On Feb 12, 11:26 am, "Tim Mara" wrote:
I've always been first for the little guy, bring on the new guys keep the
game open to all who might like to and ... and let anyone who has the desire
join in, don't add difficulty or unnecessary costs that might keep them from
playing.
I remember when the first GPS units started showing up at contests...they
weren't even going to be allowed in the cockpits even for navigation (pre
logger days)...then they were allowed giving some (back then a simple Garmin
55 was $1000.00) an advantage in competition....so they too were
everywhere...then loggers came out...closer to $1500 in the
beginnings....soon everyone had to have one to be competitive (no more left
turns at "the" turnpoint....then we did away with turnpoints and simply
said.....fly "near" the turnpoint and count it....if you're real good with
math and PC's you get extra points knowing how to get the most out of being
"near" the turnpoint...all along the folks kept telling us that these were
"optional" devices and you could still use cameras and barographs for badges
and contests and that you'd never "have to" buy any new devices...like all
politics let it go long enough and "they'll forget" what was used to pass
the bill...
anyway.....not likely to fight city hall or those who have the toys or the $
for toys...but the fact remains.......Barographs can be expensive, so can
cameras.....but the truth of the matter is there are already 1,000's of
these sitting on shelves in garages and hangars never to be used again by
the present owners.... great opportunity I'd say for those who don't have
bags of $ to get used and still useful equipment for next to nothing....so
newbie's wanting a badge don't have to buy an IGC approved logger as long as
they keep to their word and let the old "approved" equipment remain...it's
cheap and a good learning tool as well...if we can't see the benefit in this
then let those who want badges do it with cheap non-IGC approved
loggers.....any number of personal tracking devices, PDA software and GPS
handhelds can store logs that should be perfectly acceptable for
badges.....after all, does it really matter what level of security you have
for use with badges.....badges are realistically personal accomplishments
and should require the scrutiny of the Guinness book or need the rest of the
worlds approval.
tim
Please visit the Wings & Wheels website atwww.wingsandwheels.com

"Ian" wrote in message

...

On 11 Feb, 14:54, Tim Newport-Peace ] wrote:

As I understand it, the comparison between Barograph/cameras and
Recorders won't be worth a damn if the proposed change in the Sporting
Code is approved in March which makes IGC Flight Recorders and some
'Off-the-Shelf' GPS units the only acceptable forms of evidence up to
Gold (excluding Diamonds) and only Approved Flight Recorders above that.

And another nail will go into the coffin of soaring. Because we all
fly turbo-equpped german glass from large clubs, don't we, and the
paupers who can't afford to do so can just sod (polite version ...)
right off.

Ian

It's really a problem in my club (same one as Ray up there). There
are two single
seat gliders; one with an IGC-approved LX5000 logger/flight computer,
and one with
a hole to tie down a barograph. What happens? Pilots get their
silver badge with
the barograph running, switch to the other glider, and never fly the
old one again.
Makes for a utilization problem for the fleet. The cost of an EW
approaches what
we make in rental on that glider in a whole year.

Plus, I took the old one to a contest last year and got a rude
awakening when the
scorer said he'd only accept flight logs from an approved logger (I'd
brought a
handheld Garmin). Fortunately another contestant had a spare one I
could borrow!
I know, this is a whole 'nother thread going on now, but really that
cheap handheld
Garmin I have works fine for proving where I've been.