GPS Navigation Accuracy Tested

Gps: The Navigation System For Now and the Future

There are not enough superlatives to describe the GPS navigation system. The following article will explain why I believe every GA pilot would like to use one.

Inertial Navigation, Omega, Loran and Satnav systems have been around for quite a while but the high cost of receivers has precluded widespread use by pilots in Australia. Loran will never be practical for enroute navigation as it can only be used in limited areas while the cost of providing transmitters to cover all of Australia is prohibitive. We can only envy the US where Loran is giving the benefits of which one dreams.

Omega units are expensive and the system is to be wound down after 1995. Satnav receivers are lower priced but due to the limited number of satellites in significantly lower orbits, position updates are established only every 20 minutes or so (GPS updates every second). Major errors can thus occur in the Satnav system when used in aircraft. Ferry or very long distance flights may tolerate this situation but it is hardly practical for every day enroute navigation.

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