Satellite Trackers & Rescues

Safety, Landing Out, Survival, Emergeny, Rescue, Discussion

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Satellite Trackers & Rescues

Postby NMERider » Fri Sep 11, 2015 10:55 pm

I spoke with El Diablo this evening while he was attending to sd at Ventura Co. Medical E/R and just so everyone is aware of this, Diablo told me that the PG pilots who were camping up in Pine activated one of their Delorme InReach trackers in order to summon the chopper that took sd to the E/R in Ventura. If for no other reason than to insure the safety and survival of others please equip yourselves with a Spot, InReach or other PLB. I know that sd flies with an InReach but I don't know whether Diablo was aware of where to find it in sd's harness.

Another thing to keep in mind is if the tracker or PLB is not in easy reach it may delay the time it takes to get rescued. Because I fly HG, I have to mount my Spot on top of my crossbar inside my sail. Two weeks ago I paid the price for landing in Lockwood Valley in triple-digit temps and was knocked out for a second when I pounded in thanks to a large thermal breaking off. Luckily I was able to shake it off and could get inside my sail if I needed to activate the panic button.

Another thing to keep in mind in case we have another blown launch on Pine is that if it's necessary to make a phone call you can drive to the North launch and have exposure to the cell tower. This is what Fast Eddy did in order to get Edwin ferried off the Pine HG launch to Ventrua Med at the same time I was shaking off my bell-ringing.

The last thing I want to stress is that their is no guarantee as to when help may arrive after activating the distress call on a tracker or PLB. I know this from personal experience and Diablo informed me that it took 45 minutes for the helicopter to arrive. So please let's not put ourselves in situations where we are likely to find out first-hand that's it's faster to call an Uber car than it is Search and Rescue.
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