hotrod180 wrote:I'm curious as to why each ADS-B out device has to be indentified/matched to a particular airplane.
We'll still have to squawk a code on our txpr's when we're in controlled airspace- "they" shouldn't need any more identification than that. The airplane ID thing does smack of big brotherism.
"Ours not to reason why, ours but to do or die." Tennyson--The Charge of the Light Brigade.
There are a lot of requirements for which it's hard to understand why they exist. Some government minion working in a windowless cubicle thinks xyz is a good idea, nobody complains when the regulations are proposed, so xyz becomes part of the requirements. Seriously. It's not just the FAA; government agencies at all levels do that. Then you and I have to abide by those requirements, and if we ask "why?", the answer is, "because it's in the regulations." It doesn't have to make sense.
In this case, part of the reason it ended up in the regs is because of ICAO requirements. But that begs the question, why the ICAO requirements? I suspect it has to do with aircraft used in international travel, specifically Europe, so that they can be compliant with the requirements of each country's individual FAA equivalent. I guess we should be thankful that the ADS-B Out requirements aren't more onerous. When you consider some of the totalitarian way many other countries are run, it could be so much worse.
This quote explains ICAO a bit better:
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is a UN specialized agency, established by States in 1944 to manage the administration and governance of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention).
ICAO works with the Convention’s 191 Member States and industry groups to reach consensus on international civil aviation Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) and policies in support of a safe, efficient, secure, economically sustainable and environmentally responsible civil aviation sector. These SARPs and policies are used by ICAO Member States to ensure that their local civil aviation operations and regulations conform to global norms, which in turn permits more than 100,000 daily flights in aviation’s global network to operate safely and reliably in every region of the world.
In addition to its core work resolving consensus-driven international SARPs and policies among its Member States and industry, and among many other priorities and programmes, ICAO also coordinates assistance and capacity building for States in support of numerous aviation development objectives; produces global plans to coordinate multilateral strategic progress for safety and air navigation; monitors and reports on numerous air transport sector performance metrics; and audits States’ civil aviation oversight capabilities in the areas of safety and security.
Cary
