Hopes To Help Pilots Beat The Anticipated Crush As The FAA's Deadline Approaches

Wipaire has announced the establishment of a program designed to take the hassle out of ADS-B compliance for general aviation aircraft owners and operators. The program features a stress-free quoting process with a simple questionnaire.

Interested owners and operators need only fill out a form on the Wipaire website, at EAA Airventure Oshkosh, or other events. Based on the information submitted, Wipaire’s experienced avionics staff will generate three quotes for each aircraft, encompassing a range of compliance and functionality options. Owners and operators may then select and reserve an installation slot with a deposit (a variety of payment options are available). Shop slots are now available from August 2016 through December 2018 in Wipaire’s South St. Paul, Minnesota and Leesburg, Florida locations. Exact installation times may vary based upon equipment selected, but most general aviation aircraft can expect to become ADS-B compliant in only 1-2 weeks.

“Make no mistake about it, there is not enough shop capacity to retrofit all of the affected aircraft by January 1, 2020,” stated Steve Fuchs, Senior Director of Aircraft Services. “Utilizing our slot system, owners can ensure available capacity and prevent down time before 2020 arrives.”

Rick Wahlman, Avionics Manager at Wipaire’s South St. Paul, Minnesota headquarters, added “We understand that figuring out how to become ADS-B compliant is complicated and confusing for many pilots and owners. Our goal is to make the process as simple as possible by collecting aircraft information and then leveraging our many relationships with leading avionics manufacturers to present custom-tailored solutions to the owner.”

“Every aircraft owner or operator’s mission is a little different,” continued Jeremy Warner, Avionics Supervisor at Wipaire’s Leesburg, Florida service center. “We’re here to gain an understanding of what each individual needs their aircraft to do and to make smart recommendations to fit their mission.”

Wipaire has relationships with most major avionics manufacturers, including Appareo, Avidyne, Aspen Avionics, Bendix/King, Chelton Flight Systems, Flight Display Systems, Freeflight Systems, Garmin International, L-3 Avionics, PS Engineering, S-Tec, Sandel Avionics, and WSI Weather Driven Business Solutions. Additionally, Wipaire boasts a variety of services that may be combined with avionics work to minimize aircraft down time. Services include maintenance, paint refinishing, and interior refurbishment.

To kick the program off, Wipaire is offering a Lightspeed Zulu PFX active noise reduction headset (a $1,175 value) to the first five customers who make a deposit on a slot. The headset will be delivered with the aircraft upon completion. Deposits will be applied to the aircraft’s final bill. Owners must select avionics equipment 60 days prior to aircraft arrival at either Wipaire location or earlier.

(Source: Wipaire news release)

FMI: www.wipaire.com/ads-b