Off-Season Preparation

From Cross Country Magazine -
This week's Tuesday Tip comes from Guy Anderson. In the current issue of Cross Country magazine he writes an amazing account of how he survived after crashing in very remote terrain in Sun Valley USA earlier this year. I am no survival expert, just very, very lucky. 
So what would I do differently? I’d recommend using a Spot or InReach satellite tracker. Juan, a pilot who landed a couple of kilometres away from me, had a Spot and was picked up at midnight on the first night. Even if I’d been out all night, being able to send a position and an ‘Injured but OK’ message would have spared all the anguish at home. And I’d pack an ‘emergency kit’: Spare radio batteries; a powerpack to charge everything else; a little food; a lighter; a light plastic mirror for signalling; a light waterproof or even a siltarp (very light tarpaulin); mosquito netting; headtorch; strong painkillers; water purification tablets (I drank from a stream but was lucky); and a whistle (I couldn’t shout due to the punctured lung). And finally, to help your rescuers, if you have the strength, try to spread out your glider to make it as visible as possible and even if un-deployed put your reserve out too. Then concentrate on saving your skin. http://www.xcmag.com/2012/11/in-issue-144-guy-andersons-story-of-survival/

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I spent two long days, along with more than 60 other pilots, while searching the big country of Idaho for Guy. When we heard he had been found *alive* it was great news. His candid comments regarding his lack of preparation are refreshing - and a good reminder.   I've written about this before and, at the risk of sounding a nag, I'd like to list some of the stuff I've written.

Regarding the SPOT TRACKER and Survival - http://biggovtsucks.blogspot.com/search/label/rescue
Regarding Survival Kits for XC flyers - Nice Harness - What's in it besides your butt?
And please see my last post.  A special deal ON SPOT - THIS WEEKEND ONLY

Tim

Aftermath of a fall - This one turned out well.

White Mountains in the Owens Valley -
Click photo for larger version - Photos by Jay Gordon

None of us wants to leave a three-day flying weekend knowing that we are leaving one of our own injured and alone in the mountains. We all want, even less, to be that guy.

This weekend, at the Nor-Cal XC league event; three days of flying geared towards new and improving XC pilots, one of our experienced pilots found himself down in the White mountains at around 2:30 pm and spent 12 hours lying injured on the hill, awaiting rescue.

I've heard words of surprise from some of my fellow pilots, that it took so long to get him to the hospital, but I was actually VERY IMPRESSED that the efforts of many culminated in the successful resolution of this event.

Let's work through the timeline of the event -

• Shortly after 14:00 the crash occurs at 11,000' in the Whites. No radio call is made by PilotX. No phone call is made by the pilot. It is not known if he was conscious or not.
• One of our group happens to be flying in a position where he can see this area of the White Mountains (which is approx. 1 mile East of flight tracks of those flying the task that day.)
• The pilot who knew the position of PilotX and another of our group, who had a private aircraft, fly over the crash site to verify the position of the victim and verify if he is injured.

This is the point where I got involved; Just back from goal, with no idea what's up– around 16:10.

• Once we had verification that he was on the hill and injured, with an accurate position, I called 911 to get to the local SAR teams mobilized.  (I had just been talking to the Mono Sheriff SAR Sargent, 2 days earlier, and actually had asked him the best way to alert them to a problem like this - 911 was the answer) 
• Stephan & I worked with the SAR coordinator and the ball started rolling by 16:30. Sunset is 1800 – I don't say it, but I know the odds are good that PilotX may be spending the night.
• The next 5 hours are spent getting SAR volunteers mobilized and up to the Barcroft Research facility. Once there, it was a 2.5 mile hike – in the dark – in tough terrain, with a couple steep canyons to enter/exit/work around (you get the picture – it took them a while to hike with their 50 lb. packs of med gear and technical equipment. They get to PilotX at 1am.
• It takes a while to assess, stabilize, immobilize, and package PilotX for carry-out to a suitable LZ for the chopper, which has been dispatched from NAS Fallon (200 miles away). The Navy pilots are using IR gear to navigate at 11,000' in the terrain – it ain't easy flying – RESPECT.
• By 3am I get word that PilotX will be arriving at the hospital in Bishop for evaluation. I get word at 5 am that he is going to be transported to Stanford by air, at 7am
  
  
  
  Why did it take 12 hours? Well, we got lucky on this one – that's why.
  

• BECAUSE one of our pilots spotted the crash, and
• BECAUSE another of our group had an airplane to view the scene and pinpoint the position, and
• EVEN THOUGH no radio or cell contact was made for hours, and
• EVEN THOUGH PilotX had no survival gear accessible, and
• EVEN THOUGH PilotX had not a single light source – NOT ONE. and
• BECAUSE the weather in the area was the warmest September 27th in history,
  
  
  
  This one turned out well.

This situation, if things hadn't gone well, could have easily been a body extraction, folks. 

You simply can't find someone in a mountain range, this big, without some hints.

Even though PilotX's injuries weren't life threatening, he was incapable of hiking out and had no survival gear with which to buy time to allow for rescue

The guys hiking into the site would have arrived sooner if they'd had the ability to see his position with a strobe light or headlamp. A SPOT would have been a valuable aid to pinpoint PilotX's last known position and to get rescue started in a timely manner. (I'll just go on record now – if I go missing, use my SPOT page on my blog & you'll see where I'm laid out.)

