I have a portable personal ELT. I have taken it with me on
thousands of flights, some in gliders. When I flew a glider, I
attached it across my chest with the parachute. I've activated it four
times, when coming in for landing at unobserved (outlanding) strips.
I shut it off in each case after landing, except once when I was able to
avoid landout and instead climbed 10,000 feet. I then shut it off, and
called FSS and told them I was the false alarm.

I don't know why pilots assume they have to crash to activate the
ELT. I agree with Carl Herold that every outlanding is an
emergency landing, and I treat it as such.

I have never flown a glider with an installed ELT. I have found
my particular use of a personal ELT suits me and my needs better.
And my ELT is on ME, not the glider. I don't care if anyone finds
the glider...

In article IZ0Hd.4920$0B.1542@fed1read02,
Kilo Charlie NOSPAMkilocharlie.cox.net wrote:
Chris, Chris, Chris......I love it when you stoop to arguing with statistics
by not only dissing the ones presented but not offering any of your own to
support another viewpoint! The old "I just know those aren't correct" idea.
Hey I'm here to learn so show me the money and I'll be glad to see it
another way. Honestly I thought that those nasty old AOPA stats with all of
their bias supported the point that Tim (and you) were making.

And Tim.....the reason that I bought and installed a transponder (which with
an encoder was less than $2000 BTW) was that when I was flying back from the
Grand Canyon towards Phoenix on those very long flat glides, I could not
even see the gliders in front of me but could see the occasional 737 heading
in to PHX. Now I'm not thinkin' that you fly in a place more remote than
northern Arizona but I suppose I may have missed that spot while I was
flying on the east coast. With that 37 and I heading the same direction I
figured that I would get a loud noise followed by crunching as the first
sign I may be too close.

As you point out and as I said already, transponders are a lot of money but
you chose to overlook that part about the newer ELT's (and soon to be only
effective models) currently being the same price. Maybe they'll come down
in price, maybe so will transponders, maybe neither will.

I'll make the point again.....ANY $2000 required piece of equipment for
contest entry will be prohibitive to some pilots, esp newer ones. Point
number 2 is that if we are forced to choose which is a more effective
instrument in preventing human loss of life and therefore psychological
trauma to the greater number of people I say that the stats would support
the transponder.

I used OC logic with that last statement since I have nothing to support
it!!! But darn it I know I'm right!

KC





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Mark J. Boyd