Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An altimeter is an instrument which tells you high you are. Pilots rely on them to avoid obstructions on the ground, to maintain separation between aircraft at different altitudes, and to make smooth landings. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The traditional altimeter works on air pressure. Air pressure decreases the higher you go from the Earth. If you properly calibrate your pressure altimeter, it works fine. I flew with one for years. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Modern technology has moved on. The newest altimeters work on radar. They send a radar beam down from the airplane to reflect off the ground. They are much more precise because they’re measuring the actual distance, not the calculated distance (assuming the pressure calibration is correct).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
More precise, that is, unless something interferes with the radar. “RaDAR” is actually an acronym for Radio Detection and Ranging. A radar wave is a radio wave operating on a certain radio frequency. A ground transmitter operating on a nearby frequency can cause interference, making the radar altimeter malfunction. On a bright, sunny day, not a huge problem. The pilot can see the ground and estimate altitude by experience. At night or in bad weather, losing your altimeter is a terrifying problem. Anything which makes a radar altimeter malfunction is a potential disaster.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Such as, for instance, 5G cell phone frequency, which is also a radio wave. 5G was planned to roll out Wednesday but has been halted because major airlines<\/a> are canceling flights<\/a> for fear of it. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
This isn’t a new issue. We’ve known it was coming for years. Suddenly, it’s a problem? Suddenly, major airlines are complaining about how the rollout is dangerous? Why wasn’t this worked out ages ago? <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Remind me, who’s in charge of transportation issues in the United States? And who’s his boss, the man where the buck stops? <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Joe Doakes<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The more overwhelmed with bureaucrats our government becomes, the more amateurish it gets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Joe Doakes from Como Park emails: An altimeter is an instrument which tells you high you are. Pilots rely on them to avoid obstructions on the ground, to maintain separation between aircraft at different altitudes, and to make smooth landings. The traditional altimeter works on air pressure. Air pressure decreases the higher you go from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104,69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trains-and-automobiles","category-socialism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80762"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80763,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80762\/revisions\/80763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}