On 13 Feb, 01:12, wrote:
On Feb 11, 10:03 am, Nyal Williams

What about those contest pilots who have lost whole
days because they screwed up using a CFR?

Key here is "THEY" screwed up. It's rarely a hardware problem. With
turnpoint camera and baro attempts, the film processors can screw you
up, the OO can forget one little mark on the trace that will cost you
a badge, the canopy mark (impossible to verify until the film is
developed) might not show up, or might obscure your picture, the
clockwork mechanism of the baro itself can hang up. On top of that,
you need to calibrate the baro twice as often, and I've had a mis-
marked calibration trace cost me a badge leg too.

All good points - and electronics, as we all know, never go wrong. But
that aside, I simply can't see the point of banning older forms of
flight verification (I believe we're losing ground observers as
well).

One answer, of course, is for another authority besides the FAI to
issue badges.

Ian