I'm glad to see the healthy discussion on ELTs. It's long overdue. New
Castle. I conferred at length with Lanier (my long time friend and
confidant) and urged him to make the ELT rule. I hope I was influential. I
urged him to act dictatorially as owner of the airport. He has no authority
to change contest rules, so he has made the rule independent of SSA etc. I
feel strongly that he has not completed his "due diligence" liability wise
without such a rule in place. I think his lawyer will agree. The fact that
we have neglected such a rule for so long in the past is not relevant.
I think the discussion about different models and specs is excellent and
may/should lead to a tweaking of the rules in the future. This does not
change the need for the immediate general rule.
Of course such a rule may not be needed for all sites. Each site (owner,
club, organization) must determine it's need. For sites such as Mifflin and
New Castle where tasking is over rough terrain with thick forest cover the
need is obvious.
The real purpose of this post is to ask for some discussion on ELT
installations in various gliders and especially the antennas and their
design and installation, especially in carbon fiber fuselages. My last four
or five gliders, in which I installed ELTs were ASW-28, LS-8, Discus B,
DiscusA, LS-7. They were all experimental. I shudder to think of the
previous 30+ years I flew cross country out of New Castle without one.
Ignorance is bliss!
I "crashed" the Discus A and the ASW-28 and the ELTs worked perfectly.
Fortunately (I think) I had witnesses and did not need a site locator.
Installations are generally easy structurally. The main criterion is to
prevent the ELT from hitting the pilot in the head. I've mounted several
against the back of the front carry through tube. Here you must prevent the
unit from rising vertically due to any initial impact and then be in
position for free movement into the head upon the next major impact. It's
mostly common sense.
I'll save for next time my ideas on making homemade antennas and their
installation.
Ed Byars