Is the FAA ready?????

[Rodney]

OK - this is not a specific Kitfox subject, but I got to thinking yesterday that many of us have made our aircraft ADS-B 2020 compliant. I would guess most of us have spent in excess of 1K getting our aircraft ready for Jan 1.

So - the FAA has had the same 10 years to get their system ready - with a much bigger budget than most of us have.

Are they ready? Does the radar shut down on Jan 1 and will they be controlling traffic based solely on ADS-B information???

Rodney

[Esser]

As a Canadian controller I can safely say they won't be shutting down any radar. Especially in terminal environments the computer could be processing MLAT, SSR, PSR, and ADS-B all at the same time. As equipment becomes too expensive to maintain and replace you may see them phase out radar sites etc the same way they are doing it with VORs NDBs ect. Now that everyone has it, they can safely do this without impacting service.

As an interesting point, we just finished launching a space based ADS-B constellation that has global coverage. This has huge benefits for areas over the ocean and very remote areas where we used procedural separation. Over the ocean you need 80NM between aircraft. With the space based ADS-B we can get this down to 15NM now and if we have direct pilot to controller voice comm we can go down to the standard 5NM which as you can imagine can allow way more aircraft on more efficient routes etc.

Out mandatory roll out will be in three phases. Class A, then Class B, and C, and then all controlled airspace.

[Dave S]

Rodney,

I think the answer to your question is similar to the answer to the question, since most of us are using GPS for Nav, will the VORs all be shut down by any particular date - Although there is no mandate for nav system compliance like there is for ADS-B - the VORs are gradually falling off the grid as the stations poop out or slide into disuse...then there was once something called LORAN which also dies a slow death. Stuff hangs on as long as it is of some use, or hasn't completely worn out the equipment.

Not a worry......except to remember that ADS-B will show you some of the airplanes some of the time but never all of the airplanes all of the time - Radar can still account for a mark on a screen even if it is a "type and altitude unknown".

[Russell320]

One of the issues with Canadian ADS-B is that you will be required to have two antennas....one on the bottom of the airplane and one on the top to accommodate the satellites. This might make visiting foreign aircraft unable to fly in Canadian airspace. While it hasn’t been implemented yet, I hope they come up with a plan for GA aircraft. BTW.......radar will be in the US for a long time to come.

[Esser]

A lot of testing has been done with bottom antennas with really good results. There is a GA movement here petitioning for a/c under a certain weight to not require the bottom antenna. I'll most likely be putting a wing tip antenna on so it will do both anyhow.

[Russell320]

Is your setup for ADS-B UAT or mode S (1070)? If I’m reading correctly, Canada will only be using mode S.

[GuppyWN]

Is your setup for ADS-B UAT or mode S (1070)? If I’m reading correctly, Canada will only be using mode S.

That’s my understanding but is it for all airspace? I want to make a trip to Alaska someday and was planning on using the Garmin GDL-82.