THE US AIR FORCE IS to conduct precision-approach tests using the global-positioning system (GPS). A Lockheed C-130 will be used to conduct 75 GPS-guided approaches at Hurlburt Field AFB, Florida, in June.
For the trials, the C-130 has been equipped with a GPS landing-system supplied by Interstate Electronics (IEC).
An initial, 75 approaches were conducted in September 1994 and the results post-processed to determine landing-system accuracy. The latest series of flight-tests will use a laser tracker at Hurlburt Field, home of the USAF's special forces' C-130s, to measure approach accuracy.
Interstate says that the equipment supplied for the trial is similar to that being provided to Boeing for a GPS-based automatic-landing evaluation involving a NASA 757. The C-130 trial will use military precision-code GPS, which provides greater accuracy than commercially available GPS.
Source: Flight International
