FÉDÉRATION AÉRONAUTIQUE INTERNATIONALE FAI BALLOONING COMMISSION (CIA) Newsletter  Autumn 2002

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

By Jean Claude Weber, CIA President

You may have wondered why you missed this year’s spring issue of the CIA Newsletter and why there was mostly "silence" from the CIA after the CIA Plenary. Well, the explanation is that Neil Robertson, our long serving secretary, has decided to retire shortly after the Plenary. About to write a new chapter of his life, Neil is well and going strong, and will certainly continue to contribute freely in some of his many capacities. To recognise his contributions, the FAI has decided to award him the FAI Bronze Medal, reserved for persons who have rendered eminent services to the FAI in administrative work. He is an eminently suitable recipient of this prestigious FAI Medal, presented to him by the FAI President Wolfgang Weinreich during the FAI General Conference in Dubrovnik.

Although we certainly will miss Neil in the day-to-day running of our commission, I am pleased to report that we have recruited a new "standing" secretary, Les Purfield. Les has agreed, after a "longish" period of reflection, to stand in for Neil until the next Plenary and where his is willing to stand for election. Having been a CIA member as well as the Rules Subcommittee’s chairman for many years, I am convinced that Les has the right kind of experience and enthusiasm to take over from Neil. Good-Bye Neil, welcome Les!

By now our major events are behind us and we are already very busy preparing next year’s events. This year’s events have been highly successful, and I would like to commend the organisers and participants for having put their combined talents and enthusiasm at the ballooning community’s service. We have had fantastic results in some of our events (see the CIA web pages), and the public/media appeal keeps increasing. But on the other hand we also have had some less pleasant experiences concerning safety during our events. In this respect, I believe it is about time for us to re-consider some basic principles of our sport, like airmanship, fairness and the respect of the rules, if we do not wish outside parties to interfere and try to (over)regulate our activities. We all agree that competition, in events as well as in records, is inherently more risky than pure fun-flying, and our competitors generally accept this increased risk in order to achieve good results. And to do so, they rely on us to define the frame in which they can safely compete. However, when it comes to set acceptable standards and limits, we (as the responsible regulating body) have very often a tendency to dig in and to close our ears and minds to reasonable arguments out of ignorance or worse, out of interest. This is unreasonable, and our sport is at risk to become the playing field for reckless, unsporting and therefore unfair competitors and/or organisers. Safety is the most important issue in our sport, and we have to make every possible effort to keep our competitors out of harm’s way. I definitely welcome every initiative to make our competitions safer, and in this respect I believe that the use of flight loggers for flight verification purposes is a step in the right direction. I very well understand why organisers or competitors may oppose the "permanent observation" approach in competition, but I believe that if this simple tool can help us to avoid even a single accident, then it’s worth having. Even at the risk of alienating a few of the more "daring" participants or organisers. It is our responsibility to provide the rules that will make our events safer and therefore more enjoyable for all.

During the World Championship in Châtellerault the CIA Bureau met to have a short meeting dealing with some issues needing immediate attention, and of which the most important was obviously the approval of the competition officials for the 2003 European Hot Air Balloon Championship in Lithuania. As tasked by the CIA Plenary, the Bureau analysed the information made available by the organisers, the CIA expert Masashi Kakuda and the Jury President of the Pre-European event 2002, and decided to approve the following proposed competition officials:

Event director: Cornelis van Helden
Deputy Event director: Masashi Kakuda
Safety Officer: To be approved in 2003

The Deputy Event director was also tasked to assemble the event’s top competition officials’ group, and the organisers were required to regularly report organisation details and progress to the CIA EPAS. In respect of the 2002 Test event, the Bureau found that this event did not really provide the organisers with the right "Test" environment for a major Category 1 event, and that under the given circumstances it is regrettable that the Test event was held as a non-sanctioned event.

The CIA Bureau also dealt with the CIA Plenary decision to approve a RSC proposed AX MER rule change modifying the "gravity marker drop rule (12.9)" to the effect that "a marker thrown into the scoring area will be regarded as a valid result". The Bureau discussed the implications of this important rule change, considering its clear violation of the spirit of the Sporting Code in respect of fair competition, and the way it was adopted (hidden within the RSC report), and decided to direct the RSC to re-consider this rule change and to present modified wording to the next CIA Plenary meeting.

