Jim Phoenix wrote:
No,

Installing a fixed ELT in a certified glider is a minor alteration and
requires an A&P. In some places, the local Feds might decide it's a major
alteration, but that's unlikely.

Hmm, for those of us who have to *pay* our A&Ps to do things, the $300
ELT appears to be a mythical creature.

In any case, the actions described in Part 43, Appendix A as Preventive
Maintenance (may be accomplished by Private Pilot) does not include any
minor alteration - specifically it does not include installing an ELT.

For experimental aircraft - check your Operating Limitations, there are
differences regarding what documentation or approval is required for an
alteration - and mine says no major alterations unless documented per Part
43, so it requires a 337. For a minor alteration on my experimental glider,
as an A&P, I sign it off in the logbook - same as my standard airworthiness
certificated glider. For a major alteration, I use my IA certificate on my
standard glider - and my A&P on my experimental glider and file the 337's
the same way.

For my experimental glider, the relevant limitation reads:

Aircraft instruments and equipment installed and used under 14
CFR part 91.205 must be inspected and maintained in accordance
with the requirements for those instruments found in 14 CFR
parts 43 and 91.

This puts an ELT in a gray area, as I'm not required to install one
under 91.205, but ELTs are one of instruments listed in 91.205. I
suspect the proper interpretation is that I can't simply install one
and sign the logbook (as a non-A&P), as I could with other minor
alterations.

Given current shop rates out here, the need to pull wires for the remote
control panel, and the issue of where to mount an antenna in a carbon
fiber fuselage, I'll be quite lucky if my $300 ELT costs me less than
$600. And, if someone on the RC decides that a C-91A ELT isn't good
enough a few years down the line, I get to throw it away and install a
C-126 ELT. Maybe I should take up knitting...

Thanks,
Marc