How many out there have disabled the TrackBack feature on their GPS units. For those of you not familiar with this feature, your GPS unit logs into memory your precise route of flight in case you want to review it or fly the same route in reverse.

Have heard that if you are involved in an incident, one of the first things the invesitgators will do is seize your GPS unit, extracting this information to possibly build a case against you.

You can easily disable this feature from the map page menu.

I disabled mine, not because I'm worried about the feds but because it clutters up the screen it you fly in circles as I sometimes do.....Ron

Supercubber,

I think this is a bit of paranoia. The FAA does not have authority to "seize" your personal property, though they may certainly ask you to volunteer it.

In that event, all you have to do is tell them the thing wasn't on at the time, and take it home.

If they did "seize" your GPS, I think you'd have a pretty good arguement to find an attorney to get it back for you. The FAA doesn't follow the rule of law of the civil courts, but I doubt any court would authorize them to seize your property, except perhaps in the event of an accident with fatalities.

I too think the feature clutters up the screen, and disable it for that reason.

And, who knows, maybe the FAA could seize it .

MTV

When you think about it, the feature could also save your butt if you were accused of doing something you didn't do.

Supercubber wrote:When you think about it, the feature could also save your butt if you were accused of doing something you didn't do.

One of the reasons I leave mine on. You've gotta be sleeping at the wheel to bust airspace restrictions or altitude limits when using modern GPS systems. At least if someone accuses me of busting an FAR I'll have the GPS backtrack to back me up or to compare with Tracons records. If a fed demanded my GPS I'd be temped to tell him to kiss my ass or at the very least get out his checkbook and be prepared to pay a very inflated price for it. Once your property is seized you can pretty much kiss it goodbye without any compensation. Seized property is very rarely returned once it is taken.

I don't do the type of flying that causes the track to clutter up the display and on the rare occasions that I do I'm generally not using the GPS for navigation anyway.

Don't get the idea that I'm anti law enforcement, I'm not, but I've had enough bad experiences with LEO's and bureaucrats to give me a healthy sense of scepticism, almost all from the victims side of the equation. I've had a hell of a time just getting recovered stolen property back from the LEO's on more than one occasion.

Supercubber wrote:When you think about it, the feature could also save your butt if you were accused of doing something you didn't do.

I've read accounts of run-ins with the FAA where this was a help, not a hindrance. I keep the track log on, and simply reset it when I know that I want it to be well defined. For example, I reset it before a longer flight, then when I get home, I "re-fly" the trip in a mapping program. I think I would rather have the evidence that I did it right.

tom

Tom,

Don't know if your aware of this or not, but the Tracback also has a wrap feature. If you activate it you don't have to manually delete any tracs. Once it reaches the memory capacity it automatically erases the oldest tracs to make room.