Electric propulsion is already changing personal aviation. Could a new NASA X-plane pave the way for a revolution in on-demand transport and a rebirth for commuter airlines?
You knew it was coming — oh, yes, you did — the impending deadline to purchase and install Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast avionics in your aircraft to retain access to U.S. controlled airspace after Jan. 1, 2020. The same cutoff applies to ADS-C, or “Contract,” equipage, necessary for operation in oceanic airspace and requiring flight crew training and, unlike ADS-B, an FAA Letter of Authorization, as well. Five years may seem like a lot of time …
The real challenge to modernizing the ATC system in the U.S. isn’t the ADS-B infrastructure but the equipage of the system users, General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) Chairman and Hartzell Propeller President Joe Brown said at the GAMA State of the Industry presentation earlier this year.
