Mmm…. probably. I’ve done it many times, both with Garmin handheld units (older ones) and with a GPS “dongle” and USB cable to my laptop.
As the first answerer said, you do need to be in a window seat, and if you’re on an east-west flight it helps a lot if you’re on the side of the aircraft that’s toward the equator (e.g. if you’re flying eastward and you’re in the Northern hemisphere, you want to be on the right side of the a/c, so you have a view of the southern sky). More satellites will be “in view” that way. Conversely, from the southern hemisphere you will want a view of the northern sky.
However, two cautions:
one – most airlines are no longer permitting the use of GPS by passengers while in flight. And yes, there are a couple of documented cases of suspected interference to the avionics caused by passengers’ GPS units (see NASA’s “callback” publication), though to my knowledge these cases were not confirmed by repeated off-on-off tests.
two – it is possible, since a lot of GPSs these days are very specialized for “in car” use, for “hiking” use, etc., that the GPS’s internal software may have been written to not regard 500 mph and 30,000 feet altitude as a probable “solution.” It is posisble that they might even exclude it completely. Most definitely it takes the units I’ve tried longer (a LOT longer) to establish a fix at cruise speed and altitude than it does on the ground, or from a moving car.
However the basic technology will certainly work, as long as you are in a window seat and have a decent “view” of the sky where the sats are. I and many, many other passengers have done it many, many times. It’s really just radio, after all.
Edit – added: Speaking of which, I used to fly on an airline (U. S. (sc)Air) that permitted use of radio receivers in flight (they don’t any more…) and I can tell you that FM radio works too. Again, you have to be in a window seat. But you pass in and out of the range of stations from various cities so fast that it’s hardly worth it.
Yes it can work. It may not be as accurate. You will need to get a window seat so that you can get a good signal. Make sure the airline allows you to have the device onboard and turned on.
Mmm…. probably. I’ve done it many times, both with Garmin handheld units (older ones) and with a GPS “dongle” and USB cable to my laptop.
As the first answerer said, you do need to be in a window seat, and if you’re on an east-west flight it helps a lot if you’re on the side of the aircraft that’s toward the equator (e.g. if you’re flying eastward and you’re in the Northern hemisphere, you want to be on the right side of the a/c, so you have a view of the southern sky). More satellites will be “in view” that way. Conversely, from the southern hemisphere you will want a view of the northern sky.
However, two cautions:
one – most airlines are no longer permitting the use of GPS by passengers while in flight. And yes, there are a couple of documented cases of suspected interference to the avionics caused by passengers’ GPS units (see NASA’s “callback” publication), though to my knowledge these cases were not confirmed by repeated off-on-off tests.
two – it is possible, since a lot of GPSs these days are very specialized for “in car” use, for “hiking” use, etc., that the GPS’s internal software may have been written to not regard 500 mph and 30,000 feet altitude as a probable “solution.” It is posisble that they might even exclude it completely. Most definitely it takes the units I’ve tried longer (a LOT longer) to establish a fix at cruise speed and altitude than it does on the ground, or from a moving car.
However the basic technology will certainly work, as long as you are in a window seat and have a decent “view” of the sky where the sats are. I and many, many other passengers have done it many, many times. It’s really just radio, after all.
Edit – added: Speaking of which, I used to fly on an airline (U. S. (sc)Air) that permitted use of radio receivers in flight (they don’t any more…) and I can tell you that FM radio works too. Again, you have to be in a window seat. But you pass in and out of the range of stations from various cities so fast that it’s hardly worth it.
Yes it can work. It may not be as accurate. You will need to get a window seat so that you can get a good signal. Make sure the airline allows you to have the device onboard and turned on.
Not a chance.
Wow. Come on.