Yup, we got very lucky on this one.  Please carry some gear.  I carry a spare radio battery. I carry a AA power source for my cell-phone,  I carry a strobe light and a headlamp.  I carry enough clothing that I could spend the night on the hill.  A SPOT is cheap insurance.  If the crap slaps the fan, at least put the odds on your side that you'll live long enough to get rescued.

If you fly XC anywhere, even in the Dunlap valley, and you don't carry some survival stuff that is accessible while sitting injured, IN YOUR HARNESS,  then you are the intelligence equivalent of the idiot that hikes into the Grand Canyon in flip-flops, carrying a diet pepsi. Please don't be that guy.

It's not like I haven't preached about this before – My article about survival strategies and a DIY survival kit was in the USHPA mag a while back.  It's available at http://biggovtsucks.blogspot.com/p/articles-by-tim.html. EDIT: I've had some input from the NAS Fallon helo crew, and they recommend carrying Lite Sticks (red is best) in our survival kits.

The 2010 XC season is almost over for us in the Northern Hemisphere, so take some time and make a survival kit. I hope you'll never need to use it.  But if I'm coordinating your rescue, I'll rest easier knowing that you have a light source, water, warmth, and can communicate. I'd also like to send a word of Thanks to the Mono County Sheriff's Dept. and their volunteer team of SAR team members who gave up a nice warm bed to help one of our guys. Fly Safe, Tim

SPOT Improvements

I've carried a SPOT on my flight deck for 18 months now. It has never saved my life, but it has always been there, waiting to be activated if need be. In March I resubscribed for the 2009 season using a promotion that basically gave me a free SPOT unit for the cost of subscription (around $150). I also consider the $8/yr. GEOS SAR subscription a valuable bit of insurance that appeals to my sense that SAR service fees should be the responsibility of the adventurer who gets himself into trouble. To that end, I am taking the responsibility by insuring myself.

A new SPOT promotion is now available that will, again, provide the present SPOT hardware essentially free for the price of the services. The rub is that SPOT is now asking for a 2-year subscription to qualify for the $150 rebate. Should you make the commitment at this time? Well here's my take on it. . .

The present Spot unit is quite adequate. I use my SPOT unit in three circumstances:

as a form of 'catastrophic insurance' to send out an SOS, with GPS coordinates, even where cell service is unavailable. and,

as a means of communicating with my retrieval team when flying XC or in a competition.

SPOT-Tracking

SPOT is about to offer a "NEW" SPOT unit that is smaller, lighter, and integrates some improvements that those of us using SPOTs have requested. Improvements include a more robust GPS chipset and antennae, lighted buttons, additional message options, and a dedicated SPOT-Tracking button. In addition are some much appreciated indicator lights that indicate GPS acquisition and message sending lights.

These improvements address some of the 'limitations' of the 'old' unit. I, however, believe that the old unit is adequate for the basic catastrophic insurance that is my primary reason for carrying a SPOT.

So, should you upgrade to the new unit?
If you are a 'gadget-guy' who needs to have the latest & greatest - maybe.
If the unit is much better at sending messages under a canopy of trees - probably.
If the unit price isn't too much more - (I think the price point is $150 to $200)

Will I? Not for a bit. If you don't have a SPOT yet and have decided to get one, I'd think about the 2-yr. FREE SPOT Deal. I imagine that you will have the option of applying your subscription to the new unit in the future if you decide later to upgrade.

Hopefully I'll get to try one out when they become available.

Fly Safe -
Tim

SPOT in my Kit

I just received my Fathers Day present. After a few months of listening to reviews and weighing my options in the personal locater beacon market, I decided to get a SPOT satellite personal tracker/messenger.

The message options available with this unit include:
1. "I'm OK" (To my contacts)
2. "I NEED HELP" (To my contacts)
3. "911 - I NEED HELP" (To Rescue Agencies)
4. "Spot Casting" - A GPS report, every 10 minutes, that is viewable using a Google Map web site.

The messages go to my contacts (as many as 10) using SMS to their cell phones or email. The SPOT website lists all the specs, but the reasons I went with the SPOT was its price ($150) and low subscription fee for the services. In addition, a year of GEOS Search & Rescue Benefit for $7.95/yr USD (if purchased at initial activation. $150.00 USD afterwards) provides up to $100,000 USD of additional search and rescue resources, including helicopter extraction around the world and reimbursement benefits – underwritten by Lloyd’s of London – for any emergency service expenses incurred. For more information, including terms and conditions, visit http://www.geosalliance.com/sar.

I tested the unit a bit this week while commuting to SFO from home to fly a trip to Sydney. It Spotcasted the 200 mile drive to work and displayed it on the Google map site. I also sent a "Down OK" message while I was sipping a pint at The Lord Nelson Pub in Sydney -

CLICK PIC FOR LARGER PHOTO

Needless to say, this unit is a convenience to signal I'm down OK when cellphone service isn't available, and a necessity, should I ever need a rescue. Cheap insurance, in my opinion.

Tim