I've been intrigued by the offerings from Levil Aviation for a while but their latest products, especially their ADSB-Out solution, are especially cool. Love their "outside the box" thinking.

Their "Beacon" is a mostly self contained ADSB-out solution, can use a Mode C or S xponder, and will retail for $1395. Currently offered for experimentals but they hope to have it certified by 2020.

I visited their shop in Orlando a few years ago after talking to them at OSH. Family run. Dad runs the show, daughter is the software engineer, son is the hardware engineer, mom and aunt were doing assembly and shipping. Had a cool machine looked like a big printer with belts of electronic components that filled the curcit boards like a sewing machine. Really cool.

The dad talked me out of buying his product until I was closer to finishing my build and decided on what exactly I wanted/needed.

I was very impressed.


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http://www.avweb.com/videos/Levil-Aviations-New-BOM-and-ADS-B-228792-1.html Now THIS is what I've been waiting for. I don't need or want a panel upgrade, which is what other solutions would essentially entail for my aircraft. I'm hoping to see the version for certified aircraft soon. Outstanding.

CAVU

Great company thinking outside the box. There will be others as well. Awesome stuff!!!

I wondered why I wasn't more excited about Garmin's 'Groundbreaking Solution' $5400 transponder

WAY outside of the box thinking!!!!

Looks like it could be set up and running in an hour.

If they get it certified and the price stays less than double I might get one, although for now I've opted out of the govenment surveilence program.

I just saw this on AvWeb's e-newsletter, followed the link to a promotional video from sun-n-fun.
Bolt it onto the belly, add power, ground, & a GPS antenna on top-- looks awesome.

I thought it does not need any wiring. It has a battery that self re-charges.

Mountain Doctor wrote:I thought it does not need any wiring. It has a battery that self re-charges.

Two different things:

BOM - the self-contained AHARS, AOA, ADS-B IN, GPS with rechargeable battery and tiny wind-generator to recharge it. Activated by the vibrations when the engine starts. Intro price $995 at S-N-F, will be $1500 when it ships (around AirVenture OSH time).

BEACON - the all-in-one self-contained ADS-B OUT solution that installs on the belly, powered by the aircraft's electrical system. Optionally includes a GPS antenna for aircraft that don't already have a WAAS GPS source. Listens to your Mode A/C transponder to pick up your transponder code. Includes a static source for altitude info. $1395 when it ships. Experimental only for now, but intended to get it approved for certified airplanes as well.

I thought to be certified, must be hard plumbed into the aircraft static system?

A transponder and an approved WAAS GPS unit is all you need. I have the Trig TT22 transponder with the TN70 WAAS GPS. It is an approved ADS-B solution. Not cheap at around $4200 for the combo. But one of the lightest installations.

I am curious how the FAA mandate is going to work requiring everyone by 2020 to have ADS-B. I have two airplanes on the FAA registry and have not received any type of notice that requires this update to my aircraft.

I was talking to an IA friend that told me people need to get on it because of the time it is going to take to install all of these units. He says that it is not possible to do all the certified installs by 2020 with the shops that have the capability currently. His option is around 4200.00 and I for one am not going to do a dang thing until I get a certified letter in the mail telling me my airplanes are not going to comply with the 2020 mandate. Can the FAA require something like this VIA word of mouth/ internet ramblings? Because that is the only reason I know about this 2020 date.

Hey Mauleguy, the requirement is in the FAR. as 14 CFR Part 91-314. The FAA doesn't send announcements of regulatory changes to each aircraft owner, they just expect you to know and follow the FARs. Besides, if you don't fly in any of the airspace where ADS-B is required, you don't have to have the equipment. The FAA doesn't keep tabs of where certified aircraft fly, so they have no way of knowing who will need it and who won't. The rub will come in 2020 if you want to fly in airspace that requires ADS-B-Out and you don't have the equipment. Remember, the FAA doesn't have to follow criminal justice rules. For "aviation safety", they are the executive branch regulator, the enforcer and the judge when there are disputes. There isn't any good way to get sideways with their regulations and come out unscathed.

I saw the video about this product and it is clever, but I wonder if it will be certified in time for installation on production aircraft. The FAA estimates there are still 125,000 certified aircraft that will require ADS-B that don't currently have it. For all of those aircraft to comply will require 3,906 installations of the hardware per month between now and the deadline. Current installation rates are 1,500/month. I'm not sure there will be enough avionics shops available to complete all of the installations in time if owner/pilots delay much longer. I signed up for a weight neutral installation. I'm removing a Garmin 327 mode C transponder and replacing it with a Garmin 335 mode S with extended squitter. No new antennas are needed because the WAAS GPS source will come from my 430. There were less expensive options available but all of them required adding the weight of a separate box and an antenna. The installation costs were higher for the less expensive hardware options. I made my 20% down payment in February and the earliest dedicated date available for installation was in July. That is a 4 month waiting list! I got in earlier by agreeing to leave my plane with them for a week so they could work on my simple installation between other jobs.

This is coming whether we like it or not and some of the innovative solutions being developed now may be too late to cover folks that live inside a current 30 mile mode C requirement veil. I fly into a Mode C veil regularly, I fly through Class C airspace and I sometimes fly above 10,000 MSL and more than 2,500 AGL. All of those flights require ADS-B-out by January 1, 2020.

The other thing to consider is that the FAA is offering a $500 rebate to encourage people to get onboard sooner rather than later. Only 20,000 of those rebates are available. As of 3/20/17 they had already given out 15,187. That pot will run dry pretty soon.

Flyhound thanks for the explanation as usual I am wrong and that always sucks!

An A&P can install a transponder and/or these little boxes and you just need your standard pitot/static checks to certify it. It ain't rocket surgery. Don't believe no hype!

I will install it myself (experimental aircraft) the part that sucks for me is my Garmin is not going to work from what I understand and neither is my Becker.

soyAnarchisto wrote:An A&P can install a transponder and/or these little boxes and you just need your standard pitot/static checks to certify it. It ain't rocket surgery. Don't believe no hype!

That's my take on it also.
Should be a no-brainer foe something that's pretty much plug-and-play like this Levil unit.