The renter had to pay, of course, because the airplane was not airworthy for IFR without packed vests, because the package is the proof that the vest is approved and legal.
Do you mean they are not like this:
That I thought was the most common type, and self-unpacks when the inflation cord is pulled. No need to unpack it.
No, when packed they are tightly sealed, rock-hard and the size of a PLB, and with a stamp that says they are ok for the next 8 or 10 years. I am not even sure how best to open them.
Best bring your own then…
huv wrote:
The renter had to pay, of course, because the airplane was not airworthy for IFR without packed vests, because the package is the proof that the vest is approved and legal.
Very strange… Swedish life vests have to be inspected once a year and certainly don’t need to be “packed”.
I believe the airline style ones need to be replaced after unpacking (was just life-jacket shopping).
It maybe relevant for those so cautiously inclined to be aware that for some years all ships and many pleasure craft carry aviation type transponders. The maritime system is known as ais. A vessel so equipted can be identified on another vessels plotter (think mfd) as a triangle showing course, speed and other vessel information.
Now the point is an ais beacon is available from a number of manufacturers costing not much over £100 that is designed to attach to a life vest and no bigger than a mars bar. The battery usually is lifed for 5 years.
So activated after ditching and you will transmit your position with distress to any vessel lifeboat and will considerably aid recovery.
http://www.mcmurdomarine.com/ais-mob-devices
No connection with advertising or selling!
WEAR the life jacket while you’re flying over water. Pilot, because if pilot is going to need it, pilot will be much too busy on the way down to stop to put it on. Pax wear because they will simply not figure out where it is stowed away and don it, without distracting the pilot, who is already too busy not donning their own. Wear the life jacket. To prove the point, when I took the underwater egress course, I was required to not wear it. it was in a pocket exactly over my toes. Three out of four times I exited the inverted “cockpit” I cold not find the vest on my way out, and each time, I had been determined in my planning to do that. The forth time I got it, so I suppose the determination worked. But the first three times, I would have drowned, with no life jacket, as the plane sunk.
Buy the ones as shown in the photo, they will last for years if taken care of, and properly inspected. Leave the ones in the tight little bags, under the seat, they are just there to be legal anyway. If you do not have the pictured type, when you rent, ask for extra unbagged life jackets to wear, while the “legal” ones remain under the seat. Surely the rental outfit can provide its clients with a couple of extra life jackets, retained unbagged, just for that use.
huv wrote:
The renter had to pay, of course, because the airplane was not airworthy for IFR without packed vests, because the package is the proof that the vest is approved and legal.
Geez do you think my Life vests in a zip lock is Ok per regulation?
I have never heard of this “packed vests” regulation. For GA, it is totally bizzare – exactly as Pilot_DAR says above.
