Minutes of the FAI/IGC Plenary meeting, Lausanne 4-5 March, 2005

Note: The agenda together with all reports, documents and proposals referred to in this report can be found on the FAI web http://www.fai.org/gliding/meetings

1. Opening

President Bob Henderson called the meeting to order and requested the observation of a moment of silence in honour of friends and colleagues lost in the previous year.

1.1 Roll Call

The FAI Secretary General Max Bishop called the roll of the meeting. It was determined that 30 votes were present including proxies of Iceland to Sweden and Colombia to Spain. Thus 16 votes would be required for an absolute majority on any ballot and 20 for a 2/3rds majority. Two delegates arrived later during the morning, making a total of 32 votes, requiring 17 votes for a majority and 22 for a 2/3rds majority.

The FAI General Secretary again called the roll in the beginning of the second day, the 5th March. Members and proxies present totalled 32 (absolute majority 17; 2/3rds majority 22), later in the morning 34 votes were present, including another proxy from Argentina to New Zealand. (Absolute majority 18, 2/3rds majority 23). During the second half of the afternoon the number of votes was reduced to 31. (Absolute majority 16, 2/3rds majority 21)

Apologies were received from Iceland (proxy to Sweden), Venezuela (proxy to Spain) and Kenya.

The President noted that two late proposals had been received after the Agenda close-off date and stated that according to the FAI By laws these proposals would need a 2/3rds majority to be accepted for discussion.


The FAI Office will send out an Attendance List attached to these minutes, and make it available at the FAI web.

2. Minutes of previous meeting, Lausanne 27/28 Februaury 2004

The IGC secretary Mr Peter Eriksen presented the minutes of the previous meeting held in Lausanne 27 and 28 February 2004, and noted a couple of minor modifications:

The minutes were adopted without further comments.

3. FAI Matters

The FAI Secretary General Max Bishop reported that the main event in 2004 had been the FAI Conference in Madrid.

Mr. Pierre Portman, a Swiss national who has been living in France for many years, was elected new FAI president.

FAI had appointed a new permanent representative to ICAO, Mrs Mary Anne Stevens. Mary Anne is a balloonist and has already been working together with Peter Eriksen in the ICAO Flight Crew Licensing Panel.

FAI has a new flag and logo. There is also now a specific logo for each air sport. (For the IGC logo, see the top of page 1 of these minutes).

Organisers are obliged to use the FAI logo and flag for all FAI sanctioned events. For detailed rules and procedures contact the FAI office.

It was noted that 50% of the FAI’s reserves now are with the Sporting Commissions.

The Centenary for the FAI will be celebrated in Lausanne and in Paris.

There will be an airshow in Lausanne. There will be the FAI Centenary Conference in Paris together with another airshow. The Opening Ceremony of the conference will be at the Mairie de Paris (Paris town hall), the closing in the French Senate, where the president of the Senate will host the event.

The Centenary is the 14th October 2005.

4. Reports

4.1. IGC President’s report

Mr Henderson thanked the secretary and the webmaster Prof. Peter Ryder for getting all the material out in time, 45 days before the meeting as required by the FAI by-laws.

The president referred to his written report, and mentioned that he had been invited to the EGU Congress in Vienna in February. The Congress had been a very interesting meeting. He stressed the importance of the work done by EGU. EASA can be a threat to gliding, also outside Europe, if we do not get things sorted out correctly. Mr. Henderson strongly urged all European gliding federations to join EGU.

The Sailplane Grand Prix is a good way to market our sport to the public. We must continue to develop this concept to reach a wider public.

IGC is aware of the budget issue mentioned by the FAI Secretary General. We have plans to change a number of things. This will cost money, and we will need our reserves here.

The President’s report was accepted by the meeting.

4.2. European Gliding Union (EGU) report

EGU president Roland Stuck had provided a written report, and added that 16 national gliding federations now are members of EGU.

He mentioned that one of the things we are missing is good statistics of accidents in order to guide their work, and convince the authorities about our priorities. It is urgent to develop a statistical record of our sport.

EGU has a new website now: http://www.egu-info.org

The EGU report was accepted by the meeting.

4.3. OSTIV report

Prof. Loek Boermans, president of OSTIV, referred to his written report, and added that the very successful JAR-22 study group was replaced by the CS-22 Study group. Unfortunately this new group would work in a different way. A new group would be installed for every issue, meaning that a lot of good expertise could be lost.

It is the intention of OSTIV to invite the EASA director to discuss this problem and hopefully find a solution.

The OSTIV report was accepted by the meeting

5. Finance 2004 report

The IGC treasurer Mr Dick Bradley presented the 2004 Finance Report (attached to these minutes as Appendix A) that showed a net income of 9.000 EUR in 2004. The reserves are now 69.347 EUR.

The increased revenue is mainly coming from the FAI ranking system. Other sources of income and the expenses are fairly stable.

The Finance report was accepted by the meeting.

6. Reports not requiring voting

6.1 Sub-Committees

6.1.1. Business Development Committee Report

Mr Bradley, chairman of the Committee apologised for not providing a report before the meeting. The report will be published on the web immediately after the meeting.

The president reminded the plenum that we all are working on a voluntary basis, and although we try to work to strict deadlines, we sometimes have to accept that professional activities or personal matters get higher priority than IGC.

6.1.2. Communications and PR and Web specialist’s Report

Mr Henderson added to his PR report that we were in a phase of rapid development of the communications plan, something that we should try to exploit to support IGC.

