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Friday Harbor Airport to get Transponder Landing System

posted 01/29/02
Pilots flying into Friday Harbor Airport will be able to use a Transponder Landing System later this year. Senator Patty Murray included a feasibility study of a TLS at the airport in the 2001 transportation bill. Port Director Steve Simpson said, "I understand it is a good fit. It is far cheaper than an Instrument Landing System and cheaper to install. The TLS will provide increased safety margin for operators."

Advanced Navigation and Positioning Corp. (ANPC) of Hood River, Oregon developed the system which it describes as "first and foremost, a precision tracking system. The system interrogates the aircraft's transponder and determines the location of the aircraft from the transponder reply to two ground-based sensors. The transponder's location is resolved in azimuth, elevation angle and range. The system then provides guidance to a tracked aircraft. TLS guidance is delivered to the aircraft by emulating standard Instrument Landing System (ILS) signals."

Friday Harbor Airport Manager Pat Mayo told the port commissioners at their Jan. 23, 2002, "as of a week ago, the TSL is a very hot item. Friday Harbor is one of the next three airports to get it. It uses standard equipment already on regular planes."

More information is available on the ANPC Web site. For background information on how the system, read this article by Gary Picou.