Update: Prep for LORAN Shut Off Feb 8
Not surprisingly, the decision is prompting further concerns from the industry. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association made statement:
“The termination of loran will leave the country without a single national backup system in the event of a GPS outage,” AOPA said.
“Recent reports have shown that the constellation of satellites is vulnerable to outages and service disruptions,” said Craig Spence, AOPA vice president of operations and international affairs. “AOPA has long cautioned against decommissioning loran before a separate navigation system is established as a backup.”
And, even as the AOPA begs to keep LORAN, the Air Force says it’s time to wean itself off the GPS system, because of its vulnerability to hacking.
—- original post 1/20/10——-
You’ll be hearing more and more about the end of LORAN, which begins its shutdown on February 8. Most sites will go “dark” then with the remaining ones flipping off by October 1.
The Department of Homeland Security says its obsolete, though that body continues to explore whether a “back up” to GPS is needed.
My first and last acquaintance with the technology was in 1990, when I was a field scientist on the Crystal Star in Prince William Sound for a few weeks supporting oil spill data collection. I bugged the captain a lot about the tech used and he was good enough to give me the heads up on when to take my dramamine, as I was not cut out for sea travel.
- LA Times
