Avionics
Your own ELT costs less than the one in your plane
With the Feb.

With the Feb. 1, 2009 deadline approaching to replace 121.5-MHz emergency locator transmitters (ELT) with 409- MHz units, French firm ELTA is preparing to market a personal ELT that will meet the new mandate at about one fourth the cost of a unit installed in the aircraft.

Philip Male, head of worldwide ELT sales for ELTA, is at NBAA’07 with a mockup of the pocket-size battery-powered unit that will be TSO’d to FAA environmental standards and available next year. Responding to a survey of more than 300 pilots at this year’s EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh, Wis., ELTA has included a GPS engine in the beacon’s design that will allow searchers to pinpoint its location to within 100 meters, Male said.