Mr Tor Johannessen is working with Prof. Piero Morelli and Mr Fred Weinholtz on the history committee to identify and classify historical documentation. Some material is missing and the Committee will now work with the NACs to retrieve the missing material. In particular the DAeC, BGA and FFVV are expected to have interesting material and will soon be contacted.

The IGC Web Specialist Peter Ryder reported that FAI has a new context management system in place. This will make it easier for us to manage the information.

The web has also been redesigned with a new lay-out. The Web Specialist asked for comments about the lay-out and content of the web.

We will establish a policy for the content and updates of the web, meaning that we hopefully will have regular updates.

The Membership challenge report from Mr John Roake was distributed to the delegates, and can be found on the FAI web. This very important statistical material shows that we unfortunately still have a negative trend.

6.1.3. Competition Development and Quality Control Report

The chairman, Mr Eric Mozer had submitted the report before the meeting. The committee is a new development of the Bureau, tasked to look at the quality of our competitions. Mr Mozer will recruit more members to the group.

A paper on the development of the Microlift Glider had been developed by Prof. Morelli. This was not part of the agenda. The paper is published on the FAI web site.

6.1.4. FAI Centenary 2005 Report

Mr Mozer reported that the Southern Hemisphere Gliding Week was completed. Statistics would be made available later in the meeting during the On-Line Contest presentation. It was agreed that the publicity for the Southern Hemisphere Gliding Weeks was inadequate, and Mr Mozer promised that the competition would be more visible for the Northern hemisphere gliding week which takes place in the period 9th to 24th July.

There will be a press release just after the IGC meeting summarising the results of the Southern hemisphere asking pilots to be very active during the Northern hemisphere weeks.

6.1.5 Championships Management Committee Report

Mr Mozer explained that this Committee is dealing with the structure of the championships and looking after the bids. Most of the activities in the previous year had been related to the many bids that will be presented later in the meeting.

6.2 Specialists

The specialist reports were made available on the FAI web-site before the meeting. The Specialists did not go through their reports, but were available for questions.

  • Baron Hilton Soaring Cup Report

    Mr Hannes Linke added to the written report that no flights were received from Japan and New Zealand. The 2005 event will be during the centenary week, and he confirmed that the Baron Hilton flights will be registered as Centenary flights.

  • CASI Report (Air Sports Commissions)

    Mr Henderson had nothing to add to the written report.

  • Environmental Commission Report

    Mr Bernald Smith tabled the report during the meeting and noted that Europe is way ahead of the rest of the world on environmental protection. It was noted that the FAI Environmental Commission had requested financial support from the FAI.

  • On-Line Contest Report

    Mr Axel Reich apologised for the absence of Mr. Reiner Rose, who was sick and therefore unable to attend the meeting, and give the presentation on the German OLC as scheduled. The presentation would be given by Mr. Oliver Rennert, who also works with the OLC. Mr. Reich mentioned that it would be useful to share web addresses between the many national on-line competitions.

  • Simulated Gliding Report

    Mr Roland Stuck mentioned Silent Wings, a new programme that was one of the best simulations he had seen so far.


    Mr Mogens Hansen, Danish delegate, asked if we have any evidence that simulated gliding brings new members. Mr Stuck answered that no statistical information existed, but there are clubs in e.g. France that attract very young people with simulators, for instance at exhibitions. Prof. Ryder mentioned, supported by several delegates, that they had positive experiences that glider simulators can create interest for the real sport.


    It was proposed by Mr Henderson to install simulators in an old fuselage to create an even more realistic environment.


    BGA has one simulator used for exhibitions and will build a second one.


    Mr Bruno Ramseier reported that Ireland had succeeded in bringing simulator pilots into real gliders.


    Mr Hansen proposed an action to formalise this. How do we get sim pilots in the air? This was agreed as an action for the specialist.

  • IGC Ranking List Report

    Mr Brian Spreckley reported that more and more competitions were part of the ranking system, and that visits to the ranking list web site were 12 % higher in 2004 than the previous year.


    A couple of important competitions are still missing. We would like to have them on the Ranking List. Mr. John Coutts, presently no 1 on the IGC Ranking List, was present at the meeting, and Mr Henderson told the delegates that Mr Coutts receives support from the New Zealand government due to his 1st place ranking.


    Junior competitions can be entered for free, so they should all be there, Mr Spreckley said.


    Mr Reich explained that many German gliding clubs have difficulties seeing any added value from the list, and therefore do not enter their competitions.


    Mr. Vladimir Foltin said that in Slovakia they strongly urge clubs to enter competitions on the IGC Ranking List.


    Mr Spreckley asked the NACs to more actively support the Ranking list.

6.3 Past & Future Championships (E. Mozer)

In the future, the report from past championships will be the report of the Jury president. Organisers will not any longer be asked to provide a report. Future Jury presidents are asked to take note of this.

  • 3rd FAI World Club Class Gliding Championship, 2004, Elverum, Norway

    The Jury president’s report was published before the meeting. The Championships director Mr Arild Solbakken added that they had very bad weather during the event, only 5 days flying being achieved. SeeYou scoring without on-site support gave some problems.

    There had been good media coverage from newspapers, radio and TV.

    A member of the royal family, His Royal Highness Kronprins Haakon visited the competition.

    The balance sheet was positive, and Mr Solbakken hoped that all went home with a positive experience despite the difficult meteorological conditions.

