ADS-B: Can you afford not to equip?

ADS-B is a key technology behind the FAA’s Next Generation Air Transportation System. The FAA has mandated ADS-B Out after January 1, 2020, for flight in airspace where a transponder is required today.

As of July 31, 2017, only 4,408 of 13,993 U.S.-registered business jets—32 percent of the fleet—are compliant with the approaching ADS-B Out mandate, said Mark Cote, Duncan Aviation’s vice president for parts sales, avionics, and satellites. Only 2,117 of 12,188 turboprops—17 percent—are equipped.

Duncan has been tracking ADS-B equipage through several sources, Cote said, and currently estimates that 3,756 business jets will not be equipped with ADS-B by January 2020. For all intents and purposes, Cote said, they will be grounded.

And shop time will be a concern. “If you do the math, it’s really pretty scary,” when you compare the number of avionics shops with the number of aircraft that still need to equip, said Steve Fushelberger, vice president of marketing for Holstein Aviation Inc., an aircraft brokerage, acquisition, and consultation firm. “We don’t think the FAA’s going to change the date. What we do believe is the industry is going to see a lot more of the 1960s and 1970s equipment retired, parted out, or exported.”

Fushelberger cited as examples Hawkers through the 700, Saberliners, the Gulfstream G-II and G-III, and older GE-powered Lear 20-series aircraft. “Really that’s a combination of age and the cost of the upgrade,” he said. “Some owners will spend the money. Many older aircraft are still quite capable.”

Indeed, American Airlines has said that it will retire its fleet of MD–80 and Embraer 190 aircraft in advance of the mandate, because it could not justify the cost of adding ADS-B.

ADS-B equipage already is becoming a factor in the used aircraft market, Fushelberger added. “More astute acquisition pricing takes into account ADS-B Out equipage.” Upgrades needed to the aircraft transponders—and updates of the flight management systems (FMS) to WAAS GPS—are affecting pricing, he said.

But what if there were a less expensive way to equip an older turbine aircraft for the ADS-B Out mandate, without upgrading all the legacy hardware? Several options are available.

CMD Flight Solutions

“Our current Part 25 and Part 23 STCs are based on the pairing of the Rockwell Collins TDR-94/94Ds with one of four GPS sources: Universal UNS-1(x)W FMS, Rockwell Collins GPS-4000S, Honeywell HG2021GD07 GNSSU, or the FreeFlight 1203C,” said Barb Mahoney, vice president of sales and marketing for CMD Flight Solutions. “We are excited about our new ADS-B Flight ID adapter, and the ability to solve the flight ID issue, at a minimal cost” (see “ADS-B: Changing Flight ID,” page 101).

The TDR-94/94D transponders must be upgraded separately to 622-9352-501 or 622-9210-501, respectively, via available service bulletins and the aircraft must be capable of providing flight ID. CMD also offers a new ADS-B flight ID adapter (AFID) that provides flight ID as well as the required ADS-B fail annunciation. Mahoney said that because of differences between individual aircraft and other variables, CMD cannot quote installation costs; owners should request an estimate from a Part 145 or equivalent repair station that can perform the work. The company also offers solutions for Honeywell Primus II-equipped aircraft, she added.

An owner can choose to install the FreeFlight 1203C as an alternative to upgrading the FMS(s), although in this scenario the aircraft will not gain WAAS GPS approach capability. Purchase, installation, and approval of the GPS and GPS antenna are additional.

Garmin

Garmin decided to separate ADS-B equipage from the FMS upgrade question for Part 25 aircraft. “Especially with so many aircraft with FMSs that are not WAAS-capable—and there are a lot of them—to abstract those two issues make a lot of sense,” said Bill Stone, senior business development manager. “When you look at WAAS FMS upgrades, ADS-B upgrades, and display upgrades—some of them reach $200,000 or $300,000. It’s hard to rationalize that.”

Garmin’s solutions add a WAAS GPS receiver to serve as the ADS-B position source. “It doesn’t have to be integrated with the FMS, and it’s much less cost,” he explained. The company worked with several shops that specialize in different jets in an effort to present additional options early.

Owners of most non-TCAS II aircraft can install a Garmin GTX 345R (ADS-B Out and In) or GTX 335R (Out only), with the optional internal WAAS GPS serving as the ADS-B position source. Such a solution could run $30,000 to $40,000, Stone said.

Generally, a TCAS II-equipped jet owner can install Garmin’s GDL 88 978-MHz datalink—with an integral WAAS GPS sensor as the ASD-B position source—and Garmin’s GTX 3000 Mode S Extended Squitter transponder. This solution might cost $70,000 to $80,000—far less than upgrading the jet’s FMSs to WAAS, although no WAAS GPS approach capabilities are gained. “An owner can always add that later,” Stone noted.

“We’ve heard feedback from some of these owners that if the aircraft is worth three-quarters of a million and they have to put another quarter million into it, they’re going to sell the airplane,” he said. “The solution resonates well with the customer base, and we’re seeing good install numbers.”

L3/ACSS

Aviation Communication and Surveillance Systems (ACSS)—an L3/Thales joint venture—offers a transponder and self-contained GPS receiver designed as a turnkey ADS-B solution for legacy aircraft. Required are one or two NXT-700 Mode S ADS-B transponders, and an NXG-900 WAAS GPS receiver, although the STC allows the use of several other position sources.

It’s designed as a direct replacement for the BendixKing MST 67A transponder, said Kim Stephenson, L3 Aviation senior manager for aftermarket business development. It uses the same rack, with some rewiring, and is TCAS II compatible. “It’s real and available. Sometimes you can even use the existing controller.”

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