1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a runway selector for selecting a runway at an airport and more particularly to a runway selector for selecting a runway at an airport which does not have traffic control and which has one or more numbered runways.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a pilot approaches an airport which has traffic control, the pilot contacts the control tower for landing instructions. A traffic controller will advise the pilot to land on a numbered runway so that the aircraft will land against the wind as closely as possible. Many of the destination airports will be unmanned or unattended by a traffic controller such as a small city airport which may have two or more numbered runways. Further, even some large airports which have numbered runways and traffic control during regular hours do not have traffic control during certain hours.
As the pilot approaches the unattended airport, the pilot will contact Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) to receive recorded information about the wind direction, wind velocity, etc. in the area of the destination airport. The pilot then must mentally determine which numbered runway should be used at the destination airport so that the pilot may land the aircraft as closely into the wind as possible. Such a mental task may be difficult and distracting to the pilot and may result in the pilot landing on the incorrect runway.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds