AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - August 2017 - 87

AUTOMATIC DEPENDENT surveillancebroadcast (ADS-B) wasn't invented in
Alaska, but the technology was validated
there between 1999 and 2006 during the
Capstone Project, a joint FAA/industry
initiative to improve aviation safety and
efficiency in Alaska. The FAA provided
ADS-B avionics and color GPS moving
maps for participating aircraft, as well as
the supporting ground infrastructure. The
initial phase involved 208 aircraft, primarily air taxis operating between Bethel and
the Yukon and Kuskokwim river deltas in
southwest Alaska.
I n D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 6 , t h e FA A
announced it would integrate Capstone
into its Surveillance and Broadcast
Services program office, which was
tasked with implementing ADS-B in the
national airspace system. Since then, the
FAA has mandated ADS-B Out equipage
after January 1, 2020, for flight in airspace where a transponder is required
today.
Something happened on the way to
the lower 48 states, however. ADS-B was
unbundled from the other technologies
of the broader Capstone project, which
had a significant focus on reducing controlled flight into terrain accidents.
Capstone led to certification of the first
color multifunction display for general
aviation aircraft, the II Morrow Apollo/
UPS Aviation Technologies/Garmin
MX20. Moving maps and terrain databases soon made their way to other GPS
navigators.
Some Alaskan pilots have been flying
with ADS-B for more than 17 years. What
do they think about it?
Jim Cieplak, who bases his Cessna
182 at Merrill Field in Anchorage, was
involved in the development of ADS-B
and has a strong interest in the technology. "Capstone was a safety program that
brought a systems approach to improving aviation safety in the state," he said.
"There were huge operational safety benefits from Capstone." Beside integrating
GPS moving maps with terrain data, and
traffic and weather data from ADS-B, it
included additional automated weather
observation systems to increase the

available data. Only the 978 MHz universal access transceiver datalink was used,
because it was less expensive and allowed
the transmission of weather data.
"There still is a need for additional
ADS -B ground stations in Alaska,"
Cieplak said, noting a 2005 coverage
analysis that identified a minimum operational network in Alaska. "There's a
need for 12 to 14 more, based on that FAA
analysis." Cieplak has been flying ADS-Bequipped aircraft in Alaska since 2004.
"My personal opinion is it has tremendously increased the safety of my flying."
"If we go way back, operators initially were offered this free [hardware],
but there was a feeling with some operators that big brother was watching,"
said Doug Deering, chief inspector for
Anchorage-based Hageland Aviation. "In
our company we definitely understand
the value of it. I'm kind of surprised that
some people still have that attitude. As
long as we've had ADS-B in our planes,
the FAA has never used it for enforcement," Deering added.
He also said ground station coverage
is poor in Alaska, and that he would like
to see funding for more ground stations.
"We're trying to solve that problem by
making sure we have ADS-B Out capabilities on both 1090 and 978 [MHz], so we're
not relying on ground stations." Dual equipage would allow his aircraft to see, and
be seen by, any ADS-B-equipped aircraft
without the need for a ground station.
Also involved in the original Capstone
program, Deering serves today as chief
inspector and vice president of quality assurance for Hageland Aviation,
which operates a fleet of 58 turboprops-
all ADS-B equipped. He said the system
will be most efficient when everyone is
equipped.
The company experienced a midair collision in 2016 involving a brand-new Grand
Caravan EX. At the time, there was not an
ADS-B solution for its Garmin G1000 glass
cockpit. "I don't know that it would have
prevented anything," Deering said, because
the other aircraft was not equipped with
ADS-B Out or even a transponder. "It definitely shaped my opinion of ADS-B. I just
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AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - August 2017

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