  • 12th FAI European Gliding Championships, 2004, Pociunai, Lithuania

    A verbal report was provided by the organisers. The Jury president Mr Waldemar Ratajczak added to the report that he was very satisfied with the organisation of the competition.

    Prof. Ryder, Chief Steward for the competition, reported that there were too many problems with scoring systems. He invited the IGC Bureau to find a permanent solution for competition scoring systems. Prof. Ryder also suggested that there should be a possibility to graduate penalties differently for airspace infringements. Finally Prof. Ryder suggested that the stewards should work closer with the competition organisers before the competition.


    This was noted by the IGC president, who responded that the system with Chief Stewards was intended to allow for more support, and changes to the assignment of stewards will take place in the near future.


    Mr. Hansen asked the bureau to seriously work on this as soon as possible.

    On behalf of the Annex A group, Mr Reich proposed a management system for scoring software, and suggested that only well proven versions should be used at important competitions.

  • 13th European Gliding Championships, Club, Standard and 18 Meter Class, 2005, Nitra, Slovak Republic

    Mr Vladimir Foltin reported that the preparations were ongoing as scheduled. A training competition, Pribina Cup will take place during spring 2005.
    The website of the competition is: www.nitra2005.sk

  • 13th European Gliding Championships, 15M and Open Class, Räyskälä, Finland

    Mr. Visa Matti Leinikki asked participators to book ferries and accommodation as soon as possible, as the competition will take place in the holiday season. It is possible to practice in the 2nd week of June during the Finnish Nationals, and before the competition as usual.

    The web site for the competition is: www.egc2005.fi
    • 4th FAI Juniors’ World Gliding Championships, 2005, Husbands Bosworth, UK

    The UK delegate Mr Brian Spreckley informed that 80 entries had been received. The competition director Mr Ron Bridges had circulated Bulletin no. 2 in January. Local procedures would be circulated very soon.

    Negotiations to get enough radio frequencies were still undergoing. Participants were requested to bring certificates for radios, also ground stations.
    50% of the target for sponsorship was achieved, the action was still ongoing.

    The website for the competition: www.worldgliding2005.com

  • 3rd FAI Women’s World Gliding Championships, 2005, Klix, Germany

    The German delegate, Mr Axel Reich reported that the preparations were on time. A paper providing further detail was distributed by the competition director Mr Hans Obermayer.

    Countries having problems raising enough money to participate were invited to contact the organisers. It may be possible to obtain sponsoring.

  • 29th FAI Multiclass World Gliding Championships, 2006, Eskilstuna, Sweden

    The Swedish delegate, Mr. Goran Ax reported that due to the change of airfield from Uppsala to Eskilstuna, the preparations were behind schedule. The problem with the original site was that the military not stopped their activities as planned.
    Viking Glide 2005 in Eskilstuna will be limited to 85 participants, the field will then be enlarged to accommodate 120 pilots for the WGC in 2006.

    Finally it was expected that the conditions will be better in Eskilstuna than they would have been at the original airfield in Uppsala.

    The website of the competition is www.wgc2006.se

  • 5th World Class and 4th Club Class World Gliding Championships, 2006, Vinon

    The championship director Mr Regis Kuntz could not be at the meeting due to bad weather in France. The French delegate Mr Roland Stuck reported that the preparations were ongoing as planned. The infrastructure in Vinon is right now being improved.


    10 tracking units (the Norwegian Vpos system) have been ordered by the FFVV to provide real-time tracking of selected gliders during the competition.


    The issue of hiring enough PW5s was not yet solved. The organisers are looking for more aircraft. According to the manufacturer, 6 PW5s will be delivered directly in Vinon for the competition.


    The website of the competition is www.wgc2006.fr

6.4 Approval of Competition Officials

The following Competition Officials were approved by the meeting

  • FAI WGC 2006: Open/18m/15m/Std – SWE

    Jury President - Tor Johannessen (NOR)

    Jury Members – Roland Stuck (FRA), Peter Eriksen (DEN)

    Chief Steward – Jacek Dankowski (POL)

    Stewards – Arild Solbakken (NOR), plus One

  • FAI WGC 2006: World/Club – FRA

    Jury President - Tor Johannessen (NOR)

    Jury Members – Roland Stuck (FRA), Ross Macintyre (NZ)

    Chief Steward – Robert Danewid (SWE)

    Stewards – Petras Beta (LIT), plus One

  • FAI WGC 2005: Juniors – UK

    Jury President – Bruno Ramseyer (IRL)

    Jury Members – Ross Macintyre (NZL), Joyce Borgman (NED) [note now Russell Cheetham (GBR), approved by the Bureau]

    Chief Steward – Dick Bradley (RSA)

    Steward – Jaroslav Vach (CZE)

  • FAI WGC 2005: Women– GER

    Jury President – Janusz Szczupak (POL)

    Jury Members – Herbert Maertin (GER), Gill van den Broeck (BEL)

    Chief Steward – Roland Stuck (FRA)

    Steward – Tadeas Wala (SVK)

  • FAI EGC 2005: 18m/Std/Club/World – SVK

    Jury President – Fred Gai (GER)

    Jury Members – Jaroslav Vach (CZE), Tadeas Wala (SVK)

    Chief Steward – Waldemar Ratajczak (POL)

    Steward – Petras Beta (LIT)

  • FAI EGC 2005: Open/15m – FIN

    Jury President – Peter Ryder (GER)

    Jury Members – Patrick Pauwels (BEL), Visa-Matti Leinikke (FIN)

    Chief Steward – TBD

    Steward – Ritz Schuit-de Luij (NED)

7. Keynote Speaker, Mr. Wolfgang Weinreich, recent past FAI President

Mr. Weinreich addressed the important issue "How to protect the future of our sport". He spoke about the future of our sport, the problems we face as an aging community exercising an expensive and complicated sport. He addressed the importance of creating an attractive sport, recruit and integrate new members, in particular young people.

