AIRBUS INDUSTRIE has demonstrated precision approaches and landings with an A340 guided by a differential global-positioning system (DGPS) at Mmabatho in South Africa.
The trial took place as South African Airways moved into the final stages of selecting its new long-haul replacement aircraft. Airbus used a Sextant Avionique differential ground station to provide the GPS correction signals and achieve vertical and horizontal accuracy inside 2m.
It plans to certificate primary-means en route GPS in 1996 and DGPS precision-approach-capability in the proposed multi-mode receiver by the end of 1997. The DGPS could bring at least Category I precision-approach-capability to airports without surface navigation aids.
Source: Flight International
