Mapping Glider Locations

"I'm not saying you can't do this, but my conscience says it's not the
intent of the FCC rules to let any Tom, Dick or Harry use amateur
frequncies on a continuing basis without obtaining a proper license. We
could debate this for decades, but would end up in the same spot in the
end (unless the FCC ever decides this is an abuse of license privileges
and specifically spells it out as legal or illegal). The wiki source
you provided suggests asking the ARRL for guidance and NOT to ask the
FCC. This is their way of saying "Let a sleeping dog lie." And this
implies to me that they are suggesting operating on the fringe of the
law. I think allowing non-hams to operate in the ham bands is not a
good thing for the amateur service, but that's just my opinion. After
all, it's not hard to get a license these days."

Response: And, you are implying that glider pilots never operate in a gray
area. They do. One example is in the limitations of experimental aircraft.
Some things are set in stone. Others are not. There are numerous examples
of gray areas when it comes to flight. There was a discussion sometime ago
about whether a tow plane could tow a glider operating as an ultralight.

Let me give you a simple and realistic example of where APRS could be used
and there would be no gray area. You and your friend are glider pilots.
You are a ham and your friend is not. You decide to fly cross-country
together. You bring along two self contained APRS boxes. You place one box
in his aircraft and turn it on. You place the others in your aircraft and
turn it on. You leave a receive only unit at the airport connected to a GPS
with built in terrain mapping. Your friend tells his spouse that she can
follow your flight on a Google map on the internet at www.findu.com . Then,
you fly. During flight, you will be able to see your soaring companion on
your GPS screen. It makes the cross-country more enjoyable and safer. The
guys back at the airport can watch your progress with envy. At end of the
day, you return back to your home airport and land. You go over to him,
congratulate him on the successful flight, then shut the APRS beacon off and
remove from aircraft to take home with you. Then, you go have a beer.

Your friend's wife then notes that you returned to the airport at 4:45 pm
but did not get home until 7:30 pm, says the dinner is cold andwonders where
he spent the intervening 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Your friend says he is never going to use APRS again, or at least not let
his wife know about it.

Colin Lamb