Has anyone used a GPS system as a passenger on a plane , how did it work?

Question

Allways wondered if its possible to use a Satnav system as a passenger on a plane. It wouldnt work if the satnav measured barometric pressure due to the cabin being pressurised, but could you still get a signal onboard , thus giving you position , altitude and speed information?

Answer 1

The above posts are full of it!!!
I use my Garmin GPS 196 OFTEN on commercial flights.
The gps is not a transmitter just a reciever!
THe gps will give altitude, airspeed from info from the satellites
As a courtesy, ask for the capt's permission. I have NEVER been denied.
As far as signal is concerned, never a problem while sitting in window seat.
Some will ask that you turn it off during takeofff and landing..

Answer 2

Absolutely they could. But based just on what we know of flight 447, that would have made no difference. The autopilot still would have disconnected due to the disagreement and whatever prevented them from recovering from the stall (which we don't know yet) still would have done so. There have been accidents, however, that this could have averted. For example, there was one case (AeroPeru flight 603) where airspeed and altitude readings were unreliable and an aircraft gradually descended into the ocean as the flight crew believed they were holding altitude. GPS altitude would have saved them. It was an aircraft accident (Koreal Air Lines flight 007) that prompted President Reagan to make GPS available for commercial use in the first place. In order to need GPS speed to maintain attitude though, you'd have to lose both airspeed and attitude indicators. That's a pretty improbable condition since these are provided by completely different systems and the attitude indicator is independent of anything but a power source.

Answer 3

You will only pick up satellites on the horizon that are in view of the antenna element. Also, speed is inaccurate when measured with a GPS. It will be close, but it won't be spot on.

Answer 4

If you can get a good signal it will work. You'll need to be in a window seat and will need to place the antenna in the window to get any signal at all. You may have to tweak the position of the antenna to get enough usable signals.

The altitidue is not calculated by barometric pressure by the way, but is calculated by the GPS if you have a strong enough signal from enough satellites. If you can get 4 or more satellites registered on your GPS, it will give you position, speed and altitude based on the GPS calculations.

Keep in mind that most airlines don't allow you to use any radio receiving or transmitting equipment in flight. That includes GPS receivers. I've done it several times on my company's corporate jets; the pilots don't care if we use cell phones or GPS receivers in flight. My GPS still shows the max speed of 660 MPH that I measured on one flight a couple of years ago. Pretty cool!

Answer 5

Theoretically you can but I didn't have much luck. I couldn't lock
on to enough satellites to give me useful information (except
maybe 2% of the time. Pressurization wont affect the exercise
at all.

Answer 6

i have. several times and it works well as long as you are on a window seat and you have a map if your gps requires one. also some models of gps have a maximum speed because they were built for use in cars. if this is the case then you won't have speed information. lastly, contrary to one of the answers, you can also get a signal through the cockpit window although the signal is much weaker. i've tried it several times.

Answer 7

Never tryed a sat nav road type, but a normal GPS works fine. Never fly without one.

Answer 8

I tried mine on two long haul aircraft recently and I couldn't get a signal, but I was mid row seating.

Answer 9

I used my Garmin E-Trex on a United flight between LAX and SFO and It worked great. I had readouts of altitude, speed and course.

Answer 10

I fly American and their book says no GPS systems allowed by passengers