Timothy,
you’d have to check if your Aspen is that software revision (mine isn’t) and it gets the weather interface data, which are useless in Europe anyhow. If you get the data onto the Avidyne boxes, that is a different thing.
It is the software revision, and I’ll have to ask the installer whether FIS-B can be switched off independently of ADS-B.
This is the message I got from Aspen:
There have been two further communications since that one; the most recent of which is a mandatory bulletin to disconnect ADS-B if you have version 2.90 of the software.
Unfortunately, I haven’t seen that one.This is the mandatory service bulletin:
[ local copy ]
Timothy wrote:
mandatory bulletin
Of course a mandatory bulletin is not an AD.
In some parts of the GA business, the difference between an SB and an MSB is that an MSB is covered by warranty.
So manufacturers have an incentive to issue SBs only, until all affected products are out of warranty, and then they issue MSBs and make money on the parts, because much of the maintenance business implements all MSBs, for revenue generation 
Against this you have the liability angle: if something is bad enough and you fail to issue an MSB, it doesn’t look so good… And a loss of the main box in front of you, for up to 60 secs, doesn’t look so good.
Peter wrote:
Against this you have the liability angle: if something is bad enough and you fail to issue an MSB, it doesn’t look so good… And a loss of the main box in front of you, for up to 60 secs, doesn’t look so good.
Sure, but if this is something that has only happened in some parts of the US and (as it appears) has something to do with FIS-B which doesn’t exits in Europe, then it seems safe for a European operator to disregard the MSB.
The counter argument is that if there is any possibility of incoming dirty data taking out your PFD, it’s a very strong argument for disconnecting the possible source of dirty data, essentially isolating the PFD from danger.
Yes they are not validating the data properly (or at all). So there will be many other vulnerabilities to invalid data – Windows, anyone??
