Paraglider pilot missing in eastern Nevada

Yaas...Â* But most aircraft folks can fly better than most ham folks.

On 9/3/2020 6:10 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, September 3, 2020 at 6:50:01 PM UTC-5, wrote:
ALL aircraft radios and ground communication equipment would have to be changed SIMULTANEOUSLY worldwide.
Perhaps there was a lost opportunity to make the new channels in the 8.3khz radios FM?

I've heard old stories that the reason aside from history was that in the event of a double, with AM you hear both. But with FM the stronger signal may capture the receiver and you would not know that the second guy was there.

HAM's definitely are better at communicationg than the aircraft folks.

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Dan, 5J

There's an FCC exemption in place for members of the US Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association. This allows paragliders to use designated frequencies without an FCC license. I fly paragliders with a Yaesu FT-270 and it works just as well as my aviation handheld. Overall, my experience has been that HAM radios work very well with the paragliding community, and they rarely have any need to communicate with GA traffic.

Paragliding is budget-oriented and radio use would be far less common if they had to shell out $200-$300 for aviation handheld radios. Thanks to the availability of affordable HAM radios ($30 BaoFeng radios are super popular), nearly all paragliders are radio equipped.

In practice, paragliders often trample on non-approved frequencies and exhibit poor radio ettiquette. That's always going to be the case unless we eliminate Part 103 and require them to become private pilots. Overall, it's probably a very good thing that paragliders aren't communicating on GA frequencies.

Have they found the lost pilot yet?

On 9/13/2020 3:34 AM, David Shelton wrote:
There's an FCC exemption in place for members of the US Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association. This allows paragliders to use designated frequencies without an FCC license. I fly paragliders with a Yaesu FT-270 and it works just as well as my aviation handheld. Overall, my experience has been that HAM radios work very well with the paragliding community, and they rarely have any need to communicate with GA traffic.

Paragliding is budget-oriented and radio use would be far less common if they had to shell out $200-$300 for aviation handheld radios. Thanks to the availability of affordable HAM radios ($30 BaoFeng radios are super popular), nearly all paragliders are radio equipped.

In practice, paragliders often trample on non-approved frequencies and exhibit poor radio ettiquette. That's always going to be the case unless we eliminate Part 103 and require them to become private pilots. Overall, it's probably a very good thing that paragliders aren't communicating on GA frequencies.

--
Dan, 5J

The FT-270 isn't type certificated for use on USHPA allocated frequencies. Nobody really cares. I think the FCC Enforcement Bureau is more interested in pirate broadcasters, cellular and PCS. If you look at proposed enforcement action it pretty well died the day Riley Hollingsworth retired.

On Sunday, September 13, 2020 at 10:28:23 AM UTC-4, Dan Marotta wrote:
Have they found the lost pilot yet?

https://elkodaily.com/news/local/sea...9d9b0c211.html

https://www.thewanakasun.co.nz/news/...araglider.html

Ah Shoot
This is sad news.
So hard on all involved.
I hope the find this pilot before too long.
I hate to say this but look for the circling birds low to the ground.
Thats how we found one of my ski partners missing here in Telluride.
Nick
T

I was involved on a search for a wingsuiter. We had people on foot and helicopter over a limited area. The helicopter crew checked out the crow/raven congregations. We did find the remains of a person who had gone missing some three years before, but not the wingsuiter.

On Sunday, September 13, 2020 at 2:34:22 AM UTC-7, David Shelton wrote:
There's an FCC exemption in place for members of the US Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association. This allows paragliders to use designated frequencies without an FCC license. I fly paragliders with a Yaesu FT-270 and it works just as well as my aviation handheld. Overall, my experience has been that HAM radios work very well with the paragliding community, and they rarely have any need to communicate with GA traffic.

Paragliding is budget-oriented and radio use would be far less common if they had to shell out $200-$300 for aviation handheld radios. Thanks to the availability of affordable HAM radios ($30 BaoFeng radios are super popular), nearly all paragliders are radio equipped.

In practice, paragliders often trample on non-approved frequencies and exhibit poor radio ettiquette. That's always going to be the case unless we eliminate Part 103 and require them to become private pilots. Overall, it's probably a very good thing that paragliders aren't communicating on GA frequencies.

Johnston most likely had a canopy deflation, got entangled in it, and went down in a clump, unable to deploy his reserve. In this situation, he would have been totally preoccupied with freeing himself and not communicating. And he would have been killed instantly by the impact, so no need for communication then, either. I am referring to a survivable crash landing where he could, at least, communicate to rescuers. These guys don't seem to consider the consequences and the effort that will be expended trying to locate them. I have even had this conversation with other glider pilots. They just don't care.

Tom

Those who don’t fly with a tracker don’t care, and frankly, I don’t think we should go overboard to search for someone who deliberately makes the decision not to fly with a tracker. I know very few such glider pilots and said the same to them. Maybe if they will understand that a tracker will expedite payments to their family they will start using them?
Those who fly with a tracker such as Johnston care to be found, and normally found quickly. It is the first time I hear of not being able to find someone who flew with a tracker. Very unfortunate.

Ramy

I like signal mirrors. Radios are great, technology is awesome, but I still like signal mirrors. Sky full of aircraft with guard receivers and nobody listening on guard. For real. I'm not making this up. What ended up working? Signal mirror. True story at the National Training Center - Fort Irwin.