Aviation Sri Lanka 

As the name implied “future” has dawned and enhancement of the technology on the rise. This scenario is also common for air navigation and observed tremendous change in the form of accuracy, efficiency, reliability and availability. What is written here will not be valid and would be the history by tomorrow. 

Future of air navigation

Navigation can be as simple as monitoring visual signs, such as the positions of natural or constructed landmarks. For the aviator this means pilotage, the art of looking out the window to see where you are in reference to mountains, streams, roads, bridges, tall buildings, lakes, and other landmarks. This is fine for those roaming about an area providing such ready clues, but suppose you desire independence from visual contact. During flights over remote areas, over sea, night operations, IFR, and just to know exactly where you are, the need exists for a simple and accurate locating of an exact position.

For the past 40 years, serious air navigation has consisted primarily of various forms of radio direction finding in the guise of NDBs  and the VOR. Of recent importance is the LORAN-C (LORAN - LOng RAnge Navigation The plane has equipment for receiving special radio signals sent out continuous from a transmitter stations. The signals will indicate the plane’s location. LORAN C is a Long-Range low frequency Radio Navigation and its range is about 1,200 nm by day to 2,300 nm by night.), primarily designed for marine use and later adapted for aviation use. Each system has drawbacks and all suffer from a general lack of consistency and good accuracy. Then, in the 1970s, a system of global radio navigation was envisioned by the United States armed services to be based upon satellites. The now-operational program, known as the NAVSTAR Global Positioning System, can locate an airplane accurately ,within a few feet in three dimensions: latitude, longitude, and altitude.

NAVSTAR satellites are made by Lockheed Martin and launched as needed. NAVSTAR sounds like a trade name, but it's actually an acronym meaning NAVigation System by Timing and Ranging. The satellites are improved versions of the original designs that include better clocks and power systems. They also have "180-day autonomy" — the capability to provide navigation data without uploads from ground stations for as long as six months.

GPS had its origins in the Pentagon and the story of its development is one of remarkable achievement. It was a project earned out on a giant scale. under the direct control of the military officers who planned it from the beginning. It was one of the best investments the Pentagon ever made. And it has turned out to be one of the most successful examples of how technology developed by and for the military can be transferred to the civil aviation sector.

To utilize the GPS system, the user has only to operate a specialized receiver and directly read the location from the device's digital display. Air navigation has become, through the availability of GPS.

This page is written to initiate those interested in GPS-based navigation into the history and theory of the system. Discussions include the

extended usage of satellite as

As a basis for navigation usage, it would be better if you have visited Air Traffic Engineering page for alternate forms of radio navigation the current VOR System, NDBs, ILS, and others.

This page is under construction

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