Oz,
Not sure what the WAAS talk is all about. First off, there is no WAAS Sat coverage, and second, AUS doesnt have the ground ops stations.
GBAS cost about $2.5Million per airport to install. All commercial aircraft from Airbus and Boeing are capable, and there is no cost from either to have it installed. Think how muach a few sats and ground stations would cost for WAAS.
We have been able to add at least one curve to final in the GBAS signal, and RNP to GBAS final is seemless.
With one system an airport can manage 26 runway ends, code different GPA, displaced thresholds (for wake mitigation), and even CATIII autoland.
Since it is not a beam, but a signal, there are no issues with multi-path, temperature, other aircraft, or blackout areas.
You can have ARR and DEP from the same runway end, because the DEP doesnt disrupt the signal like ILS.
GBAS is a perfect solution..I am really uncertain why it is not everywhere.
EDIT: Currently, SmarthPath is Cert to Cat I, (FAA) the actual broadcast is very, very good. There are quite a few government agencies in the world using it for CAT III autoland, especially for military helos.
In AUS, it is just too difficult at YSSY, runway config, ATC, FL constraints, and traffic blend to make GBAS effective as a prototype. I am hoping they move the GBAS to YMML, where it will be very, very effective. We shall see.
Last edited by underfire; 22nd Jan 2014 at 08:04.