Green Aviation Survival "Flare"

Stomp16

You mean Shennanigans?!?!
I'm looking for a good quality green aviation laser to put in our survival kits. Does anyone have any recommendations? Anyone used anything from Greatland Laser?

On a side note, no wonder so many pilots are being blinded by lasers as of late. There are websites such as this one that actually promote the tagging of aircraft in flight. :ooh: (Can't tell if this is a serious product or not...)
 
I'm looking for a good quality green aviation laser to put in our survival kits. Does anyone have any recommendations? Anyone used anything from Greatland Laser?

On a side note, no wonder so many pilots are being blinded by lasers as of late. There are websites such as this one that actually promote the tagging of aircraft in flight. :ooh: (Can't tell if this is a serious product or not...)

Why don't you buy a SPOT locator and not have to worry about signaling? Provided that works - or SpiderTrax would be even better, just wait for someone to come get you, those services are pretty awesome and work really well. We have SpiderTrax on our Navajos and the PC12. Dispatch has got our position fixed within 2 minutes all the time. Even helps when for whatever reason you can't cancel (no RCO, no Satphone, landing remote) and center calls the office: "Yep, he's OK, he clicked in on the ground about 35 minutes ago, he's even fired back up again and is getting ready to depart it looks like!"
 
We will be getting a spot locator as well, one for each pilot. We also have real-time tracking on all of our aircraft. However, there are contractual obligations we must meet to operate where we plan to operate that include multiple safety mitigations. It may be overkill, but we are adding multiple layers of safety, thus the need for lasers as well.
 
...There are websites such as this one that actually promote the tagging of aircraft in flight. :ooh: (Can't tell if this is a serious product or not...)

It's a joke, see the bottom of the product page:

NOTE: Is this product legal? If you are concerned about the legality of this product, represent a government agency, or are just a curious clicker, CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO!
 
We will be getting a spot locator as well, one for each pilot. We also have real-time tracking on all of our aircraft. However, there are contractual obligations we must meet to operate where we plan to operate that include multiple safety mitigations. It may be overkill, but we are adding multiple layers of safety, thus the need for lasers as well.

I would recommend looking at some of the other PLB manufacturers like Kannad, ACR, etc. SPOT has a pretty poor reliability record if you read through the reviews. I think a good quality GPS-enabled 406 PLB is the best insurance you can carry for survival.

Also, personally, I'd rather have a strobe than a laser pointer. You need to be awake, conscious and alert to laser an aircraft. The strobe is just going to flash on it's own even if you dont see the aircraft or ground crew looking for you, they'll see it.
 
I would recommend looking at some of the other PLB manufacturers like Kannad, ACR, etc. SPOT has a pretty poor reliability record if you read through the reviews. I think a good quality GPS-enabled 406 PLB is the best insurance you can carry for survival.

Also, personally, I'd rather have a strobe than a laser pointer. You need to be awake, conscious and alert to laser an aircraft. The strobe is just going to flash on it's own even if you dont see the aircraft or ground crew looking for you, they'll see it.
+1!
 
I would recommend looking at some of the other PLB manufacturers like Kannad, ACR, etc. SPOT has a pretty poor reliability record if you read through the reviews. I think a good quality GPS-enabled 406 PLB is the best insurance you can carry for survival.

Also, personally, I'd rather have a strobe than a laser pointer. You need to be awake, conscious and alert to laser an aircraft. The strobe is just going to flash on it's own even if you dont see the aircraft or ground crew looking for you, they'll see it.

Very good points and thanks for your input. We will be going with the ACR PLB and adding a strobe along with the lasers.
 
Very good points and thanks for your input. We will be going with the ACR PLB and adding a strobe along with the lasers.

You won't regret it. I've had an ACR MicroFix for several years now, and it really gives me peace of mind, especially when I used to backpack solo. There isn't anywhere in the world it won't work.

SPOT messenger uses the Globalstar satellite network, which has large coverage gaps compared with the COSPAS/SARSAT and GPS system used by 406MHz PLB devices.
 
