Ferry flying has changed dramatically since I first crossed the Atlantic over twenty years ago. Back then we didn’t have a fancy glass cockpit, GPS with a world wide database, backup maps on an ipad and a satellite phone that actually works. What we had was a winds aloft forecast, a map and a compass. Not much more than Charles Lindbergh had when he made the first crossing in 1927. And up until recently if you went down all you had to help the search and rescue assets locate you was a portable ELT ( Emergency Locator Transmitter). The old ELTs were better than nothing, but not much. Yesterday I finally bought the latest in rescue location technology, the Spot Tracker. When turned on this nifty unit sends a GPS position to Google Maps every 10 minutes so that your friends and family can use to track your progress anywhere in the world and if you have an emergency you can just push a button and the unit sends out an S.O.S. that notifies the emergency rescue coordination center your GPS location. The unit is water proof and will transmit for days using three AAA batteries. Having the Spot Tracker along on ferry flights increases the odds of surviving a crash or ditching dramatically and makes the job just a little bit less crazy. Not much, but a little.
What a moron I am! I completely forgot about PLBs. Back to the store for me.
The SPOT is fine for informal flight following and letting your friend know how much more fun you are having then them but it isn’t the best emergency alerting device available. If you haven’t spent $300 on a PLB with GPS that is in your pocket every time you fly I’ll be disappointed in you. Doug Ritter has a good discussion of SPOT vs. PLB issues at http://www.equipped.org/blog/?p=82.