The Introduction of Inertial Navigation into Commercial Aviation Aircraft by the Federal Aviation Agency, 19634 969

Sidney Hirshon

Abstract:	In the early 196Os, the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) realized that inertial guidance systems, then being used exclusively by the military forces, provided navigational guidance entirely independent of meteoro- logical, terrain, and radio effects. For civil aviation, it could provide unique advantages for safer operation and superior aircraft control, especially over uncharted oceanic routes. The complexity and difficulties in maintaining inertial systems performance had been a serious obstacle, and at that time, its use had been limited to specialized military applications where cost was not a factor. Nonetheless, it was known that there were recent advances in the technology itself that improved weight, accuracy, and reliability. On this premise, the FAA gave assent to evaluate the inertial military technology for the benefit of U.S. airlines. The history of how this program proceeded and the results are documented below.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 51st Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1995) June 5 - 7, 1995 Antlers Doubletree Hotel Colorado Springs, CO
Pages:	431 - 442
Cite this article:	Hirshon, Sidney, "The Introduction of Inertial Navigation into Commercial Aviation Aircraft by the Federal Aviation Agency, 19634 969," Proceedings of the 51st Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1995), Colorado Springs, CO, June 1995, pp. 431-442.
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