[Peetwo]

Hitch on ADS-B or not 2B etc.. -

Via Oz Flying:

A schematic showing how ADS-B technology will revolutionise navigation. (Honeywell)

ADS-B IFR Deadline extension on the Cards
17 November 2016


Read more at http://www.australianflying.com.au/lates...W0ZoQ5M.99

& on LMH:

The Last Minute Hitch: 18 November 2016
18 November 2016

If the jungle drums in Canberra are on song, we're about to get an extension to the deadline to fit ADS-B Out to private IFR aircraft. CASA has been clinging strenuously to the 2 February 2017 mandate deadline like the world would come crashing down if they didn't, and it's been the subject of vigorous lobbying by general aviation, in particular AOPA and Dick Smith. No matter how you dissect this, it's a big feather in the cap of AOPA and General Manager Ben Morgan. With some help from Nick Xenophon, they've managed to make a change to the GA landscape. Not too many have done that in the past 20-odd years.

The largest question mark lies over aircraft on flying school lines

But let's not start the ticker-tape parade just yet; we don't know the details of the extension deal, but you can guarantee there will be restrictions on how it works. My guess is that it will be for private aircraft only and will not allow you into C Class airspace. The largest question mark lies over aircraft on flying school lines. They're not considered private aircraft, and we'll have to wait to see if they are included in the forthcoming exemptions.

So, what have we actually won? If the lobbyists have got this right, Australians will now get cheaper ADS-B units because our deadline matches that of the USA, meaning we can take advantage of lower prices driven by higher production rates. It always happens, doesn't it? Nick Xenophon used the example of flat-screen TVs when he tackled CASA boss Shane Carmody in Senate Estimates. Last Monday I crashed the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) conference in Melbourne just in time for afternoon drinks, and whilst I was there, canvassed the thoughts of the major ADS-B manufacturers. Not one of them agreed that unit prices would come down. Yes, they have a vested interest in us buying their product right now, especially if prices will indeed come down, influenced also by an increase in competition when the 2020 deadline nears.
Some manufacturers stated that Australia did the right thing by going early on ADS-B, because it gave them the chance to make to our orders before the crushing last-minute demand from the 200,000 US aircraft to be fitted falls on them. If Australian owners wait until the 2020 deadline to fit, they may find themselves in trouble; sort of like being at the back of the queue at a Boxing Day sale. Has anyone noted the Kiwis have their deadline at 2021, one year after the US and at a time when the US demand will have abated?

Enough said about that ... for today.

Read more at http://www.australianflying.com.au/the-l...MxtuZYR.99

Update: ADS-B extension confirmed.

Via AA today:

CASA extends ADS-B deadline for private aircraft

November 23, 2016 by australianaviation.com.au

An ADS-B ground station at Broome. (Airservices)

Australia’s aviation safety regulator has extended by almost three years the deadline for private aircraft to be fitted with Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) technology.

Under the new timeline, announced in the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) monthly CASA Briefing note, private aircraft registered before February 6 2014 flying under instrument flight rules (IFR) will now have until January 1 2020 to be fitted with ABS-B transponders, the satellite-based technology that enables aircraft to be accurately tracked by air traffic controllers and other pilots without the need for conventional radar.

The new deadline gives operators of those aircraft about three more years to make the switch, given the previous deadline was February 2 2017.

“The new ADS-B deadline for private operations will mean the remaining aircraft can be fitted with the equipment in an orderly manner – reducing the burden on owners, operators and avionics suppliers,” CASA said on Wednesday.

CASA said the change meant Australia’s ADS-B deadline would be aligned with the United States’ and would benefit a “small number of private aircraft operators who have not yet been able to fit the equipment while ensuring safety”.

“CASA continues to strongly encourage all aircraft owners and operators to fit ADS-B equipment due to the many safety benefits this technology provides,” acting CASA director of aviation safety and chief executive Shane Carmody said in a statement.

“ADS-B provides better air traffic information outside controlled airspace, greater ability to avoid bad weather, more accurate and faster search and rescue and more direct flightpaths.”

Although the deadline has been extended, CASA said aircraft conducting private operations under IFR without ADS-B would be subject to a number of conditions.

Non ADS-B IFR flights would be required to operate below 10,000ft in uncontrolled class G airspace, while they would be subject to air traffic control clearance in class D airspace, CASA said.

Further, they would only be operate in class C and E airspace “to facilitate arrival or departure from a class D aerodrome, with prior clearance from air traffic control and only if fitted with a secondary surveillance radar transponder”.

“Safety will not be compromised due to the range of conditions that will apply to the non-ADS-B flights,” Carmody said.

There were also CASA provisions for a “very small number” of foreign-registered aircraft to continue operating without ADS-B until the European deadline of June 6 2020, subject to air traffic control clearances and flying under 29,000 feet in continental airspace.

The current mandates require all Australian regular public transport, charter and aerial work aircraft to be fitted with ADS-B by February 2 2017.

Figures from Airservices showed about 89 per cent of all Australia-based IFR flights were fitted with ADS-B transponders at October 25 2016, including 62 per cent of IFR aircraft operating below 10,000ft.

However, separately the Airservices website notes that “no fewer” than 880 IFR-capable aircraft had yet to be fitted with ADS-B, “of which a vast majority have indicated they are intending to fit before the [February 2 2017] mandate”.

Airservices cites the Aircraft Electronics Association as saying the cost of a “simple” ADS-B installation “can be as low as $6,500”.

MTF...P2