Cell phones in the air

Roger Worden wrote:
So the illegal activity is not just *making calls* while in the air, but
having the phone *turned on*. People with other GSM and CDMA devices that
don't look like phones, such as Blackberries and other PDAs would have to
disable the wireless function before takeoff. Yet another item for the
takeoff checklist.

I hope pilots will keep their takeoff checklists brief and pertinent to
safe flight. Don't clutter it with things that aren't causing problems.
If you are concerened about it, put it on the checklist you use after
your preflight list, but before you crawl into the cockpit.

--
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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

There are three issues with airborne cell phones:
1: interference with multiple cells.
2: interference with avionics
3: interference with (distraction of) the pilot

All are significant. #1 was much more significant with analog phones.
One day in 1995 I was giving a glider ride, had caught a good thermal,
and the analog rang. I answered, talked to the nursing-home nurse for
a bit; the thermal was strong; as I climbed through 4K agl, suddenly
ther was a loud electronic squeal and the conversation ended. More
recently I needed to make an urgent call from an airplane with a
digital phone, and got the same squeal.
#2 is randomly significant. A pilot friend told me last month, "I was
on the ramp ready for departure and placed a call on my cell phone.
When I hit 'send' all the radio displays zero'ed out. That made a
believer out of *me*!"
#3 is self evident and has been mentioned by several posters already.

#1 is last century.
#2 doesn't matter in a glider
#3 can be helped by switching the ringing to mute.

Carrying a cell phone in a glider can well help you to be rapidly localized
after a crash if the people looking for you know your phone number.

--
Bert Willing

ASW20 "TW"


a écrit dans le message de news:
...
There are three issues with airborne cell phones:
1: interference with multiple cells.
2: interference with avionics
3: interference with (distraction of) the pilot

All are significant. #1 was much more significant with analog phones.
One day in 1995 I was giving a glider ride, had caught a good thermal,
and the analog rang. I answered, talked to the nursing-home nurse for
a bit; the thermal was strong; as I climbed through 4K agl, suddenly
ther was a loud electronic squeal and the conversation ended. More
recently I needed to make an urgent call from an airplane with a
digital phone, and got the same squeal.
#2 is randomly significant. A pilot friend told me last month, "I was
on the ramp ready for departure and placed a call on my cell phone.
When I hit 'send' all the radio displays zero'ed out. That made a
believer out of *me*!"
#3 is self evident and has been mentioned by several posters already.

wrote:
There are three issues with airborne cell phones:
1: interference with multiple cells.
2: interference with avionics
3: interference with (distraction of) the pilot

All are significant. #1 was much more significant with analog phones.
One day in 1995 I was giving a glider ride, had caught a good thermal,
and the analog rang. I answered, talked to the nursing-home nurse for
a bit; the thermal was strong; as I climbed through 4K agl, suddenly
ther was a loud electronic squeal and the conversation ended. More
recently I needed to make an urgent call from an airplane with a
digital phone, and got the same squeal.
#2 is randomly significant. A pilot friend told me last month, "I was
on the ramp ready for departure and placed a call on my cell phone.
When I hit 'send' all the radio displays zero'ed out. That made a
believer out of *me*!"
#3 is self evident and has been mentioned by several posters already.

I don't have an explanation for your squeals and zeros, but it's a rare
report, indeed. In fact, it's the only report of problems I've heard.

Aircraft avionics are well shielded because they have to contend with
plenty of on-board interference. This includes other avionics like
communications radios (5 to 10 watts), transponders (250 watt pulses!),
and, of course, the ignition noise of the engine. So, the paltry .5 watt
or less of the cell phone is unlikely to bother them, and that's what
most pilots experience.

Distraction is always a potential problem for a pilot, so we hope they
manage it better than many of the cell phone wielding drivers I see on
the road!


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

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

In message , Eric Greenwell
writes
wrote:
There are three issues with airborne cell phones:
1: interference with multiple cells.
2: interference with avionics
3: interference with (distraction of) the pilot
All are significant. #1 was much more significant with analog
phones.
One day in 1995 I was giving a glider ride, had caught a good thermal,
and the analog rang. I answered, talked to the nursing-home nurse for
a bit; the thermal was strong; as I climbed through 4K agl, suddenly
ther was a loud electronic squeal and the conversation ended. More
recently I needed to make an urgent call from an airplane with a
digital phone, and got the same squeal.
#2 is randomly significant. A pilot friend told me last month, "I was
on the ramp ready for departure and placed a call on my cell phone.
When I hit 'send' all the radio displays zero'ed out. That made a
believer out of *me*!"
#3 is self evident and has been mentioned by several posters already.

I don't have an explanation for your squeals and zeros, but it's a rare
report, indeed. In fact, it's the only report of problems I've heard.

FWIW from the uk. #1 is an issue here. I don't know if it is that the
cells prevent multiple connection or the phones don't like it but if you
get more than about 1,500 ft above the general level of the cells then
you cannot/find it very hard to - connect. #2 is also an issue as I can
hear a cell phone saying hi to the cell over the radio, be it a handheld
or a fixed mount, this means that there is enough energy from the phone,
be it through the DC supply or the received RF I haven't the faintest
idea but it happens, especially as the airband radios are AM (makes the
audio very easy to interfere with). If this can happen to the radio
then I am worried about the interference. #3 is a very strong point.

The point that has been made that a live cell phone can be used to find
you if all else fails is a good one, however, having had phones
disintegrate after a car crash I wouldn't rely on it.

Robin
--
Robin Birch