Elsewhere in this Newsletter you will find the planning details for our next Plenary meeting, as well as the CIA Annual Statistics questionnaire. I urge you to please reply promptly to these questionnaires, they are vital for the preparation of our meeting.

Safe flights, and looking forward to seeing all of you in sunny Réunion.

News from the 2005 World Air Games front

During the FAI General Conference the delegates approved a WAG Structure Document , prepared by the FAI WAG Coordinating Committee chaired by B.J. Worth, as the basis for soliciting bids for the third World Air Games.

The purpose of this WAG Structure Document is to serve as the FAI’s primary source for defining the WAG Product. It presents a framework within which a specific WAG should be developed, identifies the basic responsibilities for the primary parties involved, and outlines the WAG Bid Process. When combined with the WAG Bid Package, this material should provide all the information required from the FAI’s side for a prospective WAG Organizer to prepare a bid.

The WAG Structure Document is voluminous, concerns all Air Sports and may be a bit tedious to read, so a list of its most significant elements—which are intended to establish a much improved WAG Product—is given below. The full document, already sent to the CIA’s WAG WG, may be obtained from the CIA President.

The WAGCC believes that it is vitally important for the ASCs to serve a significant role in future World Air Games, and that with this increased role it is natural that there are increased responsibilities. The following list of proposed CIA responsibilities is not complete, but will be the basis for creating a comprehensive list. I encourage each SC and WG chairperson concerned to review this list, collect comments from delegates and prepare a comments document, and propose additions or modifications to it to the CIA WAG WG. (SC or WG concerned are shown in brackets in the list) The list of ASC responsibilities and the WAG Structure Document will be a CIA Plenary Agenda item and the CIA WAG WG will report on project progress.  

1. Write and update Competition Rules for all events falling within CIA’s jurisdiction (RSC)
2. Provide WAG Liaison Officer to serve as ASC representative for all WAG-related maters (WAG WG)
3. Submit completed Event Dossier to WAGCC in a timely manner – for inclusion in WAG Bid Package (EPAS & WAG WG)
4. Communication

1. Provide services of Technical Advisers to WAG Organizer as required (WAG WG)
2. Ensure that CIA’s LO and other CIA designated personnel maintain a close working relationship with WAG Organizer. (WAG WG)
3. Maintain a paper trail of all communications, and archive it for future perusal by FAI and/or WAG Organizer. (CIA Secretary)

5. Bidding Process – CIA Responsibilities

1. Prepare Event Dossier for each event (EPAS)
2. Review Phase 1 bids (EPAS & WAG WG)
3. Site Inspection (EPAS & CSC)
4. Submit CIA response and recommendations for each Phase 1 bids (EPAS)
5. Submit CIA response and recommendations for each Phase 2 bids (EPAS)

6. Inclusions in Event Dossier for each WAG event (EPAS & WAG WG)

1. FAI Sporting Code, Section 1
2. Event descriptions of all CIA approved WAG events (One paragraph per event) (EPAS)
3. Photograph(s) of all CIA disciplines taking place, and right to use photograph(s) for WAG publicity (PR SC)
4. National publication featuring each event (PR SC)
5. Competition Rules for all CIA approved WAG events (RSC)
6. Test Events: CIA’s policy and criteria regarding test events (EPAS and CSC)
7. Event Organization Form: Complete for each CIA-approved WAG event (EPAS)

(1) Numbers of participants: Competitors, team sizes, support personnel, accompanying personnel

(2) Required Equipment (support aircraft, vehicles, structures, technical)

(a) Provide a list of all equipment (including purpose of all items) which are required by CIA to prepare and conduct WAG.

(b) Provide an estimate on the approximate cost of providing this equipment (including operators)

(c) Provide a list of sources for obtaining this equipment (indicate rental or purchase of equipment)

(3) Required Personnel (Event Directors, FAI Jury, Competition Team, Observers): Projected costs

(a) Provide a list of all technical and administrative personnel (by title) who are required by CIA to prepare and conduct WAG.