The burden of regulations is another issue that, together with the cost of managing these administrative issues, is another big problem for gliding.

Luckily we have organisations like EGU and EAS where volunteers work for us to try to reduce the consequences of the rules proposed by organisations like EASA and Eurocontrol.

IGC has a good chance to manage and develop gliding in the future, but we need to lobby.

Our influence is too limited on the airspace question. The airspace limitations will increase as commercial air traffic expands widely.

We must identify the experts we have amongst our own members, and support them so that they can go out and safeguard our airspace and thereby the future of our sport. I am sure that this body is in a good position to address all the problems above, Mr Weinreich concluded.

Full text of Wolfgang Weinreich's speech.

8. IGC Strategy

In continuation of the keynote speech, Mr Henderson asked the questions: What are the strategic goals of IGC? How do we see gliding as a sport in the future?

The president listed all the issues that IGC possibly could deal with, and asked what the role of IGC should be in the future. Should IGC start to work more on the legislative side of gliding such as airspace, licensing, airworthiness?

A long debate followed this introduction.

Mr. Hansen was of the opinion that EGU should take care of this. IGC should concentrate on sporting matters.

Mr Axel Reich believed that IGC has a role to play with regard to licenses.

Mr Ian Strachan stated that sport alone is not enough.

Mr Alvaro de Orleans Borbon, FAI vice president, mentioned as an example that the Zurich TMA grows due to lack of resistance from our side, problems like that could be solved by lobbying.

Mr Terry Cubley, Australia, went back to the membership challenge saying that it is more a problem of keeping members than recruiting new.

This was supported by Mr. Hansen.

Mr Dick Bradley, South Africa, said that efficiency of the gliding system was required. We need to professionalise gliding, at least partly. How can we formalise that?

Mr Bishop: You are FAI! Don’t say "they". There is a trend towards more power to the air sports in FAI, you as a Sporting Commission will get more influence. We are certainly not good enough at getting people enrolled when they visit our airfields.

Mr Patrick Pauwels, Belgian delegate: It is more and more difficult to get volunteers to run our sport.

Mr Eric Mozer, USA delegate: We have seen similar problems in the United States. I am not sure if IGC should dig into the technical issues. Max is right when he says that we are not good in capturing new members. At Club level, we seem to not be interested in this.

Mr. Eriksen: If EGU are looking after licenses, airworthiness and airspace in Europe, OSTIV looks at training, safety and design, and IGC deals with competitions and records only, who deals with the future of gliding then? The role of gliding in the future society, membership, quality etc.? Let’s set ourselves some goals.

Mr Spreckley: A change is necessary if we want to survive and IGC can create the climate where this can take place.

Mr. Hannes Linke: The fact that we could continue in the USA after 9/11 was because we had good lines of communication to the government. We must assure this continues in the future.

Mr Hansen: Peter (Eriksen) is right, we must set goals. We have two important things to do, set goals to have more members, and accept commercial activities.

Mr. Aldo Cernauta: From Italy’s side we are ready to support airspace lobbying with funding.

Mr Bruno Ramseyer, Ireland: This (regulatory matters) is the job of the national associations, not IGC.

Mr Ian Strachan: The mere size of some of our operations requires commercial support, we cannot continue as pure amateurs.

Mr. Henderson summarised the discussion by stating: I am strongly encouraged by the fact that you did not start discussing the rules, but remained with the subject, IGC’s future role. We need to work with other air sports, publish best practises, and develop an IGC vision and long-term strategies.

9. Bid presentations

(The voting took place under Agenda item 14)

9.1. Bids for competitions in 2007

The president vacated the chair to the First Vice-President, Mr Mozer, for the bid presentations. The following bids were presented:

FAI Juniors’ World Gliding Championships 2007

FAI Women’s World Gliding Championships 2007

FAI European Gliding Championships 2007 Standard/Club/World classes

FAI European Gliding Championships 2007 Open/18M/15M classes

9.2. Bids for competitions in 2008

FAI Multiclass World Gliding Championships 2008 Open, 18M, 15M classes

FAI Multiclass World Gliding Championships 2008 Standard, Club, World classes

10. COTS presentation

The Canadian delegate Mr. Joerg Stieber gave a presentation on behalf of GARMIN about Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) products, and the possibility to use these as Flight Recorders for badge flights.

The presentation was followed by a short debate about these possibilities.

11. Questions on all bid presentations

The delegates then had the possibility to ask questions to the competition bidders.

12. Nomination of Candidates for President

This item was deferred to agenda item 17, Election of Officers.

13. Reports requiring voting

13.1 Commissions

13.1.1 ANDS and GFAC Report

ANDS Report (Air Traffic, Navigation, Display Systems) and GFAC Report

The chairman of the ANDS Committee, Mr Bernald Smith, had some reflections on the GARMIN COTS presentation, and promised that ANDS would continue to look at COTS. He then asked the plenum to reconsider to join EUROCAE, a European Standardisation Committee, with the aim to have more influence on the development of aviation equipment for gliders.

