On Thursday, July 5, 2012 7:56:40 PM UTC-7, Tom S wrote:
On 7/2/12 1:52 AM, Darryl Ramm wrote:
And I expect the OO has that trace he downloaded. There is nothing mentioned here that should imply any issues related to that, so I am not understanding why there is even the slightest basis for concern.

Ultimately it's just a flight log to show continuity/duration of flight, and a check for release height. It's like the most boring use of an IGC file imaginable.

I agree that from a technical, engineering standpoint there's nothing to
see here, but the FAI provides a set of rules that all pilots are
required to follow.

These rules may be arcane, and often easy to circumvent, but they apply
the same for a world record as for a silver badge leg.

So please read and understand the rules. If there is a question, ask it
*BEFORE* the flight. Don't try to get forgiveness after. That said,
the SSA badge dude, as well as the badge & record committee will do our
best to validate your claim.

Remember, it is the Official Observer's duty to oversee and validate the
flight for claiming. According to the sporting code, the pilot is not
to touch any of the recording equipment. (yeah, right! ;-)

-Tom
(A member of the SSA Badge and Records committee)

Again, why are we diverging off to this discussion? It has no reverence to the original post or questions raised--and nothing was said that implied the OO had not performed their duty. A pilot can take a copy of their IGC file and submit it to OLC, share it with whoever they want, ask questions about the flight performance or technical aspects of the IGC file contents etc. None of that has any relevance to the flow of a badge applciation happening from that same flight.

But since we are here, some of the above is just wrong. Nowhere in the FAI sporting code does it say "the pilot is not to touch any of the recording equipment". And I'd hate people here to think this is a literal requirement since in many situations the OO may need the pilot's help in downloading flight traces etc. becuase only the pilot has the suitable equipment (e.g. laptop with a working serial port or adapter) and know how to operate it. And the OO are fully able to get that help as long as the OO is supervising the operation....

SC3 4.5.6.(d). "AFTER FLIGHT After landing, the OO shall check any seals applied to each GPS recorder before flight and perform or supervise the transfer of flight data from each device...."

Clearly all this should be discussed between the pilot and OO well before the flight.

And pilots may of course also touch the flight recorder (or position recorder) during the flight as long as they don't taper with the device in way that could affect the recorded performance, that is also covered in the sporting code SC3 A9 (for GPS position recorders) and 4.5.6(c). I won't waste space quoting those parts here.

Darryl