On October 1 I passed my flight test in Class BRAVO. I again failed the ground test. I was then told to start up the plane and wait approximately 2 minutes for GPS lock. It took 1 minute 47 seconds. Then I was told to taxi under 15 knots and return to hangar. I dragged my brakes to keep the plane under 15 knots. I then failed the ground test again because FAA failed to tell me there was not an ADS B ground station at SDL. I was told I would have to fly out for 5 minutes and return to receive an ADS B lock.
The next day I started the plane and waited 1 minute 57 seconds for a GPS lock. Taxied to the runway under 15 knots and flew for 10 minutes and passed the ground test. Remember you have to wait for at least one hour after flight to submit your results. I passed the ground test.
The FAA was supposed to combine the previous air pass with the ground pass, but that did not happen. With the assistance of Rune Duke, AOPA, I was finally approved to submit my rebate today.
I also requested $100 from Appareo Stratus for the excessive fuel I used to pass these tests. They did not train the installer properly. They denied this request!
Below is an article form this months flying magazine on this fiasco.
Pilot Says Earning FAA’s ADS-B Rebate Has Been Expensive
This was supposed to be an incentive too.
Arthur Rosen decided to add ADS-B to the 62-year-old V-Tail Bonanza he’s been flying the past 20 years, taking advantage of the FAA’s $500 rebate program along the way. Rosen told Flying that although installation of the new Appareo Stratus ESGi equipment went pretty smoothly, certifying the equipment hasn’t gone well at all.
At press time, the Arizona pilot toldFlying he’d already spent just over three flight hours in the Bonanza before the aircraft passed both the airborne and ground certification tests. The flight times in addition to the more than three dozen emails he’s exchanged with the FAA, not to mention additional phone calls to the manufacturer and the helpful folks at AOPA’s Airports Division.
Rosen’s still trying to figure out what happened and hoped his story might save other owners the grief he’s experienced. “I thought the process seemed rather simple when I first read the guidelines at the FAA’s ADS-B rebate site,” he said. They mentioned the need to fly the aircraft post-installation for both a flight and ground test to certify. After installation, the testing began, but the Bonanza failed, again and again.
After receiving repeated agency emails telling Rosen only that he’d failed, Rosen reached out for more detail. That’s when he was told to re-read CFR 91.225 about the airspace required for certification, Class A, B or C. Rosen never realized the specific airspace requirements from his first read of the rebate site. Flying found the regulation rather vague as well. Although the FAA guidelines claim to offer a graphical look at the required airspace, clicking the displayed hyperlink returns an error message telling viewers the map was coded in an unknown file format and nothing more. Rosen of course called the Appareo folks for guidance. After a phone diagnosis, they told him the installation seemed fine.
Once Rosen became aware of the need to fly in some rather busy airspace to certify, he coordinated a flight through the Phoenix Class B. This time, he passed the flight portion, but his Bonanza continued to fail the ground test. That’s when the FAA began emailing rather random-sounding solutions, ideas never mentioned in any of the agency documentation. One suggested he try “taxiing no faster than 15 mph,” but that didn’t seem to change anything.
Then the agency suggested he run the aircraft on the ground for at least two minutes to allow the ADS-B system to “sync up.” He tried that, but the agency said they had no record of his flight from Scottsdale.
“Then last Thursday I flew out and back to the airport again after a slow taxi and waiting a few minutes after I started up.” This time, he saw a note that said he’d passed the ground test but not the flight test. "I told the FAA people I’d already passed the flight test the week before. They told me they’d link up the flight and ground test to my registration number last week, but it never happened.”
Arthur Rosen’s hoping for a friendly email from the FAA today, one that says the coordination’s complete and his ADS-B is certified. Rosen jokingly told Flying on Monday night he’s having trouble remembering just why he installed ADS-B.
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