ADS-B, or Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, is the next step in air traffic control in the US. Basically, after the first of the year in many parts of the US airspace your airplane must be equipped for ADS-B in order to fly. For us lowly general aviation airplane owners that can be an expensive upgrade. I have put it off until the end because I was waiting for a simple solution and it came along. Simple, not cheap. The gadget is an instrument that you replace your tail light with and it has incorporated all sorts of electronic magic that meets the ADS-B requirement, it says here. It is a mere $2000, which is not cheap, but a simple installation method has a lot to be desired.

So it arrived today in a small cardboard box. Times have changed because in the old days a complicated gadget would arrive with all sorts of documentation. There was a little card in the box which directed me to a web site where I could download and print all the documentation. After about 100 pages of printing, I got all I needed. Jeez.