[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote on 2002-06-29 18:29 UTC: > > - FAA air traffic rules changed such that controllers quote > > altitude in meters. > > Ambitious. That would put them ahead of Europe but it still is a worthy > ambition.
European air traffic procedures very closely follow US practice. The US air traffic market is so dominant, that everyone else in the civilian western hemisphere copies in large parts what the FAA decides. If the US decided to go metric, I have no doubt that Europe would instantly follow gladly. Many European countries have used for a long time metric altitudes in military air traffic control (which is usually completely separate from the civilian control, using separate airports and air corridors). Also Warshaw Pact countries have used metric air traffic control. Some of these might have have converted more recently to feet, in order to be compatible with the Western civilian world, I'm not familiar with the current state. It is not a significant project, as the people affected are only highly trained specialists, and the equipment that has to be modified spends a significant time of its life in maintenance anyway. All that is needed is the political will of someone in the right position to say, ok, let's do this. Now would actually be a good opportunity for such a change, because air traffic control principles are being revised significantly to make use of the accuracy and convenience that satellite navigation offers. Planes increasingly fly straight lines (well, circles :) from origin to destination and are less bound to the old VOR radio navigation corridors. Markus -- Markus G. Kuhn, Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge, UK Email: mkuhn at acm.org, WWW: <http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/>
