Online while flying

[+Brian - Team A.I.]

Was doing some random reading on the net and discovered an article about a Scandinavian airline who next year will be offering internet connectivity to its passengers while in flight.

 

Doesn't this fly in the face of all the excuses the Feds have been giving us about electronics use on aircraft?

 

Online at 30,000 feet?

 

Brian

Team A.I.

[+Renegade Knight]

Nope.

 

The airline will charge bucks for the service and amazingly enough when the airlines charge for something it's allowed.

[+Smitherington]

I think I could enjoy that.

Now is there someway that we could get credit for a fly-over of a cache while in the air? We could make a waypoint or take a video of the GPSr as we fly over.

[+wannafly]

quote:

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Originally posted by Smitherington:

I think I could enjoy that.

Now is there someway that we could get credit for a fly-over of a cache while in the air? We could make a waypoint or take a video of the GPSr as we fly over.

---

 

Heh, i dont think your allowed to use GPSr's while in planes? (i could be wrong) Anyway, this is a neat idea, but i bet they'll charge an arm and a leg for it.

[+mtn-man]

Some airlines allow GPS usage and some don't. Funny how things become OK when you can make money at it.

[+Renyoldman]

Thanks for posting that list for the airlines that approve them as I have gotten in trouble quite a few times for using mine during flights There is just something about 550 mph that looks so nice!

 

"Democracy is the belief that 20,000 lemmings can't all be wrong."

[+Allen_L]

I personally don’t see how the emissions of GPS which runs on 2 to 4 one and half volt batteries could create enough interence to matter. However looking at it from the airlines point of view, there is a difference between allowing the use of electronic equipment they have installed and hopefully tested to make sure that it doesn't interfere with the other electronics in the plane versus them not allowing the use of a GPS (or anything else) which they haven’t tested all models by all manufactures.

[+woodsters]

I noticed the last time we flew which was in December, on Delta Airlines I believe, that others were allowed to use their laptops. Of course they weren't connected to the internet. I agree, it's gonna be a costly feature. I can see it now, there are going to be people hitting the "nudie sites" without care that others will be able to see the screen to include children. I noticed that a guy was watching a DVD on his laptop on our flight, and although it was a "bad" movie, I wondered how many people would put in a Rated R movie in.

 

Brian Wood

Woodsters Outdoors

http://www.woodsters.com

[+woodsters]

Other than the possibility of a GPS system interfering with system electronics, I would think that they are looking at GPSr's in airplanes a little differently than before 9-11. If I remember correctly it was on the news about how the hijackers got the coordinates off a vidoe game for the towers. Guess they can get the coordinates anywhere, but would the airlines look at it as a security risk?

 

Brian Wood

Woodsters Outdoors

http://www.woodsters.com

[+VentureForth]

For the most part, most electronics don't interfere with flight avionics at all. There are some fears that they might, so they ask that you turn off equipment during the most critical stages of flight (Takeoff and landing). Most airlines don't have any problem with folks using laptops or GPSr's at altitude.

 

Now, the question becomes how do you get the internet from 30,000 above the Atlantic Ocean? Hmmm... Out of that 2-mile range for DSL. Cable modem would hard to string up that far. Cellphone modem wouldn't work 'cause of cell phone prohibitions at altitude (generally 'cause they're picking up like 1000 towers). So, the answer would be satellite. Most folks don't have a portable satellite internet transceiver/modem to carry with them in their airline seat. To install broadband dual phase satellite will cost a lot of money per aircraft, and will be worth every penny to those buiness people who have to check their Yahoo! email every 38 seconds.

 

I don't see it as a contradiction in rules at all, and if folks are demanding it and willing to pay for it, it should be offered.

 

---------------

Go! And don't be afraid to get a little wet!

[+ScottJ]

quote:

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Originally posted by AllenLacy:

I personally don’t see how the emissions of GPS which runs on 2 to 4 one and half volt batteries could create enough interence to matter.

---

 

If you want to confirm that GPS's do radiate, try operating two GPS's side by side sometime. Generally, the accuracy of both units will degrade considerably.

 

However, I agree with you ... the chances of a GPS receiver causing interference to a fully TSO'd FAA-certified unit are epsilon ... but they're nonzero, and that's enough to get them banned in many cases.

 

I'm personally waiting for the first fly-by virtual, probably over a major intersection or fix. (Upon reaching the fix, look down and e-mail me the color of the water tank.)

 

Scott

 

Scott

 

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Scott Johnson (ScottJ)

[+TEAM 360]

It'll be a fad, like the airphones they installed in the back of the headrests they ended up ripping out after a couple of years. You need some serious help if you can't get along without the net for a few hours.