Reasons for a Handheld Radio
Some airports require you to report your ground position while towing your glider to the grid. The JWGC in Narromine Australia was one of those places, there you had to do all back taxing on the runway.
Being able to call other pilots in the air while you are still on the ground is convenient if you are deciding when to launch. It might be nicer to sit in the shade vs walking back and forth to the glider.
It is great practice, listen to a tower frequency during your lunch break. It seems to be pretty common that many glider pilots are pretty weak on tower radio procedures. I know of some pilots that would take a field landing over talking to a tower.
If you listen in you can become more familiar with the lingo, plus other students errors will make you feel better.
If you have a crew it would be really nice to get in contact with them. Even with a GPS tracker there is a delay. Unless your crew has ESP you probably should call them on the radio. A handheld allows the crew to wander away from the confines of your parking spot.
It is also helpful on retrieves where cell-phones don't work and you are the only one with an InReach.
A good base station with a good antenna will give your crew better range. They may hear you struggling 30 miles away and start packing your trailer. Getting you back to the airport before the beer runs out.
Having a handheld in the glider is a great backup in-case your radio fails. My first two contests the panel radio did not work more then it worked. The US Club Class had major antenna problems at the WGC in Rayskala Finland.
Banner Photo by Thomas Suchanek
Icom IC–A24 VHF Air Band Transceiver Simple one–handed operation is the most essential feature of the IC–A24. The well labeled, large keypad provides user friendly operation. The large display shows both letters and numbers and is easy to see, making for fast frequency recognition. The display is backlit, and so is the keypad. The light stays on until you turn it off – a very handy feature for flying at night.
The IC–A24 has VOR navigation functions. The DVOR mode shows the radial to or from a VOR station and the CDI mode shows the course deviation to/from a VOR station. You can also input your intended radial to/from the VOR station and show the course deviation on the display. In the USA version, the duplex operation allows you to call a COM channel, while you are using VOR navigation.
Garret Willat holds a flight instructor rating with over 8000 hours in sailplanes. His parents have owned Sky Sailing Inc. since 1979. He started instructing the day after his 18th birthday. Since then, Garret has represented the US Junior team in 2003 and 2005. He graduated from Embry-Riddle with a bachelor's degree in Professional Aeronautics. Garret represented the US Open Class team in 2008 and 2010 and the Club Class team in 2014. Garret has won 3 US National Championships.