Kiwi SAR - As of 9/17/20
Kiwi was found the next day. The latest hypothesis is that he went unconscious during a spin, the wing ripped away from his harness and he hit the ground hard enough to render his GPS tracker inoperable.
Telegram evolution and management for a SAR.
Multiple threads, including Ground Search, Air Search, General, Satellite Imagery, Machine Learning, Logistics, Fundraising.
David Hunt & Nik Hawks flew up to assist in the air search on August 26/27th
Recommendations for all pilots:
Passive Safety
Make sure your wing & reserve are super bright colors and will contrast with the ground.
You may not be able to activate any of your rescue tools. Make sure you can be found even if you're unconscious.
Active safety
Radio and GPS tracker are mandatory but didn't function in this case because Kiwi was unable to deploy them in time.
PLB406 beacon, $400
Carry a strobe or light
Rene Falquier
Briefed satellite imagery and resolution. Keep in mind that satellite resolution is pretty low, on the order of a 1 meter grid
Shoutouts to Chris Galli for tremendous effort and to David Wheeler of XC Find
Brad Stevenson
Don’t clog up the comms
If something looks funny, look into it. (Kiwi’s position stopped)
Set up Livetrack24 to ping off cell phone, not inReach
Zach Armstrong
-active vs passive comms
-satellite comms
-ham
-APRS, every 2 minutes it sends out GPS data, programmable
-APRS.fi
-radios (VHF) talking to buddies & other pilots, voice com
-bluetooth headset (handsfree)
-LoRa: open dev, open software, 4 km - 100 km depending on antenna/transmission power
-meshtastic.org
-comms, distance & bearing to other nodes
-Gotenna
-there is a national distress freq but it can also vary state to state
Phil Russman
-keep your radio on until everyone is in the car
-don’t wait to start the search. Better to start and quickly call it off than to start late.
Lessons Learned G-doc
Steve Rohrbaugh
Use Livetrack24 & SDHGPA LIvetrack24 group
Connect & Feed both devices (GPS & cell) into Livetrack24
Wing Choice & Weather Calls - Elsinore
-flying Elsinore on a Santa Ana day. Santa Ana days are wild, and even the tamest SA day can kill you.
-There isn’t a good AND easy AND safe test to assess pilot skills; P3 can mean lots of things
-Ron Davis; the nice thing about waiting at Palomar is it usually gets better
-Steve R: The uncomfortable choice of the experienced pilots. Take new pilots under your wing or ignore them. When you’re new, ask to tag along on big days.
-when to learn (shoulder seasons, with your crew)
-Wing choice is NOT formulaic
-Phil volunteered to take someone through their next wing choice so we see the process
Club Business & Announcements
Site Status - Check for updates
All National Forests closed due to high fire hazard
-Marshall, Crestline, Elsinore
-Elsinore used to require an Adventure Pass
Horse (Cleveland National Forest)
Big Black (CNF)
Laguna (HG launch is open, BLM land, but upper launch is closed)
Other:
Laguna : ABSP has not renewed event/special event permit for us
Other PG clubs also have closed sites, check before you go to fly
Phil R points out that air authority rests in the FAA, when you touch the ground the law reverts to the landowner
Fines in the region of $150-250
Once it cools off, we need to schedule another work party to clean out the brush in the Palomar bailout as part of our use agreement with Pala
Kiwi was found the next day. The latest hypothesis is that he went unconscious during a spin, the wing ripped away from his harness and he hit the ground hard enough to render his GPS tracker inoperable.
Telegram evolution and management for a SAR.
Multiple threads, including Ground Search, Air Search, General, Satellite Imagery, Machine Learning, Logistics, Fundraising.
David Hunt & Nik Hawks flew up to assist in the air search on August 26/27th
Recommendations for all pilots:
Passive Safety
Make sure your wing & reserve are super bright colors and will contrast with the ground.
You may not be able to activate any of your rescue tools. Make sure you can be found even if you're unconscious.
Active safety
Radio and GPS tracker are mandatory but didn't function in this case because Kiwi was unable to deploy them in time.
PLB406 beacon, $400
Carry a strobe or light
Rene Falquier
Briefed satellite imagery and resolution. Keep in mind that satellite resolution is pretty low, on the order of a 1 meter grid
Shoutouts to Chris Galli for tremendous effort and to David Wheeler of XC Find
Brad Stevenson
Don’t clog up the comms
If something looks funny, look into it. (Kiwi’s position stopped)
Set up Livetrack24 to ping off cell phone, not inReach
Zach Armstrong
-active vs passive comms
-satellite comms
-ham
-APRS, every 2 minutes it sends out GPS data, programmable
-APRS.fi
-radios (VHF) talking to buddies & other pilots, voice com
-bluetooth headset (handsfree)
-LoRa: open dev, open software, 4 km - 100 km depending on antenna/transmission power
-meshtastic.org
-comms, distance & bearing to other nodes
-Gotenna
-there is a national distress freq but it can also vary state to state
Phil Russman
-keep your radio on until everyone is in the car
-don’t wait to start the search. Better to start and quickly call it off than to start late.
Lessons Learned G-doc
Steve Rohrbaugh
Use Livetrack24 & SDHGPA LIvetrack24 group
Connect & Feed both devices (GPS & cell) into Livetrack24
Wing Choice & Weather Calls - Elsinore
-flying Elsinore on a Santa Ana day. Santa Ana days are wild, and even the tamest SA day can kill you.
-There isn’t a good AND easy AND safe test to assess pilot skills; P3 can mean lots of things
-Ron Davis; the nice thing about waiting at Palomar is it usually gets better
-Steve R: The uncomfortable choice of the experienced pilots. Take new pilots under your wing or ignore them. When you’re new, ask to tag along on big days.
-when to learn (shoulder seasons, with your crew)
-Wing choice is NOT formulaic
-Phil volunteered to take someone through their next wing choice so we see the process
Club Business & Announcements
Site Status - Check for updates
All National Forests closed due to high fire hazard
-Marshall, Crestline, Elsinore
-Elsinore used to require an Adventure Pass
Horse (Cleveland National Forest)
Big Black (CNF)
Laguna (HG launch is open, BLM land, but upper launch is closed)
Other:
Laguna : ABSP has not renewed event/special event permit for us
Other PG clubs also have closed sites, check before you go to fly
Phil R points out that air authority rests in the FAA, when you touch the ground the law reverts to the landowner
Fines in the region of $150-250
Once it cools off, we need to schedule another work party to clean out the brush in the Palomar bailout as part of our use agreement with Pala
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