February 16th, 2005
Dear Friends
The Northern hemisphere period for submission of flights for the IGC contribution to the FAI Centenary now occurs at the same time as a major military exercise – “Clean Hunter 2005” - in central Europe. This exercise is likely to interfere with VFR flights over a wide area. As a result we have decided to alter the dates for the Northern hemisphere period to July 9th to July 24th. Please advise your national organisations about this change of dates.
A reminder that the agenda, papers and reports are available on the IGC website at
http://www.fai.org/gliding/meetings/
I am aware that some NAC’s may not be able to send a Delegate to the meeting. However, I would encourage those who cannot attend to participate by appointing a proxy to carry their votes. The FAI By-Laws provide for a proxy to be given to one of the other delegates (except to the Commission President). Each Delegate may only hold one proxy. All proxies must be given in writing and be signed by the President or Secretary General of the FAI Member concerned.
Wolfgang’s topic is “IGC’s Top Task: How To Protect The Future Of Our Sport”
And will focus on four main topics:
Klaus will speak on World Records and Reiner on the OLC on Saturday afternoon.
The agenda includes a presentation from Garmin on the potential for Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Flight Recorders for verifying badge flights. Unfortunately the representative from Garmin is now unable to attend the meeting but we are making alternative arrangements to ensure the presentation is still available.
It has been a tradition for the IGC Plenum to focus on the Sporting Code and competitions. Despite attempts to divert the debate, it always turns back to the same subjects. But this is only a very limited part of our responsibility. In principle the IGC should deal with: Competitions, Records, glider design, airspace, licenses, and not at least have a strategic view on gliding as a sport now and in the future.
Luckily OSTIV is dealing with all scientific and technical matters of world-wide gliding including training and safety. EGU takes care of regulations regarding licensing,
operations, certification, airworthiness, airspace in Europe. But who looks at the future of gliding? Who takes a serious look at the way we want gliding to be in the future? Who defines our gliding vision, the IGC strategies? Who imagines how gliding will fit in tomorrow’s society?
At the last Bureau meeting we discussed Strategic Goals and it was not difficult to dream up some goals: be the biggest air sports commission in FAI; have all members at the IGC meeting; and, increase the number of participants in competitions. That is all very nice, but how do we get there? What is it we have to change in our behavior to achieve the goal?
During the past year we asked for comments on the "burning issues" that Delegates identified as problems. That list is (in no order of priority):
This list shows that competitions and the sporting code are not high priority items for NAC’s. The Bureau believes that we need to establish a clear IGC Strategy with a long-term Plan. This should encompass:
We have some time set aside to discuss “IGC Strategy” at the Plenary meeting. We have an existing Strategic Plan that we acknowledge requires updating. To do this we need input from you, the Delegates. We need to make the best use of the time we do have available in Lausanne.
Please come along prepared to comment on the things we need to make gliding a healthy and growing sport and be prepared to offer some ideas as to how we should achieve this aim.
Piero Morelli has written a paper entitled “Development of the Microlift Glider” and includes an annex on “A Brief History of FAI Glider Classes”. This paper is available on the website at http://www.fai.org/gliding/documents/microlift.pdf I recommend it for reading.
It gives me great pleasure to close this Newsletter with a note of thanks to the members of the Bureau who have all devoted generously of their time and personal energies to help look after and manage our sport for us all.
Take care and safe flying
Bob Henderson
President, IGC
April 10th, 2005
Dear Friends,
IGC PLENARY MEETING
It is now a month since our very successful Plenary meeting. It was great to see so many of you there despite the weather and the travel disruptions.
The key points from the meeting have been available on the IGC website for a while now, and Peter Eriksen has sent the Minutes to the FAI Office for inclusion on the website.
I, for one, greatly enjoyed the presentations from Wolfgang Weinreich and Klaus Ohlmann and my thanks to each of them. Wolfgang and Klaus both threw out challenges for us, the Plenary, to consider regarding the future of the sport and the control of world records. Wolfgang has kindly consented to his keynote speech being made available publicly and it has been posted on the website, but, more importantly, it is attached to this newsletter.
