On Sep 20, 4:13 pm, Newps wrote:
R. Gardner wrote:
So you monitor the satalites that recieve the ELT data not USAF? Last I
heard there is still a Montana Wing.

No we don't monitor satellites. The vast majority of ELT reports
received is not by the satellites, never has been. Almost all reports
of ELT's is by other aircraft and stations that monitor 121.5/243.0
constantly, such as we do in the tower. Should a satellite receive an
ELT before we here in Montana find out about it that report is sent to
Salt Lake Center(Seattle Center in the NW corner of the state). They
contact Montana Aeronautics who then begins the search. We are one of a
few states that handle SAR by ourselves, local people do a much better
job of SAR when the organization is properly set up than a national
group who in most cases don't know the terrain like we do. There may be
a Montana Wing of CAP but if so they are invisible. In the 15 years I
have lived here, the last 10 as an aircraft owner going to all sorts of
fly-ins/airshows I haven't even seen them parking airplanes.

In CAP we always have sat triangulation information before we launch.
I assume that the initial report was also sat. In this context I'm not
sure what you mean by a "national organization". Pilots in CAP rarely
are searching more than a couple hundred miles from their home. CAP
planes are located in local GA airports, we don't launch from any
central location.

-Robert