Dave is a retired US Air Force Command Pilot - 24 years. Today he has logged 15 years with a fractional ownership corporate company. While on active duty he was able to operate Lake Seawolfs into the Atlantic Ocean (so he can talk about swells. mixed sea state and glassy water and how to land on all). He had an assignment as a liaison to the Civil Air Patrol which gave him insight to how SAR works. Lastly, he operated Gulfstream IVs for 18 years so he has crossed bodies of water many, many times and operated in the non-radar areas of Africa, Russia and South America.
The big picture...he has an in depth working knowledge of worldwide SAR and how valuable it is to the pilot of today.
And most important he has learned of the short falls that pilots face, and how they are not being trained.
It does not matter if you are a student pilot or a seasoned pilot. I can give you a quick, small test which you cannot answer...I say this not to belittle anyone, unfortunately I have found that SAR is not trained by the FAA or certified flight instructors. And has not been for twenty years.
I ask all pilots to learn how they are going to handle the emergency of engine failure while transiting water or non-radar environments. Most cases have 10+ minutes to do the right thing...if you know what that is.
The risk of it happening has dropped to near zero. We use engines that almost never quit, fuel systems that do not leak, electrical grids that maintain their integrity, pressurization systems which maintain altitude and interiors which will not burn.