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Airborne Trailblazer

Source Notes Chapter 4:
A Technology Eclipsed: The Microwave Landing System and the Dawn of GPS

  1. Performed by a DC-3. John P. Reeder, "NASA-JMLS-TRSB Flight Demonstration," (presentation viewgraphs, Montreal, Canada March/April 1978, from ATOPS office files).
  2. Department of Transportation and National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Civil Aviation Research and Development Policy Study, DOT TST-10-4, NASA SP-265, (Washington, D.C., March, 1971).
  3. Jack Reeder, Proposal for Systems Research Approach to Integrating Vehicle-Instrument-Display-Pilot Capability for Total Flight Missions, draft, 1969, annotated with additional personal notes, 1971; "Report of Department of Transportation Air Traffic Control Advisory Committee, Vol. 1," December 1969 (from Federal Aviation Administration history records).
  4. By the 1990s, the organization was called only "RTCA, Inc." The full title was dropped.
  5. Philip J. Klass, "Future Landing Aid Needs Study Launched," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 11 March 1968, 31-32; Time Reference Scanning Beam Microwave Landing System, Department of Transportation/Federal Aviation Administration public information publication, 1977, 5.
  6. Memo with attachments from John P. Reeder, chief, Terminal Configured Vehicle Program Office, to distribution, regarding MLS flight demonstrations in Montreal, Canada, 4 April 1978 (from ATOPS office files); Time Reference Scanning Beam, 5.
  7. Frank L. Frisbie, Former FAA microwave landing system program office manager, interview with author, Washington, D.C., 13 April, 1993; Vincent L. Bencivenga, senior electronic engineer, microwave landing system program office staff, FAA, interview with author, Washington, D.C., 12 April 1993; Philip J. Klass, "Scanning Beam MLS Seen U.S. Choice," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 6 January 1975, 47-49; Time Reference Scanning Beam, 5.
  8. Time Reference Scanning Beam, 6-10; Thomas M. Walsh, Samuel A. Morello, and John P. Reeder, "Review of Operational Aspects of Initial Experiments Utilizing the U.S. MLS," SP-416, (paper, presented at Aircraft Safety and Operating Problems Conference, 18 - 20 October 1976), 9.
  9. Frisbie, interview, 13 April 1993; International Microwave Landing System Symposium Program, 30 November - 4 December 1973 (from private files of S. Salmirs).
  10. The FAA had installed MLS systems at Wallops Island and at the FAA National Aviation Flight Evaluation Center (NAFEC) in Atlantic City, New Jersey for development and evaluation purposes.
  11. Thomas M. Walsh, interview with author, Hampton, Virginia, 6 April 1993; William F. White, former researcher, Flight Instrument Division, Langley Research Center, interview with author, Washington, D.C., 13 April 1993.
  12. Walsh, interview, 6 April 1993; ATOPS office photograph files, Langley Research Center.
  13. John P. Reeder memo to staff, 7 March 1975 (from the personal files of B. White).
  14. Meeting notes, including outline of effects of MLS demonstration on TCV program projects, (from personal files of S. Salmirs); Thomas M. Walsh, "Terminal Configured Vehicle Program Research Having Potential for Fuel Savings," (paper, presented at the Flight International Conference on Fuel Economy in the Airlines, Royal Aeronautical Society, London, England, 1-2 April 1980, 6; White, interview, 13 April 1993; Frisbie, interview, 13 April 1993; Walsh, Morello, and Reeder, "Review of Initial Experiments," 9.
  15. Walsh, "Research Having Potential for Fuel Savings," 7; William F. White, comp., Flight Demonstrations of Curved, Descending Approaches and Automatic Landings Using Time Reference Scanning Beam Guidance, NASA-TM-78745, May 1978, 35-36; Hueschen, interview, 4 May 1993; Bencivenga, interview, 12 April 1993.
  16. Walsh, Morello, and Reeder, "Review of Experiments Utilizing the MLS," 11-13; White, comp. Flight Demonstrations of Approaches and Landings, 1, 3; also, Charles W. Meissner, Jr., "System Description," in White, comp.,Flight Demonstrations of Approaches and Landings, 47-50; Walsh, "Research Having Potential for Fuel Savings," 8; Hueschen, interview, 4 May 1993.
