Originally Posted by Loren Pechtel
The ground-based towers emit a *LOT* more. It's just that the plane is a *LOT* farther from them. 1 watt at 1 yard is the same as 1760 watts at 1 mile.
I suspect it's even worse than that, because the power radiates in all directions. If I'm correct, then the power at the receiving end drops with the third power of the distance. In other words, if you are 1000 times farther away, the amount of power you receive is only one billionth as much. (This is an attempt to recall physics not studied in more than 3 decades, but somebody will correct me if I'm wrong, I'm sure!)
Bruce