Big Sky Company Diligently Shrinking the Skies

uAvionix, the Bigfork, Montana-based aerospace technology concern, is celebrating the 50,000th shipment of its ADS-B OUT products to the General Aviation market. The number reflects the total shipments of the company’s skyBeacon, tailBeacon, tailBeaconX, and SkyEcho-2 ADS-B OUT units, as well as its echoUAT ADS-B IN and OUT model.

uAvionix ADS-B components are designed to reduce the total costs of aircraft ownership by minimizing installation time and maximizing robustness and reliability.

The 50,000 ADS-B OUT units are a subset of over 600,000 ADS-B systems delivered in total, including ADS-B IN receivers for drones; portable receivers, including the Sentry product line in partnership with Boeing subsidiary and producer of aviation software, ForeFlight; and products for airport vehicles and surface surveillance for prevention of runway incursions.

The usefulness of ADS-B technology is underscored by a 2019 Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) report that posits the likelihood of accident decreased by 53%, and the likelihood of fatal accident decreased by 89% for aircraft using ADS-B IN. 

uAvionix CEO Paul Beard states: “Our original vision for the company was that ADS-B was going to be a critical technology for the integration of drones into the airspace.  I was scared to death of the prospect that a drone might take me out in my helicopter.  We like to say that ‘ADS-B is drone repellent’ – If we could figure out how to miniaturize the technology for use on a drone and allow the drones to see and avoid me, we can solve a problem before it becomes a problem. We had a mission.”

In 2017, that mission expanded to include equipping as many General Aviation aircraft as possible. uAvionix COO Ryan Braun explains: “We were watching the FAA’s ADS-B mandate creep closer and closer, with the high cost causing equipage rates to fall further and further behind. We knew we hit on a needle-moving idea with skyBeacon that year at EAA AirVenture, when the FAA kept coming back to our booth, encouraging us to pursue certification.”

uAvionix’s ongoing mission to create safe airspace by advancing ADS-B is furthered instantiated by tailBeaconX—a combination ADS-B OUT/Mode S transponder/GPS receiver/LED position light—designed specifically to provide a lower-cost solution for aircraft operators desirous of the security inherent space-based ADS-B. uAvionix is currently offering a trade-up program to exchange skyBeacon, tailBeacon, or echoUAT for credit towards a tailBeaconX.

Parties interested in learning more about uAvionix and seeing demonstrations of its ADS-B products are invited to visit the company’s exhibit (booths 3081 and 195A) at the EAA’s AirVenture 2022 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

FMI: www.uavionix.com