UAT Trial

In August 2017 the Civil Aviation Authority announced that ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) 'in/out' using 1090 MHz is its preferred national system to improve electronic conspicuity for general aviation, ideally used through transponders. Eventually, the hope is that ADS-B paired with FIS-B (Flight information Service- Broadcast) will replace existing Surveillance Radar equipment, which is costly to operate and has many limitations such as hills. 

The use of this equipment is already widespread in the U.S and surprisingly in India where Radar coverage is not possible due to high terrain. In the UK, as one would expect, there will be no rush to roll out this technology and a number of trials are being put into place to establish the feasibility and integration into our existing airspace system. Goodwood and Redhill have been the first two locations selected to initially trial the FIS-B UAT (Universal Access Transceiver). Recently this system became operational for the trial at Goodwood. Which means, should you have the appropriate equipment to receive this broadcast, you will be able to receive a weather radar mosaic along with METARS and TAFS.

The longer-term plan will be to equip Goodwood with a display in the Control Tower that enables the FISOs to have a view of ADS-B enabled traffic within the local area. This part of the scheme is still in the planning stage, but we will keep you up to date as the trial progresses.

The picture above shows the projected range viewed from around 1000ft. This is a very exciting time and we here at Goodwood are delighted to be at the forefront of such interesting new developments in aviation safety.

Further reading and the option to feedback can be found here.