2nd WORLD AIR GAMES
Decision time for the 2nd World Air Games in 2001 is rapidly approaching. Only 3 months from now, we shall know which of the bidders (Austria, Poland, Spain and Turkey) has been successful. The FAI's team of WAG negotiators, led by Ivo Mazzola of Switzerland and Srecko Medven of Slovenia, has made good progress in analysing the paper bids, and agreeing adjustments to concepts, where necessary. Site visits have already got under way, and the FAI Air Sport Commissions are working with the bidders to refine the details of each air sport event. Inevitably, three countries will be disappointed. This is the nature of a selection process. But it is a healthy situation to be able to choose between four such strong candidates. TV AND MEDIA Already the motivating effect of the prospect of more TV exposure of air sports is becoming apparent. There is lively debate in the FAI Commissions on how rules can be changed to be make the sports more appealing to the general public. We are becoming increasingly confident that FAI can achieve widespread regular TV coverage of international air sport contests. High profile events such as the recent non-stop round-the-world balloon flight attempts have helped focus media attention on our activities. Of course, this has its down-side too: the French government is currently trying to prevent gas balloons featuring beer advertisements from participating in the famous and historic Gordon Bennett Race - on the grounds that the ads might show up too prominently on TV and endanger the nation's health (or conceivably its wine trade!) We are optimistic we can persuade them to back down, but this kind of case demonstrates that being prominently in the public eye carries additional responsibilities. NEW MEMBERSHIP CATEGORY This year, the FAI has introduced a new form of membership, designed to allow small countries with very restricted finances to benefit from at least some of the privileges of being in FAI. Styled "Temporary Membership", because it is intended as a bridge to full membership, the category allows limited participation in international air sport events under the FAI flag. Our first Temporary Member - Guam - has already been admitted, and several others are in the pipeline. For details, potential new members should email me at maxb@fai.org. PROBLEM CORNER - DUAL NATIONALITY Occasionally, problems arise at FAI contests because people who had previously flown for Arcadia suddenly show up with a Utopian sporting licence. "Oh", they say when challenged, "didn't you know I had dual nationality?" or "Yes, it's true that I have an Arcadian passport, but I live in Utopia - surely I can represent either." Organisers often ask the FAI Secretariat for advice. Well, the rules are fairly clear. First, you cannot hold a Sporting Licence from more than one country at a time. Second, if you wish to represent your country of residence, rather than your country of nationality in 1st Category contests (e.g. World or Continental Championships), you must have lived there for at least three years continuously, during which time you did not represent your country of nationality (or any other country, for that matter). Third, if you hold dual nationality (two passports) you may change from one country to the other (by surrendering the sporting licence issued by one country and taking out a licence from the other). However, FAI does not expect people who do this to change back again the following year. Competitors must make a choice and then stick to it. FAI MISSION STATEMENT? There was a time when only religious emissaries and astronauts had missions and made statements about them. Now even the corner sweet shop has a strategic plan. FAI used to be a fairly conservative organisation, slow to sign up to what the latest management gurus were preaching. But at a time of radical change in the world, it makes sense for any organisation to review its aims, objectives and priorities. So the FAI has commissioned a leading management consultant - who also happens to be an active sporting aviator, with a long experience of administering non-profit air sport organisations - to draw up a Business Plan to take us into the next century. We should be able to tell you what's in the plan after the May FAI Council meeting. X PRIZE A million dollar prize, the "X Prize", has been offered to the first privately financed team to successfully launch (twice within a couple of weeks) a re-usable spacecraft capable of carrying at least three people into sub-orbital flight. FAI is proud to be associated with this exciting venture, both in a consultancy capacity on the formulation of the rules for the competition, and in providing judges who will evaluate the evidence for the flights. The aim of the prize is to encourage the development of space tourism. Majorca this year, into orbit next. Is it such a fanciful thought? The X Prize team are in doubt that it is altogether realistic. AIR SPORT COMMISSIONS MEET March is the season of Commission meetings. The parachutists have already had their gathering, graced by the presence of the Portuguese Sports Minister, at which they agreed to work towards the concept of holding all the skydiving World Championships in the 5 summer disciplines simultaneously at the same place (WAG 2001?). Next in line are the balloonists, meeting this year in Italy. They will have to elect a new President, following the retirement of Jacques Soukup. The International Gliding Commission too will be in search of new leadership at its Paris meeting. Professor Dr Peter Ryder has stood down to take on the job of organising the 1999 World Gliding Championship in Bayreuth. And that's not all: the Hang Gliding Commission will also be electing a new chief. Per Christian Daehlin, recently married, is making way for a new face. To all these departing figures, FAI - and the world air sports community - owes a great debt of gratitude for their selfless and dedicated work. CIACA AND ICARE The arcane abbreviations used in FAI sometimes leave people mystified. For instance CIACA and ICARE both meet soon, but who knows what they do? Well, CIACA stands for "Commission Internationale des Amateurs de Construction d'Aeronefs": it's the international authority for amateur aircraft builders. This is very much a growing part of FAI's activity. CIACA is also concerned with the restoration of vintage aircraft. ICARE (International Commission for Astronautic Records) does what its name suggests: looks after the rules for space records. When the cosmonauts on Mir set a new record for extra-vehicular activity, it is the FAI office that ratifies that record, applying rules laid down by ICARE. There is more to FAI than sometimes meets the eye!
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