francesnbob
07-18-2006, 04:03 PM
I would appreciate anyone's help in finding an advertiser that sells airplane locators.
Thanks,
Bob
aeajr
08-12-2006, 06:32 AM
Plane Locators
During my self training I learned how hard it can be to find a plane that
has landed in the woods, tall grass and other places where you can't see it.
On
my second flight, I lost my Aerobird when a huge gust of wind carried it
over deep woods and I was too inexperienced to deal with it. Even though I
was
certain I knew where it went down, after 8 hours of searching, I could not
find it. I bought another Aerobird and fly it often.
When I moved on to sailplanes in July, I started flying a Great Planes
Spirit 2 Meter. Again, during my early learning phase, I got into trouble
and it
went down into heavy woods and brush in a very hard to search area. I went
into the woods about fifty feet, trying to decide how to proceed when I
heard Beep Beep Beep. The plane was about 200 feet away in heavy tree
growth. I
could not see it, but I could hear it. I had the plane located and out in
10 minutes. Believe me, where it had landed I likely would not have found
it.
The difference was a little device you put in the plane that gets attached
to the receiver. If you turn off the transmitter, the thing starts beeping
loudly and you can hear it from quite a distance.
This is what I use in my sailplane, slope gliders and parkflyers. It is
called the Lost Model Alarm
http://www.californiasailplanes.com/Lost%20model%20alarm.html
It hooks to any channel or it can share a channel with one of your servos.
It has the connector to pass through to the servo. This will work in any
plane
with a 72 MHZ receiver. I have also tried the Hobbico Air Alert. It works
fine, but this is the one I recommend to everyone.
Low Voltage Watch
In addition to helping me find the plane, the Digi Alarm also monitors my
battery pack voltage and sounds an alarm if the pack voltage gets below a
safe level. This is especially valuable on my glider. If I catch a good
thermal, I could be in the air for over an hour, so a pack that tested good
on the
ground could run low during the flight. The digi-alarm would warn me during
the flight.
Channel Conflict Test!
As a test to make sure no one is flying on my channel I turn on the receiver
only. If the device does not go into lost plane mode then someone else is
on my frequency. I may have just saved my plane, or someone else's.
Here is a review of another Emergency Locator Beacon that illustrates its
value (this site is somewhat unreliable)
http://webhome.idirect.com/~arrowmfg/ELT%20Beacon_files/elb-revi.htm
Here are five I have not tried, but look interesting.
lost Model Locator - $10
Does one job, but does it well, I hope.
http://www.allthingsrc.com/webshop/product_info.php/cPath/24/products_id/39
It is called the Be Found from GWS. - $15
http://www.gws.com.tw/english/product/aux%20circuit/befound.htm
SkyKing RC Lost Model Locator - $20
http://www.skykingrcproducts.com/accessories/lostmodel/lost_rc_model_alarm.html
Review
http://www.slopeflyer.com/artman/publish/skyking_lost_model_alarm.shtml
RC Reporter - $24
A bunch of features
http://www.rcreporter.com/products.html
For 27mHZ planes like the Aerobird, Firebirds, T-Hawk, Sky Fly, Slo-V, etc
My Aerobird does not have a conventional receiver. The electronics and
servos are one integrated circuit board. There is no place to connect one
of the
above locators. On the Aerobird I use a key ringer. www.keyringer.com One
of these goes on the plane and one stays in my pocket. If I am looking for
the
plane, I click the one in my hand and the one on the plane
answers. It has an effective range of between 50 and 150 feet depending on
conditions. I have attached a photo so you can see how I mount it. It does
not seem to hurt the plane's performance. I use it mainly when it is windy
now, but I used to put it on for every flight.
Every plane I ever own will have some kind of locator and/or a battery
monitor from now on. Of course I could move it from plane to plane, but at
$15-30
they are cheap enough I can put one in every plane and forget it!
For really long range finds, measured in miles, there is the Walston system.
The plane unit is about $150 while the tracking unit is hundreds of dollars.
This is especially appropriate for purchase by sailplane clubs, where a
sailplane can cost $2000. A $150 transmitter is worth the cost.
http://www.texastimers.com/helpful_hints/walston/wal_cover.htm
At about 1/2 the cost, there is The Locator
http://www.theplanelocator.com/csi_site/index.html
Her is a review of the locator
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=396806
Many new pilots don't know about these devices.