Reference locations to purchase the new 406 ELT's I am sure aircraft part shops such as Aircraft Spruce and others would have them. But also remember the additional cost of installation must be considered in your purchase.
We have 11 CAP aircraft in Virginia and we are installing the ARTEX G 406-4, with nav interface, dual antenna and panel mounted remote switch. I am sure these are expensive and probably since the entire CAP Nationwide fleet is getting them, a major discount was obtained. 4 of our newer aircraft are Glass 182's and they came from the factory with the 406 ELT. But remember most of our searching is done in mountainous areas ,low level, slow speeds and normally we fly 1NM or less lat/long spacing in the grids. Thus we are close to critical flight conditions and usually have a crew of 3. An experienced Mission pilot only concentrates of safe flight and monitors the GPS to insure every inch of the search area is searched. An Observer in the right seat looks out their side, monitors the GPS , and makes all radio calls. We are required to do 30 minute checkins to Mission Base to insure safety. If an aircraft does not make the 30 minute checkin we immediate assume one of ours may be in trouble and usually divert or scramble one of our other aircraft to locate it. But we continue to search for the missing aircraft. The person in the back of the aircraft is called the Scanner and their only job ( and it is a miserable one) is to constantly look out. They always sit behind the pilot as they are the eyes for that side since the pilot doesn't have time to search.. If we have 2 pilots up front after an hour the left seat pilot transfers PIC to the pilot in the right seat and the roles are switched. At that time the Scanner than slides to the other seat , always behind the PIC as he is his out side eyes. Even in our 182's we usually only carry a maximum of 3 as the type of flying we do makes 4 in an already loaded aircraft certainly stressing our safety limitations.The Scanner also monitors the freqs and helps out as needed. After we locate the downed aircraft we call in the Lat/Long to Mission Base ( using code words due to other news stations monitoring us ) and the ground crews, which already have been prepositioned, are on their way. The aircraft establishes comm with the ground crew and once they have a visual on them, directs them to the area of the crash site. Many times the Scanner will do the directing as we have comm set up in the rear seat. If aircraft fuel becomes a problem ( if we land with less than 1 hour fuel remaining we are permanently grounded) we divert another aircraft to relieve the one on station. We always have a " high bird" which I usually position half way between the mission base and search area. Their only job is to relay communications between low searching aircraft ( in the mountains /valleys VHF being line of sight is poor) , between ground crews as well as back to Mission Base. Insuring positive communicatioins is mandatory. The high bird crew must also be mission rated. A few years ago a light helicopter crashed in Northern Va and we searched for days without any luck. As the sun was setting it reflected on the broken plexiglass and the search crew located it. They were returning to mission base due to fuel concerns and I was flying high bird in a 182. We were diverted for their relief and flew the GPS coordinates to the location. Once we had a visual on the aircraft I followed it into the valley and as soon as we spotted the wreckage the other aircraft headed for home and we were on scene. Once the ground crew arrived and spotted the wreckage about 100 yards below the top of the ridge we also were on our way home. Our initial plan for our Ercoupe is to stay with the 121.5 ELT ( it is required), have a cell phone on, handheld VHF comm, when possible monitor 121.5 and always be able to switch to 7700 on that transponder. When the price goes down I am sure we will get a 406. Remember the 406 also transmits on 121.5 and all of our CAP aircraft have the capability of monitoring and DFing both frequencies as well as the military 243.0. I just read in the EAA Sport Pilot book that Canada is requiring the 406 ELT's by 2011. So if you plan to fly up there another consideration. Again sorry for the long response but I have many war stories and hope they are helpful. Many Civil Air Patrol Sqdns are located throughout the US and we always have practice exercises to keep our skills sharpened. We encourage visitors to come to our misison base and we will be glad to give you a complete tour of our operation. In fact we are having a Virgina State wide SAR this coming Saturday at Chesterfield airport ( FCI). I will be there and my job this time will be Plans Director. I enjoy this position for I must put myself in the pilots head , use the available info I have and try to determine what would he do under these conditions. Then I establish the search areas and where I send the first aircraft I call a " pathfinder ". Usually they fly the route the pilot filed in hopes of hearing the ELT or locating the aircraft. Jim N3439H KFDK ----- Original Message ----- From: Professor Ed 1%er To: Ed Burkhead Cc: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 5:29 AM Subject: RE: [ercoupe-tech] !21.5 Emergency Freq Where are some good places to order the new 406MHz aircraft-rated ELTs? I have the old model. And thanks to everyone's suggestions on getting the responses right on our tech blog. I think I understand better now! "Couper" Carl LaVon N415CB '46 ERCO 415C KJVY --- On Mon, 2/2/09, Ed Burkhead <[email protected]> wrote: From: Ed Burkhead <[email protected]> Subject: RE: [ercoupe-tech] !21.5 Emergency Freq To: [email protected] Date: Monday, February 2, 2009, 11:31 PM Jim, Please give us some feedback on this idea. Since aircraft rated 406MHz ELTs may be out of the price range of some pilots, I’ve suggested a few times that they install the old style ELT and buy a PLB. If the PLB is mounted in the cockpit or attached to the pilot then perhaps, in an emergency, the PLB could be manually activated (just as you suggest activating the ELT and setting the transponder to 7700). (If I were wealthy, I’d have an aircraft mounted, automatically activating 406MHz ELT and a manually activated PLB attached to me.) I’d a lot rather call in after a successful forced landing and explain why I activated and then shut off my PLB (or ELT) than have it be difficult for you guys to find me. In my one forced landing, I didn’t even call out on the radio because I’d just bought the plane and hadn’t been able (in several tries) to be understood over that radio by anyone. It was worrisome, gliding down toward the field knowing that no one would know where I was, if it didn’t go well. It did go well following the same procedures I’d demonstrated in my checkride the week before. I was able to walk 100 yards to the farm house and call home. After that, I periodically rehearsed what I’d say, first on Unicom 122.8 (well populated here in the central states), then on 121.5, then flip on the ELT switch behind my left shoulder. I practiced reaching back to that ELT on-switch so many times I could easily do it without affecting my control of the plane. Here’s a big “Thank you” to all you guys and gals for all your time spent participating in CAP and searches? Thank you! Ed
