From Good Morning Silicon Valley.

If the Air Force and its contractors don’t get their act together pretty quickly, in a couple of years your car’s navigation system may be giving you instructions like “In a mile or so, turn right” or “You have reached your destination, more or less.” The Air Force is responsible for maintaining and modernizing the network of satellites that provides GPS service, but according to a new Government Accountability Office report, technical problems, leadership lapses and contractor woes have combined to put things way behind schedule. “As a result,” said the report, “the current IIF satellite program has overrun its original cost estimate by about $870 million and the launch of its first satellite has been delayed to November 2009 — almost three years late.”

The problem is that the GPS system needs a constellation of at least 24 satellites to deliver complete coverage and accurate results, and some of the birds now flying have been up there almost 20 years. If they start to fail before replacements are up, GPS accuracy will start to deteriorate. As things stand, the report concluded, “it is uncertain whether the Air Force will be able to acquire new satellites in time to maintain current GPS service without interruption. If not, some military operations and some civilian users could be adversely affected.”

Bah! And just when I was getting to rely on it for getting to Norham Gardens.

From the every-cloud-has-a-silver-lining department. This from the front page of today’s Irish Times.

In an unforgiving recession that has led to a collapse in demand for many trappings of the luxury lifestyle, Ireland’s best-known helicopter company has ceased its charter service.

Celtic Helicopters, controlled by businessman Ciarán Haughey, returned its air operations certificate to aviation regulators yesterday.

The firm now plans to focus on hangaring services for helicopter owners who are mothballing aircraft to curtail their day-to-day outgoings.

The firm offered business travel and aerial photography services, as well as pleasure trips, golf tours and transfers to race meetings.

Although helicopter trips became a symbol of spectacular wealth accumulation in the boom times, they are no longer in vogue. The chopper, for example, was a favoured mode of transportation among property developers. Now many members of that community are under considerable fiscal strain. Celtic is making five staff redundant as a result of the decision to halt charter services, but it will continue to employ another eight.

Knowledgeable readers will recall that Celtic’s owner is the son of Charlie Haughey, the disgraced gangster who was, for a time, Ireland’s Taoiseach (Prime Minister). Celtic Aviation prospered during his reign — and of course during the boom.