Peter_G wrote:
Make sure both your handheld radio & your phone are fully charged. Likewise, have the facility to use them via your headphones (either by leads or Bluetooth) since the aircraft noise and/or the ability to hold them somewhere in the cockpit to get a good signal will be greatly reduced.
+1 This is excellent advice.
Sometimes handheld range is a problem. I had a comms antenna installed behind the cabin next to my ELT antenna, with a coax cable to a jack next to my mic plugs. I have a short coax cable to finish the connection from there to the antenna jack on the handheld, which gives the handheld an external antenna and should improve range considerably. I also have an adapter y-cable to plug my headphones into the handheld, as suggested …. bought it at AERO one year.
Another possibility is using the ADL SMS function if one can find a usable/textable tel number for ATC. In the video ATC contacted him, but that might or might not work with a mobile phone in Europe, depending on a lot of things. In any case, my FPL always have my cell number.
@Boscomantico is right about having a plan independent of all the regs. Squawking 7600, staying VMC if encountered, and having the handheld/phone options working are likely the most important 1-2-3. The rest should depend on the situation.
