating in aviation. Cynical, but grounded in reality.

Uavionix is working HARD on a portable ADS-B out solution and, I'm told, making progress with the FAA. I almost feel like they should get a grant from the FAA for this because it's a legit safety-enhancing feature. Hell, for the first time, with ADS-B in/out, untowered operations with pilots using N-numbers to ID themselves is actually useful. :)
Click to expand...
As someone with a GA airplane, and I do currently own, and have owned since before this airplane had an airworthiness certificate, a skybeacon, said skybeacon will likely never actually go in my airplane. Sitting on a shelf collecting dust, and needs to be sold.
The reason is because of what the FAA promised they'd do with ADS-B and what they, and almost more importantly, what other federal agencies have done with the data.
I was skeptical, but was going to do it. Then I was right out. No airspace I use needs it, and my mode C works fine for 121 TCAS purposes via TIS-B anywhere a conflict could actually occur.
 
z987k said:
As someone with a GA airplane, and I do currently own, and have owned since before this airplane had an airworthiness certificate, a skybeacon, said skybeacon will likely never actually go in my airplane. Sitting on a shelf collecting dust, and needs to be sold.
The reason is because of what the FAA promised they'd do with ADS-B and what they, and almost more importantly, what other federal agencies have done with the data.
I was skeptical, but was going to do it. Then I was right out. No airspace I use needs it, and my mode C works fine for 121 TCAS purposes via TIS-B anywhere a conflict could actually occur.
Click to expand...
What are they doing with the data?
 
mikecweb said:
What are they doing with the data?
Click to expand...

Federal park service busted someone below 020 in a national park area and sent them a letter. In true middle aged affluent male form the guy accepted responsibility for his violation and apologized for his mistake.

Just kidding - he launched a crusade against the FAA for violating his constitutional right to run red lights bust FARs in privacy.
 
CFI A&P said:
The problem with this is the financial burden to owners. There are hundreds if not thousands of aircraft types out there that are exempt for one reason or another. Many of which due to their lack of an electrical system. Now you're talking about thousands of dollars in aircraft modifications, some of which are unique or one off that would require designing or engineering one-off ADS-B compliance.
Click to expand...

I'll take "Things I Don't Give a S* About" for $500, Alex.
 
Murdoughnut said:
Federal park service busted someone below 020 in a national park area and sent them a letter. In true middle aged affluent male form the guy accepted responsibility for his violation and apologized for his mistake.

Just kidding - he launched a crusade against the FAA for violating his constitutional right to run red lights bust FARs in privacy.
Click to expand...

back in the early 90s flying 135 SE cargo, a few of my stops were in the Navajo reservation. One evening, I’m waiting out some Wx to be able to depart the airport, and one of the rez govt guys at the airport asks why I haven’t launched. Told him I needed higher Wx to be able to depart legally. I’m told in response “you are legal….Indian land, Indian sky” :)
 
z987k said:
As someone with a GA airplane, and I do currently own, and have owned since before this airplane had an airworthiness certificate, a skybeacon, said skybeacon will likely never actually go in my airplane. Sitting on a shelf collecting dust, and needs to be sold.
The reason is because of what the FAA promised they'd do with ADS-B and what they, and almost more importantly, what other federal agencies have done with the data.
I was skeptical, but was going to do it. Then I was right out. No airspace I use needs it, and my mode C works fine for 121 TCAS purposes via TIS-B anywhere a conflict could actually occur.
Click to expand...

Your reasons make sense and they're practical for you - I get that. My argument has been about people lamenting the financial burden. Aviation costs money.

I do still think you should have it installed, but that's your call.

For what it's worth, you might try advertising that Skybeacon for sale to your local EAA chapter. Pretty sure someone would snap it right up.
 
USMCmech said:
If you're not having to meet FAA certification standards and can just meet the same standards of consumer electronics the cost should be a lot lower.

A battery powered portable ADS-B transmitter the size of a iPhone could probably be available for a few hundred dollars.
Click to expand...
This makes too much sense, too bad it’ll never happen.
 
alaskadrifter said:
This makes too much sense, too bad it’ll never happen.
Click to expand...
Given the weird crap I’ve come across in 10 years of maintaining certified ADSB equipment I have no interest in letting some consumer grade battery powered solution run around the airspace space with me.
 
SlumTodd_Millionaire said:
Again, I could not possibly care less. No one has a right to operate an aviation appliance in the nation’s airspace. If you can’t afford to do it, then I guess you’ll need to take up cycling instead.
Click to expand...

Accident rates have been on a downward trend lately. The leaders of the pack are still fuel exhaustion/ mismanagement & VMC into IMC resulting in spatial disorientation then loss of control. Fuel related accidents account for about 2/3 of the accident rate, at more than 50 of those events per year. There's about 1.5 mid-air collisions (excluding formation flight related events), each year and 50% of these occur in the traffic pattern.

Seems to me that modern fuel quantity indicators and management would make a larger impact on GA safety than retrofitting exempt aircraft with some form of NextGen electronic surveillance.
 
CFI A&P said:
Accident rates have been on a downward trend lately. The leaders of the pack are still fuel exhaustion/ mismanagement & VMC into IMC resulting in spatial disorientation then loss of control. Fuel related accidents account for about 2/3 of the accident rate, at more than 50 of those events per year. There's about 1.5 mid-air collisions (excluding formation flight related events), each year and 50% of these occur in the traffic pattern.

Seems to me that modern fuel quantity indicators and management would make a larger impact on GA safety than retrofitting exempt aircraft with some form of NextGen electronic surveillance.
Click to expand...

I’m in favor of all of the above and more.
 
CFI A&P said:
Accident rates have been on a downward trend lately. The leaders of the pack are still fuel exhaustion/ mismanagement & VMC into IMC resulting in spatial disorientation then loss of control. Fuel related accidents account for about 2/3 of the accident rate, at more than 50 of those events per year. There's about 1.5 mid-air collisions (excluding formation flight related events), each year and 50% of these occur in the traffic pattern.

Seems to me that modern fuel quantity indicators and management would make a larger impact on GA safety than retrofitting exempt aircraft with some form of NextGen electronic surveillance.
Click to expand...
I mean if your fuel gauges don’t work properly your airplane is already unairworthy.
 
Roger Roger said:
I mean if your fuel gauges don’t work properly your airplane is already unairworthy.
Click to expand...
That’s not really true. I forget the wording but fuel gauges need to be accurate when the tanks are empty.

Almost 50 years ago I was told to never trust the fuel gauges and I never have… Unless they read empty.
 
CFI A&P said:
It is usually the meat servo that is the failure point in the fuel system.
Click to expand...
Kind of, but I would say that the number of crappy fuel indication systems out there and the resultant cultural skepticism toward fuel quantity readings is a huge contributor.
Fortunately Cies fuel sensors are becoming available for pretty much everything and they’re honestly probably cheaper than keeping some of the old Rochester/Stewart Warner garbage going.
 
Roger Roger said:
Given the weird crap I’ve come across in 10 years of maintaining certified ADSB equipment I have no interest in letting some consumer grade battery powered solution run around the airspace space with me.
Click to expand...
Six or seven years ago I was coming home from the Reno races at 15,500‘ flying along the eastern peaks of the Sierra Nevada’s. Very little traffic, but well ahead I was getting an ADS-B return. They were circling and climbing slowly through my altitude. When I spotted the traffic it was a glider with with ADS-B out, I assume battery powered.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top