(b) Indicate if these personnel are to be paid contractors or volunteers.

(c) Provide an estimate on the approximate cost of providing these personnel (days on site, transport to site, daily rates if applicable, etc.)

        (4) Time requirements: Prep, on-site set-up; Practice; Competition (per round, per day, per event)

       (5) Prize requirements: Numbers of prizes – teams and individual

        (6) Fees: Maximum acceptable Entry Fees plus Event Fees for competitors for each event

It has to be noted that the CIA WAG WG has agreed to limit the maximum number of participants for each of its disciplines.

AX : 30 competitors
AA : 15 competitors
BX : 15 competitors

REMINDERS

CIA STATISTICS

Members are reminded of their obligation under Chapter 8 of the CIA Internal Regulations to make an annual return of their national statistics. The CIA has to rely more and more on these statistics to defend its position and interests in FAI, and an accurate return is therefore very important. All Delegates are urged to make a return on the new more detailed form attached to this newsletter, which should be returned to the CIA Secretary by the 31st January 2002

Also, the CIA Plenary decided in 2002 that delegates shall submit to the CIA, with the return of the statistics, the latest available COMPETITORS’ RANKING LIST of their respective countries.

NOMINATIONS FOR AWARDS GIVEN THROUGH THE CIA

Full details of all FAI/CIA awards available to CIA Members are to be found in the CIA Internal Regulations and the FAI By-Laws. Nominations should be submitted to the FAI Office to arrive not later than 31st December 2002

• THE SANTOS-DUMONT GOLD AIRSHIP MEDAL
• THE FAI MONTGOLFIER DIPLOMAS (one each for Hot Air, Gas, Rozier, Service to the Sport)
• THE FAI DIPLOMA FOR OUTSTANDING AIRMANSHIP
• THE SABIHA GöKCEN MEDAL

(New FAI Award reserved for the woman who performs the most outstanding achievement in any air sport in the previous year)

• THE CIA INTERNATIONAL BALLOON AND AIRSHIP HALL OF FAME

CHAMPIONSHIPS OPEN FOR PROPOSAL

Note: The CIA Plenary decided in March 2002 to amend the CIA Events Calendar to change the World Gas Balloon Championships to odd numbered years.

CONTRIBUTIONS WELCOME

The CIA Newsletter is (normally) published twice yearly by the CIA Secretary on behalf of the CIA Bureau. It is the only WRITTEN document to be distributed to ALL concerned with the CIA. It is open for the distribution of any suitable articles or material to everybody listed in the CIA Directory, and contributions are welcome. The next edition will be mailed in May 2003, and the deadline for submissions is 31st of March 2003.

All information is believed to be correct at the time of publication, but no responsibility can be taken for any errors, omissions etc.

Contributions should be sent to the CIA Secretary at the address given below 

NEW CIA SECRETARY AND ADDRESS

The CIA Secretary and his address have changed. When contacting or sending mail to the CIA, please use the address below:

Les PURFIELD, CIA Secretary
22, Rodyard Way
Parkside, Coventry CV1 2UD UK

Phone: +44-2476-630656

Email: Les.Purfield@shangton.demon.co.uk

The 2002 list of approved Jurors below is to be used when making nominations for Juries for 2003 Sanctioned Events

FAI GENERAL CONFERENCE 2002 / DUBROVNIK (CROATIA)

This year’s General Conference was held from October 8 to 11 in Drubovnik. Although the venue was quite nice, only 38 out of 76 NACs participated and thus a quorum was only "just" achieved. Unless you chose to travel by boat (cruise ship), access to Dubrovnik is not very easy and many a delegate complained about the terrible travel arrangements. Nevertheless (or because of the limited number of NACs present?) the Conference, strongly led by President Weinreich but curiously lacking the usual lively debates, achieved nearly all its goals and below I will summarise the most important decisions (the full GC minutes will be made available on the FAI web pages).

