Originally Posted By: hikermor
Forget helicopters. Can the current system be deployed an any existing drones? That could open up some real possibilities.

Hmmm ... my first answer was no, but now my answer is yes ...

The RECCO helicopter-borne detector weighs 170 pounds.(the foregoing is a nice article, btw).

Common, even semi-common heavy-lift drones top out at ~66 lb capacity.

But if you are willing to pony up about $250,000, then Griff Aviation's drones could handle it easily. The Griff Savior SAR drone is a candidate, though I think from the (scanty) specs that the Griff Rancher might be a better choice. Both are rated up to 441 lb payload, but the Griff Rancher includes GPS, and camera, unlike the Savior. Air time is listed as 30 minutes, but I expect that if one is not maxing out the payload, one can add batteries for more airtime.

Of course, this is a "cheap" solution only in comparison to a helicopter.

From the RECCO video clip, the RECCO unit is bulky - a rounded stubby cylinder about 2 ft diameter and 2 ft high.

The current RECCO helocopter-borne detector is smaller and lighter than the 300 lbs 2015 version.
_________________________
A signal mirror should backup a radio distress signal, like a 406 MHz PLB (ACR PLB) (Ocean Signal PLB)