Hi Eric,

Thanks for the suggestions. I understand they were intended to be
helpful, but I think you illustrated my point nicely: badges are a
logistics hassle! I really don't like to whine, but to this newcomer
the whole badge business strikes me as being basically insulting, and
seriously un-fun.

Let me first explain what I think is fun. I put my logger in the
glider, I declare a task (if appropriate), I fly, I land, I go home, I
download the track log and, if it seems like a good 'un I share it
with my friends. And if there are achievement badges to be had, I
email the track log to wherever it needs to go, along with a
declaration that indeed it's the real McCoy. Since it IS a secure
logger, and it has my name in the header data, and since that basic
technology (public/private key encryption) is sufficient to verify
bank transactions, we should be done. Simple. Fun.

What is not fun? Unless I'm documenting something worth real money,
dragging other pilots or the busy FBO staff out to my glider to
confirm that my logger is installed and sealed before and after every
flight is not fun. Standing by my just-landed glider on a deserted
airport (I get back before everyone else, after all) shouting "Hey!
Someone come out and verify that I'm not the kind of guy who'd slip a
rigged logger into my glider! Someone?" is not fun - actually it's
pretty demeaning.

There is at least one alternative: the OO keeps the logger until there
is an opportunity to download the file; e.g., at home that evening, or
the next day, or whenever it's convenient.

Since the software is on my computer, either the OO is going to come
home with me to do this, or am I going to go home with the OO,
assuming they have a compatible setup at home. I live 90 minutes from
the field: someone's going to be doing a lot of driving.

You probably don't even need a laptop, either: a cheap iPaq or Palm PDA
can probably do the job for much less money and hassle, and it can also
be used with the logger for navigation while you fly.

Actually, log files downloaded to a PDA are not acceptable to the IGC
for a badge claim. And even if they were acceptable, now the file has
to be downloaded from the PDA somehow: same problem as before. Or I
could just download the file at home and email it to the OO...

Or borrow a laptop or PDA. Lots of your buds have them,
....
Also, I'm going to
bring a laptop in the future, so we can look at our flights while
drinking a beer.

Well, certainly a sociable suggestion! But again, I don't see myself
calling around my buddies saying "are you going flying today, do you
have a laptop with data-gcs.exe installed that you could bring with
you on the off-chance that I actually make a Silver badge leg today?"

Why don't we just assume that I buy a laptop, and move on?

Yes, the OO (whether using a flight recorder or cameras/barograph) is
supposed to actually observe the flight! If so, no sealing to the glider
is required. Witnesses may used in some circumstances, generally with
sealing. I find this the easiest method.

I thought this was the beauty of the secure logger: IT OBSERVES THE
FLIGHT. Oh, sure, I could have arranged for someone else to make the
flight with my name in the logger declaration file. I'm just
picturing the reaction I'd get if I started calling around asking for
a volunteer to do that...

...After
the first couple of tries, it will seem much easier. You are learning
the system on a fairly easy badge, which be useful when you go to the
higher badges. You wouldn't want to make a mistake when you finally
accomplish your diamond distance, would you?

Well, if none of this badge bureaucracy existed and I were to fly the
equivalent of a diamond distance flight (I wish!), no doubt I'd show
the log to my buddies and maybe post it where my friends could look at
it and we'd celebrate with a beer. But with the badge system, now I
didn't "really" fly that distance unless I can prove it! Pretty
insulting!

I fly for fun. Learning to fly was work, but also fun, and the reward
was obvious. Being assumed guilty until proven innocent is not fun.
Bugging busy people to have them verify that I'm not the kind of
contemptible, pathetic loser who'd swap loggers for a Silver badge,
well, it's just not fun. If badges become a requirement for flying, I
guess I may have to deal with them. But otherwise, I read the badge
regs and my reaction is... whoever these people are, they sound like
paranoid losers!

(Deep breath.)

If I fly a Silver Distance leg and the line boy who runs my wing for
takeoff happens to be there when I land and we can figure out who is
an OO and the OO doesn't ask about whether the logger was sealed to
the glider and is willing to accept an emailed file or there happens
to be someone nearby with a laptop with data-gcs.exe and a floppy
drive - and a spare floppy disk (who has either any more?) - then I
may have something to submit. Otherwise... life's too busy and too
short. Heck with it.