From: utzoo!decvax!duke!harpo!ihnp4!ihuxr!esac Newsgroups: net.aviation Title: IFR insurance low cost Article-I.D.: ihuxr.295 Posted: Thu Jan 20 12:54:44 1983 Received: Sun Jan 23 05:57:03 1983 Reply-To: esac@ihuxr.UUCP (Bill Adams - ihuxr!esac) I'm only a new private pilot (95 hours) but I'm already thinking about an instrument rating. I read with some interest previous discussions about the loss of this or that during an instrument flight and had a few thoughts I'd like to pass along. On the subject of lost comm procedures, its true that a hand held 720 is mighty expensive insurance against a low probability failure. But why does it have to be a 720 channel transceiver. For about $300 one can get a 4-channel transmitter that will probably do the job. All you will probably need in an emergency situation is 121.5. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think you should be able to get a DF steer with an item such as I've described. If you shop carefully or are willing and able to do your own radio work, you can probably even beat $300.. Another item you might want to consider is a skydiver's altimeter. The one I have is made by Steve Snyder Enterprises (SSE) of Pennsauken, NJ. Its cost is about $95 at the present time. True, it's not as accurate as a standard aircraft altimeter, but if you get a good one, they're pretty damn close from 5 grand on down. And it can't accurately be corrected for changing altimeter settings but it's better than nothing at all (isn't it?). The last item would be to get ahold of your friendly neighborhood CFII from time to time to make sure your partial panel procedures are up to snuff. Hope someone finds this worthwhile.