Enjoy your next holiday/business flight !

Posted by: Don Atkinson on 14 February 2014

Its really good to know that safety is top of the agenda...................

 

...........As part of Government plans to release a proportion of public sector spectrum by 2020 for commercial use, such as for mobile broadband, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has been tasked with assessing the possibility of safely reducing the aviation industry’s reliance on the bandwidth reserved for air traffic control radar. A major research programme will look at the feasibility of releasing 100MHz of the 2.7GHz–2.9GHz band currently being used for civil and military primary surveillance radars.

The research, which is being funded by the Department for Transport, will analyse ways of improving the efficiency with which radars currently use the 2.7-2.9GHz band and whether emerging surveillance technologies could reduce aviation’s reliance on this spectrum in the future.

Mark Swan, Director of the CAA's Safety and Airspace Regulation Group, said: "This programme provides us with an opportunity to evaluate new surveillance technology and identify whether wider benefits, in terms of reduced costs and improved performance of surveillance capabilities, could be delivered while meeting the Government's spectrum release aspirations.”

If the project confirms that use of 2.7-2.9 GHz by aviation radars can be reduced, it will then need to assess the potential impact of introducing commercial communications services into the band. This assessment will address compatibility issues with radars operated by civil air traffic control providers, military aviation and naval forces, civil maritime stakeholders and, potentially in the future, the Met Office.

The CAA said some early packages of feasibility validation work with industry have now begun. Information on progress will be exchanged with stakeholders in due course, particularly through the setting up of industry and operational consultation groups.

Posted on: 14 February 2014 by Tony Lockhart
Well, the CAA/EASA don't have a track record of introducing systems or procedures that have resulted in crashes, damage, or death and injury. I'm sure it'll be fine, whatever they decide to go with.
Posted on: 14 February 2014 by George J

I will never fly again. not because of this, but because flying is silly way to get about.

 

Ferries are better, and if they sink at least it takes long enough to find one's self outside and ready to float away!

 

Planes hit the water too hard in my view!

 

I shall never cross the Atlantic, so the time of a journey is not significant ...

 

ATB from George

Posted on: 14 February 2014 by Tony Lockhart
I'd guess that more souls perish in ferry disasters each year than in plane crashes.

Ferries smell of fuel and vomit, so I avoid them.
Posted on: 14 February 2014 by George J

I try to avoid going abroad!

 

But when it is inevitable, I'd rather sail than fly/

 

Last time I crossed the North Sea to Norway [nine hours out of Newcastle] I stood outside during a massive squall in the middle of the night that had the boat rocking every which way! There was a burly Danish sailor on watch to make sure I was not suicidal!

 

Great fun!

 

ATB from George

Posted on: 14 February 2014 by Don Atkinson
Originally Posted by Tony Lockhart:
Well, the CAA/EASA don't have a track record of introducing systems or procedures that have resulted in crashes, damage, or death and injury. I'm sure it'll be fine, whatever they decide to go with.

True (hopefully),

 

but Part M; Swanwick and MPLs aren't exactly everybody's idea of flagship projects, and its taken a dispropotionate amount of effort to (hopefully) retain the IR(R) against strong EASA "harmonisation" dogma where safety was explicitly of secondary consideration to "harmonisation" until there was a change of leadership in EASA.

Posted on: 14 February 2014 by Tony Lockhart
My head hurts.

Posted on: 14 February 2014 by Don Atkinson
Originally Posted by Tony Lockhart:
My head hurts.

so does mine !

 

Part M =  EASA's idea of Continuing Airworthiness & Maintenance Operations and Safety = a real headache for many small a/c maintenance outfits

 

Swanwick = transfer of ATC from West Drayto etc a few years ago

 

MPL = Multi Pilot Licence

 

IR(R) = Insrtument Rating (Restricted) = old IMC Rating

 

Harmonisation = Directive from EU to EASA (at the expense of safety if there is a conflict of interests)

 

Change of Leadership = replacement of Goudou as CEO of EASA

 

Hope the medicine works

 

Posted on: 14 February 2014 by Tony Lockhart
I've been back in military aviation engineering for five years, so those acronyms etc have slipped from my chickenpox-altered memory