Wireless Internet Launched on Lufthansa FRA - IAD

JpMaxMan writes "On flight LH 418 from Frankfurt, Germany, to Washington, DC, Lufthansa AG began on Wednesday a three-month trial for a new onboard wireless broadband service that allows travelers to connect to the Internet some 10,000 meters in the sky."

Comments

RF Concerns a Non-Issue

[Foxxz]

Researchers have already bombarded commercial jets with all types of RF of many frequencies and varying power and found no flight threatening effects. This is due to heavely sheilded cables. The electronic device usage fear stems from cellular phone companies advising airlines not to use the phones in flight as they would have difficulting tracking the signal and the signal would reach many towers simultaneously. For the most part, RF is a non-issue. But still comply to keep the paranoid at bay.

Private aircraft on the other hand is more effected by RF than their commercial counter parts. Cell phones and ham radios have been known to crash private aircraft.

A recent story. A local car stereo business installed a TV and sound system in a private aircraft. The FAA was on that like stink on a hog. The equipment was not certified and threw out quite a mess of RF. Not to mention non of the cables were sheilded. Both the pilot and the company who installed the equipment were fined.

I recently received the device that creates the high voltage needed to strobe the lights on an aircraft along with its timer circuit. The device oscilated 24v at high frequency through a transformer and was rectified into two capacitors at 600v. this was creating noise in the radio and the part was promptly removed.

My father is a mechanic and supervisor for a private aircraft repair business. Thats how I get my info on the personal airecraft. I saw the commercial aircraft RF bombardement on Disconvery i beleive.

-Foxxz

Re:Cost and Speed

[mni12]

Beginning in 2004, the service will cost between 30 (US$32) and 35 per flight. Not bad compared to for example what T-mobile charges at the airports.

One detail left out

[HRH King Lerxst]

The broadband service is providec by Connexion by Boeing (sorry it's got flash), the Boeing news release can be found here.

Here's the text from the Boeing news release:

ABOVE THE NORTH ATLANTIC, Jan. 15, 2003 - A new era in inflight communications began today as commercial airline passengers experienced inflight broadband Internet access for the first time. Passengers aboard a Lufthansa German Airlines Boeing 747-400 were able to use their personal laptops and ones provided by the airline to gain high-speed connections to the Internet, including full access to their personal or business email accounts and files. They were able to attach files to their outgoing emails or open attachments from incoming emails, get the latest news, look up information about their destination or shop online. The service, which Lufthansa has branded as FlyNet, is powered by the revolutionary Connexion by Boeing system developed by The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA). During the three-month demonstration, Lufthansa will make the service available free-of-charge to passengers throughout the airplane, which flies daily between Frankfurt and Washington-Dulles International Airport as flights LH 418 (westbound) and LH 419 (eastbound). "With broadband connectivity, the Connexion by Boeing service gives travelers new and unprecedented choices for managing their time in flight and on the ground," said Connexion by Boeing President Scott Carson. "Lufthansa is widely recognized and respected as a leader in innovation, in communication and in customer service, and is demonstrating to its passengers today what the world of tomorrow will be like. Our collaboration with Lufthansa has resulted in the shared vision that has made this historical service available today." "The very idea of FlyNet was exciting, but what really inspired me was the enthusiasm, the professionalism and the stamina of our team during its implementation. Innovation with the customer in mind has resulted in today's world premiere," says Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Deputy Chairman of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. Lufthansa, the inaugural commercial airline customer for Connexion by Boeing, intends to equip approximately 80 long-range Boeing 747-400 and Airbus A330 / A340 jetliners with the Connexion by Boeing service capability beginning in mid-2004. About Connexion by Boeing Connexion by Boeing is a mobile information services provider that is bringing high-speed Internet, data and entertainment connectivity to aircraft in flight. The service currently is available to the executive services market in the U.S., which includes operators of private and government aircraft. The three-month service demonstration with Lufthansa begins in January 2003, followed one month later by a three-month service demonstration with British Airways, scheduled to begin in mid-February. Japan Airlines and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) also have announced plans to equip longer-range jetliners in their fleets beginning in 2004. For additional information, visit the Connexion by Boeing web site at www.boeing.com/connexion.

Re:The thing about airlines that scares me

[Maxwell'sSilverLART]

cite a regulation

My pleasure.

14 CFR 121.306 Portable electronic devices. (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, no person may operate, nor may any operator or pilot in command of an aircraft allow the operation of, any portable electronic device on any U.S.-registered civil aircraft operating under this part.
(b) Paragraph (a) of this section does not apply to --
(1) Portable voice recorders;
(2) Hearing aids;
(3) Heart pacemakers;
(4) Electric shavers; or
(5) Any other portable electronic device that the part 119 certificate holder has determined will not cause interference with the navigation or communication system of the aircraft on which it is to be used.
(c) The determination required by paragraph (b)(5) of this section shall be made by that part 119 certificate holder operating the particular device to be used. (Source: Government Printing Office)

Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations governes Aeronautics and Space. Part 121 covers scheduled airline operations (parts 135 and 91 cover charter-type operations and all other operations, respectively, and have similar language).

As for a CD player, or a computer, or any other digital device, it does have an RF oscillator: it's called a clock (as in "clock speed"), and most of them are poorly shielded, if shielded at all. Think about it--is your CD player's case made of metal or plastic? I don't feel like retyping (or copying and editing) my previous post on the subject, but if you follow the link, you'll find a much more in-depth explanation.

--Dave Buckles
Commercial Pilot, Airplane Single and Multiengine Land
Instrument Airplane
Flight Instructor--Airplane
Instrument Instructor
2711311 CFII 06/04