Posted on 05/27/2005 11:50:32 PM PDT by El Conservador
We should fly nude.
Lots of hassles will be avoided (/sarc)
I'm kinda torn here. The peace and quiet of the cabin without cell phones is kind of nice, but at the same time, with all of these airines cutting back on services, it would give passengers another thing to do on an otherwise long and potentially boring flight.
I thought that most cell signals don't make it over 10,000 feet anyway.
Poorly written article.
We should fly nude.
ROFL!
They banned lighters last month. I suppose cell phones are next.
I fly internationally a lot and it's a PAIN to arrive at an airport after 12 hours on a plane and have to struggle with matches to have a smoke.
Now will I have to dig through my checked luggage after Customs to make a phone call?
This is getting ridiculous.
Security and Freedom are mutual enemies.
I wonder if the airlines aren't causing some of this "air rage" themselves. The pilots have control of how much fresh air is allowed into the passenger compartment, and it has been seriously curtailed with the advent of the "no smoking rule". It has been reduced because the introduction of fresh air costs fuel economy. In other words, all passengers are forced to breathe the same contaminated air over and over. I am of the opinion that this might influence passenger behavior.
This could be solved technologically by fitting planes' windows with screen mesh dense enough to turn the craft into a Faraday shield (from which only insignificant radio emissions can enter or escape).
Since it's only prior to takeoff or after landing that the passengers may use the phones now, I don't see the risk. Any terrorist attempt undertaken at such a time would (literally) not get off the ground. Not to mention dozens of furious passengers bashing the terrorists with their 50 pound carry on luggage.
The new kamikaze.
Tis just my opinion.. Sadly, freedom of the skies will turn out to be quite impossible down the road.
And, they don't go bonkers over cesnas now cause they think it might be loaded with TNT against some building.
Chem/Bio/Nuclear. That is why fighters go after these guys. Watch the actions of the military. Eventually General Aviation will be completely banned, when they really think the threat is bad enough.
However, that may not be until GA is used for a WMD attack, when it'll be too late.
Seems simple enough to just prevent any call from the plane to another cell phone on that plane or any other. This would be as simple as embedding a specific digital signal in the transmission which would not be allowed back into the plane. The way cell phones are going to be handled on planes is to but a mini-cell station on-board. Having a "cell tower" in the cabin forces all the phones to drop to the lowest power setting so they don't light up every cell tower in 3 states as they would if talking directly to the ground. The mini cell tower then relays to special ground stations. Since the plane's own cell processor handles every call, all they need do is insert this bit pattern in, and only allow out-going traffic to carry the bit pattern. That turns off seat to seat calls and air to air calls.
What the heck is the diffence between someone talking on a phone or talking to someone sitting next them? I don't mean any offense by this, but it seems you have an anti cell phone fettish. I can see no other rationalization unless you just don't like people talking at all on a plane.
Cell signals make it to Mars. Baring obstructions, you would be amazed at the distance cell phones can connect.
The systems are designed with small cell sizes so that you are seldom talking more than 10 miles but in open areas like parts of Montana Arizona and Alaska you can get to high place and get triple that.
The reason cell phones have previously not been allowed on planes is not that they don't work or that they interfere with navigation equipment - that has never been demonstrated.
The reason is a cell phone at 30k feet will light up 100 cell towers and send the cell systems into a hand-off-frenzy. The system was never designed for that.
By putting mini cell systems in the cabin, they can trigger all cell phones to drop to the lowest power, and not try to connect to the ground. Which means they can charge you big bucks for those calls.
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