Business & GAOver the Top: Flying the Polar Routes It is cold at Eilson Air Force Base, near Fairbanks, Alaska. Forty-five degrees below zero cold. It is February 1972, and we are with a KC-135 tanker task force. Our job is…
Business & GAProduct Focus: TCAS Obviously encouraged by the fact that no midair accidents involving commercial aircraft have taken place since traffic alert and collision avoidance systems (TCAS) came into widespread use, regulatory agencies are expanding the…
ATM ModernizationNew Products RVR Sensor Vaisala has introduced a new sensor for runway visual range (RVR) applications, the FS11. It uses forward scatter technology, which measures the attenuation of light in the atmosphere by transmitting…
CommercialSafety in Avionics: Flying in the Face of a 'Sensible Risk' It is significant when pilots express their lack of confidence in the safety of an airplane. Yet some pilots have done so. In the wake of the fatal Nov. 12, 2001, crash…
ATM ModernizationIndustry Scan GPS: Vulnerability Update Last September the U.S. Transportation Department (DoT) released a study on the vulnerabilities of GPS and of the transportation system dependent upon it. Because the report was issued the…
ATM ModernizationADS-B Progress and the Proposed Rule Two steps forward and one step back. That’s the pace for many technologies and appears to be the story for automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B), as well. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) seems…
Business & GAAging Avionics: A Break with the Past Military aircraft today are expected to endure far beyond their originally planned life spans: the 41-year-old B-52s may be around for decades to come. Military airplanes also have to accommodate new weapons,…
CommercialEditor's Note: A Fateful First Assignment In this issue of Avionics Magazine, we introduce a new contributing editor, Harry Kraemer. He is an instructor pilot with turbine experience and instrument and multiengine ratings. Harry also is enrolled in…