Well. From
what I have read - theoretically no because of the layers of material jet airline
is made of and other bunch of stuff which makes a pretty tuff job for a smartphone
to pick up any satellite signal. In any case I was relatively bored and curious
while on flight between Belfast and Geneva so I decided do give it a go and see
if it works. Eventually after couple of tries on Google Maps I was about to give
up when signal was picked up at cruising altitude which was somewhere between
35000 to 40000 feet (cannot remember exact figure).
I was flying above Northern
France and saw myself passing Paris. At the same time I launched another up to
check what speed I was doing and it was able to pick it up as well, showing stable
range between 490-500mph. All the details were shortly confirmed by Captain who
said that we were flying at such and such altitude, just passing Paris and
cruising speed 500mph. I have to say stable locked GPS signal continued until I
decided to conserve some battery life and switched everything off.
I have tried
the same thing over again while on the return flight and it was not successful.
So it is indeed very difficult to pick up any GPS signal onboard jet aircraft from
your smartphone. What I could recommend though is to lock GPS signal while
taxing before takeoff, this would probably provide more chance of having a GPS
signal while climbing, cruising etc. I have not tried this method but would
give it a go when next time on board. You never know before you try!
Aircraft: Airbus A319
Smartphone: LG Nexus 4
Altitude: 35-40000 feet
Conditions: Early morning, Mostly
clear
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