Transponders for paragliders

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Scott Stabbert

Filing Flight Plan
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May 20, 2023
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Paraglider pilot
I'm a former Navy and small aircraft pilot, and now fly unpowered paragliders in the Seattle area. I'm interested if there are small lightweight transponders a paraglider could carry to simply squawk 1200 to show up on our local Seattle Approach radar. I've ridden thermals to 15K' and had 6+ hour cross country flights, so aircraft separation is concern. While paragliders stay out of controlled airspace, approach can vector big heavy's well into VFR airspace, but commercial aircraft just don't do a good job looking out for something so small. Are there any inexpensive solutions, say $200 or less that can be thrown in the back of our harness to improve safety with at least vectored aircraft.
 
Welcome to PoA!

S-band corner reflector? :dunno:
 
Hi George,
We've thought about simple reflectors, but they're not very practical for this application type.
I know many drones are coming with transponders now, but I haven't found any for consumers, just OEM circuit boards.
Avionics certification is not required as our aircraft are not certified by the FAA. We only need to squawk 1200.
Thanks for any tips.
 
Great idea. I don't know of any inexpensive transponders.
Although your aircraft are not certified, and, as you say, you'd really only need to squawk 1200, I'd think any usable unit would have to meet some kind of certification/TSO standards in order to be reliable and accurate.
 
I think you'll get low cost or low SWaP but not both. APRS would have been nice.
 
Scott Stabbert said:
I'm interested if there are small lightweight transponders a paraglider could carry to simply squawk 1200 to show up on our local Seattle Approach radar.
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Unfortunately, any use of a transponder outside the requirements found in the rules is usually prohibited. Even UAS transponders require additional authorizations. Perhaps talk to a FSDO ASI about your concerns and see if there is an authorization route available for paragliders. Then you could look for equipment options however I doubt any will be in the $200 range and portable.
 
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Could this be a use case for one of those trash-heap Bendix transponders people are throwing away en masse?
 

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I would call UAVIONIX. They initially came to my notice because of their prowess in tiny UAV ADSB/transponder field. At that time in the past, I was fretting about how they could build these for UAVs and not cheaply for certified aircraft…….well that changed.

If you speak to them, they may also know about some of the regulations.
 
Eric Pauley said:
Maybe they can get a discount on one that’s missing a knob.
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That's OK. We have an answer:

iu
 
Eric Pauley said:
Could this be a use case for one of those trash-heap Bendix transponders people are throwing away en masse?
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Not when you consider the weight of the required battery...

Regardless, the FAA in its infinite wisdom has decreed that portable transponders or ADS-B are not permitted.
 
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