• FAI Membership (see FAI web pages at www.fai.org for detailed Member information)
  • New FAI members admitted: Bulgaria, Nepal, People’s Democratic Republic of Korea, Qatar
  • FAI Members suspended: Algeria, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Azerbaidjan, Namibia
  • FAI Members resigned: Jordan, Zimbabwe, FYR of Macedonia

• A new "Corporate Membership" category was adopted to allow Companies associated with any FAI World Record to become supporting member. The consequential FAI By-Laws and Statutes changes were adopted.

• FAI Statutes and By-Laws changes (exact wording can be checked in the respective FAI documents)
  • Sporting Powers may now be delegated, with the concerned NAC’s written consent, to other organisations than the NAC. Sporting Powers for a given event may also now be delegated by the FAI General Conference to other organisations.
  • FAI members’ obligations were made more precise and demanding. For instance, NACs are now obliged to send participants to appropriate FAI events wherever possible, to nominate delegates to ASCs for all sports practised in their respective country, and to appoint proxies or to send apologies if delegates are unable to attend GC or ASC meetings.
  • As under Statute 2.4.2.2.8 Active Members are required to represent all air sport activities practised in their respective countries, General Conference is now empowered to admit Associate Members alongside an Active Member in instances where that Active Member has conspicuously failed to meet its obligations.
  • The GC adopted a more explicit procedure for dealing with allegations received that an Active Member organisation was not fulfilling its responsibilities. When FAI is notified or becomes aware of a possible violation of the FAI Statutes, By-Laws or Sporting Code by one of its Members, it may instigate an investigation where the concerned Member shall be invited to make comments, and any complaining party shall in turn be invited to comment on those responses. If the issue can not be satisfactorily resolved, the FAI President may appoint a Board of Inquiry to ascertain the facts, any extenuating circumstances, whether the alleged violation was wilfully or knowingly committed, and to recommend a course of action and the penalty, if appropriate.

• The proposed New Subscription Scale, following the 2001 GC decision to base FAI subscriptions on the number of Air Sport Persons in each country, was not adopted by the GC, and will be debated again next year. However, the GC agreed on the definition of the AIR SPORT PERSON as follows: "A person involved in air sports as recognised by FAI and who is registered either directly with a NAC or with a sporting organisation affiliated to a NAC"

• The new concept for future WORLD AIR GAMES was adopted by the GC. More detailed information can be found elsewhere in this Newsletter.

• The CIA President’s report was approved by the GC. The document, as well as a PowerPoint presentation, can be obtained from the CIA President on request.

• The FAI Promotional Manager, Jean-Marc Badan, reported on FAI’s plans for TV productions covering FAI events. It was felt by the delegates that the present FAI efforts in respect of promotion and PR must be considerably improved in the near future. Some delegates regretted the present lack of an efficient FAI PR and Promotion policy, and questioned the FAI’s capacity to effectively handle the situation.

• The GC adopted a resolution, sponsored by the Gliding and Ballooning Commission Presidents, giving full support to FAI’s Affiliate Member EUROPE AIRSPORTS in its endeavours. Hans Akerstedt, 2nd CIA Vice-President, was welcomed by the Europe Airsports President as the new CIA representative to Europe Airsports.

• The GC adopted a proposal from the Turkish NAC to create a new FAI Medal in Memory of Mrs. Sabina Gökcen. This FAI Medal is reserved for the woman who performs the most outstanding achievement in any air sport in the previous year.

• The FAI President, Wolgang Weinreich (Germany) was re-elected, as well as the FAI Executive Board composed of
  • Robert Clipsham, Canada
  • Hideo Hirasawa, Japan
  • Donald J. Koranda, USA
  • Ivo Mazzola, Switzerland
  • Alvaro de Orléans Borbon, Spain
  • Pierre Portmann, France

• The next FAI General Conference will take place in Cracow, Poland, in October 2003.

CASI MEETINGS

CASI met twice, before and after the FAI GC in Dubrovnik, and mainly dealt with Sporting Code General Section matters. A new version of the GS will be published in January 2003. Some changes affecting ballooning:

On a proposal from the Aero-Modelling Commission the word "aerodyne" was replaced by "aircraft" in GS 2.2.1.6 in order to allow model-ballooning activities to be looked after in that Commission.

