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Most solutions are straight forward and easily understood. When the cost of upgrading your existing equipment to be compliant climbs into the mid-to-high five figures, or even into the low six figures, it’s time to evaluate options. Maybe a flight deck upgrade to Garmin glass or a full radio suite upgrade is a better solution for you. Talk to your shop and look into your options, because the added features provide free FIS-B weather and TIS-B traffic to compliment your existing avionics and may be a better, more economical solution.
What you get
Meeting the mandate will get you ADS-B Out only. You will not see any changes in the flight deck or pilot operations. If you want features that are not available on your OEM avionics suite even after this modification, this is the point where considering alternate solutions outside the typical OEM equipment can provide you with increased capabilities in the way of adding free ADS-B weather, traffic and a host of other features such as wireless flight plan uploading and WAAS/LPV operations. This may be just what you’re looking for.
I can’t emphasize enough how important a role your avionics shop should play in determining the best value-added solution appropriate for you. Having a knowledgeable shop that understands the options available based on your given budgetary requirements will be the biggest factor in determining the best options for you to choose from.
How much will it cost?
Cheaper is NOT always better and when getting quotes to upgrade your aircraft, whether for mandate compliance or anything else, always compare apples-to- apples. If there’s a large discrepancy in pricing between quotes that usually indicates something other than a great deal. Ask questions to get more information. Quotes should not vary by more than around five percent of total cost. It does no service to ask for competing quotes between shops if we’re not all on the same page.
Once you have a few quotes that meet your require- ments, the options are very similar and the pricing between them are in alignment, it’s time to determine which shop you believe is the best fit for you. Factors such as who has the experience, the support capability and the reputation for providing a solid customer experience throughout the process and beyond, are the items that should be a top priority in your consideration.
Something to consider is Flight ID. Applicable to the TDR-94 applications, an important consideration is the capability to change the flight (FLT) ID by the flight crew. As a cost savings on the more complex avionics suites, CMD Flight Solution’s ADS-B STC amendment eliminates the need for controller and interface computer upgrades by removing the ability for the flight crew to change FLT ID. If this is not an important requirement for you, consider using CMD’s AFID (aircraft FLT ID) adapter for
JUNE 2017
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 5