Mr Ian Strachan, chairman of the GFAC Committee, gave a presentation where he showed the difference between GPS altitude and pressure altitude logs. GFAC has seen examples where the GPS altitude makes considerable jumps, and the GFAC members consider pressure altitude as more accurate. Dead reckoning is a problem as well; some COTS products continue tracking based on a state vector when they do not receive GPS signals.

Mr Strachan also raised a different issue; Flight Recorder Manufacturers were obliged to provide MS Windows based downloading programs by 1st July 2004. Some have not done this. It was agreed to prolong the deadline with 12 months to 1st July 2005 without consequences for the manufacturers.

Mr Ross Macintyre asked how GFAC can be sure that the altitude overshoots shown in the presentation not are undershoots by pressure altitude.

Mr Strachan answered that the nature of the plots clearly showed that the GPS altitude was wrong.

Annual Election of GFAC members

Rolf Buelter and Hans Trautenberg were both re-elected unanimously as members of GFAC for three years.

13.1.2 Sporting Code Section 3, Annex B

Changes to Sporting Code Section 3 Gliding, Annex B, Technical Requirements for Equipment used in Validation of Flights

Mr Smith presented the changes proposed to Annex B:

  • Declarations for two seaters (SC3, Annex B, Para 4.2.1). To allow for two seaters, in Sub-para (b) (pilot name) change "Pilot" to "Pilot, or for two seaters Pilot In Command and other pilot, crew or passenger".

This was unanimously approved as a Year 1 proposal.

  • Use of Waypoint Lists in Pre-flight Declarations (SC3, Annex B, Para 4.2.1) Where waypoints are identified in the declaration by abbreviations or codes rather than by exact WGS84 lat/long or by exact geographical points, the key to the abbreviation or code must (1) include the exact WGS84 lat/long or be the exact geographical point against each abbreviation or code used in the declaration, (2) be attached to the claim (3) must be shown to have existed before the flight concerned.

This was unanimously approved as a Year 1 proposal.

13.1.3 Sporting Code Section3, General Section and Annex C

Changes to Sporting Code Section3 Gliding, General Section and Annex C, Official Observer and Pilot Guide

Mr Ross Macintyre presented the proposed changes.

  • Diamond award (SC3, GS, Para 2.1.3) add at the end "NACs should maintain a register of these badges and on notification by the NAC, FAI will enter the names of pilots attaining the 3 diamonds award in an international register"
  • Badges and Diplomas for flights of 750 kilometres and more (SC3, GS, Para 2.1.4) change to read: "These are a family of badges that are achieved on completing a distance flight of 750 kilometres or more, in increments of 250 kilometres (ie. 750 km, 1000 km, 1250 km, 1500 km, etc.). One badge is awarded per flight for the incremental distance immediately less than the distance flown. NACs should maintain a register of these badges and on notification by the NAC, FAI will award a special Diploma for flights of 1000 km and more."
  • This amendment is an optional extra following on from the above, the current illustration would still be valid, but altering as suggested below would give a picture of the new 750km badge in 2.2. The change required would be to simply place "750" on the badge illustration in place of the "1000" that currently shows.

The changes proposed by Mr. Macintyre were all unanimously approved and will enter into force from 31 October 2005

  • Two proposals were brought forward by the Netherlands to remove the requirement that turn points should be separated by at least 10 kilometres. The Dutch delegate Mr. Robin Maarschalkerweerd presented the proposal and the argumentation.

    Sporting Code Annex A Commission members were not in favour of the proposal, as they did not see the change as an advantage to the gliding movement.

    Mr Terry Cubley, Australia, supported the proposal in order to simplify things, and did not see any problem with it.

    Mr Tor Johannessen stated that we have had this rule for many years, should we really change the rules just because one pilot misunderstands the rule?

    Mr Spreckley said that he had difficulties understanding the proposed text.

    Mr. Henderson concluded the debate and asked the delegates to vote.

    The first proposal concerning badge flights was lost, 6 votes for, 23 against.

    The second proposal concerning record flights was lost, 2 votes for, 23 against.

  • A proposal to re-instate the two seater class was received from Germany. Mr Reich outlined the proposal before the debate started.

    Mr Linke asked if Germany wanted to have WGCs in the two seater class?

    Mr Macintyre wanted to know if it was going to be a separate record class?

    The IGC president replied that this had nothing to do with records, but if the class was defined, IGC could sanction competitions in the class.

    The German delegate agreed to the statement of the president.

    Mr Waldemar Ratajczak, Poland, was of the opinion that a two seater class is also a good idea from a Public Relations point of view.

    The French delegate asked the meeting to act carefully, stating that we have to consider this closely. We should not accept this, but ask the committee to look at the class structure as a whole.

    Mr Spreckley supported the French viewpoint.

    The Spanish delegate, Mr Angel Casado asked why 20 meters had been chosen as wing span.
    The German delegate replied that 20 meter is the existing German two seater class.

    Mr Spreckley suggested the proposal be taken off the table and given to the Champion Management Group for further development.

    Mr Terry Cubley said that the proposal was in line with the general development of the glider fleet, so we should go for this.

    The IGC president summarised the debate, and asked the delegates to vote. The proposal was accepted as a Year 1 proposal, 21 votes for, 8 against.

13.1.4 World Record Review Panel (WRRP)

The chairman of the World Record Review Panel (WRRP) Mr. Brian Spreckley referred to the report sent out before the meeting, and went directly to the Year 1 proposals for changes to the Sporting Code.

