Guess Who's Planning to Shine Lasers on Pilots

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 15:19:20 -0500, "Morgans"
wrote in ::


"Larry Dighera" wrote

I think the Air Force probably has a good idea for the use of lasers
in alerting pilots. I think the Secretary of Transportation's
statement stems more from a hysterical siege-mentality than rational
thought.

I gotta agree. The point of safety , IMHO, comes more with the fast few
blinks of laser, vs extended blinding by Joe Q. public.


It looks like the AOPA is attempting to assist the USAF with this:


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AOPA ePilot Volume 7, Issue 11 March 18, 2005
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AIR FORCE URGED TO WORK WITH AOPA ON LASER WARNING SYSTEM
When the House aviation subcommittee met Tuesday to discuss the
hazards posed by civilian ground-based lasers aimed at pilots, talk
quickly turned to an Air Force plan to use lasers to signal aircraft
that stray too close to the no-fly zone around Washington, D.C. While
the Air Force claims its laser system is safe, not everyone is so
sure. Rep. Robin Hayes (R-N.C.), an AOPA member, expressed concern
that tests of the lasers had only been conducted on pressurized
aircraft--not smaller GA aircraft with thinner windscreens. He urged
the Air Force to work with AOPA to develop and test the system on more
typical GA aircraft. Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa), also an AOPA
member, was the first to raise the issue of how lasers could affect GA
pilots. He said that he had been thinking about how distracting it
would be to try to land his own aircraft with a laser in his eyes. See
AOPA Online
(http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsite...0315laser.html ).