ABSOLUTELY bring a signal mirror!

I'm in the Civil Air Patrol. The light reflecting from a mirror is significantly different from that of other surfaces. Other surfaces will make a flash as they reflect, but a light which follows the plane will attract far more attention from the aircrew and they will come back to check out the source, get a GPS fix, and send in ground teams.

On an exercise, my crew was having difficulty finding our target in the trees. The ground team target pulled out a signal mirror and were found almost immediately afterward.

In general, if you make a fist and hold it at arm's length, you will see the area which can be clearly focused on. For safety reasons, CAP aircraft will not often fly below 1000' above the ground. In hilly or mountainous terrain, that elevation will be increased.

Anything you do to make yourself more visible from the air will aid in being found. The signal mirror is great. Blaze orange stands out tremendously as soon as there's enough light to see by and also stands out more than other colors when overcast. It's not a natural color so it will also catch an aircrew's attention. A blaze orange hunting vest (3 ounces), handkerchief, hat, stocking cap, jacket, backpack, sleeping bag, etc., is also quite visible. The larger the better, but also will be heavier. If you don't particularly like orange, find items which are reversible with an orange side.

Above all, let someone know the area where you expect to be. That will greatly reduce the search area size, should you need assistance.