Aero-Tips!

A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of "there are no old, bold pilots.")

Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner, master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us -- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators. Some of them, you may have heard before... but for each of us, there will also be something we might never have considered before, or something that didn't "stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized it for the practical test.

Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to you through the Aero-News Network.

Aero-Tips 07.09.06

"See and avoid." It's the basis of traffic separation, the primary way we avoid running into one another. Even pilots on Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) clearances are responsible for looking out the window to avoid other airplanes when flying in visual conditions. However, new technologies are springing up to supplement the Mark One Eyeball. One type is TIS -- the Traffic Information System.

TIS uses Mode S transponder signals to locate nearby traffic on a cockpit display. The system is dependent on ground-based radar.

• Note: The TIS-capable radar recognizes other Mode A, C or S signals, and only certain approach areas at that. Outside of "TIS-capable approach control" airspace, TIS does not display any traffic.

The TIS-capable radar recognizes other Mode S signals in the airplane's area, and transmits a signal the airplane's equipment translates into plots on a cockpit multifunction display (MFD) or some brands of GPS.

• Note: Only transponder-equipped airplanes are plotted on TIS systems.

Start 'em up... then shut 'em down?

Trouble is, the ground portion of TIS is expensive... apparently much more than the FAA originally planned. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association "air traffic services brief" 
on TIS provides this background:

In the mid-1990s, the FAA developed a datalink where Mode S radar systems transmit traffic data to Mode S transponders. The system was later dubbed TIS, and by 2002 the system was active on many ASR 7 and ASR 8 Mode S radar sites. As part of the FAA's radar system upgrade, the FAA ordered ASR 11s to replace older ASR 7/8. Because the FAA failed to require TIS functionality, these new systems do not have the TIS capability. The FAA originally proposed to move these "old" radars to less busy terminal airspace areas, meaning no TIS services would be lost. However, the FAA has now abandoned this plan. It is AOPA's understanding that the manufacturer of the ASR 11 can provide the upgrade to all ASR 11s for $49 million.

GARMIN (producer of one brand of TIS-compatible systems) posts a map that shows current TIS sites, and those current sites that are scheduled to be decommissioned.

Nothing will totally replace see-and-avoid in the fore"see"able future, but technology like TIS makes it far easier to focus on potential threats in areas where the service is available.

Aero-tip of the day: Don't relax your outside visual scan, but use any available technology to help you see and avoid other airplanes.

FMI: Aero-Tips