Jay Honeck wrote:
My son and I were active in Civil Air Patrol a couple of years ago.
The primary training mission was Search and Rescue, utilizing radio
direction finders that allowed us to find transponders that were going
off.

With the impending transition to 406 mhz transponders that will give
far more accurate location information upon activation, we will no
longer need fatigue-clad cadets trudging through the woods on SAR
missions.

CAP is a good organization for kids, basically "Boy Scouts With a
Mission". Given that Search and Rescue is their primary mission, I
wonder what's gonna happen to CAP?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


Without even reading the other responses, I can say authoritatively that
the CAP has many other roles that they do: counter drug surveillance,
fire watch, post-disaster aerial survey, photographic reconnasaince and
"aggressor aircraft" penetration roles.

Also, the 121.5 mhz ELT's are not going away. They are just not going to
be monitored by satellites. If an ELT goes off and a non-satellite
method of detection occurs, the process of tracking it down still gets
initiated. Overflying aircraft and ATC are the most likely sources of
this activation (you DO keep your other radio tuned to monitor 121.5 as
suggested by NOTAM, right?)

I joined my local CAP chapter and was in for about a year. My reasons
for becoming inactive were my time constraints, not anything lacking on
the part of the local squadron. I intend to re-apply when things are
more amenable to my participation. I am still on the mailing list, and
keep up with all the region and squadron event announcements - sorties,
training, etc.

Dave