The real challenge to modernizing the ATC system in the U.S. isn’t the ADS-B infrastructure but the equipage of the system users, General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) Chairman and Hartzell Propeller President Joe Brown said at the GAMA State of the Industry presentation earlier this year.

Two California charter/management companies with certified repair stations have earned STCs for installations of ADS-B and C equipment aboard legacy Gulfstream models. KaiserAir in Oakland and Clay Lacy Aviation in Van Nuys were awarded the authorizations in March, each based on using Universal Avionics equipment.

Of all the weather phenomena with which pilots must contend, that old nemesis, the thunderstorm, remains the most feared. And for good reason.