  17. Memorandum to TCV program office staff, from James E. Stitt, director for Electronics, 24 May 1976, acknowledging staff effort for demonstration.
  18. Richard M. Hueschen, interview with author, Hampton, Virginia, 4 May 1993; Walsh, interview, 6 April 1993; White, comp., Flight Demonstrations of Approaches and Landings, 1; ATOPS office flight records.
  19. Thomas M. Walsh, interview with author, Hampton, Virginia, 4 May 1993; Hueschen, interview, 4 May 1993; Delmar Fadden, Boeing Commercial Airplane Company, interview with author, Seattle, Washington, 27 April 1993; Wes Easley and David Holmes, interview with author, Hampton, Virginia, 9 April 1993.
  20. Walsh, Morello, and Reeder, "Review of Experiments Utilizing the MLS," 10, 14, 15, 18; White, comp., Flight Demonstrations of Approaches and Landings, 1-2, 36, 39.
  21. Walsh, Morello, and Reeder, "Review of Experiments Utilizing the MLS," 16; Walsh, "Research Having Potential for Fuel Savings," 11; Bencivenga, interview, 12 April 1993.
  22. Walsh, Morello, and Reeder, "Review of Experiments Utilizing the MLS," 17; Walsh, "Research Having Potential for Fuel Savings," 12; ATOPS office flight records; Hueschen, interview, 4 May 1993.
  23. The progression of the U.S.-British MLS controversy was covered in: Philip J. Klass, "Competing MLS Techniques Scrutinized," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 9 August 1976, 48-51; Klass, "MLS Faces Key Decision in Montreal,"Aviation Week & Space Technology, 10 January 1977, 19-21; Kenneth J. Stein, "U.S.-Sponsored MLS Tested at Kennedy," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 12 December 1977, 34-35; Klass, "Landing System Battle Detailed," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 13 February 1978, 12-14; Klass, "Landing System Hearings Spur Charges,"Aviation Week & Space Technology, 20 February, 1978, 65-72; Klass, "'Secrecy' Issue Aired at MLS Hearings," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 27 February 1978, 54-55; Kenneth J. Stein, "British Test Landing System in U.S.," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 27 March 1978, 29-30; Frisbie, interview, 13 April 1993; Bencivenga, interview, 12 April 1993.
  24. Letter from G.T. Connors to John P. Reeder, with "Supplemental Agreement No. DOT-FA77WAI-883 to memorandum of Agreement of May 3, 1973," outlining the MLS demonstration work requested by the FAA, dated 29 November 1977 (from ATOPS office files); Walsh, "Research Having Potential for Fuel Savings," 7.
  25. John P. Reeder, "NASA-MLS-TRSB Flight Demonstrations," (presentation notes, December 1977, from ATOPS office files).
  26. Walsh, "Research Having Potential for Fuel Savings," 9; John P. Reeder,Robert A. Schmitz, and Leonard V. Clark, Operational Benefits from the Terminal Configured Vehicle, NASA-TM-80046, 15-17.
  27. Reeder, Schmitz, and Clark, Operational Benefits, 17-18; Walsh, "Research Having Potential for Fuel Savings," 9-10.
  28. Easley and Holmes, interview, 9 April 1993; Dr. Jeremiah Creedon, interview with author, Hampton, Virginia, 7 May 1993.
  29. Lee H. Person, Jr. and Kenneth R. Yenni, "Flying NASA's Terminal Configured Vehicle Against the Microwave Landing System," Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Technical Review, Vol. 14, No. 2, 1978, 113; Walsh, "Research Having Potential for Fuel Savings," 9-10; Reeder, Schmitz, and Clark, Operational Benefits, 17-19.
  30. Walsh, "Research Having Potential for Fuel Savings," 10-11.
  31. Frisbie, interview, 13 April 1993; Bencivenga, interview, 13 April 1993; Hueschen, interview, 4 May 1993.
  32. Reeder, Schmitz, and Clark, Operational Benefits, 12, 20.
  33. Walsh, interview, 6 April 1993.
  34. Bencivenga, interview, 12 April 1993; Frisbie, interview, 13 April 1993; James T. McKenna, "FAA's Assertions of MLS Benefits Fail to Sway Airline Operations Personnel," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 1 August 1988, 86-87; "U.S. Airlines Reassess Position Against MLS," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 19 September 1988, 122.