CASI adopted the CIA sponsored GS modifications regarding World Records Certification procedures. The condition that a record attempt must be recognised by the organising NAC within a 90 days time limit is now dropped. Also, the CASI President must now consult with the concerned ASC President before permitting or refusing a longer time limit for a record file to be transmitted to the FAI (120 days).

The CIA successfully resisted a proposal by the CASI Secretary to re-edit the GS and to change all references. This would have had the effect to force all ASCs to re-write their specialised Sections of the Sporting Code in order to adopt the new references.

It was agreed that, in view of the adopted new Concept for the WAG, the GS should be adapted immediately to allow ASCs to adapt their specialised Section in good time in order to allow their respective WAG Competition Rules to reflect the changes made necessary by the new Concept. A first draft of proposed modifications will be presented by the FAI WAGCC in January.

The Hang-Gliding and Gliding Commissions presented recent developments in Flight-Logging equipments and procedures. It was agreed that ASCs should in future work more closely together instead of re-inventing the wheel within their respective Commission.

The FAI GC re-elected all CASI members having to stand down after their two-year term. The CASI Bureau was elected by secret ballot and Bob Carlson (Canada) was elected to replace Sandy Pimenoff.

Numbers refer to CIA Plenary Minutes

12.  CIA President

12.1 CIA PRESIDENT to request CASI to review their record procedures as stated in GS 6.8.2 and 6.8.4 and consider authorising each ASC to be able to extend the deadline for submission of World Record claims in their specific sports. This was taken up by CASI but not yet adopted – to be discussed at the next CASI Meeting.

12.2 CIA PRESIDENT to ask FAI to obtain all the relevant ATC and Immigration Permissions required for future Gordon Bennett races. No one is quite sure how to achieve this, but the problem is being worked on by Markus Haggeney who hopes to report some progress next year.

The Observer Subcommittee proposes as a motion that the open book exam for gaining registration be dropped from the International Observer Registration Handbook and that the four year requirement, with the recommendation of the National Chief Observer or the Chief Observer of a Category 1 Event in which the observer took part, be kept.

It was also agreed that the design for the new CIA Logo should be published on the CIA Web page, and comments invited.

"Insert into the CIA Internal Regulations as paragraph 11.2 the following wording "In general terms, the PR Subcom administers the overall program and make arrangements for design, procurement, and delivery of awards. The Records Subcom monitors the Badge system, validates Claims, and maintains a Register of Badges awarded.

That the General Section, Paragraphs 6.8.1, 6.8.2, and 6.8.4 be revised to permit that time extensions be granted in exceptional circumstances by the President of the Airsport Commission concerned"

42.1  It is proposed that the FAI Administration exercise its influence as appropriate to promote a reasonable fee structure by NAC’s for processing ballooning World Record and Sporting Badge claims.

Motion

Request from each NAC that they send with their statistical data collection also the national ranking list of active competitors.

Motion

Put the new model (March 2002) for the World Ranking List into force.

It was agreed that the WAG WG should continue in existence and work with FAI on the development of a new style WAG

Motion

Recommendation: Change the title of Chapter 1 of the Sporting Code Section 1 from "Scope" to "General".

Add paragraph 1.3 CHARGES: Charges levied by NAC’s or delegated bodies for championship entrance, record homologation or Sporting Badge issue shall be kept low where possible. Charges should in no case exceed the justifiable direct cost of the event concerned.

Motion

In Sporting Code Section 1, modify Record Claim Form 1 to show the organisation that appointed the Official Observer.

Motion

That the AX MER rule changes (Item 2.d (II)) be approved

Motion

That the Scoring Working Group recommendations (Item 2 d) be approved.

Motion

That the Statutes, By-Laws and Sporting Code-WG recommendations (Item 2.e) be approved

Motion

That the CIA Calendar be amended to change the World Gas Balloon Championships to odd numbered years, so as not to conflict with the Hot Air World Championships.