  • SC 3, GS, Para 3.3: For all World Record (WR) flights where there is a requirement for a flight declaration, only electronic declarations shall be accepted.

    The proposal was unanimously approved.

  • To include in SC3 at appropriate places, a requirement for all personnel involved in verification and homologation, except the pilot and Official Observer (OO), to clearly be independent of the claimant and the flight other than the contact required by this code to collect data and information for verification purposes.

    Mr Terry Cubley was worried about the consequences this would have on e.g. the gliding federations working with records.

    A long debate took place, where one of the arguments for the proposal was that this was only when dealing with World Records.

    The proposal was approved with one vote against.

  • SC3, GS, Para 5: a) Before acting in their capacity as an OO for the verification or recording of any aspect of a WR claim the OO must be specifically approved for this role by his NAC. Previous satisfactory performance of overseeing flights that qualify for FAI badges or national records and experience of verification of flight information recorded by IGC approved Flight Recorder is expected.

    b) Before acting as an OO for a WR attempt originating outside his or her own country, the OO must obtain written authorization from both (1) the OO’s NAC and (2) the NAC in the country where the flight originates.

    Proposal a) was approved with one vote against.

    Proposal b) was approved unanimously.

  • SC3, GS, Para 4 and possibly 3: For World record attempts any FR used to record the flight of a glider with a Means of Propulsion (MoP) must have an approved system that records the use of the MoP automatically without any action by the pilot. This MoP recording system must not be capable of being turned off or require the FR to have a special type of mounting within the cockpit.

    It was noted that the words: "before the flight" should be added to the original proposal.

    The proposal was then unanimously adopted.

  • SC3, GS, Para 4.6.4 and 3.2.1: a) When a FR file from a WR attempt is transferred in the presence of an approved OO, he should be required to keep an additional copy of the file as a back up and make it available to the FAI or verifying NAC if requested to do so.

    or

    b. The OO’s copy of the FR file for a WR attempt must be sent to the FAI with notification of intention to claim a WR within seven days of completion of the record attempt.
    Compared to the proposal sent out to the delegates before the meeting, the WRRP had made a small adjustment to part b) to read as above.

    Proposal a) was unanimously adopted.

    Proposal b) was unanimously adopted.

  • The following actions will be applied to any pilot or OO proven to have falsified information or cheated in any manner to obtain the award of a WR.

    a) Permanent loss of sporting license.

    b) Permanent expulsion from any NAC and thus prohibition against any future participation/recognition for badges, competition and/or records as pilot or official.

    With either of the alternatives marked c1) and c2).

    c1) Withdrawal of any achievement of records/badges/competition prior to the date of the cheating, subsequent to the time of adoption of this proviso.

    c2) Withdrawal of any previous achievement of records/badges/competition.

    Mr Leiniki, the Finnish delegate, raised concern about the actual wording, and found that we should be careful with the word “permanent”. It was also a question whether preceding records could be touched.

    The Finnish comments were accepted by the meeting, and the WRRP was asked to take this into consideration when developing the Year 2 proposal.

    The proposal was adopted with 1 vote against.

13.1.5 Sporting Code 3D, Annex A

Mr Axel Reich, chairman of the Annex A Group referred to the report sent out before the meeting, and mentioned that the workload for the group was rather high, in particular because many of the members of the group had additional tasks. He was looking for volunteers to join the group.

The following Year 1 changes to SC Annex A were proposed by the IGC Bureau:

  • SC3, Annex A, Para 4.2.1 a: Revised MTOM Open Class. The Maximum Take-Off Mass (MTOM) in the Open Class will be limited to 850 kg for all gliders/ motorgliders/ Single-/ Double Seaters, starting from 1 October 2007.

    This weight limit will than remain unchanged until at least 1 October 2017 and will be reconsidered at the 2015 plenary meeting.

    Prof. Loek Boerman explained why it was reasonable to go for this now. Existing Open Class gliders were designed about twenty years ago for 750 Kg. With engine, some of them now had a MTOW of about 800 kg, although 850 kg is permitted. A general 850 kg limit and new aerodynamics would open up for the design of a new generation Open Class gliders.

    The proposal was approved, 25 delegates voted for the proposal, 3 against.

  • SC3, Annex A, Para 4.2.1 b: Changes in the configuration and wingspan of Open Class Gliders shall be allowed during the competition.

    The proposal was approved, 27 delegates voted for, 3 against.

  • SC3, Annex A, Para 1.4.5: National Aero Clubs will pay sanction fees to IGC on a per entry basis for all Category 1 and 2 events sanctioned by IGC.
  • SC 3, Annex A, Para 1.4.6: The travel and living expenses for the International Officials at a Category 1 or 2 IGC sanctioned event (Jury, Referee and Stewards) are the responsibility of IGC and paid by the sanction fees.
  • SC 3, Annex A, Para 1.4.6.a: All International Officials for IGC sanctioned Category 1 and 2 events will be selected by the IGC Championship Management Committee.

The three proposals above were unanimously approved by the meeting.
The following Year 1 proposals were raised by the Annex A Committee:

  • New 4 year Moratorium for changes to Annex A shall be set after 2006. The period for which the rules are valid shall be mentioned on the first page of the rules.

    This was unanimously approved.

  • SC3, Annex A, Para 6 and Para 8.3 and 8.4: Deletion of Speed Tasks Pilot Selected.

    This was unanimously approved.

