wrote in message
ups.com...

Jim Donohue wrote:
. . .
There appears no doubt in the direction of the FAA that the system
will go
entirely GPS eventually...but that point is still many years in the
future.
The present state is one of transition...changing from the procedures
of
VOR/DME to those of GPS. So every year more and more of the
procedures will
be GPS.

Agreed terminal approach GPS control is years down the road, but, isn't
the "free flight" initiative, which would allow airliners outside of
TRACON to route themselves, based on GPS transponders, pretty much
being fast tracked? Allegedly the system will gain significant
in-transit capacity so there's a big cost savings envisioned.


Free Flight - It is I think trapped in the bureaucracy. It is the
procedures and protocols that limit its application rather than technology.

V irtually any modern airliner, with or without GPS, knows where it is to
the nearest tenth of a mile or better. It is the development of a system
compatible with the existing air traffic control that is the killer. That
means small incremental improvements at best. Note that on time performance
continues to degrade even as they claim gains from implenting some of the
free flight tools.

One hopes...but they expect almost as many air traffic controllers in 10
years as now...does not give much reason form optimism.

Jim Donohue