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Aerobatic World Championships (HG & PG)There is an offer to organise in the near (not too distant) future the first World Aerobatic Championships in HG and PG. Since this is the first event of this format, CIVL would like to appoint a Working Group, with the aim of presenting proposals for adoption at the next Plenary meeting. The work which needs to be done includes:
Alain Zoller (E-mail: airturquoise@bluewin.ch)
has accepted to chair this working group and I recommend that all interested
people should contact him. |
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Fiesta on the Weather Channel The 2000 Kodak Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta http://www.balloonfiesta.com will be featured on The Weather Channel this week. The event will be featured on "Atmospheres" a new weekly show on The Weather Channel. Producers with the program attended this year's event during the first half of the Balloon Fiesta. The program will air Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET/PT and repeat on Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET/PT and Sunday night at 5 p.m. ET. Here is what the program's Internet web site http://www.weather.com/weather_center/atmospheres/ says about the Balloon Fiesta segment: "Up, up and away! Enthusiasts take to the sky in these majestic, and often colorful, traveling balloons. Find out why they love it so much, and how the weather can help-or hurt-their aerial adventures." The Weather Channel joins the Cable News Network, Time Magazine, Univision,
The Dallas Morning News The Learning Channel, QVC, and 286 other leading
media organizations in coverage of this year's event.
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important notification Attention all National HG and PG Associations Pilot qualification criteria for FAI/CIVL Category 1 events The improvement of safety at Category 1 Championships was the main reason for adopting the current qualification criteria for entry to Category 1 events. These criteria were approved at the Plenary Meeting in Copenhagen (Febraury, 1999) and came into force on 1 January 2000. At both the hang gliding and paragliding European Championships 2000, there were several countries who attempted to enter non-qualified pilots. In addition, there appears to be some countries who are still not familiar with the qualification criteria required of pilots intending to compete in Category 1 competitions. Please also note that the qualifying criteria for female pilots is exactly the same as for males, that is to finish in the top two thirds of ALL pilots (both male and female). However, there are currently three exceptions to this (due to the small numbers of competitors and/or alternative qualifying criteria and/or type of tasks flown):
Exemptions Several pilots were surprised when their applications for exemption to the qualifying criteria were turned down. CIVL would like to clarify that exemptions are only available to pilots who would normally have qualifed, but for extraordinary reaons were not able to qualify. World Air Games 2001 For the WAG paragliding competition additional qualification criteria will apply, please see separate notice (CIVL web page 'press releases'). For the WAG hang gliding the qualification criteria are as per section 7 5.11. These qualification criteria will be strictly enforced at the World Air Games in 2001 and non-qualified pilots will be refused entry. Therefore CIVL urges all National Associations, competition pilots, team selection committees, etc to make sure they are well informed and that their selected team members have all qualified. There is a list of qualified pilots available on the CIVL website (next scheduled update Jan 2001). Full information can be obtained on the CIVL web pages www.fai.org/hang_gliding/ Queries should be addressed to Sarah Fenwick civl@ntlworld.com
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| World
