Region 4 S: ELT Mandatory

no problem and thanks for your comments.
I have been a proponent of ELT's in gliders ever since I heard the contest
lectures years ago offered by UH (Uncle Hank) and others and it was at their
urging I stated carrying these in stock and BTW have installed them on some,
though honestly, not all of the gliders that I have owned. If I were
actively flying more XC and especially contest flying I would definitely
have one installed.
I think there is a real benefit to installing ELT's, even the current 121.5
MHz units especially at the low cost and eventually, we will see as the 406
ELT's become more in demand the prices I suspect on these too will come
down.
I also think it's good to have an open dialog and even though RAS is not the
only source for this discussion a lot of pro's and con's can be openly
discussed here. I don't take offense to any of the comments and also know we
don't always get our points across as well in a typed email as we would
face to face but these discussions are useful if we don't let them be taken
as personal attacks.
thanks
tim

"Chris OCallaghan" wrote in message
m...
Apologies Tim, I read in more posturing than was obviously there.
Clearly you are aware of pilots who, to reduce cost, might seek marine
systems to carry in their gliders. This hadn't even occured to me.

One point worth revisiting, however, is the intent of SARSAT to cease
121.5 support in 2009. Another point is the use of small, cheap,
personal 121.5 ELTs, typically strapped to the parachute. My
undestanding is that these are all manually operated. As a vendor, you
must satisfy demand for such devices, but they clearly suffer the same
disadvantages you noted for GPS PLBs, and offer none of the benefits
of accurate positioning or timely interpretation of signal.

For years we've heard proponents of ELTs cite them as lifesaving
devices. In any accident which causes serious injury, the first hour
is absolutely critical to survival. If we are going to discuss ELTs as
pilot safety devices, then we need to differentiate the choices very
carefully. If we instead view them as search (but not necessarily
rescue) facilitators, then we have more latitude in our choices. As
for my own research, a 406 ELT with a coupled GPS seems the best (and,
of course, most expensive) overall solution. I would also be tempted
to have a GPS PLB on or in my parachute. As I would carry such a unit
for sailing or back country skiing/hiking, it seems a reasonable added
expense.