Plane Answers: Is “Free Flight” the answer to ATC delays?

by Kent Wien on

Welcome to Gadling’s feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

Kent:

I know a lot has been written lately about airport delays, I have also read something about “Free Flying.” With TCAS is ATC obsolete? Should ATC be more focused on ground operations, to get planes in the air? I know from most recent articles the ATC system is operating on antiquated systems and in need of a massive overhaul. I am interested to hear your opinion, is “Free Flying” in our future?

-Justin

Thanks Justin,

We’re not able to navigate or adjust our spacing using our Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). This device, which is almost like a radar screen showing the other traffic within 40 miles of our airplane, is solely to keep us from running into someone. Think of it as a backup to the Air Traffic Control system. And just like passengers aren’t generally interested in pilotless airplanes, pilots may not be interested in a world without controllers directing traffic and keeping us safe.

The ability for airplanes to fly directly to a destination is one thing that would shorten travel times, but it’s important to put the benefit in perspective. The FAA is hoping to develop a system that would allow for a direct routing versus today’s system of waypoints and VOR’s that define a more jagged path, but it will only save a few minutes of flight time.

The FAA is even more interested in the ability to space flights closer when near the airport using a new technology called NextGen. Why are they so excited about this?

Because it’s low hanging fruit.

Even at $20 billion, it just might offer the best answer to the capacity problem. Using computers and GPS, we can have more direct flights and airplanes can take care of their own spacing as they approach the airport. Take a look at this video on “NextGen” by David Pogue for CBS News that explains what the FAA is trying to do (after the jump):

While they make the small airplane owners look like the bad guys in this story, it’s hard to see any reason to force Cessna 182 pilots to pay $6,000 for a box that will help ATC control traffic around a hub like DFW or ORD, an area that most general aviation (Cessna) pilots avoid anyway.

Unless we start doing formation takeoff and landings on ultra-wide runways out of JFK and other saturated airports-a highly unlikely scenario-we’re not going to see delays improve without capacity reductions or huge investments in new infrastructure. So the next step is to improve the infrastructure at airports by adding gates, revising taxiways and adding more runways. The trouble is, people living near these airports equate that to more traffic and subsequently, noise. And it’s yet another cost.

At airports with most frequent delays, airlines need to ‘bump-up’ the size of airplanes. A 19-seat Beech 1900 takes up nearly the same airspace that a 747 does. It might take the government to step in and mandate a minimum size of aircraft at these ultra-saturated airports, but this could be an effective way to fix the problem. The smaller airplanes might begin flying more point-to-point trips from lesser used airports in the same way Southwest does now.

We’re going to get some short term relief from the airlines that are cutting back later this year for economic reasons. But that’s no reason to sit back and wait until we’re near gridlock once again to fix the problem.

Thanks for the great question, Justin.

Do you have a question about something related to the pointy end of an airplane? Ask Kent and maybe he’ll use it for next Friday’s Plane Answers feature.

Bolshoi in Russia: Driving like it is the last time ever. It could just be.

by Iva Skoch on

Greetings from Moscow! Bolshoi in Russia is my variation on Big in Japan. (Bolshoi means “Big” in Russian. Get it?) Stay tuned for my live dispatches from Russia this week.

A few things to know before driving a car in Russia: avoid it if you can. The traffic is terrible. I suppose anytime you have a country where half the people own fast, luxury cars and the other half owns piece-of-junk Ladas, it’s not a good set up. They have to somehow share the same roads, you know.

The funny thing about driving in Moscow is that you have to know exactly where you are going. The city is filled with one-way highways which do not give you many opportunities to turn around if you end up going in the wrong direction. This is true for taxis, too. Know which direction you are going before you flag one. Not doing so could result in a lot of extra miles on the meter.

The other bizarre thing is that their highways are built so that they could be used as landing strips for aircraft, I’m told. Honestly, every highway here looks like it was built for tanks, not cars. It’s not that they have more lanes than US highways, it’s just that Russian highways seem extra wide because they do not use a median to protect you from on-coming traffic. People drive fast and they look like they are driving right into you. I took this photo from the car I was in, praying to God for no head-on collisions.