  • SC3, Annex A, Para 6 and Para 8.3 and 8.4: Deletion of Distance Task Pilot Selected.

    This was unanimously approved .

  • SC3, Annex A, Para 6.3.4 a and 6.3.2.a: The Areas in Area Tasks shall be set so that they do not overlap.

    This was unanimously approved.

  • SC3, Annex A, Para 6.2 and Para 8: The optional penalty (proportional to the distance of the outlanding position to the goal) which may be given to non finishers in Speed Tasks shall be deleted.

    This was unanimously approved.

  • SC3, Annex A, Para 6.3 and 8: The minimum finish altitude for Distance Tasks shall be deleted.

    This was approved with 3 votes against.

  • SC3, Annex A, Para 6.2.2 and 8: For speed tasks, all pilots having flown a distance equal to the minimum distance covered by visiting all assigned areas in the right sequence shall receive the same distance points.

    Mr Roland Stuck explained that the problem is that pilot that flies very long distances in AAT could reduce the number of points given to the winner of the task.

    The proposal was approved with 2 votes against.

  • SC3, Annex A, Para 8: The Kilometre Scoring System shall be deleted.

    This was approved unanimously.

A proposal to delete the maximum number of entries of 120 and a proposal to strictly apply the limit of 50 per class where ruled out of order because these matters had been dealt with in 2004.

The following Year 2 proposals were raised by the Annex A group:

  • SC3, Annex A, Para 8.1b, 8.5 and 8.7: The Simplified Scoring System is added to Annex A as new Para 8.7 applicable only for Standard Racing Tasks and Area Speed Tasks.

    The proposal was approved with 1 vote against, and will become effective from 31st October 2005.

  • SC3, Annex A, Para 8.2.4, New Appendix D: The IGC Handicap List shall be used during all FAI Category 1 Gliding Events. The list should be added as new Appendix D to SC3, Annex A and become valid from 1 April 2005.

    The proposal was withdrawn by the Annex A group as the proposal was not considered sufficiently mature. The proposal will be put forward again in 2006.

    It was suggested that the Annex A group expand the IGC list to include more types.

  • SC3, Annex A, Para 8.9: Changes to List of Standard Penalties. (Airspace infringements)

    A long debate took place concerning the severity of penalties and possible ways to avoid airspace infringements during competitions.

    All voted against the proposal, but it was agreed to task the Annex A group to review the list of penalties and provide examples of airspace procedures that would make the effect of the penalties more reasonable.

Proposal for changes to Sporting Code Annex A from Germany.

  • SC3, Annex A, Para 1.2.3: The total duration of Category 1 events inclusive Official Training and Ceremonies shall be limited to 14 days.

    This is a Year 1 proposal, and will as such apply for competitions awarded from 2007, i.e. competitions from 2009, if adopted.

    Many delegates were in favour of the proposal, but felt that the Annex A group should have the freedom to further elaborate the proposal. It was agreed that the 3 words "to 14 days" be deleted before the proposal was voted on.

    The proposal was adopted as Year 1 proposal with 6 votes against.

  • SC3, Annex 1, Para 1.2.3: FAI Category 1 Events have to be separated by a minimum period of 10 days.

    During the debate it was agreed that the exact number of days should be analysed by the Annex A group. "10" replaced by "X" days to be defined during the coming year.

    The proposal was adopted with 1 vote against.

13.2 Specialists

13.2.1 Sailplane Grand Prix Report

The Sailplane Grand Prix Expert, Mr Roland Stuck, gave a short report on the preparation of the 1st World Sailplane Grand Prix which will take place in Saint Auban (France) from 2 to 11 September 2005. The competition will be run in the 15-meter class and the entries will be limited to 20. The deadline for preliminary entries is 31 March. The specific rules for this event have been approved by the bureau and are available on the Grand Prix website: www.cnvv.net/wsgp

The organisers will use the Norwegian Vpos tracking system and have ordered 10 tracking units. During the last week end of the competition (10 and 11 September) the Grand Prix will be combined with the "Salon de Saint Auban", which will be an European open air gliding exhibition with an airshow integrated to the Grand Prix.

After a short discussion the meeting agreed that this 1st World Sailplane Grand Prix will be an FAI class 1 event, and that the winner will be awarded World Champion in Grand Prix Racing.
Mr Stuck also informed the Plenum about plans to run National SGP in 2006 and the Second World SGP in 2007.

The meeting empowered the Bureau to receive bids for National Grand Prix which will be open to international participation and qualifying for the next World Grand Prix. All these GP will be run according to the same rules but the organisers will have the choice of the class. The National Grand Prix will be category 2 events. Bids should be received via the NAC’s before 1 October 2005. It should be noted that the Plenum preferred the term “Qualification Grand Prix” to the name National Grand Prix.

Since no bid has been received for the Second World Grand Prix to be held in 2007 yet, the Bureau was also empowered to receive and select bids for this event. Bids must be received before 1 October 2005.

The report was unanimously endorsed.

Mr Stuck showed a short video promoting the 1st SGP.

13.2.2 Airspace, Licensing, Medical

The Licensing expert, Mr Peter Eriksen reported from the last meeting in ICAO, and explained why it was necessary to have an IGC licensing policy.

Some debate took place on the issue, especially with regard to the actual wording on the medical part, that some delegates found to be a step in the wrong direction for their country. Also the fact that commercial licenses are addressed by the policy created some debate.

