North America-headquartered Flying Colours Corp has performed nearly 50 ADS-B Out installations in the last 18 months. As the number of aircraft being equipped trends upwards, avionics experts at both its Peterborough, Ontario and St Louis, Missouri facilities are still anticipating a last-minute dash for ADS-B Out equipage as the 1 January 2020 mandate draws closer.

Equipage has already taken place on a wide variety of aircraft including Bombardier Global, Challenger and Learjet types as well as Dassault Falcon, Embraer Phenom and Citation aircraft. As a Bombardier authorised service facility, Flying Colours owns ADS-B Out supplemental type certificates (STCs) for the Challenger 300, 604 and 605 aircraft. These STCs are also validated by EASA and TCCA. Sales of the STCs have ramped up in the last four months with more than 25 sold to other installation companies.

The company currently has 10 aircraft at its North American facilities undergoing equipage as part of wider maintenance or avionics upgrade projects, with a further 12 aircraft booked in before the end of the year. Significantly it has seen a rise in demand from mid to large cabin owners and operators from corporate and private clients, while the number of small cabin installations has remained stable.

Director of sales Kevin Kliethermes explains: “We help owners maximise budget and aircraft downtime by completing a number of different projects in parallel. Work on avionics, interiors, maintenance and paint can all take place alongside each other at one of our facilities. For us, the 1 January is not the end of the ADS B-Out mandate but the beginning, and we want to help the industry in North America and beyond be prepared for this important airspace management milestone, and the requirements of NextGen still to come.

“The industry seems to be doing a good job of meeting demand for compliance with a good majority of aircraft now equipped, but we still think there will be a rush to the finish line. We've noticed an increased demand from owners and operators who regularly use their aircraft, and recognise they need to make sure they're ready. We can accommodate a few more aircraft this year, but owners need to call quickly so that we can develop a compliance solution for their aircraft in time. If they don't call us, they must call someone, to avoid having their aircraft grounded post-deadline.”