SPOT GPS

I purchased a SPOT device earlier on this month after returning from a long summer of comping. On returning home I went straight onto the internet and after little searching, found one almost instantly (www.amazon.co.uk). 4 days later, my SPOT in hand, I logged on to the SPOT website http://www.findmespot.eu/en/index.php?cid=102 , purchased the annual subscription plus the"crumb-trail" option, punched in my payment details for automatic annual renewal, and within 10 minutes, my SPOT was activated and working. I did several tests at home making sure to receive both SMS and email messages on both OK and HELP buttons.

I now fly with a clear conscience that if I am in trouble, injured or need help, I will be found by either mountain rescue, my friends or family.

This is an essential piece of equipment that we should all carry, competitors or not, flying across friendly countryside or in the boonies. I use it when I am out horse-riding or walking in the mountains and it's fun to involve others in your adventures. 

I believe that for competitors, the SPOT device should be MANDATORY for all competitions.

SHORT STORY:

At the Nordic Open in Ager, Spain, my good friend who already had a SPOT device asked me if I could be his pilot "buddy" during the comp. I agreed and he proceeded with entering my mobile telephone number and details onto his personal SPOT account on their website. We both did a test that the service was working correctly, and from then on until the end of the comp, every day once he had landed, I received an SMS message saying "OK" with the GPS coordinates of exactly where he had landed.

The majority of pilots, particularly at a comp, turn their mobile phones as soon as they've landed. If I hadn't received that small message, I knew my friend was still flying, and I would wait until I did receive it and give him a call to say "hi", or even better wait for him at HQ with a beer!  As the days went on, I'd wait to receive the message and it was incredible how receiving a short SMS text can make you feel; happy, relieved, reassured. Because on the 4th day -  no message. I waited. The goal bus returned and several other retrieve buses too. My friend was not on any of them. HQ was not open until later that afternoon. I tried to telephone him, phone was off. OK, stay calm.I collected my gear from the back of the truck and returned to my accommodation wondering if HQ would be open early, when who should I see asleep on the grass in front of the chalet!?The story was his distraction following a last-minute landing in a peach orchard. Glider all to hell over the trees, 3hrs in searing heat to get it down, and a strained finger from falling off a branch. The site of his balled-up glider uniquely decorated with twigs and leaves and lines skillfully tied in knots was witness to his afternoon of events and sheer exhaustion. He had forgotten to press the "OK button having been preoccupied with his little scurry. (It is incredible how receiving that short SMS message can make you feel; happy, relieved, reassured.However, no beer for him that day, but I got plenty! 

Moral: SPOT is a small price to pay for a life worth so much more.

I thought up that one! :-)