EAA Sport Aviation - February 2010

MAX TRESCOTT
BETTER PILOT / TRENDS ALOFT
Lifesavers…
SPOT, ELTs, and PLBs
MY DUAL LIFE AS a flight instructor and publisher of aviation training materials
creates some interesting opportunities. Like Clark Kent, when I get a call for
help, I change outfits and fly off to help someone in need.

In July 2008, a student pilot named Carolyn asked for assistance flying a 1-year-old G1000-equipped Diamond DA40 that she had purchased in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to her home base in Northern California. We hadn’t met before, but she knew of me as a G1000 book author and took a chance on sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with me for several days.

Carolyn and I met in Florida. Our plan was to hightail it before thunderstorms began their daily ritual of chasing pilots from the sky. She came well-equipped with a low-tech and a high-tech device that served her well on the trip. The low-tech device was a CamelBak hydration backpack that she filled with ice and water and hung in the cabin. It kept her looking fresh as a

GPS SATELLITES

daisy throughout the trip, while I was drinking
from a water bottle that became lukewarm
within an hour of each departure. I now own a
CamelBak of my own.

The high-tech device was the original SPOT Personal Tracker, introduced six months before our flight. SPOT 1, as many users now call it, is an innovative, satellite-based system popular among hikers, boaters, and pilots that allows others to track your position via the Internet. A SPOT user can send two or three (depending on the model) different pre-pro-grammed messages via a commercial satellite that triggers e-mails or text messages to up to 10 friends’ cell phones. For people who travel in remote areas out of cell phone coverage, SPOT provides a low-cost lifeline to reassure loved ones or to get help in an emergency.