AOPA urges allowing cell phone use in general aviation

[Eric Greenwell]

One of the reasons I'm an AOPA member, even though I don't fly
airplanes, is they sometimes do good things. This is from their site
(www.aopa.org), on the Home page:

> General aviation pilots should be able to use cell phones in the cockpit
> while they're airborne. And they should be able to do it now. That's
> what AOPA is telling the Federal Communications Commission.


> "It's a safety issue," said Randy Kenagy, AOPA senior director of
> advanced technology. "Cell phones and other wireless technologies are
> invaluable tools for obtaining updated weather and other information
> in flight. And the risk of interference with aircraft avionics for
> the typical general aviation flight is very slight."

snip

> And AOPA talked with several major cell phone service providers and
> found no restrictions on using their services in GA cockpits.

This matches my experience: I can make a call in the air, get charged
for it, and I get no hassles from AT&T!

Go to AOPA's site for the whole thing.
--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

[For Example John Smith]

Looks like my PDA/phone has some new uses--in-flight weather.
Raises an issue for contests (and badges too?)--can I use my phone to get
weather info in-flight? If no, we may have an honor system issue bigger
than the security of flight loggers--I need to carry a phone to call my crew
if I land out, but my phone can also give me blipmaps, radar and other data
and data representations. How would we police this other than the honor
system?



"Eric Greenwell" > wrote in message
...
> One of the reasons I'm an AOPA member, even though I don't fly
> airplanes, is they sometimes do good things. This is from their site
> (www.aopa.org), on the Home page:
>
> > General aviation pilots should be able to use cell phones in the cockpit
> > while they're airborne. And they should be able to do it now. That's
> > what AOPA is telling the Federal Communications Commission.
>
>
> > "It's a safety issue," said Randy Kenagy, AOPA senior director of
> > advanced technology. "Cell phones and other wireless technologies are
> > invaluable tools for obtaining updated weather and other information
> > in flight. And the risk of interference with aircraft avionics for
> > the typical general aviation flight is very slight."
>
> snip
>
> > And AOPA talked with several major cell phone service providers and
> > found no restrictions on using their services in GA cockpits.
>
> This matches my experience: I can make a call in the air, get charged
> for it, and I get no hassles from AT&T!
>
> Go to AOPA's site for the whole thing.
> --
> Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
>
> Eric Greenwell
> Washington State
> USA

[Shawn]

For Example John Smith wrote:
> Looks like my PDA/phone has some new uses--in-flight weather.
> Raises an issue for contests (and badges too?)--can I use my phone to get
> weather info in-flight? If no, we may have an honor system issue bigger
> than the security of flight loggers--I need to carry a phone to call my crew
> if I land out, but my phone can also give me blipmaps, radar and other data
> and data representations. How would we police this other than the honor
> system?

Secure web page logging software and call recording. Standard business
employee spyware with a bit of anti tampering thrown in (just don't let
your wife get a hold of it).
Nice.

Shawn

[[email protected]]

For Example John Smith wrote:
> Looks like my PDA/phone has some new uses--in-flight weather.
> Raises an issue for contests (and badges too?)--can I use my phone to
get
> weather info in-flight? If no, we may have an honor system issue
bigger
> than the security of flight loggers--I need to carry a phone to call
my crew
> if I land out, but my phone can also give me blipmaps, radar and
other data
> and data representations. How would we police this other than the
honor
> system?
>
>
>

Check the 2005 rules for the U.S. on SRA, this isn't allowed.

[For Example John Smith]

That's my point. How do you police it?
How many of us have a phone that has no web capabilities?
Will CDs & OOs check every cell phone carried in a contest/badge attempt?
We're gonna put public key encryption on the logger files but have no way of
preventing a pilot from getting state of the art weather data in flight?

Please note - I'm not arguing for increasing regulation, I'm arguing for
recognizing that honor is what all of our claims ultimately rest upon.


> wrote in message
ups.com...
>
> For Example John Smith wrote:
> > Looks like my PDA/phone has some new uses--in-flight weather.
> > Raises an issue for contests (and badges too?)--can I use my phone to
> get
> > weather info in-flight? If no, we may have an honor system issue
> bigger
> > than the security of flight loggers--I need to carry a phone to call
> my crew
> > if I land out, but my phone can also give me blipmaps, radar and
> other data
> > and data representations. How would we police this other than the
> honor
> > system?
> >
> >
> >
>
> Check the 2005 rules for the U.S. on SRA, this isn't allowed.
>

[Eric Greenwell]

For Example John Smith wrote:

> That's my point. How do you police it?
> How many of us have a phone that has no web capabilities?
> Will CDs & OOs check every cell phone carried in a contest/badge attempt?

I don't know of any restrictions on getting weather data during a badge
attempt, so I don't think OOs have a problem.

> We're gonna put public key encryption on the logger files but have no way of
> preventing a pilot from getting state of the art weather data in flight?

For contests, I don't think there is a connection between logger
security and cell phone issues. Pilots have had the ability to
communicate over aircraft, CB, or ham radio for decades, and with cell
phones for about a decade. This isn't a new problem or concern; however,
policing this has generally been a low priority. Sometimes, at contests,
officials have monitored other frequencies, but it's been infrequent.

Besides the various transceivers and cell phones, there are now
satellite broadcasts of weather (XM radio, for example). There are so
many ways to contact people or data sources, I don't know if it can be
policed. The honor system is one approach; maybe a method of making
desirable information easily available to all competitors would be
better than trying to restrict it.



--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

[5Z]

This came up when GPS receivers got small enough to easily hide. They
were illegal for use in contests for a while, then they became legal
and now they're mandatory :)

Then again, what's the difference between logging into DUATS with a web
enabled phone and calling flight service on the radio - or the phone?
It's legal right now to get weather info from a "public" source while
flying, as long as it's over the radio.

-Tom

[Jack]

Eric Greenwell wrote:
> For Example John Smith wrote:
>
>> That's my point. How do you police it?
>> How many of us have a phone that has no web capabilities?
>> Will CDs & OOs check every cell phone carried in a contest/badge attempt?
>
>
> I don't know of any restrictions on getting weather data during a badge
> attempt, so I don't think OOs have a problem.

I get the impression contestants would be discouraged from contacting the
FSS via VHF for weather while on the task. Is that not allowed? It ought to
be encouraged, as should use of every other souorce for weather info.

Why should flying sailplanes be the only form of aviation where pilots are
NOT encouraged to stay abreast of the latest wx info? Who cares how we get it?



Jack