Introduction In an attempt to make the work of many pilots and to make aviation safer, various technologies have been introduced in the past 50 years. One of the major advancements in flying aides has been Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). SAR involves the use of more than one radar signal so as to develop images of high resolution. A radar transmitter such as antenna is attached to a moving aircraft or airborne body and the different radar echoes at each positions are assessed so as to come up with a target image. The transmitter is attached to the body of an aircraft and produces a pulse that is broad and has an orientation towards the vertical. The transmitter should have a clear and open illumination of the below terrain and objects; that the aircraft is flying above. The SAR antenna emits intermittent radar signals on the aircraft’s path of flight and the reflected echoes- vary due to distance and the nature of the reflecting surface- are recorded and then stored by the aircraft’s onboard computer. Readings are taken at each point and are later combined to form a ‘synthetic aperture’ that resembles a huge and extended antenna. Some aircraft store the transmitter readings in an onboard chip while some make real time relays to control stations at the ground. The data collected from the transmitters is used to create aviation maps based on radar reflectivity. In the recent years the accuracy of radar maps has been refined to a range of plus or minus 10 cm. SAR makes use of the collected amplitude data of the waves and makes minimal use of the phase data in coming up with radar reflectivity maps. Fig.1: Aircraft fitted SAR antenna (Kovaly, 2007). The raw SAR data is transformed to processed data by the use of Fourier techniques. This is done using special computers that aid in processing the data. An advantage of SAR has been its ability to transmit signals at very long distances and function effectively at conditions that limit other forms of imaging devices such as clouds and extreme atmospheric conditions. Unlike devices that make use of optical images SAR signals do not grow weak as the transmission range is increased. Background The development of SAR has been fueled and driven by the efforts of aeronautical engineers. This is despite the fact that SAR is more closely related to mathematics than it is to engineering (Cheney & Nolan, 2002). This is because SAR involves the use of geometry, seismic inversions and advanced math. SAR has a wide range of uses; it is used in medicine, engineering, military and aviation. SAR was developed by Wiley Carl who worked for the Goodyear Aircraft Corporation (GAC) in the 1950s. SAR was accidentally discovered as the researcher was working on a ‘correlation guidance system’. GAC later sponsored developments in the 1950 – 1970. SAR has evolved gradually over the years to become what it is today. In aviation SAR involves the use of an antenna that releases electro-magnetic pulses which land on the terrain, are scattered, reflected and then detected by the antenna. Mathematical calculations based in integral geometry are used to come up with an image of the terrain (Cheney & Nolan, 2002). In aviation there are two types of antennas. There are synthetic