With headlines such as "Search for missing Las Vegas pilot suspended after extensive efforts" in the news, it's a sobering reminder that if you go missing in the wilderness, it's almost impossible to find you or your aircraft.
Technology, such as ADSB, has gone a long way to provide worldwide aircraft tracking, however it has limitations. For a start, you have to be in range, and line of sight, of an ADSB receiver. The range for ADSB is good, up to several hundred kilometres. But in remote or mountainous areas, you can easily be out of range of a receiver.
Websites like FlightRadar24 can paint a picture that all aircraft are tracked worldwide, at all times, but this is not the case. Commercial aircraft have predictable routes and timing, so their tracks are often 'estimated' while out of range. Commercial aircraft often fly at higher altitudes than small aircraft, increasing chances of line of sight to a receiver. Some commercial aircraft also use satellite based ADSB tracking. Different ADSB tracking networks also have different receivers in different locations.
But what about private and smaller aircraft? If you're flying in remote regions, low over mountainous terrain, satellite tracking is the only way to guarantee a breadcrumb trail anywhere. Affordable satellite tracking is now in reach of most pilots with handheld devices like InReach, SPOT and Zoleo, for a few hundred dollars a year.
PureTrack.io is one of the few services to merge together satellite trackers with ADSB data. It's easy to integrate your device with PureTrack, completely for free. And for those that fly multiple aircraft, it's quick and easy to change which aircraft registration your device is linked to.
Glider and Paraglider pilots throughout New Zealand have been using satellite tracking for years for safety tracking through the unforgiving Southern Alps mountains. Now with PureTrack, satellite aircraft tracking is available for all pilots.
To link your SPOT, InReach or Zoleo device with PureTrack, get started at puretrack.io/trackers
PureTrack. Always be found.
