Aust Aviation in the dark again

[Jabawocky]

I hear about WAAS and ADSB struggling to get off the ground yet for some reason many or most of us actually see these tools asa being the way of leading the industry. The USA of all countries is way ahead, yet they have the huge and imobile community. We are young and athletic yet lag behind.


Alaska Pilots Get Tools For The Job: More ADS-B

http://www.avweb.com/newspics/alaska_ads-b.jpgMike Cirillo, the FAA's top official in Alaska, backs the installation of more Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) coverage in Alaska supported with two-way datalink systems and at a May 14 presentation, he said coverage would expand by the end of this year. Countering concerns that the system would not be further deployed, Cirillo said Fairbanks, Nome, Kotzebue and Anchorage would be home to four new ground-based transmission receivers before 2009. The ADS-B system is hailed as making flying more than 40 percent safer in areas of no radar coverage and high traffic and Cirillo's position was welcomed by local pilots. "This is huge. This is good news for Alaskan pilots," one pilot told Alaskajournal.com. Cirillo hopes acting FAA Administrator Bobby Sturgell will make the trip to Alaska later this summer to see the region's challenges firsthand. Pilot groups concerned that new coverage would be held off until late 2009 now have reason to believe the system will soon grow beyond Southwest, Southeast and Anchorage bowl airspace.


J:ugh:

[27/09]

Perhaps we are not enlightened as our US brothers, though I think there is another reason.

WAAS allows precision approaches into just about anywhere you want to go, think about the enhancement to safety that would bring.

All it needs is a ground station to broadcast a correction signal to a communication satellite which in turn rebroadcasts the signal to all WAAS eguipped GPS's and you're in business. I have been told one ground station on the east coast of OZ would cover most of the eastern side of OZ and probably EnZed as well.

I think the problem here in EnZed and OZ is the question of who is going to pay for it. I know that Airways NZ are money focused and I suspect ASA are as well. They have no way of charging for the use of WAAS so they have no interest in progressing a WAAS service.

[Jabawocky]

27/09

You are probably correct :ugh:...... however take some money out of the ATSB budget (yeah I know they dont have enouh) ang I reckon ADSB and WAAS might yield a few less things for them to investigate over time.

Would pay for itself pretty quick.

Add $1 to every IFR plan...........and the commercial operators would enjoy a cost benefit from their $1 each time for sure.

The likes of Garmin 430W/530W is the way of the future.

J

[Flying Binghi]

Jaba, these GPS based toys are nice, but what happens when the terrorists miss-use the GPS system ?

[Whiskey Oscar Golf]

Off thread a bit but, ships use a similar system called AIS. It's not as complex, but used as a navigation/ collision avoidence tool. Recently the Australian government has placed rx/tx towers all along the coast to monitor all large merchant vessel in australian waters. The system is working very well and the information given and taken is very useful for all mariners. Makes the whole thing safer.

The only cases of spoofing I've heard of on the AIS has been from drug runners playing with the ident of vessels, from what I gather there is no ability to tweak the positional information due to some code encryption.

As to ADSB, the system is more complex than the AIS and there has not been an instance of spoofing of signal yet. There may be a window there and no doubt others will provide the relevant information, but surely a code encryption upgrade could solve any problems? I also feel the advantages in cost and ease of use make this an attractive option for remote Australia's ATC needs compared to radar coverage. I use ADSB in/out every day and find it an excellant tool for situational awareness, especially when coupled to TCAS. Nice to see the paints marry up.

[Howard Hughes]

but what happens when the terrorists miss-use the GPS system ?
What about when they start emitting 'false signals', on a contraption they made with parts from DSE?:E

[Jabawocky]

Well............. why not go back 200 years..... there were not many aircraft hijackings then were there:ugh:?

J:ok:

GPS is not going away..... so get over it! make the most of it!