Originally Posted by
cardiomd
From GA perspective, though, I just worry about the lag before it is widely implemented, because there will always be a bunch of non-retrofitted planes tooling around Class Echo without the proper transponder, so I just fear that relying too much on assumption that people are using ADS-B is worrisome, and people will have increased tendency to be "head down" instead of scanning.
I know other people have different fears, but this is my greatest safety worry in aviation for me personally. Lots of old planes even without strobes or Mode C in my area of country, Sunday fliers that do things that are sometimes not really advised.
I recommend you upgrade and get it. It really does help significantly with awareness. It IS widely implemented right now. Targets that are not ADS-B equipped still show up on radar and that signal is beamed to your aircraft via the GBT. That coverage is great in terminal areas.
Your fear is no different than someone that is currently flying around with no transponder, and he won't show up on either, but the technology has taken a big step forward a few years ago with full GBT implementation.
The point I was making is that ADS-B won't "take care" of this in 2020 or what you were referring to, this always boils down to human factors and the fact that someone is out there flying in the airspace legally without that equipment or the ability to make his position known.
It's always the one you don't see though!