Actually, you can NOT legally use your cell phone in flight. You are correct in general about the IFR/VFR distinction about using electonics in flight. Aviation regulations don't specifically name cell phones, but they are prohibited by the FCC, which is concerned about the cell-coverage issues.
As a commercial pilot and electronics geek, I'm concerned with the proliferation of electronics on board airplanes. No, I can't say what the effect of a cell phone is on the incredibly complex system of both analog and digital systems on the typical airliner.
The problem is, no one else really can, either.
Sure, the frequencies transmitted by cellphones are quite a bit different than avionics. But so is an FM radio. Next time you're talking on your cell phone, hold it next to your FM radio and see just how much interference you get.
I'm not aware of any detailed studies on the effects of modern consumer electronics on navigation equipment, but with the speed with which new devices are always coming out, you can bet that even if one was done, it would be obsolete within a year. Sure, the technology exists for protecting and shielding electronic equipment. Given that it would cost the manufacturer more $$$ in the long run, who really thinks that any of that technology would be voluntarily implemented without being mandated by the government?
Maybe going a mile off course at 35,000 feet is no huge deal, but think about that the next time you're sitting in the current generation of airplane shooting a CAT-III ILS approach down to near-zero/zero visibility. You're descending through 100 feet, you can barely see the wingtip through the fog, and you hear the cellphone that the guy next to you put in the overhead baggage and forgot to turn off, ringing......
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Actually, you can NOT legally use your cell phone in flight. You are correct in general about the IFR/VFR distinction about using electonics in flight. Aviation regulations don't specifically name cell phones, but they are prohibited by the FCC, which is concerned about the cell-coverage issues.
As a commercial pilot and electronics geek, I'm concerned with the proliferation of electronics on board airplanes. No, I can't say what the effect of a cell phone is on the incredibly complex system of both analog and digital systems on the typical airliner. The problem is, no one else really can, either. Sure, the frequencies transmitted by cellphones are quite a bit different than avionics. But so is an FM radio. Next time you're talking on your cell phone, hold it next to your FM radio and see just how much interference you get. I'm not aware of any detailed studies on the effects of modern consumer electronics on navigation equipment, but with the speed with which new devices are always coming out, you can bet that even if one was done, it would be obsolete within a year. Sure, the technology exists for protecting and shielding electronic equipment. Given that it would cost the manufacturer more $$$ in the long run, who really thinks that any of that technology would be voluntarily implemented without being mandated by the government? Maybe going a mile off course at 35,000 feet is no huge deal, but think about that the next time you're sitting in the current generation of airplane shooting a CAT-III ILS approach down to near-zero/zero visibility. You're descending through 100 feet, you can barely see the wingtip through the fog, and you hear the cellphone that the guy next to you put in the overhead baggage and forgot to turn off, ringing......