[Milsurplus] ADS-B

[CL in NC]

The ADS-B, what controllers think could be construed as an 'air traffic controller' eliminator, puts a lot of info at a pilots hands, and anybody else that wants it.  With cellphone apps, it is possible to put your phone in the camera mode, aim it at an aircraft in the sky and the screen will show all the pertinent details about the flight, altitude, speed, destination, etc.   All the info is online and usable.  You can access a lot of real time info online that is coming from the ADS-B system, and you can also  build up your own with equipment that pics up the ADS-B signal direct which you use with programs in your computer.  Don't ask me how to do it, I spent more than 38 years in aviation related ground and airborne electronics, and have no interest in any of it now. There is some concern that pilots may be over informed now, and may make wrong decisions.  One thing it does do is tell no lies.  A friend of mine who flies and makes his way through the Blue Ridge mountains, used to take a couple liberties based on weather conditions and the fact that the radar had a lot of holes in it due to the ridge lines.  When his aircraft was fully certified for ADS-B, he did the same thing...once, and when he was done, the controller asked him what all that deviation was about.  

A few years ago, the Feds were all in a sweat about the sale of US Govt. surplus aviation comm gear, thinking it would end up in the wrong hands.  The vast majority of it was destroyed, with the powers that be ignorant and oblivious to the fact that much better gear could be purchased off Ebay.  ADS-B gives any body with nefarious intentions a wealth of information that before had to be discovered with a lot of research and air traffic monitoring.

GPS has not fully been implemented in certain approaches to the airport, the glide path signal established by the Glide Slope transmitter still handling the lions share.  It seem there is an issue with reflections from the ground, and when over water is even worse.  When the AF put up higher power GPS satellites it made the problem worse.  So as far as I know, only Category 1 approaches are GPS based, and the critical Cat. III is still all ground based VHF/UHF transmitters.  Those older systems do their job well, I've stood beside the glide slope shack on nights with zero visibility, and could hear the wheels hitting the pavement right perpendicular to the glide slop tower with never a variation, good pilots too, to put their faith in that radio signal all the way to touchdown.  Always said an extra prayer on those nights like that, knowing it was my transmitter they were using.  One thing about anything electronic, you can turn it off, there is no guarantee it will ever come on again.

Charlie, W4MEC in NC