BA ex-Midand MLS
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Join Date: Nov 2000
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BA ex-Midand MLS
Hi all,
Do the ex-Midland Airbus aircraft operated by BA have the Microwave Landing System fitted?
If so, was it a retro-fit?
Thanks
Do the ex-Midland Airbus aircraft operated by BA have the Microwave Landing System fitted?
If so, was it a retro-fit?
Thanks
Could someone please explain briefly what MLS is please?
The only real advantage is that, due to the greater tolerance to interference of the microwave signal, reduced spacing can be achieved during low vis ops but unless you have either:
all aircraft equipped with MLS; or
a dedicated MLS-only runway
the benefits are not really tangible.
At LHR, a stream of BA Airbii may save a few seconds but the following ILS-only aircraft will still need standard spacing.
GLS (GPS Landing System) offers similar benefits but again, few airports and aircraft are so equipped.
Join Date: Dec 1999
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No; it is a tangible benefit. It's far more than seconds.
When it was first used for CAT III, every MLS aircraft saved 1nm. With up to 25% of arrivals MLS equipped, landing rate in LVP could go from 24 per hour to 26-28. Not to be sniffed at in terms of delay profile.
GLS does not offer this benefit at all currently; I would be surprised if the first public transport CAT III GAST-D approach was made before 2021. At current pace, maybe '22 or '23?
And of those GLS-equipped aircraft flying today, how many are GAST-D? Not many, if any at all. So they will all need a software, if not a hardware upgrade before they can fly CAT III approaches.
In the meantime, wide aparture array ILS is the way forwards.
When it was first used for CAT III, every MLS aircraft saved 1nm. With up to 25% of arrivals MLS equipped, landing rate in LVP could go from 24 per hour to 26-28. Not to be sniffed at in terms of delay profile.
GLS does not offer this benefit at all currently; I would be surprised if the first public transport CAT III GAST-D approach was made before 2021. At current pace, maybe '22 or '23?
And of those GLS-equipped aircraft flying today, how many are GAST-D? Not many, if any at all. So they will all need a software, if not a hardware upgrade before they can fly CAT III approaches.
In the meantime, wide aparture array ILS is the way forwards.
I would have thought all Airbus aircraft were deleivered with Multi Mode Receivers (MMR) fully capable of tuning MLS.
Last edited by chevvron; 3rd Apr 2017 at 10:12.
eg Curved or offset approaches for environmental reasons.
When I did my NATS ATCO Staff Course back in '86, we were told 'no more ILS will be commisioned after 1992 and MLS only will be accepted after that'.
Someone lied, like they lied about 'no more LARS when Swanwick opens, it will have 10 FIR Radar positions'.
When I did my NATS ATCO Staff Course back in '86, we were told 'no more ILS will be commisioned after 1992 and MLS only will be accepted after that'.
Someone lied, like they lied about 'no more LARS when Swanwick opens, it will have 10 FIR Radar positions'.
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