Janos Bauer wrote:
You right Mark, but as I experienced other pilots in my club don't buy
these units just because they are not IGC accepted and compared to their
limited income it looks as luxury. They lose the special xc experience
what a GPS could provide and some of them will leave this sport sooner
or later. As I heard it's somehow same for other clubs as well. It's
hard to convince these pilots with limited income to buy a GPS just for
navigation, but if it's also for documentation than the number of users
could increase again. The value of a GPS is always underestimated unless
you once try it for real xc.

I'm sorry, Janos, but this is ridiculous. I don't know of anyone who
needs to document every flight they make with an IGC approved flight
recorder (it isn't the fault of the IGC that the OLC or other contests
require approved flight recorders in some countries). Your club could
buy an EW or two for use by members who are actually attempting a badge
flight. The rest could be happily navigating and recording their
flights with inexpensive non-approved GPS units. Frankly, I think if
COTS GPS units were approved for FAI badges tomorrow, people would still
find some reason to complain that it is just too difficult or expensive...

Marc