The airspeed indicator is an indispensable cockpit instrument. It’s one of the few required by the regulations to be operational on all types of flights, which demonstrates its significant role in keeping us safely flying. A quick glance at aviation’s speedometer can tell us much about the current state of the aircraft.
The advent of GPS has completely changed the way we fly. It makes point-to-point navigation virtually idiot-proof and enables an incredible amount of situational awareness. How can something that’s so revolutionary be made even better? With WAAS, the wide-area augmentation system.
WAAS is a system that improves the accuracy of GPS signals. As you know, GPS is a system of satellites that communicate their locations to the device installed in your aircraft or contained within your portable receiver, which then uses that information to calculate your position. Without WAAS, that signal is accurate to within anywhere from five to 15 meters—a major leap forward from ground-based radio navigation.
By sending the GPS position signal through a series of ground stations and then back up to dedicated satellites before releasing it to your unit, WAAS greatly improves the standard GPS position information. In fact, a WAAS-equipped GPS has been tested to an accuracy of less than a meter.
Such an accurate signal may not matter for most VFR pilots, but it represents the opportunity for instrument pilots to make approaches to within 200 feet of the ground without visual contact.
The system requires no fees, no subscription, and no action on the part of the user. Simply turn on your WAAS-capable device; it will connect and zero in on your position automatically.