Onto more driving tidbits. Check out these cars.

Painting kitchy images on one’s car is a Russian specialty. Apparently, it’s popular mainly because you get a discount on your car insurance if you “mark” your car with, say, a big wildlife theme. Car theft is very common here.

You see wildlife images, Andy Warhol pictures, and even entire city skylines painted on people’s cars. I guess it makes sense, in a weird kind of way. Who would want to steal that?

From Russia, with love.

Infiltrating North Korea Part 5: The Sexy Traffic Girls of Pyongyang

by Neil Woodburn on

Infiltrating North Korea is a two-week series exploring the world’s most reclusive nation and its bizarre, anachronistic way of life. To start reading at the beginning of the series, be sure to click here.

The most pleasant surprise in all of North Korea is undoubtedly the city’s phenomenal Traffic Girls.

Dolled up in crisp, blue and white uniforms that are rumored to have been designed by Kim Jong Il himself, the immaculately coifed women work the middle of intersections throughout Pyongyang. Every Traffic Girl is beautiful, young, shapely, and sexy in a uniform-wearing sort of way. On sunny days, they even don Matrix style sunglasses that add an even deeper layer of suggestive innuendo.

Since there are no streetlights in Pyongyang, the Traffic Girls are the only way to maintain order on the roadways, and man do they! Armed with just a whistle and baton, the girls are a one-person show beautifully orchestrating the flow of traffic with patented, choreographed moves that are crisp, robotic, and out of this world.

In any other country they’d cause accidents as rubbernecking perverts speed by gawking at them; but not in North Korea where there are few automobiles on the street and even less opportunity to be reckless and deviant.

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Yesterday: The Architecture of Pyongyang
Tomorrow: Art and Culture, Pyongyang Style

Athens: Cars, Cars and More Cars

by Iva Skoch on

Americans have a reputation as car-loving people. I would rephrase that. Americans don’t love their cars. They need their cars. They use and abuse them. They don’t love them with passion like, say, the Italians or Greeks. Where else do you see men lovingly polish their old Fiats on a sunny Sunday afternoon? Most Americans wouldn’t treat a Porsche with such affection.

I just got back from Athens last week. The car-inspired street fight aside, I was generally surprised what a car-culture Athens is. Everybody drives and parks wherever they want. There are hardly any sidewalks or pedestrian zones, let alone parks. You certainly don’t feel welcome or safe as a pedestrian. If you ask me, it is a mistake that they accommodate drivers so generously.

This NY Times article talks about some of the civic groups trying to fight back by placing stickers on illegally-parked vehicles that the police seem to ignore. They also point out that Athens has the highest per-capita car ownership in the European Union: 450 registered cars per 1000 residents, which is close to the US-level of car ownership. Of course, Greece is a lot more congested than the US…hence the gridlock. Yet, their public transportation is great. I don’t get it…

Laos to ban Tuk Tuks?

by Martha Edwards on

Going to southeast Asia, I was excited to take Tuk Tuks everywhere. But I soon changed my tune — they’re hot, stinky and the drivers are usually shady. After a few unauthorized visits to a driver’s friends’ jewelery/dress/art shop, I quickly vowed to take either public transit or real taxis everywhere.

And yet, I couldn’t imagine Thailand or Laos without them — they’re a fun part of the scenery, as long as you don’t ride on them too often. But the Laotian government doesn’t agree — they’re considering banning Tuk Tuks from Laos. It’s thought that banning Tuk Tuks will ease congestion and accidents on Laos’ roads, and they’ll be replaced with 30 new transit buses.

But the government’s logic seems to be flawed — studies show that Tuk Tuks are only involved in a handful of crashes on Laotian streets. And without Tuk Tuks, there will most likely be more motorcycles and cars on the road, which I’m sure won’t help with traffic.