ELT Required for all SSA sanctioned contests starting 2006

wrote:
pbc76049 (removethis) wrote:
Do personally registerable EPIRB's meet the elt rule?



NO! only those mounted that comply with current FAA regulations.


Hi all is US glider-land!
I don't quite get that ELT issue. I do understand the need for an ELT
while flying SSA sanctioned contests in difficult (i.e. mountainess)
terrain and it is a good idea to have one just like wearing a
parachute. Austria, I think, has made ELT's mandatory for all gliders
for good reasons. Ok so far, but why does it have to be FAA approved
unit, if newer and technologically more advanced devices are already on
the market? Isn't it true, that the government will stop monitoring
121.5 soon? Then what - mandate to install yet a different type?
Backpackers and other outdoors enthusiasts are using the new EPIRB's -
why can't we? I rather take the ELT with me on the nylon descent since
I would like to be picked up and don't care too much about the wreck.
Ok, there is the issue of 'what happens if you are incapacitated and
can't activate the unit after a mid-air?'
Alright: challenge to all of the electronics whizz-kids out the how
about adding a tiny glider mounted tri-axial accelerometer that plugs
into the EPIRB? If you have a mid-air or ride your glider into the
crash, it will activate. If you bail out and sever the connection, it
will activate or you turn it on yourself after you landed out in the
boonies where your cell phone dosen't work.

Uli Neumann