2001 Balloon Fissta to Launch an Estimated 750 Balloons


The 2001 Kodak Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta will launch 750 hot air balloons when the nine-day event launches on October 6th. The sixth America's Challenge Gas Balloon Race will also be held during the Balloon Fiesta.

The decision to reduce the number of balloons participating in the 30th annual event was made for a variety of reasons by the board of directors. "It is an issue of quality over quantity," says Balloon Fiesta Board president Harry Season. "Placing more of a focus on the pilots will result on larger launch spaces and more uniformed launch sites. Placing more of an emphasis on pilots, sponsors and spectators will allow the Balloon Fiesta to improve the quality of the event."

Last year Balloon Fiesta organizers registered 1,019 balloons and handily set a Guinness World Record for staging the largest balloon launch. Hosting 750 balloon teams still positions Albuquerque as the largest annual balloon event in the world by three fold.

The 2001 Kodak Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, Our 30th Journey, will be conducted October 6th through the 14th.

AEROBATICS COMMISSION (CIVA - Bled, Slovenia)

A lively discussion took place on the need to improve media coverage of aerobatics, without sacrificing the essential ethos and tradition of the sport. It was agreed in principle that images taken from the cockpit were necessary, and that rule changes may be necesary to require the fitting of camera mounts. A special CIVA meeting, devoted only to the subject of media coverage of aerobatics will be held in Munich, Germany, in April 2001.

More animated debate took place on the question of separate championships for women pilots. In the end, it was decided to retain a separate women's championship and, for the sake of equal opportunities, provide for the possibility of an award for the highest placed male pilot, in the event that a woman won the overall championship.

The Leon Biancotto Diploma for services to aerobatics was awarded to Jean-Louis Monnet, founder of the FAI World Grand Prix of Aerobatics.

New CIVA Officers: President: Mike Heuer, 1st Vice President: John Gaillard (South Africa), 2nd Vice president: Jiri Kobrle (Czech Republic); 3rd Vice President: Osmo Jalovaara (Finland), Secretary: Liz Cook (Australia).

GENERAL AVIATION COMMISSION (GAC - Klagenfurt, Austria)

Preparation for the World Air Games 2001 (WAG2001) and the planning of future General Aviation Championships were amongst the main topics discussed at the meeting. The WAG2001 will see for the first time a Precision Flying and a Rally Flying Championship running concurrently on the same airfield at the same time.

Mountain flying was presented by a representative of the Swiss Mountain Pilots Association. GAC agreed to sanction the next edition of the Hermann Geiger Cup which will be held in June 2001 in L'Alpes d'Huez (France), and will work on the possibility of integrating mountain flying as a competition discipline.

GNSS Flight Recorders: a new annex to the Sporting Code was approved, which presents GAC's requirements for equipment used for flight validation. The Commission has capitalised on the work done by the Gliding Commission for several years, while drafting rules that meet the specific requirements of general aviation competitions. The Commission will concentrate in 2001 on the design of software to evaluate and score event results.

A new requirement will be imposed for 'speed over recognised course' records to recognise only performances with a recorded speed equal to or greater than the minimum steady flight speed of the aircraft.

MICROLIGHT COMMISSION (CIMA - Lausanne, Switzerland)

A new classification of the various different categories of microlight aircraft was agreed, for use in Championships and World Record attempts. The classification is based on three characteristics:

1. Type of control system (three-axis; weight-shift; or paraglider controls).
2. Type of take-off and landing gear (conventional landplane; seaplane; amphibian; or foot-launched).
3. Number of persons on board (one or two).

A timetable was agreed for the progressive replacement of photographic evidence by GNSS (GPS/GONASS) flight recorder evidence. Flight recorders will be used as secondary sources of evidence in 2001/2002, as the primary source at the World Championship in 2003, and photographic evidence may no longer be admissible at the 3rd World Air Games in 2005.

For the purposes of establishing an aircraft's conformity with the weight limits required for definition as a microlight, the following payload will be included:

84 kg per seat (standard average weight of a pilot accepted by International civil aviation authorities).

Full fuel load (or 15kg of fuel for one seat, 22 kg for two seats, whichever is less).

Following the practice in parachuting, the concept of Microlight Competition Records has been introduced - World Records that can be established only at FAI Category 1 events. The types of competition record available remain to be worked out.

Because of currently insuperable verification difficulties, CIMA is not entertaining the possibility of introducing a world record category for a microlight Round-the-World flight. However, a CIMA working group has been established to explore the scope for introducing records for "Multi-Leg" flights.

At the Microlight event in the World Air Games 2001, the organisers will present a Trophy to the microlight manufacturer achieving the best results. CIMA accepted in principle the idea of a "Formula One" style "Constructors Championship" and decided to start work on the drafting of rules for such a championship.