Seasprite question

[chrisr]

Does anyone know what the red round protuberance is on the back of the Seasprite? It's only on the ex Australian Seasprites and no other model.

I originally assumed it was a cover of some sort, but the aircraft flies with it on.

[chis73]

An Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) I believe (see the Leonardo CPI-406 on this page). It's a beacon that is supposed to separate (and then float, if over water/sea) from the helicopter after a crash and transmit it's location. It is day-glo orange/red to aid it being found visually. The Leonardo one even records flight and cockpit data as well.

[lesterpk]

Yep, common on oil/gas helicopters I used to work with, it self ejects when certain G/impact limits are reached or on water immersion, transmits location to aid in recovery.

www.hr-smith.com/beacons/cpi-with-memory-module/

[chrisr]

Interesting, thank you