ELT

bryan

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Oct 9, 2019
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spokane wa
Will be starting Gyro build this summer and wanted to know if anybody is installing ELT's/ Seems to be common practice in the fix wing arena but not in the gyro community. Any feedback will be helpful, Thanks, Bryan
 
Will be starting Gyro build this summer and wanted to know if anybody is installing ELT's/ Seems to be common practice in the fix wing arena but not in the gyro community. Any feedback will be helpful, Thanks, Bryan

Assuming you will be operating your gyroplane in the USA; if you look at FAR 91.207 that requires ELTs it applies to Airplanes.

In my opinion it does not apply to Rotorcraft.

It is my observation that ELTs don’t work very well.

I have a Spot (a satellite personal tracker) with me when I fly The Predator and in my opinion it works better than an ELT except it does not go off on impact.

Spot is the orange and black thing on the glare shield next to the compass.

I have to press the button for Spot to call for help.

The people monitoring Spot can see my location on Google earth so they have a sense of the resources required for the rescue.

I have the additional service that puts down a foot print every five minutes so my wife can see where I am and call if it stops moving.

It sends her a text message that I am taking off and another when I land if I remember to activate it.
 

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§91.207 Emergency locator transmitters.
(a) Except as provided in paragraphs (e) and (f) of this section, no person may operate a U.S.-registered civil airplane unless

key word airplane not aircraft
 
In my view, a 406 MHz ELT with GPS is much more useful and effective than filing VFR flight plans and will get help to you far more promptly. Mine has a 6-axis g-switch for rotorcraft use and does not require action by the pilot to activate it or any follower on the ground to monitor/notice any discrepancy (the international COSPAS-SARSAT satellite system is always watching). Perhaps a little pricey, but no subscription fees either ...
 
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In my opinion an ELT would be useful if you want someone to find your remains in the future after a crash. While spending years offshore on our sailboat we relied on a UHF EPIRB than would alert NOAA and search crews in minutes of an emergency and in most cases lead to a near real time response.

Go with an EPIRB if you are looking at rescue, ELT if you are concerned with eventual recovery of remains.

Bobby
 
In my opinion an ELT would be useful if you want someone to find your remains in the future after a crash. While spending years offshore on our sailboat we relied on a UHF EPIRB than would alert NOAA and search crews in minutes of an emergency and in most cases lead to a near real time response.

Go with an EPIRB if you are looking at rescue, ELT if you are concerned with eventual recovery of remains.

Bobby

Sorry, but that's out-of-date nonsense.

Your EPIRB and the 406 MHz ELTs all talk to the very same satellites and notify the same search authorities with the same rapidity and position accuracy. The difference is that the ELT has a g-switch so that it will notify them even if you are incapacitated in a crash, while your EPIRB or PLB will sit by silently while you bleed if you are unable to activate it manually (EPIRBs are automatic only if submerged, so you'll have to crash into a lake to get it to respond automatically). EPIRBs are supposed to be registered to vessels, ELTs to aircraft, and PLBs to persons, but they all talk to the same rescue people. [Registration provides contact information like cell phone numbers for the rescuers to use, and needs to be kept up to date for all types.]

I think some of the responders here are stuck in the mindset from the decades-old 121.5 ELT technology, which was famous for false alarms, failure to activate, low power, and poor location service. The rescue satellites stopped monitoring those in 2009, and it is now illegal to manufacture, import, or sell them in the U.S. You don't have to take a 25 year old one out of your aircraft if all you want is grandfathered legal compliance, but it's just ballast in your aircraft and goes unmonitored. If you buy an ELT today, it's 406 MHz COSPAS-SARSAT, not that old junk. It sends coded GPS location and aircraft identification information immediately to the satellites when activated.

The 406 MHz technology ELTs have been available for a very, very long time (I bought one in 2005) and they provide high power GPS-position accuracy coded signals, with radically better activation rates and radically lower false alarm rates than the old weak-signal homing beacon stuff.
 
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Apologies if the "nonsense" term came off a little harsh.
 
Sorry, but that's out-of-date nonsense.

Your EPIRB and the 406 MHz ELTs ... The difference is that the ELT has a 6-axis-g-switch so that it will notify them even if you are incapacitated in a crash, while your EPIRB or PLB will sit by silently while you bleed if you are unable to activate it manually (EPIRBs are automatic only if submerged, so you'll have to crash into a lake to get it to respond automatically). ...
Ignorants sucks = What is a 6-axis-g-switch?
 
John think of this way.
An aircraft typically will crash only going forward.

a helicopter could crash in any direction which requires sensors for those directions
 
Something else to keep in mind is how you’ll mount an ELT. My first choice for my Magni was indeed a full-up ELT but I soon realized that was going to be tough, especially for the antenna. Per the install for an Artex:
“Place the antenna in a location where the antenna can be installed vertically and with at least 32 inches (0.8 m) of clearance from other antennas, particularly VHF, in accordance with RTCA/DO-204, § 3.1.10.2.” Vertically and 32” from my comm antenna is pretty much impossible. I even looked at mounting it in the vertical stabilizer. That’s the big reason I went w the PLB instead.

Keep that in mind as you search options...
 
I keep my PLB in a pocket of my flying suit. I saw a gyro accident where the impact was severe enough to eject the pilot and his seat 10m (30 feet) in front of the main wreckage. He suffered a broken hip which would have precluded him from crawling back to the wreckage to activate an alarm. Fortunately he crashed on the main runway in front of some pilots and was rescued without having to activate a PLB.
Another accident in Australia led to the sinking of the gyro into a river. Fortunately the pilot managed to extricate himself and float to the surface.

Regards.........Chook.
 
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