I ask each and every one of you to pass this speech on to your national President and also to the editor of your national magazine.
While Wolfgang has stated that there are a number of initiatives that the “IGC can do” may I plagiarise FAI Secretary General Max Bishop’s comment and remind you that: "You are IGC!"
My thanks also to Oliver Rennert, for providing the update on the OLC developments, and to Joerg Stieber, for the COTS presentation. Again, both presentations provided food for thought.
We have a very strong Bureau and while I am sorry that Dick Bradley has stood down from the Bureau I am very pleased that he has agreed to remain the IGC Treasurer. I am also very pleased to welcome Arild Solbakken to the Bureau. The establishment of the Business Development Group and a Communication Strategy are now the top priorities for the Bureau.
My congratulations to those NAC’s that have been awarded World Championship and European Championship events in 2007 and 2008. I look forward to strong and healthy competitions at each of these events.
FAI CENTENARY 2005
May I remind you that the Northern hemisphere period for submission of flights for the IGC contribution to the FAI Centenary is July 9th to July 24th. To ensure that this on line contest is a success we all have a responsibility to promote it in our own country, on the Website of our NAC or Federation and in our Gliding Magazines.
IGC RANKING LIST
The IGC Ranking list is one of our key products. The IGC competitions over the last season have been included and your pilots should be seeing their names there. If they are not they need to ask the competition organisers why the results are not there. It’s great to see a fellow Kiwi at the top of the list – but is there no one else out there who can outperform him?
It is also boring to have only names and competition results available on the ranking list. This is a list that the media and the public access – and it is the most popular IGC web page by a factor of 20. I ask you to please encourage your pilots to insist that competition organisers provide photos and biographical information for the list.
2006 PLENARY MEETING
The discussion on strategic issues this year has provided us, the Bureau, with useful thoughts and ideas on how to develop a sound strategic plan to protect and develop our sport. For 2006 we propose to have a similar format with a keynote speech and discussion time on a specific topic on the Friday afternoon.
There are 46 countries that have Delegates to the IGC. This year we had representation from 34 countries actually at the meeting. In 2006 I would like to see at least 40 countries attending the Plenary meeting and the Bureau will see what it can do to provide assistance to those who routinely do not attend.
I am also going to issue an invitation to every national gliding President to attend the meeting in Lausanne in 2006.
I believe that this is critical for us to be able to develop our battle plans to ensure the survival of our sport. The Presidents hold the political strings in each country and I believe that we need them to come together in Lausanne to help us – IGC – to understand exactly what we can do on the international scene to help each national gliding body, and for them to understand what they can do to help us – IGC.
Take care and safe flying.
President, IGC
Bob Henderson
April 10th, 2005
April 22nd, 2005
The IGC believes that the Sailplane Grand Prix (SGP) series will become our premier sporting events for the media and the public. The SGP will provide the opportunity for us to showcase gliding in a simpler and more easily understandable contest. I firmly believe that without public understanding and media support we cannot progress the sport of gliding. This year’s 1st World Sailplane Grand Prix in Saint Auban will be the springboard to the 2006 Sailplane Grand Prix qualifying series and the 2007 2nd World Sailplane Grand Prix.
I request that each of you pass this newsletter to your national President, the editor of your national magazine and to your contest pilots.
The following decision was taken at the Plenary meeting in March this year:
"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 Grand Prix 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."
The following timescale is now being put in place for bids for 2006 and 2007:
30th April 2005 - a simplified Bid Procedure will be available.
31st August 2005 –Bids close for the series of 2006 Sailplane Grand Prix qualifying contests. The Bureau will review these bids in September 2005.
31st October 2005 –Bids close for the 2007 2nd World Sailplane Grand Prix.
The Bureau will review these bids in November 2005.
