Papa3 wrote:
I notice from the brief minutes of the FAI meeting in Lausanne that a
proposal to use Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) flight recorders was not
accepted. In other words, the widely available, cheap units are again
rejected in favor of expensive, proprietary units. I'd like to know the
following:

1. Specifically, what were the voting results on this? Exactly who (names
and countries please) voted for and against the proposal?

2. On what grounds was the proposal rejected?

3. What are the chances of this proposal being made acceptable?

I had proposed at some length to one of the well known names in this
"debate" that the use of COTS units for badges and records below the level
of national (e.g. State records here in the US) is a no-brainer.

Just in case you aren't aware of this, the requirements for national and
lower records are set by the country itself, not the IGC, which sets the
requirements for badges and world records. It just confuses the issues
to mix badges and country records together.

Without
going into detail, the crux of my argument was that these units are no less
secure than the existing alternative (camera and barograph).

WHile I like the idea of making badge documentation easier and cheaper
because it would encourage more attempts, I don't believe this is true.
I haven't tried it, but I think I could cheat much more easily with
COTS units than a camera and barograph, based on my experience with
cameras/barographs, approved recorders, handheld GPS units, both as a
pilot and official observer.

It would depend very much on the details of the selected units and the
procedures, and knowledge and care of the OO. A great advantage of the
approved units is it makes the OO's job easier than before, rather than
more complicated. Also, camera and barograph operation is more "visible"
to an OO than software and file systems, which is why I think it would
be easier for an OO to ensure their proper use than with a COTS gps unit.


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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA