iFly GPS Forum

Hello AP,

I saw an announcement today that the Freeflight ADSB transceiver has been approved for installation in aircraft to meet the 2020 mandate. Does the Skyguard system meet that mandate or are there still some certification hurdles to clear? The Skyguard system is far less expensive but I wouldn't want to purchase the system and then turn around and have to purchase another system to meet the mandate. Thanks.

Sam Washington

Sam,

The SkyGuardTWX still is in the testing stages, so I imagine there are a few hurdles left.

I'm sure the "Certified Units" will increase substantially in price, thought still much less than FreeFlight and NavWorx systems. With that said, the 2020 Mandate is only for the "ADS-B Out" portion, so you'd still want the Dual-Band Receiver to be able to see the Weather from the ground link and Traffic being sent from other aircraft. The $1,399 divided by the next 6 years is only $233 per year for Weather and Traffic, and you still have a Dual-Band Receiver at the end, if not the whole thing if the ADS-B Out is approved. It was a gamble I took as I'll want ADS-B In for sure.

FreeFlight and NavWorx both have their certification, it took them quite some time to accomplish that. We currently support the NavWorx ADS-600, ADS-600B and ADS-600BG at this time.

We have been working with FreeFlight to integrate their ADS-B, and hope to have it communicating with the iFly 720. The iPad/ Android App for iFly GPS may be along shortly too. Stay Tuned.

The Skyguard unit seems to be the way to go right now, especially since it already works well with the iFly units. If they are working towards certifying the transceiver in the future, we may be able to have our units grandfathered into the certification at a later date. I hope to be able to upgrade to the 720 with the Skyguard transceiver later this year. In the meantime, mark-one-eyeball has to carry the day.

Shane, just to clarify, if I purchase the 720 with the Skyguard transceiver and then also purchase the Android app for a tablet, will I still need to purchase an external GPS to work with the Android device or will it connect to the iFly for position info?

Sam