Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 15, 1993 TAG: 9309150062
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
A handful of reporters on a flight over the nation's capital experienced what Federal Aviation Administration chief David Hinson likened to "riding a magic beam."
Eventually the technology could be available at every airport in the country, Hinson said.
"It's an exciting time. We're out in front, no question," he said before boarding a Gulfstream IV jet with reporters and other officials for a demonstration of the Global Positioning Satellite system.
"GPS is one of the real benchmarks in aviation history - maybe the most significant development ever," Hinson said.
While the skies were bright and sunny with only scattered clouds, Tuesday's demonstration simulated flying conditions in foul weather - a ceiling of 200 feet and visibility of a half mile.
The hands of the pilot and co-pilot never touched the controls as the jet snaked its way along a path tracing the winding Potomac River below to a landing at National Airport in suburban Virginia outside Washington, D.C.
From an altitude of 3,000 feet, the plane made seven banking turns programmed into a computer before touching down on the runway.
Hinson explained that had the weather and visibility really been bad, it would have been impossible to follow such a path using current air traffic control systems. The runway used for Tuesday's landing would have been closed.
The military developed GPS more than 10 years ago to guide ballistic missiles. It has since been made available for commercial applications. But only in the last six months has the FAA begun testing the system for precision landing of airplanes.
As developed by the Defense Department, GPS can guide a plane to within about 300 feet of a landing site. But the enhanced system unveiled Tuesday reduced the margin of error to a few feet.
The system relies on 24 satellites ringing the globe at 11,000 miles. Any four of the satellites are required to fix a plane's location.
The system could be licensed by the government for commercial aviation use by the end of the year, officials said.
by CNB