FAA to inaugurate Capstone 'radar-like' services in Alaska
The FAA will ring in the New Year in Bethel, Alaska, with the first operational use of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology as part of its Capstone program. AOPA is a partner in Capstone, a demonstration program that provides traffic, terrain, and weather to a multifunction display screen in the cockpits of general aviation aircraft, at an affordable price. (See " AOPA reviews Capstone in Alaska" and " Air Traffic Control's Evolution.") Shortly after 12 p.m. Zulu this Sunday (3 p.m. Alaska time), the Anchorage Air Traffic Route Control Center is scheduled to begin vectoring equipped aircraft onto the ILS at Bethel, even though Bethel doesn't have radar service. Capstone-equipped aircraft will broadcast GPS-derived position, speed, and altitude to a ground receiver. That information will be transmitted back to ARTCC and displayed on the controllers' screen, just like a radar target.
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December 29, 2000
