A Customer Testimonial: Upgrading to ADS-B

Several months ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Brian at the AOPA Fly-In last October in Frederick, Maryland. Brian is a 3,520-hour pilot, with 1,450 of those hours in rotary wing aircraft, which he logged while flying Army medical evacuation missions in Korea, Germany and in the United States between 1972-1977. Brian holds several pilots licenses, including a rotary wing commercial and instrument rating, as well as a private and instrument rating for fixed-wing aircraft. 

Brian approached the Garmin booth at the AOPA event curious as to what ADS-B solutions we had to offer him. After spending some time with him and discussing Garmin’s array of ADS-B solutions, I gave him my card and encouraged him to contact me if he had any additional questions. A few weeks ago, Brian reached out and told me he had made the decision to upgrade and equip his aircraft for ADS-B, which (I might add) he was very thankful and excited to tell me about. In his own words, Brian details why he opted to upgrade his aircraft to ADS-B In/Out:

Q. What type of aircraft do you have and what type of avionics are installed?

A. I purchased a 1980 Cessna 172RG in 1998 and have flown it exclusively for over 1,670 hours. My recent upgrade consisted of a GTN 650 and GDL 88 ADS-B datalink.

Q. Why did you elect to upgrade to the GDL 88 and GTN 650?

A. During the Summer/Fall of 2014, I deliberated whether to continue flying (and in doing so, to make some updates to the plane) or to sell the plane and quit flying or rent from an FBO. I decided to keep the plane and make some upgrades. I attended the Fall 2014 AOPA open house held in Fredrick, MD, with the intent of learning more about panel-mounted IFR GPS products with WAAS capability, compliance with ADS-B Out, and obtaining weather and traffic information in-flight.  I have had a good experience with the King NAV/COM and 89B, but found the Garmin scope of products and especially the availability of information provided by Garmin tech reps at the open house to cause me to narrow my search to Garmin.  I also discussed my thoughts with the eventual installer of the products. Ultimately, I decided to go with the GDL 88 for the situational awareness through ADS-B Out and ADS-B In traffic and FIS-B weather (METARs, PIREPs, AIRMETs, winds and temps aloft, TFRs, etc.)

Q. Describe a time when having access to ADS-B traffic and weather was valuable to you?

A. So far, I have found the traffic information very valuable. In one recent situation, I was in level flight but preparing to descend to traffic pattern altitude with the intent to land at the airport in Manassas, VA. I noted on the GTN that there was an aircraft immediately behind and 100 feet below my aircraft. Potomac Approach had not warned me of that traffic, but I confirmed the aircraft’s position with Manassas tower.  Without ADS-B traffic, I could have potentially descended directly into the path the other aircraft.

Q. Advice to a customer considering an ADS-B upgrade:

A. Those who have not experienced the capabilities of products like the GTN 650 and GDL 88 should take a ride with someone whose plane is equipped with such avionics.  I now look at these capabilities (traffic and weather) as essential for flying IFR in congested airspace, particularly in Washington DC, which contains numerous restricted and prohibited airspace areas as well as the Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA). Additionally, I very much value the traffic and weather overlay on the GTN moving map and much prefer that to the presentation on an iPad!

Q. Advice to a customer who is on the fence about pursuing an ADS-B In solution:

A. Give it a try! You will be impressed and wonder how you flew without the information.

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