USAF Is Jamming GPS in Western U.S. For Largest Ever Red Flag Air War Exercise

Re:USAF Is Jamming GPS in Western U.S. For Largest Ever Red ... by gbacon on Saturday January 27, 2018 @08:55AM (#16246217)

Redundant systems are almost always good in aviation. The ICAO report[0] indicated either a system failure or user error resulted in the A/P’s INS mode failing to activate and instead remaining in HDG mode.

Yes, the old systems are effective. A lowly candidate private pilot must demonstrate proficient VOR navigation to obtain a certificate — not sure about light sport, recreational, or gliders — along with commercial pilots and airline transport pilots (ATPs). GPS is not mandatory equipment. Even if so equipped, the GPS can fail.

Yes, at least some of the redundant ground-based radio navaids should remain in place as backups.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007#In...

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Re:USAF Is Jamming GPS in Western U.S. For Largest Ever Red ... by qubex on Saturday January 27, 2018 @02:12PM (#16247578)

My father got an 18 metre 1970s-vintage yacht in 1994 or thereabouts. I remember learning to plot accurate fixes using LORAN signals and hyperbolic TD lines. Getting good at that and coming up with (what I thought) were really clever transformations between Euclidean maps with hyperbolic curves to straight lines on a curved surface served me very well (at least in terms of intuition) when later I learnt of non-Euclidean geometries.

(I also remember looking through ancient manuals and building up an intuition for troubleshooting and fixing a thermionic valve-based RADAR, at least once in high seas with almost zero visibility as howling winds and lashing rain was pushing us towards a rock face. Fun times.)

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