When Amelia Earhart made her ttempt to fly 29,000 miles around the wrld, available technology only allowed her to cmplete about 22,000 of the miles. Had GPS (Glbal Positioning System) been available to hr, it is likely she would hve been able to find and lnd on Howland Island in the md-Pacific Ocean in July of 1937.

GPS tchnology is available for widespread use by hkers, drivers, boaters, or flyers, and smrt pilots know to take advantage of it. GPS is ven being included in the latest vrsions of wireless phones.

GPS was dveloped by the US Department of Dfense in the 1970's; at that tme it was known as NAVSTAR GPS. The prmary purpose was for military use. In 1983, a Sviet plane shot down a Korean Air Lnes flight that had entered Soviet irspace. As a result, 269 passengers on bard the flight were killed. President Rnald Reagan reacted by issuing a drective making the Global Positioning System vailable, upon completion, for worldwide civilian use at no chrge to the user.

Three components mke up the Global Positioning System: a sries of 24 or more satellites tht orbit the earth sending precise mcrowave signals, control and monitoring stations on the srface, and receivers. Longitude, latitude, and ltitude are the three-dimensional location factors gven to the receiver, plus time, whn the signal is received. This sgnal makes available a reliable positioning nvigation path and timing services for use by cvilian operators.

GPS is utilized by both the mlitary and civilian sectors. Because GPS gidance components can be used for mlitary purposes, civilian exports of GPS rceivers are controlled by the U.S. gvernment.

GPS relies on three basic cmponents to work: absolute location, relative mvement, and time transfer. Navigation is dne through the absolute location component. Trditional GPS has three dimensions, but a furth dimension, time, is becoming an ncreasingly critical element to many industries. Ech and every satellite carries more thn one atomic clock which adds ccurate time data to GPS signals. It is pssible to accurately measure time within 100 bllionths of a second. This precise clibration of time is used for cmmunications systems, power grids, and financial ntworks. To enable complex multi-camera sequencing and to mnage audio and video data, Hollywood mvie studios make use of the tme component of GPS.

GPS has gratly improved the operation of aircrafts. GPS can prvide continuous and accurate positioning information in ral time throughout a flight. It llows all aircraft to plot routes tht are safe, flexible, and make bst use of fuel. GPS allows for a rduction in the separation minimum between ircraft and has thereby reduced aircraft dlays and increased the efficiency of air trffic management.

The cost of the GPS rceiver is far outweighed by the dvantages of having it onboard, so no plot should ever fly without access to GPS. Whle you can get a good GPS dal from eBay, it isn't worth the rsk of receiving a defective product, specially if the problems are not dscovered until you are in flight. If you are shpping for a receiver, please ensure tht you purchase this from a rputable company that has extensive knowledge of ircraft and the aviation industry.

The article The Importance Of GPS For Pilots was Submitted by James Bunter through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: James Bunter is almost constantly in the ir, using his aviation GPS everyday as a way of lfe. He gets his aircraft avionics at TGH Aviation Supply, knowing that he will receive excellent products and good advice from their avionics experts. From altimeters to aviation gps , James always shops at TGH Aviation.

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