skywagon8a
MEMBER
SE Mass MA6
STARS, is this part of the ADS-B? http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/08/the_faas_23_billion_lemon.html If so??? I do not get a warm and fuzzy feeling about any of these FAA programs.
Actually the government will be tracking cars soon. (They are now) Transponders to pay tolls are becoming mandatory, and they're talking about charging for mileage driven on a regular basis- through tracking. The head of Ford recently slipped when he said "we know what you're doing already." He had to try and retract that. As for boats, I have a little skiff in Ipswich Mass, and have noticed a huge increase in Police presence. --- This stinks to high heavens.
Friday I flew from Taos to Las Cruces thru the Texas mountains near the Mexico border to Fort Stockton to home at Spicewood. Nearly all of the 7 hour flight was in MVFR conditions. Not once could I get ADS-B weather. Useless technology as far as I'm concerned unless you are a high flying pavement pounder. None of my airplanes will have an ADS-B out transmitter installed.
Friday I flew from Taos to Las Cruces thru the Texas mountains near the Mexico border to Fort Stockton to home at Spicewood. Nearly all of the 7 hour flight was in MVFR conditions. Not once could I get ADS-B weather. Useless technology as far as I'm concerned unless you are a high flying pavement pounder. None of my airplanes will have an ADS-B out transmitter installed.
Living South of Ft Stockton, I'd have to agree. Then there is the once a year trip cross country, what do you do?
Friday I flew from Taos to Las Cruces thru the Texas mountains near the Mexico border to Fort Stockton to home at Spicewood. Nearly all of the 7 hour flight was in MVFR conditions. Not once could I get ADS-B weather. Useless technology as far as I'm concerned unless you are a high flying pavement pounder. None of my airplanes will have an ADS-B out transmitter installed.
Next time you're in the area, drop in at Los Alamos. My hangar is right next to the fuel pump.
One other thing what happens when everything is space based. Yes GPS is spaced based but we still have VORs, as soon as the mandate goes into effect you know they'll be shutting down the VORs as fast as they can to save money. Which brings me to George Clooney's line in the movie Gravity. "Well it looks like half of North America just lost it's Facebook". I think a lot of people need to brush up on their pilotage skills.
The FAA on Monday posted a correction to its rule on ADS-B requirements for the general aviation fleet, which should offer more choices to owners of experimental and LSA aircraft. The notice reads that the final rule, posted in May 2010, required that ADS-B equipment must meet the requirements of certain TSOs; however, the FAA says it should have stated that the equipment must "meet the performance requirements" in those TSOs. The change is substantial, since equipment may be available in the experimental market that hasn't gone through the expensive TSO process, but can deliver the same performance at a lower price. The requirements for type-certificated aircraft are unchanged,..................
FreeFlight Systems will offer an ADS-B-Out system with a price tag of under $2,000. The company will officially launch its Equip-It 2020 packages on April 8, the opening day of this year’s Aircraft Electronics Association Convention in Dallas. Equip-It 2020 will include FreeFlight’s RANGR Lite in two options, ADS-B-Out, which will meet the 2020 equipment requirement, and ADS-B In/Out, which will have the added weather and traffic capabilities. The ADS-B Out-only option includes the FDL-978-TXL with a list price of $1,995. The ADS-B In/Out system, the FDL-978- XVRL, will sell for $3,695. Both systems come complete with built-in WAAS/GPS, ADS-B and GPS antennas, an install kit, control head and/or a Wi-Fi module if needed.
“Many of our customers, especially those with older aircraft, told us that they need a low cost option for equipage to meet the Jan.1, 2020 deadline for ADS-B,” said Tim Taylor, president and CEO of FreeFlight. “We needed to find a way to accomplish that without compromising the quality of the system. Volume was the way to make that happen, and we are stepping up.” To that end, the company said it’s committed to build 10,000 systems in an effort to keep the cost down for buyers and is offering them through participating dealers, which will be announced April 8. Deliveries are expected to begin late in the second quarter of this year, FreeFlight said.