It was agreed that the Rules Subcommittee should investigate the question of copyright of GPS Loggers for future events.

The Chair explained that the CIA Hall of Fame has no permanent home at present following the closure of the Soukup & Thomas Museum. He proposed that the Bureau be given authority to start negotiations with suitable Ballooning Museums around the world for a new home, and that the CIA Internal Regulations be revised when an agreement had been reached.

The Organisers of the event stated that they considered having to wait until the 2003 Plenary to know who was to be their Event Director was unacceptable. After some discussion the following MOTION was proposed:

The decision of approval of organiser proposed officials for the Europeans 2003 Lithuania:

• Event Director        Cornelis van Helden
• Deputy Director Masashi Kakuda
• Safety Officer        Risto Jalava

To be passed to the CIA Bureau after the evaluation of the Pre-Europeans 2002 for decision by 1^st September 2002

1. That the CIA gratefully accepts the rights to the Notable Flights Document from Hans Akerstedt.

2. That the CIA accepts responsibility for the cost of printing the Notable Flights Document.

3. That the CIA has the rights to all revenues from the sales of the Notable Flights Document.

4. That the CIA will provide free of charge to each CIA Delegate one copy of the Notable Flights Document

5. That the CIA gratefully accepts the offer from FAI to distribute free of charge the Notable Flights Publication to each CIA Delegate.

CIA Plenary Meeting 2003

Confronted with a multitude of problems that would have jeopardised a successful CIA Plenary Meeting in La Réunion, the CIA Bureau, together with the French Delegate Martine Besnainou, have unanimously decided to cancel the meeting in St. Gilles de la Réunion and to organise it from March 5 to 8, 2003 in mainland France instead. The French organisers, the Fédération Française d’Aérostation (FFA) will therefore be hosting the conference at the:

Domaine de l'Abbaye des Vaulx de Cernay
F-78720 CERNAY-LA-VILLE (France).
Web site: http://www.web-luxe.com/abbayevauxcernay/accueil.htm

Special travel and hotel rates are available for conference participants (see details on the registration form and the conference schedule). In addition, the hotel will offer free hotel rooms to participants for 3 nights from March 1st to March 3, if they book into the hotel for their whole stay. The FFA will provide a shuttle bus service to and from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, as well as between the hotel and Paris city center during the conference. It is therefore very important to return your Conference registration form with your flight and hotel details. Conference participants will be responsible for making their own reservations with the hotel (see hotel reservation sheet attached) and, if they wish to benefit from special air fares offered by AIR FRANCE, through the FFA’s travel agency ARC-EN-CIEL COMMUNICATION at pla@arcencielcom.com , Patricia Lamy.

Conference Registration Form (download)

Accommodation booking form atHotel Domaine de l'Abbaye des Vaulx de Cernay (download)

CIA DONATIONS SCHEME

Your donations are very important to the CIA and, in absence of other reliable and consistent revenue schemes, enable it to continue to serve our sport world wide in an efficient and effective way. A few countries have made a donation to the CIA this year, but there are very many more which have not! The CIA Donations Scheme is based on the number of pilots each country declares in its Annual Return, and the minimum rates are as follows:

Please make your donation using one of the methods listed below

• All payments under $500, and ALL Donations, can be paid to the FAI/CIA by Credit Card using the approved form below.
• All payments over $500, including ALL Sanction Fees, should be paid by Bank Wire Transfer. Please use the following bank routing information when you wire funds to FAI for the CIA account::

International Money Transfer order or SWIFT Transfer: Mark: Without charge for the beneficiary and state reason for payment.

SWIFT CODE: CRES CHZZ 20A

Bank: Credit Suisse Private Banking
          Rue du Lion d‘Or 5-7
          Case postale 2468
          CH-1002 Lausanne, Switzerland

Bank A/C Name:     Federation Aeronautique Internationale Bank

A/C Numbers: US$ :   0425-457968-32-1
CHF :                          0425-457968-31
EURO:                       0425-457968-32

Form for use when making payments to FAI/CIA by Credit Card (Download)

2002 CIA Statistics Questionnaire (Download)