Vaughn Simon writes:

Actually, not much does change in aviation compared with other fields of
human endeavor.

I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. It does worry me that
the things that change in aviation are things that I'd rather see
stable. I have my doubts about fly-by-wire systems or glass cockpits,
which seem to be increasingly designed for the convenience of
programmers who grew up with Windows rather than for the convenience
of pilots.

But changing to FM would require a new radio to be
simultaneously installed in every cockpit in the world. The only way to
accomplish that would be for every plane with a new radio to transmit in
"parallel" (as someone already suggested) for a period of years on both the new
mode and the old mode. What are the chances of AOPA allowing that to happen?

I don't see why it would be so objectionable. It isn't even necessary
that the AM be phased out. The FM would simply be available to those
who wish to use it, for the added clarity it provides.

When multiple frequencies are available for the same communication,
you could allocate some to FM and some to AM. Initially all would be
AM. Gradually they'd be shifted to FM as time passes, with plenty of
documentation. Eventually only one AM frequency would be left, which
could be kept active indefinitely.

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