Air Flight Unit

Can you use a GPS unit on an American Airliner while in flight?

Public Comments

1. no it messes with the airline equipment they say that you can't before you take off so listen to annoucments before you take off
2. no, the anteana needs to be in "line of site" with the sats.
3. It will not mess with plane equipment, since it is just a receiver. The airlines are just trying to cover their rears. You need a clear view of the satellites, though. Just like on the ground.
4. In theory yes but in practice no. There is no reason a GPS unit cannot be used in an airliner. They are a passive device and receive signals from a minimum of three GPS satellites to determine position. In practice a hand help GPS meant for ground use might not receive and decode the signals accurately in an aircraft at the lower angle due to the altitude of the aircraft. The second problem is the skin and framework of the aircraft would shield the aerial of the GPS from the satellite signals and finally it's downright risky taking anything like that on-board an aircraft with the security that is present. You might get it out and freak out a passenger two seats down if they saw you using it, let alone what is said taking it on-board in the first place. Conclusion: No and don't do it.
5. I built GPS based landing systems for aircraft for many years. GPS will NOT interfere with the aircraft because it is a RECEIVER. BTW, every commercial airdraft flying has at least one GPS reciever on board already. I have had hand held GPS receivers work on airplanes because they get the satellite signals through the window. they will not work through the skin of the aircraft. what this means is that you will get a lower resolution - it will not be as accurate as if you had the full view of all satellites. it may be 10 or 100 meters off...do you care about the accuracy? probably not. hope this helps.
6. myth busters did a show on this a few weeks ago. its not that it messes with the instrument panels,but because some cell phones do they band all of them. goto the website and see the article they did on it as well