Droid GPS on airplane

[epkmd]

Should the Droid GPS work in an airplane (near the window of course)?

 

[TimothyLHaas]

I flew in from Florida to NY on airtran, no gps signal at all

 

[mwhartman]

Should the Droid GPS work in an airplane (near the window of course)?

Interesting question. I've not flow since I purchased my Droid. I just put mine into airplane mode. When I opened my maps the GPS activated and said I was at my home.

The FAA is funny so perhaps the shield the GPS signal

Mike

 

[sam5828]

i havent used my droid on one but i did my dare to see how high we were and how fast we were going it worked to a certain height 30,000 maybe i forget and the speed was around 450 500 cant remember

 

[Zenmervolt]

I can see how it might work, but I wouldn't expect it to always work. An airplane's fuselage isn't the best thing in the world for signal strength and IIRC it's more difficult for GPS devices to get a lock when they are moving at high speeds.

And sam is remarkably close, possibly right on depending on weather conditions. Commercial jetliners usually cruise between 32,000 and 35,000 feet and between 450 and 550 mph indicated airspeed depending on the specific aircraft model (Airbus A320 series cruise around 500 mph as do newer 737s, older 737s cruise at about 475 mph, and 757s cruise at around 530 mph) and on weather conditions.

 

[RW-1]

The only way it will work is if it can get three sat's out the side and a good signal.

Likely not considering the size. My Aviation 496 however loves it, that is if I happen to be stuck where there are side windows (use ext antenna).

 

[splatmatic]

my blackberry curve allowed me too use the GPS at about 10,000ft. Its totally possible for it work if It can lock on, and don't expect the maps to load. Only thing that worked was how fast the plane was traveling..... and it was having a heart-attack while doing so.

 

[Hamsteak78]

I was able to use it on a plane. I was stilling by a window so maybe that's why I was able to get a good signal. I used My GPS Status, and good good altitude and speed. I was able to track myself using a cache map program (I think it was Map+, but can't remember for sure).

 

[doubledroid]

Used a NUVI

I have done this with a NUVI 770. I am not sure what the stewardess thought about it, but I was in first class and in the window seat. It was amazing, really, to see your positon over the states and be able to see the direction and speed.

It usually took a while to lock onto the satellites, but once it caught a signal it would keep it. It's addicting, because you can get a much better sense of what is going on when flights are being diverted / delayed.

On the larger 777's, Continental always has a location information screen appearing intermittently during the flight on monitors, but they turn it off whenever you get close to landing or when they deem necessary.

Being able to use my GPS was a bit unnerving, because technically the data could be collected used later.

Given that, I don't see why the Droid wouldn't eventually lock onto a satellite signal and be able to intepret it. I assume the Garmin units were a bit more optimized for this process - and I am even thinking there are specific Garmins for pilots to be using.