yeah, I think it should be from the ground up metric! where is the benefit planes' speed measured in knots?
I dont see any, km/h is perfect! Mach isnt appropriate because it depends on alt and temp ----- Original Message ----- From: "Markus Kuhn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, June 29, 2002 9:58 PM Subject: [USMA:20713] Re: air traffic control > [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/> >
