Why so expensive (flight recorders)

On Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:42:11 +0000, Marc Ramsey wrote:

At the next IGC Plenary Meeting (29 February through 1 March), there
will be a specific proposal from the IGC Sporting Code Committee to
change SC3 to allow use of COTS GPS in conjunction with barographs for
Silver and Gold badges. May I, once again, suggest that you contact
your IGC delegate to make your viewpoint known?

Why bother with the barographs?

For the purposes of establishing that the pilot met the requirements for
a silver or gold height gain, surely GPS altitude is adequate?
(Particularly now that "SA" has been discontinued). On OLC there are
many, many log files with both GPS and barometric altitude. The GPS
altitudes are different, but they are not unreasonable and they are not
consistently "less accurate" than pressure altitudes.

Yes, they are different - GPS alitude is a different parameter to
pressure altitude. Yes the current Sporting Code requires us to measure
altitude with pressure instruments, but that is a legacy from a time when
we had no alternative.

If a pilot has achieved a height gain of 1000m or 3000m as measured with
a COTS GPS altitude (controlled by an OO), can we not acknowledge that he
as accomplished a significant achievement, give him a pat on the back and
pin a badge on his chest? This is the 21st century after all if you going
to change the rules, then lets do it properly.

If you are worried about "rogue" GPS readings (as might be caused by GPS
failure, poor reception or jamming), give the OO or the national body the
option of throwing out any GPS points that are totally unrealistic.

I presume that GPS altitude will be accepted for proving the requirement
of flight continuity on distance flights - please don't tell me that this
is not true - surely there is no valid reason to turn this down.

Far too many badges have gone unclaimed simply because aspiring pilots
have been frustrated by the requirement to borrow or buy the dinosaur
equipment required by the IGC to verify the performance.

Yes, secure flight records have their place. But for too long, the few
pilots who actually need them have been subsidized by forcing many whose
sporting objectives are more modest help pay for the R&D.

Our sport is slowly dying, not at the top levels, but at the grass root
levels. Why? Because there are so many obstacles to frustrate upcoming
pilots - it is just not as much fun for today's youth as it was for the
many of us first took up the sport 25 years ago. Now there is a chance to
get rid of one of those obstacles, lets ditch the barographs!


Ian