I wasn’t too sure where to post this.
I was gonna copy and paste it then make all the intresting parts bold but it’s long and i found it all quite intresting.
Do take the time read it please, it gets you thinking.
feel free to share any views you might have.
What i fail to understand is that how could a dozen trained pilots fly planes from far away places all the way to NewYork and Washington without any ground support. I must add that I have no prior knowledge of how planes follow their flight paths, but even if i give the most trained pilots in the world a plane over toronto and ask them to fly to calgary without any coordinates, I doubt they'll be able to make any progress. Mind you these planes were not headed for NewYork-i think 3 were destined for LA while one was headed to San Francisco.
Are planes equipped with some sort of global positioning system that directs them to their destination, and if so is it operated from ground or from the cockpit?? I would like some airline specialist or someone with a background in aviation to explain whats actually involved in directing planes to their destination.
The GPS systems in these planes is extremely advanced.. short of landing and takeoff they can fly pretty much on their own. Pilots feed destinations in the system and maintain course.
What's really worrisome is the non-existent response of NORAD. That alone raises many questions..
As with all mysteries.. it can easily be solved by following the money.. Who put options on the airlines losing money?? Whoever made money there must have had some insider info... and it's anyone but mad terrorists living in an Afghani cave.
ok, the ground support is very simple, once an aircraft is airlifted and after gaining certain altitude the plane follows a "FIX" which is in fact a transponder on the ground. This FIX (normally a Radar FIX) tells the aircrafts where they are in the flight path. In a flight from Point A to B there can be a 100 FIX or points, at each point the pilot, has a to maintain a certain course so he can reach the destination. Pilots use navigational charts, for direction from one fix to another. These charts are now easily available on CD and other portable devices. For navigational purpose the pilot doesn’t have to get in contact with the Air Traffic Controller (ATC). The ATC plays a more important role when the aircraft is near the airport around 10 to 5 nautical miles, helping the planes to queue up for landing and/or assigning runways.
Once an aircraft is airlifted, its given a tag number and that contains its flight path at the regional ATC office. This option can be turned off by the aircraft, but once you change your flight path and turn off your transponder, there is this other level of system operated by the NORAD which controls un-tagged aircraft in the US airspace. Mind you that a 757-200 is large aircraft, even flying at 200’ feet above ground it cannot miss the radar. This should have prompted a response and it didn’t.