On 2007-09-19 08:15:40 -0700, Jay Honeck said:

My son and I were active in Civil Air Patrol a couple of years ago.
The primary training mission was Search and Rescue, utilizing radio
direction finders that allowed us to find transponders that were going
off.

With the impending transition to 406 mhz transponders that will give
far more accurate location information upon activation, we will no
longer need fatigue-clad cadets trudging through the woods on SAR
missions.

CAP is a good organization for kids, basically "Boy Scouts With a
Mission". Given that Search and Rescue is their primary mission, I
wonder what's gonna happen to CAP?

You will still need fatigue-clad cadets trudging through the woods on
SAR missions. They will just find the object of their search more
quickly.

I suspect that the 406 mhz transponders are still subject to the laws
of physics, too. They can still be destroyed in crashes, have dead
batteries, or end up in canyons or other places where you can't pick up
their signal.
--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor