Brings Aircraft Into ADS-B Compliance

Earlier this year, Duncan Aviation's Satellite Avionics Shop in Cincinnati, Ohio, performed a first-time installation by upgrading the Rockwell Collins TDR-94D transponders on a King Air 350i, bringing the aircraft into compliance with the FAA’s mandate for ADS-B Out.

“After doing some research on the King Air 350i, I found that the CMD Flight Solutions’ Approved Model List Supplemental Type Certificate (AML-STC) provides a path to certification and meets the customer’s requirements,” says Manager of the Cincinnati Satellite Shop Bruce Miller. “The customer was especially pleased by how affordable this option is.”

Using the CMD’s AML-STC for Part 25 aircraft, the team in Cincinnati upgraded the TDR-94D transponders and installed a single, centralized ADS-B FAIL annunciator and a Digital Discrete Adapter (DDA) for digital-to-analog discrete output to the annunciator. Miller and his team completed the installation in less than two weeks.

“CMD's ADS-B Out Solutions cover almost every business jet, personal aircraft and regional jet flying today with the Rockwell Collins TDR-94/94D or the Honeywell Primus II Radio Suite,” says Barb Mahoney, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at CMD Flight Solutions.

Duncan Aviation’s Avionics Shop in Lincoln, Nebraska, has been authorized to upgrade the Rockwell Collins TDR-94/D units. The Satellite teams ship the units to Lincoln, and with advanced scheduling, the Lincoln team can turn the units in as little as one day, which dramatically decreases downtime for customers.

“The timing was great for doing this ADS-B upgrade. The customer had to put down the aircraft for three weeks to remove the propellers for overhaul, and that gave us more than enough time to perform the installation,” says Miller. “The Lincoln Avionics shop had the TDR-94s modified and returned to us within the same week including shipping. When the customer asked for the modification status, he was surprised to hear that they were already modified and returned.”

In the 28 remaining months before the FAA’s deadline to comply with its ADS-B mandate, roughly 70% of the business jet aircraft flying still have to upgrade for ADS-B. Today, Duncan Aviation’s extensive Satellite network has capacity and labor resources and will allocate hangar space and labor resources for owner/operators who call now to reserve space through the rest of 2017 and into 2018 and 2019. The closer the deadline gets, the less capacity (labor and hangar space) qualified shops are going to have. Duncan Aviation is urging its customers to schedule hangar space now for necessary upgrades; no one wants to be AOG on January 1, 2020.

In addition to the AML-STC CMD Flight Solutions has earned, Mahoney says they have solutions for aircraft based outside the United States as well. “We’ve secured validation from several civil aviation authorities, including the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Mexico’s Direccion General de Aviacion Civil (DGAC), and Brazil’s Agencia Nacional de Aviacao Civil (ANAC), and our Part 25 TDR-94/94D STC has been successfully evaluated by Transport Canada on the Lear 60. Approval for all Learjet models is expected soon, with other aircraft to follow,” says Mahoney. “This validation will help the many Duncan Aviation customers who are flying into the United States; they’ll be able to continue to fly in U.S. airspace after the mandate deadline.”

(Source: Duncan Aviation news release. Image from file)

FMI: www.CMDFlightSolutions.com, www.DuncanAviation.aero