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GPS Nav to Provide Quicker, More Efficient Oceanic Flights

by Tim Stevens on April 25, 2008 at 07:10 AM

GPS Nav to Provide Quicker, More Efficient Oceanic Flights

When people get a new GPS system for their auto, a favorite distraction is to use the thing to see if it can find quicker ways to get from A to B, even if they already know how to get there. It seems Airbus has had the same idea, using GPS to enable its airliners to find more efficient routes over the oceans, but not in the way you might expect.

Jets are typically assigned a set path and altitude that they must maintain when crossing the ocean since there's no radar out there to help avoid mid-air collisions. Because of this, the jets aren't able to change altitude or path while en-route to take advantage of favorable winds or the like, which is why Airbus is implementing a GPS-based system that doesn't require radar: Each jet broadcast its current location, which is tabulated on the GPS system and enables others to modify their routes to take advantage of those currents without having to worry about collisions.

This should cutting down travel times and could potentially save 374-pounds of fuel for each trans-Atlantic flight. Roughly 700 jets make the trip daily, meaning a massive fuel savings overall and a drastically reduced impact on the environment, something we're happy to point out on this week of Earth Day and all the eco-awareness that it brings. [Source: Wired]

Tags: airbus, airplane, breaking news, BreakingNews, gps, travel

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