Tow planes and ADS-B Out

I realize our operational environments are varied, but what’s the trend for equipping tow planes with ADS-B out? The broad requirement distilled down is that it’s “required in airspace where transponders are required,� which for us is pretty rare. There are relatively easy/cheap (by aviation standards anyway) installs available, so there’s that.

Larry Ruggiero, Carolina Soaring

The two tow planes I maintain have different ADS-B out. On one I installed a Stratus ESG transponder. (The original transponder had failed.) The other tow plane I just installed a skyBeacon.

My preference if it’s my airplane is to install an Stratus ESGi. That way you have a new transponder with both in and out. The tow pilots can pick up the ADS-B in along with AHRS and weather on their iPads.

The uAvionix tailBeacon will not work on a stock Pawnee rudder FYI.

Tow pilots with iPads.Â* What a hoot!

On 10/27/2019 4:02 PM, Charles Longley wrote:
The two tow planes I maintain have different ADS-B out. On one I installed a Stratus ESG transponder. (The original transponder had failed.) The other tow plane I just installed a skyBeacon.

My preference if it’s my airplane is to install an Stratus ESGi. That way you have a new transponder with both in and out. The tow pilots can pick up the ADS-B in along with AHRS and weather on their iPads.

The uAvionix tailBeacon will not work on a stock Pawnee rudder FYI.

--
Dan, 5J

At least half of our tow pilots use them. We do quite a bit of cross country for retrieves and expeditions.

Yup, I use one for our rare cross-countries.

Good to know the tail beacon; I assume it’s because the rudder isn’t stable enough.

Actually no, it won’t fit in the ring in the rudder provided for the nav light. Most of the fabric Pipers can’t have it installed without significant modifications.

On Monday, October 28, 2019 at 3:50:32 PM UTC-5, Charles Longley wrote:
Actually no, it won’t fit in the ring in the rudder provided for the nav light. Most of the fabric Pipers can’t have it installed without significant modifications.

You should contact uAvionix. They appear to be pretty motivated to make adapters for any aircraft that needs it.

I am not that interested in installing uAvionix unless someone really wants it. The Stratus ESGi is a much better unit.

On Monday, October 28, 2019 at 2:59:24 PM UTC-7, Mike Schumann wrote:
On Monday, October 28, 2019 at 3:50:32 PM UTC-5, Charles Longley wrote:
Actually no, it won’t fit in the ring in the rudder provided for the nav light. Most of the fabric Pipers can’t have it installed without significant modifications.

You should contact uAvionix. They appear to be pretty motivated to make adapters for any aircraft that needs it.

Installing a uAvionix or any other UAT Out device in a towplane is a very bad idea for any glider operation since UAT Out devices are totally invisible to PowerFLARM.

As Charles points out, the Stratus ESGi is a much better option. Garmin GTX 335 (Out only) 345 (Out/Dual In) are other options. Thanks Stratus for creating some competition that lead to Garmin better products/pricing in this category. And the Trig TT22 (or TT32) and a TN70 GPS is another option--may be appealing for folks who want common Trig devices in gliders and towplanes. Stratus and Garmin options are single box transponder with (optional) internal GPS.

I can see around Seattle and the SF Bay Area some operations will want/need ADS-B Out for airspace access reasons within a Mode C veil, leta lone just wanting this for traffic safety regardless of regulations. But there may also be a need for some operators who occasionally fly over 10,000' in class G, in areas out West where the big dogs play. Some operators might occasionally want to tow higher than that and some will do reposition/retrieve flights at higher altitudes. Over time many of those tow planes have had transponders installed so many operators don't think about those restrictions. Frequently they have older Mode C transponders installed. Those operators need to remember that January 1 2020 they can't operate towplanes over 10,000' MSL (except below 2,500' AGL) in Class G airspace without "2020 Compliant" ADS-B Out. This is one of the main parts of ADS-B Out requirements gliders are except from, but your towplanes are not.

If you are installing ADS-B Out in any towplane with an older Mode C, then UAT Out makes even less sense because you likely should take that opportunity to replace those older Mode C (like those old KT76) with a more reliable modern all solid state transponder.

And as another advertisement: I'll be discussing ADS-B Out and the SF Bay Area, and Sierra/Reno/Minden implications and tow plane compliance options at the PASCO Annual Seminar on November 9th.