International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 23-26, 2000 / Town & Country Hotel and Conference Center, San Diego, California / Selecting an airborne data acquisition system involves compromises. No single data acquisition system can be at the same time, lowest cost, smallest, easiest to use and most accurate. The only way to come to a reasonable decision is to carefully plan the project, taking into account what measurements will be required, what are the physical environments involved, what personnel and resources will be needed and of course, how much money is available in the budget? Getting the right mix of equipment, resources and people to do the job within the schedule and the budget is going to involve a number of tradeoffs. A good plan and a thorough knowledge of available resources and equipment will allow you make the necessary decisions. Hopefully, this paper will offer some suggestions that will aid in preparing your plan and give some insight into available system alternatives.