electronic devices

kostcoguy

New Member
I am just kinda wondering what could the electronic devices screw up during the no electronic devices portion of the flight? I have always been told the navigational gear, but what navigational gear could be affected while taking off and landing but not in mid flight?
 
[ QUOTE ]
what navigational gear could be affected while taking off and landing but not in mid flight?

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think that it is that it only affects nav gear during take-off and landing, but that it is more critical during take-off and landing. The last thing you want during a landing in a tumultuous thunderstorm is to lose your ILS because some guy started playing solitare on his laptop. But at altitude it's a whole different story, because there is more time to react.

A lot of the navigational equipment could be affected based on the carrier waves of the electronic devices and the proximity to such things as the electronic component and/or any antennas.
 
I was on a flight recently from Lisbon to Frankfurt and there was this Italian guy using his handheld GPS. He was standing in the galley area furtively taking it out of his pocket. He was nice to me until I told him he should shut it off, then he pretended not to understand me. I thought it was pretty bold to be walking around with a GPS turned on. Do you guys think I should have tattled on him or was I worried about nothing? (We were in cruise.)
 
I flew with a captain last month whose cell phone interfered with the radios. It didn't even have to be in use, although it was worst then. At times, even when it was simply in the standby mode, it would cause static on the radios. I don't remember what kind of phone it was, but it was a newer model.

My Nokia has no noticeable effect as I have "forgotten" to shut it off a "few times."
---
I tried to use my handheld GPS on an airline flight once, but was unable to get a signal in the passenger cabin. I usually had to place the antenna on the instrument panel even in GA airplanes.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I was on a flight recently from Lisbon to Frankfurt and there was this Italian guy using his handheld GPS. He was standing in the galley area furtively taking it out of his pocket. He was nice to me until I told him he should shut it off, then he pretended not to understand me. I thought it was pretty bold to be walking around with a GPS turned on. Do you guys think I should have tattled on him or was I worried about nothing? (We were in cruise.)


[/ QUOTE ]
Just a Question. Why the h*ll would you want to have GPS on Board a plane? Do you think that maybe the pilots will loose there ability to see where they are and you will rush in there and save the day with your trusty Hand Held GPS? I mean come on.
 
Apparently, cellular telephones cause "map shift" in some of the older MD-88s with the AHRS nav systems.

AHRS is more or less an FMS head with a "super duper" RNAV.

Sometimes on approach, the NAV display will freak out as apparently people are booting up their cellphones to sneak a call into their people on the ground.
 
Yaro.....calm down, old boy!!! Some of us that fly alot on airliners just like to know where we are. It's alot cheaper than the moving map crap that these (bankrupt) airlines have, and it's fun!! It's pretty neat to know what you're looking at!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Sometimes on approach, the NAV display will freak out as apparently people are booting up their cellphones to sneak a call into their people on the ground.

[/ QUOTE ]

The people on the Ground will have a nice suprise when the phone service abruptly ending and see a ball of fire pile into the air.
grin.gif
Just kidding I would NEVER want that to happen.
 
Speaking of cell phones, sometimes when I forget to turn mine off
wink.gif
, I sneak a peek and see if I have any service. Most of the time at cruise there is no service, although I have heard it ring at least once in cruise.

However, back on 9-11 a lot of the passengers called home. Some of these calls were from the airfones, but from what I 've heard, a lot of them were from personal cellphones as well. This may just be because the airplanes descended after the terrorists took control.
 
I think a lot of the "I talked to XYZ on the cell phone during the hijacking" was hokey. I "know a guy" who has done a few unscientific experiments and "he" has never gotten service nor has anyone else who tried the experiment.
 
I was flying a C-152 yesterday and wasn't getting any service on my cell phone. Above about 1000 feet I would lose service and get it very sporatically throughout the flight.
 
I get service on my PCS phone over Michigan...found that out when I "forgot" to turn the thing off on a few flights. It did not screw up any reception. I wouldn't dare call on it, but I did recieve two calls (if only I could have heard the ringer).

Cheers


John Herreshoff
 
I made one call from my cell phone last year from 1500 or so from a C152 ..... and it worked!!

I called my sister just before flying over her subdivision - just to see if it would work. Of course, I couldn't hear squat, but it did work for about 10 second.
 
My father in law is an avionics engineer and is of the opinion that the only reason airliners don't allow cell phones is because they want us to pay $15/second to use their phones, and the whole "screw up the rados" story is just a handy excuse. I don't know about that, but I guess he would know. I'll still keep mine off in flight for fear that I might be arrested by some beurocratic air marshall or something.
 
I don't know about the post above, but my CFI has done a demonstration for me.....

Just after engine starts, he turns on his cellphone and has us listen to the ATIS. The frequency has noticably more static and is somewhat garbled with the cellphone on.
 
I've seen at least one cell phone cause a problem with comm radios.

I've heard a lot of people say that they make cell phone calls from GA planes. (I don't think that my phone is loud enough to be heard in a Cessna or Piper.)

I think that location and altitude have a lot to do with reception. As I've stated I have heard my phone ring at least once above 10,000 MSL. Other people have said that coverage seems to drop off above 5000 MSL.

I don't discount the fraud possibilities surrounding 9-11, but I have read a couple of accounts that described family members talking to their loved ones via their personal cell phones.

I have also heard that a reason for not allowing cell phone use on airplanes lies with billing. Apparently (or so the theory goes anyway) when a phone is used in an airplane, the signal hits so many different cell towers that the phone company computers can't bill for the call appropriately.
 
You know Dave, I was just about to clear that up for everyone. Remember, the FAA has nothing to do with the use of Cell Phones in the aircraft while in flight. With regards to "cell phones causing problem...blah...blah...blah", well, so can any electronic device, in the wrong circumstance. The regulation of Cell Phones in aircraft while in flight is overseen COMPLETELY by the FCC!!! Read 47 CFR 22.901...

http://frwebgate5.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=236877153880+3+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve

, and you'll see who is behind all of this!!
 
Back
Top