"Dylan Smith" wrote in message
...
On 2006-05-08, Peter Duniho wrote:
"Dylan Smith" wrote in message
...
How about a handheld aviation radio? It's likely you are going to be in
reasonably frequent line-of-sight from an airliner.

As a substitute for carrying survival gear? I don't think that's a
reasonable exchange.

No, of course not. As an addition to carry survival gear. A modern
handheld aviation radio is not big enough to displace survival gear.
However, it may get you in contact with someone much faster if you
happen to crash outside of mobile phone service.

According to all the experts I've talked to, including members of the CAP
here in the Rockies, a radio is a good option. A plane equipped with one of
the new 406 ELTs is also a good option. They also say that the survival
rate of the plane-mount ELTs in a big crash is not high. The best thing,
I'm told, is a personal locator beacon (or ELT) with GPS. There aren't many
of these with GPS but the ACR one is supposed to be top of the line.
They'll cut down the search pattern to just a few miles rather than hundreds
of miles... Barring nasty weather, we're talking recovery in 20 hours or so
versus many days... I've given my family hints along this line for ideas
for Christmas and/or birthdays for me... ;-)