madmaveric
Well Known Member
I've read a few issues of ELT's being triggered and today mine did it's thing.
I'm not sure yet what caused it yet so I thought I would post the details as someone with more knowledge of these might have some ideas.
My aircraft has only just got it's UK permit and this was the second flight post permit. I flew 2 days ago and again today (briefly), both with an the instructor (I have to re validate my licence due to lack of flying before I get to take her up on my own)
9.20 AM
I got to the airport and cleaned the aircraft. I did notice some static on the cloth while cleaning the outside of the canopy.
10.30AM
I then move the aircraft onto the field to do a run up test as I wanted to check the tick-over as it seemed a little fast on the last flight, (this seemed to be related to the fiction wheel on the throttle being to lose so no adjustments made).
13.40PM
Due to weather it was after lunch before we could attempt any flying.
On getting to the aircraft there was a quiet ticking noise from near the ELT. No other indications of an issue or that it going off was noticed (no light or signal on 121.5) so it wasn't transmitting at this time. I didn't have the manual with me so couldn't perform the test at this point, I made a note to take it with me next time to test the unit again.
I wasn't sure if it was the ELT (turning it off made no difference) or it was just an expansion style ticking you can get from things with temperature changes.
We only did once circuit and decided to call it a day as the cloud base was still around circuit height so we landed and the aircraft put away. At this point there was no noticeable noises from the unit and nothing on 121.5 so it seemed all was well. I should have turned the unit off at this point for further investigation but it all seemed ok at the time.
15.15PM
I left the airfield to drive home.
16.06PM
ELT goes off for 20 minutes until it is turned off by my instructor after the airfield were contacted about it
16.30PM
It was when I got home I received a phone call from the airport saying it had gone off and that my instructor (who was still there luckily) had turned it off. I later realised I also had a missed call while I was driving home from the MCC (UK Distress and Security Beacon Registry).
I contacted the MCC and they said it had gone off at 16.06 for 20 minutes and had now stopped transmitting (presumably when my instructor turned it off)
------
My thoughts on what could have caused it are
1) The quiet ticking was a low battery indication and the unit was set off due to this when the battery run down.
2) There were people in the hangar around the time I left so maybe someone bumped it (unlikely as it would have to be a very hard bump)
3) A new HAM radio antenna was put up on Wednesday close to the hangar, maybe they were testing that out and the RF set it off (I've heard that RF can cause false alarms). The aircraft is pushed right past the antenna to get it onto the field.
4) Was it triggered when I cleaned the outside of the canopy (static apparently can set them off). This one is least likely as this was 6 hours before the first signals were received.
I won't get to investigate this till next week now but any ideas of what it could be or additional tests that I can do would be welcome.
I'm not sure yet what caused it yet so I thought I would post the details as someone with more knowledge of these might have some ideas.
My aircraft has only just got it's UK permit and this was the second flight post permit. I flew 2 days ago and again today (briefly), both with an the instructor (I have to re validate my licence due to lack of flying before I get to take her up on my own)
9.20 AM
I got to the airport and cleaned the aircraft. I did notice some static on the cloth while cleaning the outside of the canopy.
10.30AM
I then move the aircraft onto the field to do a run up test as I wanted to check the tick-over as it seemed a little fast on the last flight, (this seemed to be related to the fiction wheel on the throttle being to lose so no adjustments made).
13.40PM
Due to weather it was after lunch before we could attempt any flying.
On getting to the aircraft there was a quiet ticking noise from near the ELT. No other indications of an issue or that it going off was noticed (no light or signal on 121.5) so it wasn't transmitting at this time. I didn't have the manual with me so couldn't perform the test at this point, I made a note to take it with me next time to test the unit again.
I wasn't sure if it was the ELT (turning it off made no difference) or it was just an expansion style ticking you can get from things with temperature changes.
We only did once circuit and decided to call it a day as the cloud base was still around circuit height so we landed and the aircraft put away. At this point there was no noticeable noises from the unit and nothing on 121.5 so it seemed all was well. I should have turned the unit off at this point for further investigation but it all seemed ok at the time.
15.15PM
I left the airfield to drive home.
16.06PM
ELT goes off for 20 minutes until it is turned off by my instructor after the airfield were contacted about it
16.30PM
It was when I got home I received a phone call from the airport saying it had gone off and that my instructor (who was still there luckily) had turned it off. I later realised I also had a missed call while I was driving home from the MCC (UK Distress and Security Beacon Registry).
I contacted the MCC and they said it had gone off at 16.06 for 20 minutes and had now stopped transmitting (presumably when my instructor turned it off)
------
My thoughts on what could have caused it are
1) The quiet ticking was a low battery indication and the unit was set off due to this when the battery run down.
2) There were people in the hangar around the time I left so maybe someone bumped it (unlikely as it would have to be a very hard bump)
3) A new HAM radio antenna was put up on Wednesday close to the hangar, maybe they were testing that out and the RF set it off (I've heard that RF can cause false alarms). The aircraft is pushed right past the antenna to get it onto the field.
4) Was it triggered when I cleaned the outside of the canopy (static apparently can set them off). This one is least likely as this was 6 hours before the first signals were received.
I won't get to investigate this till next week now but any ideas of what it could be or additional tests that I can do would be welcome.