Pilots over much of southern Florida can now take advantage of ADS-B coverage to get information on weather and planes flying near them – if they have the right cockpit equipment. A company with a $1.8 billion contract from the FAA has been installing Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast stations in Florida for the last year and now has much of the system there up and running, the Tampa Tribune reported. But even as the equipment goes into operation more places and with much of the eastern seaboard covered, the costs for new cockpit gear could leave pilots and airlines reeling. For a typical general aviation plane, a Mode S transponder starts at around $3,600. Add on a display for traffic and weather information, along with installation, and owners would shell out as much as $30,000 today to make use of ADS-B. For commercial airliners, the full equipment package would cost at least $160,000 and possibly much more. Some operators in Florida and elsewhere are already seeing the benefits of ADS-B, despite the costs. One flight school has the equipment in all 100 of its planes, allowing managers to track the progress of training flights. And UPS, the first airline to equip its fleet, has found it can increase the number of arrivals at its Louisville, Ky., hub by as much as 15 percent. Plus it can take advantage of optimum descent profiles that save fuel and cut emissions when the conditions are right.

The original LORAN-A went into service about 60 years ago, a reliable way for ships to navigate precisely using land-based stations. A revamped system followed in the late 1970s making accurate navigation to within a quarter of a mile, and often much better, a reality not just for boats but for aircraft as well, even in instrument flight. But now, LORAN-C could be decommissioned in the next two years to save the U.S. Coast Guard $180 million, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association reported. While AOPA is urging the system not be shut down so quickly, very few planes still have LORAN-C receivers installed. While LORAN-C has become nearly obsolete as planes and boats turn to GPS instead, some are calling for the LORAN-C network to remain as a backup. Covering the entire continental United States and coastal waters requires maintaining less than 20 ground stations, advocates point out.

Garmin is rolling out a new “building-block” panel system for experimental and light-sport planes based on the GPSMap 696, which was released earlier this year. The GDU 370 and GDU 375, which have the same large screen and button layout as the GPSMap 696, will eventually be able to connect to a variety of other cockpit instruments and act as primary flight displays and multifunction displays, Garmin said in a news release. The displays alone will start at $3,300 without satellite weather; that option adds $700 to the price. A kit that includes attitude and heading sensors, a temperature probe and other sensors would cost an extra $10,000. Garmin is calling the complete package the G3X, and while it won’t be certified, pilots will be able to use it in lieu of standard cockpit instruments for both visual and instrument flight rules operations.

Coming quick on the heels of a Presidential executive order last week, acting FAA Administrator Bobby Sturgell said Monday that the entire United States would have ADS-B coverage by 2013. Sturgell spoke at the ceremonial commissioning of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast coverage in Florida, but he gave no indication of how the FAA would reach its goal, which is seven to 12 years ahead of previous estimates, the FAA said in a news release. ADS-B gives pilots with properly equipped cockpit displays a view of nearby traffic and the ability to download real-time weather. With today’s announcement, it is now available in Florida, parts of the mid-Atlantic and Alaska. By the end of 2010, Sturgell said, Philadelphia, the Gulf of Mexico, southern Alaska and Louisville, Ky., will also have ADS-B coverage switched on. That gives the FAA three years to do the rest of the United States — including everything west of the Mississippi River. The FAA’s ability to keep to meet that deadline is only half of what’s required to get the system fully operational. All aircraft also need to be equipped with Mode S transponders and multi-function displays that that show the traffic and weather data. Those upgrades can cost more than $20,000 for the typical general aviation plane and much more for commercial airliners. Many airlines have been vocal about having ADS-B mandates imposed on them without a way to pay for new cockpit equipment.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has a wish list of changes it would like to see the FAA make to the Federal Aviation Regulations. Topping the list is driver’s license medicals for recreational pilots, since sport pilots can now fly with only a driver’s license, without having to get a separate medical certificate. AOPA also wants the FAA to change its rules when it comes to GPS receivers used in instrument flight. Currently, pilots must have a secondary form of navigation, like a VOR receiver, for backup. But AOPA says GPS signals are so reliable that a backup shouldn’t be mandatory. And in a related vein, the pilot group would like to see the FAA add another way for pilots to meet the requirements of 30-day VOR checks: by comparing the VOR signal with information from the GPS. With that change, pilots are more likely to do the check more often, the group claims.