No, this was a contest to see who could improve the algorithm the most. There can be only a single winner. If the contest was to improve the algorithm by x%, then there might be multiple winners. If you start calling everyone a "winner", you just cheapen the experience for the true winner.

That is a very well written post. Unfortinately that is not what happened. But good job bashing Airbus.

The US already uses weapon systems that once they are turned on, make the decision about when to shoot and what direction to shoot. Take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-RAM There are situations where human beings can not make decisions fast enough. Shooting down incoming artillery is one of those situations.

Laws that make it illegal to discriminate based on sex don't apply to the military. In the US, only guys are required to register for the draft.

It makes it easier to file a flight plan. Instead of calling up a flight service station on the phone and going through the error prone process of giving them my flight plan, I can do it online. I find it to be easier and the government likes it because it is cheaper.

If I am on the jury, then I am one of the citizens who will be deciding the outcome of the case. If I am going to be deciding something, I would like to be able to hear all of the facts. Let me decide how much weight to give each piece of biased information.

When everything it working, an aviation GPS that is used for IFR approaches is not any more accurate than a consumer grade GPS. But the aviation GPS does more checking to determine if the navigation information can be trusted.

No, not really.

This doesn't increase the initial cost, but it is a pain to constantly be updating the GPS database.

This is the big one!

This is the key point. I own 25% of a plane and occasionally get comments about how it must be nice to be rich. But my non-aviation expenses are significantly less than anyone else I work with. I value having a plane more than I value having a nice car, house, being able to eat out frequently, etc.

Not many of the new 406 ELTs contain a GPS receiver. Some are able to accept GPS information from a separate GPS receiver, but they are more expensive and installation is also more expensive. When I had a 406 ELT installed, I did not get the GPS option. The shop that did the work, said that only about 10% of his customers have gone for the GPS option.

You are probably looking at hand held beacons that you manually activate. An ELT that mounts in your aircraft costs significantly more because it has G sensors to detect a crash and because it is a certified part. Also, installation is not cheap. It cost me $1500 to put one in my C-172. $1000 for the ELT and $500 for labor.