New LHR FOD Radar
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New LHR FOD Radar
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7452075.stm
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Brilliant - sounds like they were using that "anticipated separation" that the yanks are so fond of 
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As each airliner begins to move, ATC radios "Checker Vacate" and the driver veers sharply off the runway, bouncing over rough grass, to get clear.
As each airliner begins to move, ATC radios "Checker Vacate" and the driver veers sharply off the runway, bouncing over rough grass, to get clear.
Then it is a question of waiting until the plane has taken off before turning back on to the runway.
Then it is a question of waiting until the plane has taken off before turning back on to the runway.
At one point the giant A380 double-deck airliner took off a few hundred feet above the checker vehicle.
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Moving away from the seemingly over-enthusiastic use of journalistic licence, does anyone know if this little gizmo is actually going to achieve anything useful....apart from giving the odd journo a thrill driving 'the wrong way' along a runway?
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As each airliner begins to move, ATC radios "Checker Vacate" and the driver veers sharply off the runway, bouncing over rough grass, to get clear.
And the FOD radar is providing plenty of false alarms. It is very fond of grass returns...
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Spitoon, ask CYVR: They've had one running for about 18 months I think, and they say it has increased their runway capacity - no longer do they send a vehicle out to the runway and have to hunt around for reported FOD, thus stopping departures, for example, for five minutes. With a FOD detection system, they can send the vehicle straight out to the FOD in a matter of seconds.
