Yes on the Enterprise level they do have some built-in ADS-B receivers. And they do work surprisingly well. Here's a video showing it in action but also take note of how much screen Real Estate and Operator Attention is now required for mere Conflict Avoidance. Note: The Text Balloons etc are for Demonstration only and not part of the program
Very true but we have to start somewhere and that somewhere is here & now. Until every single aircraft (manned or otherwise) is transmitting & receiving it's just another tool in the bag that helps to add to Situational Awareness. On the flip side, I'd rather know of SOME of the aircraft in the area rather than none but also realize the picture I'm seeing is incomplete and to always keep my head on a swivel.
EXACTLY! The pilot gets overloaded very easily. Even on a trained and experienced sUAS crew the amount of information the pilot is juggling can be daunting. Adding this Live & Urgent data is only going to create Task Overload for the RPIC very quickly. This is where a 2-person crew is essential (
and I'm not talking about the VO as that task is already maxed out). Have one person as RPIC and the other as "Data Observation Specialist" and have them co-located. One person watching DATA and RPIC doing nothing but flying the aircraft.
FlightRadar24 is more dangerous than useless because so many people are watching it and considering it to be:
a) LIVE up to the second (up to
5 MIN delay in some instances)
b) 100% coverage on all aircraft (
only aircraft currently broadcasting and only accurate if there is an ADS-B receiver near YOUR exact location). If the Rx isn't near you then it's being "Estimated" and broadcast across the internet. Luckily ADS-B Rx are very common even at the hobby level now.
I don't know about where you are but here in the USA all military are operating ADS-B unless they are on some special training ops and those only take place in specific Military Observation/Training Route areas. Any other time they are operating ADS-B like any other non-private entity.
In the US it should get significantly better here in the next year as the ADS-B 2020 mandate goes into effect here. But there are some "caveats" we all need to keep in mind:
- This only applies to aircraft flying in Airspace that currently requires a Transponder.Let's call this ADS-B 2020 Airspace for lack of a better term LOL. So it does NOT apply to many of the same area we will be flying in Rural America. Bush planes, sea planes, experimental aircraft, home built etc are very likely to be flying in these areas with no ADS-B.
- There are times when an aircraft operating in Controlled Airspace will be operating w/o ADS-B out operational
- Maintenance Flights (equipment repair/testing scenarios)
- Ferry Flights from one repair/installation location to another
- When the ADS-B is malfunctioning
- Much like our Part 107 Waiver process a manned aircraft pilot ( part 61 etc) can get authorization to fly in ADS-B 2020 airspace without ADS-B. It requires prior authorization via an online portal unless it's an In Flight failure. In that scenario, ATC can give an instant authorization to continue the flight as long as an Operational Transponder is functioning.
So even with all this new and fancy technology coming into play right now we will still have large (HUGE really) gaps in our coverage and until those are resolved I don't expect to see many allowances for BLOS operations especially for hobby/recreational operations.