Globalstar Europe Satellite Services Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Globalstar Inc. (NYSE American: GSAT), has announced that Fédération Française de Vol Libre (FFVL), the French Free Flight Federation, has procured SPOT Gen4 satellite GPS messengers to track and safeguard people who participate in free flight sports, from under-18 trainees, to elite athletes competing on the world stage.
Free flight activities involve an individual piloting an ultra-light plane or other non-motorized airborne apparatus. These high-risk activities, for leisure or competitions, typically involve the participant jumping off a cliff or high mountain with the aim of landing safely in a pre-designated, usually remote, location.
Julien Garcia, Sport Technical Advisor at FFVL, explained the fundamental need for satellite-enabled safety for these inherently risky sports and said, “Our members engage in free flying all over France, in the Alps and Pyrenees, and some elite flyers compete worldwide. The reality is that sometimes people go missing and finding them can be extremely difficult. We have responsibility to advise our members on safety; but moreover, in the activities where we have management authority, we absolutely must ensure safety as much as we can.”
FFVL is a French government-recognized non-profit association which represents and manages six main free flight activities and associated disciplines: hang gliding, paragliding, snow kite and land kite, speed riding, kite flying and boomerang. FFVL organizes, directs, and promotes the practice of free flight nationally and internationally.
FFVL now encourages all of their 40,000 members to carry SPOT devices and its members can benefit from service discounts through the summer. It has organizational, government-mandated responsibility for France’s officially sanctioned competitions and for the country’s competitors at international events, such as the Paragliding World Cup.
FFVL also oversees free flying training, having established EFVL, Ecole Française de Vol Libre (the French School of Free Flight) in the Pyrenees, and the EFVL charter, a set of safety and quality standards and rules by which it certifies free flight schools. Young pilots, many under 18 years old, train three times a week at EFVL. They are tasked with steering their aircraft through waypoints set by the trainer and coach and touching down in a pre-designated landing zone. “With the unpredictability of wind and weather, and constant uncertainty of GSM mobile reach, we need to provide the trainers and trainees with always-on tracking and safety,” said Garcia.
SPOT Gen4 is the newest member of Globalstar’s award-winning SPOT device family, enabled by Globalstar’s satellite fleet in LEO. SPOT features easy-to-use buttons that can be flexibly configured to send pre-programmed messages, with options for transmission types.
With just one press of SPOT’s SOS button, an alert is instantly transmitted to SPOT’s 24/7 worldwide search and rescue service along with the user’s GPS location coordinates. Emergency communications and incident investigation protocols are immediately carried out, and local first responders are engaged to dispatch help to precisely where it’s needed. To date, SPOT devices are credited with more than 7,800 rescues worldwide.
Some FFVL members had previously used live tracking systems which were GSM-based, and unable to reliably deliver coverage in the most remote, and dangerous, mountainous regions. FFVL considered other satellite-based devices in the market, but only SPOT provided the combination of ubiquitous reach at an economical price.
“Many pilots were already using SPOT Gen4’s predecessor SPOT Gen3, and we knew how much peace of mind the devices provide,” added Garcia. “Considering its satellite-enabled reach, reliability and pricing that met FFVL’s needs as a non-profit, SPOT Gen4 was the clear choice for our organization.”
“We are really excited about our new partnership with FFVL, and we’re thoroughly delighted that Globalstar and SPOT will help France’s free flyers to enjoy their sports more safely,” said Mark O’Connell, General Manager, Globalstar Europe.