  35. Frisbie, interview, 13 April 1993; Dr. Jeremiah Creedon, interview with author, Hampton, Virginia, 5 April 1993; Walsh, interview, 6 April 1993; "FAA Schedules Briefings On Deployment of MLS," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 1 December 1980, 31; Paul Proctor, "Flight Departments Request Revised MLS Installation List," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 12 May 1986, 77-78; "FAA Continues to Support MLS Installation Plan," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 13 October 1986, 47; Kenneth J. Stein, "FAA Initiates Two-Phase Effort To Speed Acceptance of MLS," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 23 March 1987, 36-38;Philip J. Klass, "Cost and Schedule Questions Threaten MLS Installation," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 4 January 1988, 68-69.
  36. James K. Gordon, "FAA Projects Nine-Month Delay in Production MLS Deliveries," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 25 March 1985, 32-33; Klass, "Cost Questions Threaten MLS," 68; James T. McKenna, "ATA Will Establish Task Force To Critique MLS Programs," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 6 March 1989, 68; Philip J. Klass, "FAA Alters Microwave Landing System Deployment Plan to Ease ILS Transition," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 8 January 1990, 31; Bencivenga, interview, 12 April 1993; Frisbie, interview, 13 April 1993.
  37. "MLS Transition Undergoes Scrutiny," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 18 April 1988, 86; Philip J. Klass, "GAO Recommends Postponing MLS Purchases Until Benefits Are Clear," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 13 June 1988, 23; Philip J. Klass, "Airlines Back Microwave System to Replace Some ILS," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 2 December 1991, 26.
  38. RTCA Task Force Report on the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Transition and Implementation Strategy, (Washington, D.C.: RTCA, Inc., September 1992), 1.
  39. Bruce D. Nordwall, "GPS Applications, Production Grow as System Gains Acceptance," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 31 October 1988, 83-84; Hueschen, interview, 4 May 1993.
  40. Hueschen, interview, 4 May 1993; Philip J. Klass, "MLS Simulations Show Curved Approaches Can Boost Traffic Flow," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 20 August 1990, 94; Poritsky, interview, 13 April 1993; Creedon, interview, 7 May 1993; Philip J. Klass, "Integrated GPS/MLS System Could Be Useful for Terminal Area Operations," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 18 February 1991, 57.
  41. Hueschen, interview, 4 May 1993; Cary R. Spitzer, interview with author, Hampton, Virginia, 13 May 1993.
  42. Creedon, interview, 5 April 1993.
  43. Hueschen, interview, 4 May 1993, and phone interview with author, 29 June 1993; Spitzer, interview, 13 May 1993; Creedon, interview, 7 May 1993; Richard M. Hueschen and Cary R. Spitzer, "Analysis of DGPS/INS and MLS/INS Final Approach Navigation Errors and Control Performance Data," (paper, presented at ION conference, San Diego, California, 27-29 January 1992), 6-11.
  44. Creedon, interviews, 5 April 1993 and 7 May 1993; Hueschen, interview, 4 May 1993.
  45. Hueschen, interview, 4 May 1993.
  46. Bencivenga, interview, 12 April 1993; David Hughes, "ICAO Delegates Back FANS Concept, Set Stage for Global Satellite Systems," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 14 October 1991, 36, 43; "Europeans Favor Satellite Navigation But Raise Concerns About GPS' Reliability," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 6 April 1992, 60.
  47. Special Committee on Future Air Navigation Systems, 4th Meeting, report, ICAO Document 9524, 2-20 May 1988.
  48. "ICAO Remains Dubious About GNSS Role," Flight International, 31 March - 6 April 1993, 6; "1995 Set For FAA GNSS Decision," Flight International, 31 March - 6 April 1993, 5.
  49. "BA Drives to Retain MLS as Main System," Flight International, 31 March - 6 April 1993, 6; "Final Approach," Flight International, 31 March - 6 April 1993, 34-36.
  50. Bencivenga, interview, 12 April 1993; Hueschen, interview, 4 May 1993; Walsh, interview, 6 April 1993; Siegbert Poritsky, interview with author, Washington, D.C., 13 April 1993; Philip J. Klass, "FAA Steps Up Program to Introduce GPS as Instrument Approach Aid," Aviation Week & Space Technology, 17 August 1992, 35-36.

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