ADS-B Privacy Meets Safety
I read Larry Anglisano’s First Word commentary, “ADS-B Privacy Concerns,” in the March 2025 Aviation Consumer and can weigh in.
Our law office just handled a hearing in the Utah Tax Court where the State of Utah assessed a 6.75 percent use/sales tax on a new Cirrus, produced the FlightAware tracking records and argued that the Cirrus had spent significant portions of its flights in Utah passing through or over Salt Lake City’s Class B airspace.
We pointed out that the plane was required to be in radar contact as it transitioned the Class B coming from Idaho to Arizona, and it was always a good idea for enhanced safety even when close to the airspace. Plus, this data was not indicative of the actual use of the airplane. The administrative law judge has taken the matter under advisement.
The owner has vowed to shut off the plane’s transponder from now on or never call ahead to transition the Class B airspace again or even use VFR flight following and has applied for anonymity with the FAA.
It’s called a LADD request, for Limiting Aircraft Data Display. Unintended safety consequences? I think so. Stay tuned.
—Douglas Durbano, Layton, Utah
Lost Comm Strategy
With regard to the Panel Planner 101 feature on having a backup strategy for lost comm in the February 2025 Aviation Consumer, I agree that a handheld transceiver without an external antenna considerably limits the range. But there is another constraint: using the handheld’s built-in speaker and microphone. Pilots should try it while an engine is running. It is impossible to hear anything by putting the speaker on the ear.
In addition to an external antenna, the handheld must connect to an aviation headset. I use a Yaesu FTA-550L portable navcomm transceiver with a dongle to attach a standard GA Plug-equipped aviation headset. For an additional cost and complexity, it would be nice to connect the handheld to the audio panel.
—Luca Bencini, via email
A solution that’s worked even better for us is the Sporty’s PJ2+ radio. What we like about it is the built-in GA Plug audio jacks for plugging the headset directly in to the radio. Sporty’s even makes a version that has the single-connector LEMO jack, which has power and audio in one connector. It’s the $279 L6 radio. Sporty’s said to expect between five and 10 hours of battery life to power a LEMO headset with typical transmissions.
Virtual flight physicals
Outstanding article about the Mayo Clinic’s push to launch kiosk-based remote flight physicals in the March 2025 Aviation Consumer.
I live in a relatively remote area and over the past few years I’ve watched the number of available AMEs dwindle from around a half dozen to none. For my last exam I had to travel over two hours to the AME’s office, waiting over an hour to get in to the examining room. I basically blew an entire day. I’m a healthy 40-something Part 135 FO and having an exam kiosk in our company’s ops center sure would be convenient.
As you pointed out in the report, mainstream healthcare has been on board with virtual care for all kinds of medical issues for a while. There’s little argument that a tightly controlled virtual AME visit can’t work, especially with the experienced Mayo Clinic involved.
—Jim Pointer, via email