Avidyne's MLX770 provides pilots with two-way text messaging support

It's not that texting from planes is currently impossible, it's just not terribly reliable. Thanks to Avidyne's Q4-bound MLX770, however, all that is about to change. The two-way datalink receiver will not only enable pilots to have access to the radar mosaic for most of the world along with weather conditions, but it will add support for text messaging right from the MFD. And we're not talking about CPLDC -- we're talking bona fide SMS. To keep pilots from chatting away too much unnecessarily, the system will limit messages to 32 characters, and beyond that, each message sent will run between $1 and $2. And to think, we actually have the nerve to gripe about $0.20 texts...

[Via FlightGlobal]

[iEye @ Sep 2nd 2008 8:35AM]

Try 2 cram all wrds in2 32 chars

[From My Cube @ Sep 2nd 2008 8:49AM]

LOL C U @ 30k FT

[rep0c0p @ Sep 2nd 2008 8:59AM]

Um..

Yay?

[Todd @ Sep 2nd 2008 9:06AM]

Twitter-for-airplanes asks: What are you doing?

Otto the auto pilot: Getting inflated
Ted Striker: Surely you can't be serious
Dr. Rumack ( Leslie Nielsen ): I am serious, and don't call me Shirley.

[OneLove @ Sep 2nd 2008 10:42AM]

Epic Fail!

[phanbouy @ Sep 2nd 2008 2:09PM]

@OneLove

are you auditioning for playing the engadget character of Flashpoint?

[steven @ Sep 2nd 2008 5:42PM]

No, he's auditioning for clak.

[Tim @ Sep 2nd 2008 9:10AM]

so incoming messages can be over 36 characters, judging by the example shown. If the limit is supposed to keep pilots from getting distracted, I would think trying to fit a message into such a small window would be even more so.

[Mike @ Sep 2nd 2008 9:13AM]

Just a typo note: CPDLC.

[avester @ Sep 2nd 2008 9:16AM]

Plane : 300,000$
Fuel : 5,000$
Avidyne MLX770 : 800$
Bitching about 2$ messages : Priceless.

There are some things that you can't complain about. For everything else there's the internet.

[jay.viz @ Sep 2nd 2008 11:17AM]

Where people even complain about complaining.

[Jason Stone @ Sep 2nd 2008 2:18PM]

nothing costs $800 when it has to do with a plane

[Jason Stone @ Sep 2nd 2008 2:17PM]

nothing in aviation costs less than $1000...this is probably about $12,000

[Matt @ Sep 2nd 2008 9:27AM]

Great. Jenny the sorority chick can barely drive her car because she is texting, now we want to make it easier for a pilot to text?

[Kennyb123 @ Sep 2nd 2008 10:33AM]

Yeah, because pilots have to worry about stoplights and traffic...

[Kennyb123 @ Sep 2nd 2008 10:36AM]

Oh, and you do realize that pilots use auto-pilot 95% of the flight, right?

[Nelson @ Sep 2nd 2008 10:42AM]

It's not like you need second-by-second eyes out the windshield in an airplane.

Remember: Flying is basically hours of boredom sprinkled with a few seconds of terror... And that's a quote from combat pilots. Commercial pilots basically just get the boredom.

[avester @ Sep 2nd 2008 10:43AM]

Yeah, like Kenny said, even an idiot could fly a plane apart from the takeoffs and landings.

[Ignatius @ Sep 2nd 2008 11:00AM]

Obviously no one watches Mythbusters...

If you don't know about the autopilot command and you've gotta take control with no experience... well, good luck.

[Joe @ Sep 2nd 2008 10:26AM]

OMG! Im about 2 crash! Ohnoes!

[Jeff @ Sep 2nd 2008 10:53AM]

a/s/l ?

[michas_pi @ Sep 2nd 2008 11:50AM]

46/M/30,000 feet over Barbados

[TIMMAH! @ Sep 2nd 2008 11:12AM]

OMG! PUYATCIM! (Pull Up You're About To Crash Into Me!)

[Crashmaxx @ Sep 2nd 2008 1:12PM]

BRB landing

[Mile @ Sep 2nd 2008 1:14PM]

It's illegal for me to drive a car and text, but it's okay for these yo-yos to fly a jet airplane and text?

[Jason Stone @ Sep 2nd 2008 2:23PM]

different for at least the following reasons:

1. you can move several thousand feet in any direction and not hit anything (most of the time)
2. many planes have autopilots
3. you have to be much more trained to fly a plane than you do to drive a car

[blarvh @ Sep 2nd 2008 2:26PM]

Do you have autopilot in your car? - No
Do you have a copilot that can text for you? - You could have

[J @ Sep 2nd 2008 2:32PM]

Just for the first comment on the datalink reciever screen = 94 characters = up to $124. Madness!

[jskrdude @ Sep 2nd 2008 2:42PM]

not $1 for character after 32.. $1-2 dollars for every message more than 32 characters long...

[Alex (http:www.easypctexting.com) @ Sep 4th 2008 7:11PM]

You know Google has this SMS search service.. You type a formatted question on your cell, send it to google via their SMS short code and they reply with the list of search results...

Now one could send from a plane: "How do you land Cessna 350?"

:)