By Rob Stapleton
Alaska Journal of Commerce

The nation's top award for supporting and furthering aviation went to a group of nominees inspired by a small group of Alaskan pilots meeting for coffee and scribbling their ideas down on a napkin.

The National Aeronautic Association announced March 14 that the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) team of public- and private-sector aviation groups was the recipient of the 2007 Robert J. Collier Trophy.

According to the NAA Web site, the Robert J. Collier Trophy is awarded annually “for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been thoroughly demonstrated by actual use during the preceding year.”

The list of Collier winners represent a timeline of aviation, as many of the awardees mark major events in the history of flight.

The Collier Trophy will be presented at a formal dinner set for June 12 in Arlington, Va. President George Bush is scheduled to make the presentation.

Federal Aviation Administration officials in Washington, D.C., had no comment about the prize or who would receive the award. The list of nominees for the Collier Award is 22 deep.

Alaska Airmen's Association's executive director Dee Hanson, who is part of the Alaskan contingency involved in the project, didn't know who was going to accept the award.

“This is kind of a big deal,” said Hanson.

Other Alaskan groups, such as the now-defunct Capstone Program office and the University of Alaska, are listed on the nomination for the prize.

“The real developers of this project were guys like Felix McGuire, John Hallinan, Leonard Kirk and Dick Harding,” said Elmer Webster with ADS-B Technologies LLC in Anchorage.

Webster, who is listed as one of the Capstone founders, is talking about the development of the Capstone Program that was penned by the group he mentioned who met trying to solve aviation safety problems flying in rural Alaska.

The Federal Aviation Administration has officially buried the Capstone Program in name, calling it the research and development for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast technology. ADS-B is credited with improving flight safety in Southwest Alaska by more than 40 percent, according to industry studies.

ADS-B is a data link technology that uses ultra-high frequency radio to send and receive information about each aircraft that is equipped with the technology. Along with multi-function screens and air traffic displays, the equipment also gives pilots graphical weather information, terrain maps and flight information, including temporary flight restrictions and notices to airmen. ADS-B is nearly 10 times more accurate than radar and operates in real time.

“ADS-B is a ground-breaking effort for next-generation airborne surveillance and cockpit avionics,” said NAA Chairman and Collier Selection Committee Chairman Walter Boyne. “Its implementation will have a broad impact on the safety, capacity and efficiency of the national airspace system.”

FAA calls it the NexGen technology and chose to deploy it nationwide.

ITT will be required to have the system ready for use by 2010 and enable it to cover the entire nation by 2013.

The FAA awarded ITT Corp. $207 million in 2007 for an initial contract to lead a team to develop and deploy the system, known as ADS-B.

Supplemental awards will follow the initial contract for funding that will total $1.8 billion over 18 years, according to FAA officials.

For more information on the Collier Trophy, visit the National Aeronautical Association Web site at www.naa.aero.

For more information on UAA's Aviation Technology program, visit www.uaa.alaska.edu/ctc/aviation.