Question for the plane fans.

[theageofthetra]

Whilst on a rail replacement bus from Minster on Sat the bus ran along the Manston perimeter road. I noticed a yellow road sign on an A frame of a truck and an image of a satellite with some waves emitting from it. At a guess is this to remind trucks not to use those illegal GPS jamming devices which stop their employers knowing where the vehicle is? I am sure I remember reading a story of problems at Newark NJ caused by truck drivers on a nearby interstate rest area using jammers and affecting ground control comms. Any ideas?

 

[Skoodle]

You can see it on Google Maps, the lorry is crossed out so I'd assume it's a case of drivers have been sent somewhere they shouldn't by their GPS, so the sign is just saying don't follow your GPS.

 

[starrymarkb]

Yep - there is a problem of truck drivers buying a car sat nav (£50) instead of a truck one that takes into account suitable routes for large vehicles (£200) - most hauliers won't provide a Sat Nav so the driver buys a cheap one and gets stuck...

While GPS is used for aircraft navigation it is usually crosschecked with VOR-DME beacons on the ground (and on larger aircraft the Inertial Reference System). Landings are usually carried out using either Beacons and a height reference - or by using the Instrument Landing System. In any case a deviation from the expected will result in a go around.

 

[PaulJ]

Nothing to do with the airport. It's merely that the road you were on is new (well about a year old) and now by passes Cliffsend, nearby. Clearly some lorry sat-navs won't have the new road programmed in and would plan a route via Cliffsend, rather than through the faster dual carriage way road now in place.

 

[theageofthetra]

Yes the new road idea would make sense. I remember the last time I was at Alton Towers some residents had made a home made sign warning drivers to ignore their sat navs which direct them down a very narrow and steep lane. Re trucks using cheap car navs even the app on my phone has a setting for RV's Trucks etc.