Brad -

Here's the catch though: You'd still be illegal to fly because you
use LK8000 or XCSoar. Since they have AH functions that you cannot
"safety-wire" in the off position, you can't use them. Sorry! No
contest-flying for you! Not until you buy a dedicated flight computer
for a couple-thousand-dollars! Oh, and if you buy a nice cell-phone,
you cannot fly with it. Sorry, gotta hike to a farmer's house in the
middle of nowhere to make a call and get retrieved!

How do these things improve safety or help increase participation?
They don't - THAT'S the insanity of this rule. Its much, much larger
than the half-dozen idiots in the country who'd kill themselves trying
to cloud-fly simply because they have an AH in the cockpit.

The sport and its rule-makers _must_ adjust to modern realities or the
sport is going to continue to die. In some ways they're doing great
things; but in others they're falling flat on their face. Adjusting
to modern society _doesn't_ mean you have to support million-dollar
thermal-detectors; but it _does_ mean the application of common-
sense!! Skew the rules towards the greater common good; _don't_ skew
the rules and everyone's equipment out of fear that a teeny fraction
of individuals will cheat.

Anyone willing to cheat to cloud-fly is also willing to be a big dick
at their next contest and protest everyone who flies with a smart-
phone. I'd LOVE to see the fallout from *that* event!

--Noel