For almost two years the market has been dazzled as Montana-based uAvionix introduced smartly designed ADS-B mandate solutions that seriously curtail the installation effort and cost. As weve been reporting, the first product aimed at the masses is the skyBeacon, a wingtip LED position light with internal WAAS GPS, L-band antenna, an ADS-B transmitter and wireless Bluetooth. With a two-wire interface (power and ground) and a mounting footprint thats the same as many existing incandescent position light housings, the $1849 bolt-on skyBeacon is about as simple as ADS-B Out installs get. uAvionix has been selling the skyBeacon to the experimental market while it soldiered through the TSO certification process, which was awarded as we go to press.
The follow-on product is the tailBeacon, a product thats essentially a repackaged skyBeacon and is designed to easily replace tail-mounted position lights. Like the skyBeacon (and unlike most other ADS-B Out products) the idea is to side-step a big teardown installation by utilizing the existing tail position light wiring, the existing circuit protection and the existing mounting holes for the original light. But like the skyBeacon (which cant be mounted inside a wingtip fairing, for example), some installations will require more modifications when the lights base doesnt match the one on the tailBeacons mounting footprint, although there’s a good chance the existing wiring can be used.