January 25, 2022 Some Explanations

The Liberty Gazette

January 25, 2022

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely 

Linda: Many thanks to our two guest columnists who reincarnated long enough to cover for us here while our airplane was in the shop for its annual inspection. After sharing around 750 different stories over the years, we decided to get a little creative, take you back to high school English class, but with a modern twist. Charles Dickens and Louisa May Alcott certainly went above and beyond modifying their classic novels in flash fiction form. 

We’re happy to report that the inspection went well, and there were no major repairs needed for the Elyminator. The only unfortunate thing was that the first weekend we had the plane back, the weather threw a temper tantrum. While weather can have more significant effects on small aircraft, you bet your bootie that 5G has the aviation world up in arms. 

Mike: 5G affects aircraft radar altimeters and ultimately passengers. Let’s clarify things first. An altimeter is standard equipment in an aircraft. The altimeter installed in our airplane, like most, is a barometric altimeter. It measures atmospheric pressure and is set so that we can tell how high we are above sea level. Most instrument approaches are designed for this type of altimeter. 

Some special instrument approaches also require the use of a radio (a/k/a radar) altimeter. This equipment provides real-time measurement of an aircraft’s clearance over terrain and obstacles. This is important when landing in inclement weather. Since it also integrates with other systems, such as pressurization, anti-skid braking, and auto-land to name a few, it's a critical little piece of equipment. The 5G network only interferes with aircraft radar altimeters.

In the FAA–FCC wars, Verizon and AT&T (follow the money) have given in a little, but not for long. There are 88 airports in the U.S. with special low-visibility approaches that require radar altimeters. Verizon and AT&T are reducing power to 1585 watts for towers that are close to 50 of these airports, only for six months, allegedly to give the aviation industry more time to figure out how to avoid cancelations and delays. The FAA should have received some of the incumbent user funding to study how to prepare aircraft.

Sprint and the European 5G systems are different, operating on frequency bands that are not close to the C-bands used by aircraft radio altimeters here. The European system also uses a much less powerful transmitter. The 5G towers in France, for example, are limited to 641 watts. 

Even newer aircraft are affected, as avionics are so integrated with airplanes systems throughout, that replacement of components isn’t an easy fix. New components may not be compatible with the rest of the systems. The cost of upgrading aircraft with shielding is high, time-consuming, and requires FAA inspection and certification. Scheduling of a fleet becomes a nightmare too, because if an airplane breaks down, it can’t just be replaced by another aircraft if the destination weather requires an aircraft capable of landing without 5G interference.

Which do we want? Increased bandwidth or safe flights? Pick one. 

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