Satelite phones for position reports.
Got a call from a mate of mine on his satelite phone who was on some sort of boat, exactly halfway between NZ and Sydney, it was clear as a bell sounding like he was only a mile away or so.
It got me thinking, why are we still bothering with HF for trans oceanic flying, instead of dropping some long trailing antenae for HF, why not just pick up ur sat phone and call in ur position report, or even sms it.
Better yet, why can't the panel mounted GPS do it automatically for you. There's all sorts of great new things, satelite radio (XM radios with 300 channels for what ever music you like), you can email via satelite.
Are there phone numbers in the ERSA to do call for position reports. I have heared there are but couldnt find any.
Checked out Mooneys website, they Quote the range of the Ovation with factory installed long range tanks at around 2,400nm. Now I only need to win Lotto!!!