Mr. Eriksen replied that the policy on the medical issue was not intended to increase the requirements in any country, and that the commercial license question from ICAO’s point of view should remain a national issue, as no cross boundary activities were known.

Item 1 of the policy was changed to read: IGC is in favour of defining standards for an ICAO Glider License.

Item 2 of the policy was changed to read: IGC does not object to there being a national professional glider license.

The policy was then unanimously adopted by the meeting.

13.3 Other proposals

Two proposals were received after the 45 days deadline requiring 2/3rds majority to be included in the agenda.

  • The first proposal was from Finland regarding the number of participants in the FAI EGC 2005 in Finland.

    The IGC president explained that the plenum at the meeting in Lausanne in 2004 had empowered the Bureau to review and accept a bid from Finland. This had taken place, and the bid had been accepted exactly as proposed by Finland.

    The president then asked the plenum to vote if the subject should be discussed in the meeting.

    16 delegates voted in favour of bringing the proposal up, 12 were opposed. The proposal did not achieve 2/3rds majority, and was therefore not discussed further.

  • The second proposal was from Spain, Ireland and the ANDS committee.

    23 voted in favour of bringing the proposal forward for discussion, so the proposal was added to the agenda.

    Mr Bernald Smith reported that one hacking of a Flight Recorder has taken place. It is time to review the security for world records. On behalf of Spain, Ireland and the ANDS committee he tabled the following proposal:

    IGC-approved FRs that do not have public/private key systems have their approval changed from "all flights" to "all flights except World Records."

    This effects Cambridge 10, 20, 25, Print Technic, Zander 940.

    If the proposal was approved, the manufacturers will have 12 months to respond to this and introduce the required changes in their flight recorders.

    It was also noted that this applies to world records only, not other activities such as national records, competitions and badges.

    The delegates voted in favour with 23 for and 8 abstentions. The ANDS committee will now contact the affected manufacturers.

14. Votes on bids

14.1. Votes on Bids 2007

14.2. Votes on Bids 2008

The IGC World Gliding Championships Calendar, 2007 -2014 is attached to these minutes as
Appendix B.

15. IGC awards

The Pirat Gehriger Diploma

This Diploma was created by the FAI in 2000 in memory of Pirat Gehriger, the long time President of the International Gliding Commission. Normally, only one Diploma may be awarded annually for eminent services to international gliding.

The Diploma was awarded to Gillian Bryce-Smith - United Kingdom.

The Lilienthal Medal

Named after the famous early gliding pioneer Otto Lilienthal, this medal was created by the FAI in 1938. It may be awarded to a currently active glider pilot who has:

The Lilienthal medal was awarded to Mr Janusz Centka, Poland.

16. Presentaion by Mr. Oliver Rennert: "The On-line Contest"

Mr. Rennert presented the background for the On-Line Contest (OLC) and explained how it worked. Apart from being a competition, the OLC also fosters a lot of activities in clubs due to the way it is organised. Mr Rennert explained the new OLC League competition that means that, even on days with bad weather, pilots start flying to get the points available that week-end.

The OLC is also used as scoring system for the FAI Centenary Gliding Weeks.

17. Elections of Officers

17.1. President

The IGC president asked the 1st-vice president Mr Eric Mozer to lead this part of the meeting, and left the podium.

Mr. Mozer asked the delegates for nominations. 4 names were proposed, but only Mr Henderson accepted the nomination.

Mr Henderson was re-elected as IGC president for another year.

The president took over the meeting again, thanked the delegates for the election, and assured that he was looking forward to another year with interesting challenges.

17.2. 1st Vice-president

The president asked the delegates to nominate candidates. 4 names were proposed, but only Mr Mozer accepted the nomination.

Mr Eric Mozer was re-elected as 1st Vice president.

17.3. Vice Presidents

The meeting was asked to nominate candidates for the 5 vice-president posts
12 names were proposed, only 5 of these accepted the nomination, and were consequently elected. The 5 Vice-presidents are:

Mr Vladimir Foltin, Slovak Republic

Mr Axel Reich, Germany

Mr Arild Solbakken, Norway

Mr Brian Spreckley, UK

Mr Roland Stuck, France

Mr Dick Bradley did not, due to his high workload, accept re-election. The president thanked Mr Bradley for all the good work he had done for IGC during many years.

Mr. Bradley will continue as treasurer for IGC.

17.4. Secretary

Only one person, Mr Peter Eriksen was nominated, he accepted the nomination, and will therefore continue as IGC-secretary for another year.

18. Presentation by Mr. Klaus Ohlmann: Soaring "on the edge"

Mr Ohlmann gave a very interesting presentation of his fantastic 2200 km flight in South America, and provided the viewpoint of a record maker about what matters for him in terms of rules and procedures.

19. Date and place for 2006 IGC Plenary Meeting

A proposal was received from Serbia and Montenegro to hold the next meeting in Belgrade.

The delegate from Serbia and Montenegro, Mr Milos Krivokapic gave a short presentation outlining the practical arrangements in Belgrade.

The other possibility would be to have the meeting in Lausanne.

The president reminded the meeting that it requires 2/3rds majority to move the meeting away from Lausanne.

The proposal received 16 votes, 22 votes were required for a 2/3rds majority.

The next meeting will be in Lausanne, 3rd and 4th March 2006.

20. Closure

The IGC president Mr. Bob Henderson then closed the meeting by thanking the delegates for the good and constructive debate, and wished all a safe journey home.

Peter Eriksen, IGC secretary