Air Games on-line Store The FAI and 2001 ECO are pleased to announce the opening of the WAG on-line store. This new E-commerce store will offer a wide variety of merchandise featuring the WAG II logo, the FAI's WAG logo, "Quillo" (the WAG II mascot), and customized embroidery for FAI teams. n Championships 2000, there were several countries who attempted to enter non-qualified pilots. In addition, there appears to be some countries who are still not familiar with the qualification criteria required of pilots intending to compete in Category 1 competitions. As a start, the store will offer apparel items for cooler weather, such as high quality sweatshirts, long sleeve T-shirts, and hats with embroidered WAG logos. Soon, items will include warmer weather apparel such as T-shirts and shorts with silk screened WAG logos. As the Games approach, many non-apparel items will also be offered, such as sport bags, hand-telescopes for watching air sports, and children's items related to flying. As a special service for teams attending the World Air Games in Spain, the WAG store is offering custom embroidery on all of its apparel. Team names, athletes' names, national flags, etc., can be embroidered right on the official WAG apparel. Custom embroidery with sport-specific Quillo logo's will also be available for all WAG apparel. The website for the WAG store will include a photo gallery of air sports images, and links to many FAI-related sites. The WAG store will take orders on-line, and accepts several major credit cards. Please visit the new WAG store at: http://www.worldairgames.com
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| Fatal
Accident During Model Glider Towing Recently rumours from Europe reached the BMFA to the effect that a person had been killed during the towing of a model glider. Remarkably, very little information was available from official sources, so BMFA members used various contacts throughout the Continent and have managed to piece together what appears to have happened. The accident happened whilst a rocket SE8 competition was taking place but the person concerned was not flying in this event; he was relatively inexperienced and was using the site to practice glider flying. A pulley launch system was being used whereby the towline was anchored to the ground by stakes, the towline being passed round a hand held pulley and back to the glider. On the signal to start the two towers ran away from the fixed stake to pull in the line and launch the model. Much the same system is used competitively all over the world to launch model gliders. On the day in question, after "about 30 launches", the stake anchoring the pulley to the ground was pulled out by the force of the towline and struck one of the towers, a sixteen year old, in the back of the head which tragically killed him. Understanding the cause of the accident however is of equal if not more importance to sport glider flyers using the "pulley tow" technique than for competition flyers. It appears that the holding stake had been fixed at the start of the day's flying and had probably not been checked for security subsequently. Repeated towing had caused it to loosen until it reached the point when it was pulled from the ground by the towline at high tension. The only direction it could then take was towards the towers which it did with tragic and fatal consequences. In competition flying in the UK, holding stakes are required to be a MINIMUM of 450mm long and 15mm diameter of which 350mm must be driven into the ground. Stakes are often moved or lines re-attached during competition and are therefore regularly checked by default; this is not usually done in the case of sport or practice flying. The lesson is very clear any staked pulley must be regularly checked to verify its security; failing to do this could be your last mistake ever! The BMFA would advise anybody new to pulley towing to seek advice from an experienced (probably a competition) flyer. Similar risks are also presented by bungee and winch launch systems so seek advice if you are unsure and check these stakes regularly as well. The BMFA believe that this potential hazard and their advice should
receive a wide distribution and recipients are asked to take whatever
action they believe to be appropriate within their national governing
bodies to alert aeromodellers to a serious potential hazard.
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Pilot Rankings Update 15/12/00 The WPRS sees changes to paragliding, hang gliding and class 2. There are no changes to speed gliding or precision paragliding. Firstly it is with great sadness that CIVL learnt of the deaths of Joel Rebbechi (AUS) and Jobst Baeumer (GER). These were both excellent pilots, who were extremely well respected and they will be greatly missed by all. The hang gliding ranking sees the addition of the Canungra Classic and the deletion of the 1999 US Nationals and Wallaby. There are no changes in the top 10 places with Oleg Bondarchuk (UKR, 1st), Richard Walbec (FRA, 2nd) Manfred Ruhmer (AUT, 3rd), Andre Wolf (BRA, 4th), Gordon Rigg (GBR, 5th) and Betinho Schmitz (BRA, 6th), Steve Cook (GBR, 7th), Ron Richardson (GBR, 8th), Mario Alonzi (FRA, 9th) and Nene Rotor (BRA, 10th). Francoise Mocellin (FRA) still leads the female rankings in 31st place overall (169 