Nice rationalizations, but....still illegal.... (Or do we only follow the rules we want to?)
Very safe
Relatively safe
Not very dangerous, but not very safe (neutral)
Somewhat dangerous
Very, very dangerous
Other
Nice rationalizations, but....still illegal.... (Or do we only follow the rules we want to?)
Cheers,
Jerry
NC22375
65LA out of 07N Pennsylvania
Justin,
Eloquent case for common sense!
Gerry,
You are correct, it is illegal given the FCC reg's. There is an old saying about America; "a county of laws, poorly written and badly enforced!" If all the laws currently on the books were actually enforced we would need a lot more "enforcers", courts, and jails and higher taxes to pay for it all. If all the states actually stopped all the trucks and reviewed all the log books we'd have to add at least 30% more trucks on the road to deliver the current level of loads. In reality, there are a lot of "rules" that we don't follow because they don't make sense. Politicians write the laws and some hold offices to enforce the laws, these guys all react to public pressure so yes "we only follow the rules we want to" does apply.
Joe
And because the Speed limit on the highway is 65 mph in PA means that you have NEVER driven on the highways at 65+? It's illegal you know...Originally Posted by rosiejerryrosie
You wouldn't belive me if I said that is true. Would you?
Bottom line - I don't need to text when I'm driving or flying. But then what I have to say is probably not as important as what you have to say that it can't wait until I'm stationary. I wonder how the folks ever got the Constitution writen and passed - they didn't even have telephones !!
Cheers,
Jerry
NC22375
65LA out of 07N Pennsylvania
I just wanted to point out that cell phones in the 1300-1500MHz are pretty close to the GPS frequencies (1575.42MHz), and with the roll-off and relative power of each, yes, there could be some problems...think about the issues with Lightsquared right now. Lightsquared is not that close to the GPS frequencies, but they still have major problems.GPS (yes, it uses frequencies): 1575.42 & 1227.60 Mhz
(drum roll please...........)
Cell phones (slightly paraphrased): 700, 800-900, 1300-1500, 1700+ Mhz... All of which in Mhz.
That said, and each pilot knows his equipment and when it is critical, and can make those determinations. If I don't care if my GPS takes a synch hit, what does it matter?
Jerrie...for the last time...it's not illegal:Nice rationalizations, but....still illegal.... (Or do we only follow the rules we want to?)
FAR 91.21:
Sec. 91.21
Portable electronic devices.
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, no person may operate, nor may any operator or pilot in command of an aircraft allow the operation of, any portable electronic device on any of the following U.S.-registered civil aircraft:
(1) Aircraft operated by a holder of an air carrier operating certificate or an operating certificate; or
(2) Any other aircraft while it is operated under IFR.
(b) Paragraph (a) of this section does not apply to--
(1) Portable voice recorders;
(2) Hearing aids;
(3) Heart pacemakers;
(4) Electric shavers; or
(5) Any other portable electronic device that the operator of the aircraft has determined will not cause interference with the navigation or communication system of the aircraft on which it is to be used.
(c) In the case of an aircraft operated by a holder of an air carrier operating certificate or an operating certificate, the determination required by paragraph (b)(5) of this section shall be made by that operator of the aircraft on which the particular device is to be used. In the case of other
aircraft, the determination may be made by the pilot in command or other operator of the aircraft.
Part b.5, as long as I (being the PIC) determine it's not going to cause problems with some navigation equipement I am using (which is usually only my eyeballs and a chart) then it is perfectly legal.
As a former truck driver, I can report that it is very hard to exceed the speed limit in company owned fleet trucks, they are all governed around 65. It is possible to go faster if you get on a long downgrade in the mountains...not many drivers will allow it to "run away" you can burnout the brakes and wind-up "over the edge". As for the founding fathers, I think they would be amazed at what happened to the 13 "states" with 13 million people over the last 200 plus years! We have to remember the only constant in nature is change, today we have a "service economy" where new inventions move from "toys for the rich" to necessary items for the average person. Even Thomas Jefferson and his friends put the amendment process into the Constitution, but they didn't envision 50 states with different regional interests. Multi-tasking maybe a big deal in the business world, but the current wave of texting while driving is getting people killed. We will continue to see politicians making it illegal to text while driving, but enforcing that kind of law will remain a weak effort.
I think we have beat this horse to death! Distractions are a major cause of accidents, it's up to us as individuals to stay focused and safe.
Joe
How timely......the NTSB has weighed in on texting and cell phone use while driving. The two activities should not be simultaneously performed. I think they are correct but there is no doubt a segment of the population who will feel that recommendation is not applicable to them.
And I bethca you don't think that the LightSpeed proposed network doesn't interfer with GPS signals because they are on different frequencies. Can you spell harmonics? Yep guns don't kill people, people texting kill people....
Cell phone on an airplane myth? Busted...
Aside from the theatrics of TV, it's a simple fact of using different frequencies! I'll just regurgitate some private (commercial maybe? I can't remember) pilot information that I'm sure we can all recite from memory
VOR (ILS) Navigation: 108.00-117.95 Mhz (VHF)
Airband Comm Freq: 118.00-137.00 Mhz (VHF) Why don't our voice communications knock out our LOC or Glide slope when we transmit? Duh...
GPS (yes, it uses frequencies): 1575.42 & 1227.60 Mhz
(drum roll please...........)
Cell phones (slightly paraphrased): 700, 800-900, 1300-1500, 1700+ Mhz... All of which in Mhz.
As you can see, NOWHERE near VHF Comm or Nav frequencies... There are some that think new 4G cellphone technology uses frequencies a little too close to the GPS frequencies, and might cause interference (yet to be shown or proven, just hypothesized). That is a topic for another post though.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_frequencies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPS_signals
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airband
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHF_omnidirectional_range
To summarize, I feel like texting while flying is all up to the PIC. There will always be cockpit distractions and managing them is part of what we are as pilots. Texting while flying show's nothing to your stick and rudder or overall flying skills, but is something that should be done on a personal basis with safety in mind. I personally text all the time when flying for fun, and it's situational as some people have already discussed. There is nothing about it that is inherently stupid. It's like age old firearms adage...
Gun's don't kill people, people kill people...
Did your CFI ever rag on you about keeping your head out of the cockpit? Mine did but then he was prolly wrong .. after all he was one of those rare birds... and old pilot...
Last edited by rosiejerryrosie; 12-14-2011 at 02:41 PM.
Cheers,
Jerry
NC22375
65LA out of 07N Pennsylvania
Maybe it is time for this thread to be absorbed in to the "eternal debates in aviation" thread that Frank Giger started?
I doubt it will be an eternal debate. Just a matter of time till a plane crashes and the investigators find out seconds before the pilot was texting. It's inevitable.
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