[Shop-talk] Compressed Air Lines, RapidAir

[Mark Andy]

Howdy,

On Fri, 14 Oct 2011, John Innis wrote:
> I work for a company that designs and builds the computers and displays 
> that pilots use to fly aircraft.  I can tell you that they have been two 
> confirmed incidents of a PED (personal electronic device) causing 
> interference with these systems.  One was a CD player with no wireless 
> capability at all (just a really noisy local oscillator in exactly the 
> wrong frequency range), the other was a laptop PC with an operating 
> wireless card.  The problem is that all electronic devices produce RF 
> noise.  Most of the consumer grade stuff is so poorly made that while 
> the prototype MIGHT have passed FCC testing, the actual units that 
> people buy are often out of compliance in terms of the amount of noise 
> the produce.  A lot of the computer systems used to keep airplanes in 
> the air are hardened against this noise as best we can, but we still 
> depend on being able to receive good RF signal from GPS, VOR, ILS, and a 
> host of other systems that allow the plane to navigate and communicate. 
> Until we get serious about testing consumer products for noise 
> radiation, it is a good idea to ban them from airliners. Just because it 
> has only happen twice, doesn't mean that the next time won't involve a 
> life threatening situation for someone you love.

Here's the thing.  There should be two options here:

1) Devices aren't an issue.  Use them.

2) Devices are an issue.  In which case I don't want to trust Joe Pork 
Belly Salesman with my life.

This current "solution" seems _completely_ stupid.

Mark