points) only 12 points ahead of Kathleen Rigg (GBR) who is 2nd (37th overall) with Kari Castle (USA) 3rd (66th overall). There 624 pilots ranked from 38 countries. Class 2 sees the deletion of the 1999 US Nationals and Wallaby, and a few changes in the top 10 places. Brian Porter (USA) is 1st ahead of German pilots Christof Kratzner (GER) and Marcus Hoffmann Guben (GER) who are equal 2nd. David Sharp (USA) has dropped to 4th (from 1st), he is followed by Hansjoerg Truttmann (SUI, 5th), Bernd Weber (GER) 6th, Diego Bussinger (SUI) 7th, Johan Posch (AUT) 8th, Toni Raumauf (AUT) 9th and Davis Straub (USA, 10th). Niki Hamilton (GBR) is the only female ranked (26th overall). There are 45 pilots from 9 countries. The paragliding rankings sees the addition of Japanese Nationals, Korean championships, Canungra Cup and Xceara 2000. Deleted events (from 1999) are PWC Slovenia and Italy, Veltins Cup, slovenian Nationals and the Argentinian Open. Whils the names in the top 10 places have not changed there has been some position changes. With all his high scoring events in 2000 season Martin Brunn (AUT) maintains the lead on 286 points. However the Japanese pilots Masataka Kawachi (JPN) and Tsuji Tsuyoshi (JPN) have moved up to take 2nd and 3rd places respectively. Pilots moving up the rankings are Kaspar Henny (SUI, 4th from 6th), Jimmy Pacher (ITA, 6th from 7th) and Stephan Stieglair (AUT, 7th from 9th). Those who have dropped places are Steve Cox (SUI, 5th from 2nd), Kari Eisenhut (SUI, 8th from 3rd), Christian Tamegger (AUT, 9th from 8th) and Andy Hediger (SUI) has maintained 10th position. Louise Crandal (DEN) still has a clear lead in the female rankings and is in 37th place overall (185 points) with Petra Krausova (CZE) and Noriko Mizunuma (JPN) in equal 2nd place (78th overall). There are currently 654 pilots ranked from 35 countries. Results not yet received ( and therefore not included in WPRS yet) are X-Ceara 2000 (HG class 1 & 2) and the Shikoku Cup (PG). Forthcoming hang gliding competitions (class 1 unless otherwise indicated) that qualify for WPRS points are: Category 1: World Air Games, Spain. Category 2: South African HG Championships; Australain Nationals; Forbes Flatlands, Australia; Bogong Cup, Australia; Millenium Cup, MExico; Flytec championships, USA; Test Female Worlds, USA; Test Europeans, Slovenia. Forthcoming paragliding competitions that qualify for WPRS points are: Category 1: World Air Games, Spain. Category 2: All Africa Open, South Africa; Mexican Open Champs; NZ Nationals; Millenium Cup, Mexico; Australian Open; Argentinian Nationals; Test Europeans, Slovenia. Details of these competitions can be found on the CIVL web page http://events.fai.org/hgpg/civl-calendar.asp Country rankings In paragliding country rankings the top 3 places have changed with Austria now leading, ahead of France who have dropped to 2nd and Swizerland has dropped to 3rd. 4th to 7th places remain the same (Japan, Germany, Denmark and Italy. Great Britain has moved to 8th, Slovakia dropped to 9th and South Africa moved up to 10th. In hang gliding country rankings the top 5 remain the same, USA has climbed up a place to 6th, and Australia has dropped from 6th to 7th. Germany and Switzerland have dropped out of the top 10. Italy has moved up to 8th followed by Ukraine in 9th and Sweden in 10th. Full details of the country rankings (PG and HG) can be found on the World Pilot Ranking System website. Pilots should check that their personal record shows the correct nationality, particularly as there are 14 hang glider pilots and 25 paraglider pilots of unknown nationality. All amendments should be e-mailed to Sarah Fenwick (civl@ntlworld.com) Full details of the rankings can be found on the FAI/CIVL website at http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/rankings/ List of qualified pilots This will next be updated 02 Jan 2001. Any pilots wanting confirmation of their qualification for category 1 events should contact Sarah Fenwick. Any queries/questions regarding the World Pilot Ranking Scheme should be sent to Sarah Fenwick, e-mail civl@ntlworld.com, tel/fax +44 1983 523003 Information and an application form for CIVL category 2 sanctioning are available on the CIVL website http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/ or from Sarah Fenwick.
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OTHER ARTICLES OF ASI JANUARY 2000 ISSUE
From The Secretary General's Desk | Air Waves | | News In Brief | Letters To The Editor | World Records | | EAA Honours Nine by Inducting them into their Halls of Fame | | Across 7 Countries in 70 Hours | | The Pacific Adventure | | Gyps Africanus | |