I'm looking for a good quality green aviation laser to put in our survival kits. Does anyone have any recommendations? Anyone used anything from Greatland Laser?

On a side note, no wonder so many pilots are being blinded by lasers as of late. There are websites such as this one that actually promote the tagging of aircraft in flight. :ooh: (Can't tell if this is a serious product or not...)
Uh...
You did not click on the legal link at the bottom......
 
ACR will also give you a brand new beacon if you ever do activate it and get rescued. I know in an emergency you really dont care about such a thing, but hey...ya gotta admit that's pretty cool of them.
 
Very good points and thanks for your input. We will be going with the ACR PLB and adding a strobe along with the lasers.

Good call. I bought ACR ResQLink PLB a few years ago. It's amazingly simple, fits in my pocket, and once I learned more about how the whole system operates, as well as reading reviews of the unit itself, I don't go anywhere outdoors without it. I took it out hiking this afternoon, actually. IIRC, something like 80% of PLB users get rescued within 2 hours, and 95% get rescued within 4 hours. That's piece of mind you just can't get anywhere else.

Zach, forgive me if I'm going too far, but one thing I feel I should mention that I always thought was over-looked, is the fact that in an accident you can only rely on those pieces of equipment that can be reached from the pilot's seat. A water landing, or the plane catching on fire, or getting physically crushed/stuck in the seat, are all examples of what could likely happen in an accident where there is no way anybody is getting to the kit in the back where it is now (or was when I left). This is one item that must be within reach of the pilot. Even better would be to physically attach it to the pilot so they don't have to think about it when evacuating.
 
IMHO, having been on the search end of looking for survivors, I don't recommend a green laser. Green lasers are visible when you are looking right up the beam, but from nearly any other view they are difficult to see, especially if you don't know exactly where to look. Not very useful in a search situation. Also, as someone searching, I don't want a survivor to track me with that laser so I can see their position: I really like my eyesight.

Stick with the recommended survival equipment. Some of the very low tech stuff -- especially a signal mirror -- is the most effective.
 
Zach, forgive me if I'm going too far, but one thing I feel I should mention that I always thought was over-looked, is the fact that in an accident you can only rely on those pieces of equipment that can be reached from the pilot's seat. A water landing, or the plane catching on fire, or getting physically crushed/stuck in the seat, are all examples of what could likely happen in an accident where there is no way anybody is getting to the kit in the back where it is now (or was when I left). This is one item that must be within reach of the pilot. Even better would be to physically attach it to the pilot so they don't have to think about it when evacuating.

Being that there was no real area to put the survival kit in the 206 that was within reach and not in the way of the camera system, about all we could do was put it in the back. It was a tool to use if you got the plane down safely and were stranded in the middle of no-where for a few days. If you crush the plane, flip over, burn, whatever...getting the survival kit out is probably the last of your concerns.

For the over water operations we got the Switlik X-Back Vests for the crews to wear. It will hold rations, water, PLB and whatever else you can fit in it.


Thanks for the input everyone, keep the comments coming if you have them as they are much appreciated.
 
If you crush the plane, flip over, burn, whatever...getting the survival kit out is probably the last of your concerns.

Not a very useful survival kit then, eh? I dunno, it's just my take on things. Some of the areas you fly over are extremely inhospitable for a "safe" landing, and it's situations like that when you'd need the kit the most after an engine failure. I totally understand the space problem, though, short of redesigning the seats. In which case it'd probably be less expensive to just put on another engine.
 
If you cannot keep the whole kit within reach then at least wear the PLB on you when you fly (lanyard or in a shirt pocket). If there's one thing you want to get out of a burning or sinking airplane with, it's that.

Can you fit your kit into a fanny pack and hang it off the copilot seat back?

Also, there's a chance you could be pinned in the airplane and not be able to get to anything you cannot reach from your seat...

You could also use a survival vest... you might look like a Air America wannabe, but who gives a crap if you need the gear. Something like this vest from Cabelas doesn't look too "Tacticool".
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