I believe that these timescales are appropriate. The Sailplane Grand Prix events are limited to 20 competitors and, as a result, the logistics are really a lot simpler than those required to support a full IGC WGC with 100+ sailplanes present. Our experience from Saint Auban in 2003 is that one needs a Director, Tasksetter, Scorer, Admin person, competent PR person, Referee, a small number of enthusiastic club members to look after the bar - meals - crowd control, and a small number of tow pilots.
A "unified" image will be maintained by using the same name for all, for example: Grand Prix de France, Grosser Preis of Deutschland, Grand Prix of New Zealand.
A copy of the rules is available from the IGC Secretary Peter Eriksen at eriksen@cegetel.net and a summary of the rules will be sent out to you all in a few days via a separate newsletter.
This programme is vital to the health and growth of our sport and I ask all NAC’s and National Federations to support this initiative.
Bob Henderson
President, IGC
April 22nd, 2005
April 29th, 2005
The following is a summary of the Rules applying to the Sailplane Grand Prix. Please pass this summary to your national President, the editor of your national magazine and to your contest pilots
Objective – To select the champion Grand Prix pilot on the basis of the pilot's performance in the tasks set.
Class - The FAI Class nominated by the organisers.
Officials – A Director shall be named and the IGC Bureau shall appoint a Referee. The Referee will be responsible for adjudication of any complaints or protests during the Grand Prix, he has the right to terminate the Grand Prix and he shall approve the final results.
Entries – The 2006 qualifying GP shall be open to entries from all Nations. A maximum of 20 pilots is permitted. World and Continental Champions will have first priority. The IGC Ranking List or other suitable selection procedure shall be used if there are more than 20 preliminary entries. The IGC Bureau may vet the preliminary entry list.
Qualification for the 2007 World Grand Prix – Pilots will qualify for the World Grand Prix by gaining a placing in a 2006 qualifying Grand Prix. The number of pilots eligible from each qualifying Grand Prix will be decided by the Bureau and will depend on the number of qualifying Grand Prix events. It is not intended that pilots would fly in more than one qualifying Grand Prix to gain entry to the 2007 World Grand Prix.
Technical, Airworthiness and Insurance Requirements and General Flying Procedures – Competitors and sailplanes shall meet the same requirements and comply with the same general procedures as required under Annex A for a World Gliding Championship.
Control Procedures – Flight verification shall be by GNSS flight recorders.
Tracking – Organisers are expected to use tracking devices to maximise the public display of the event. Pilots shall be required to carry these as part of their conditions of entry in the event.
Starting – All sailplanes shall start at the same time (Regatta Start) using a Start Line placed across the airfield to maximise public viewing.
Tasks – Annex A Speed Tasks over closed circuit courses of approximately 100 kilometers, completed twice if appropriate.
Turn Points – Classic “beer can” 0.5 kilometer radius observation zones will be the only turn points used. Altitude may be strictly controlled at Turn Points to maximise public visibility of the sailplanes. The departure airfield should also be a Turn Point.
Finish – A Finish Line shall be used and it shall be placed across the airfield to maximise public viewing.
Scoring – Elapsed time scoring shall be used for finishers. Non-finishers will be given the time of the last finisher plus one minute for every kilometer between their landing position and the finish line (thus assuming that they had flown home via all turn points at 60 km/h).
Penalties – Penalties are given in time units and accumulated for the duration of the event. For example, missing a turn point by being between 0.5 and 1.0 kilometer will incur a time penalty of 5 minutes.
Protests – Adjudicated by the Referee.
1st World Sailplane Grand Prix Rules – These Rules are available for review at
Bob Henderson
President, IGC
April 29th, 2005
June 8th, 2005
Dear Friends
FAI Meetings
I recently returned from Lausanne from a series of FAI meetings. The City also hosted the FAI members to a formal function as part of the Centenary Celebrations of the FAI.
A meeting between the FAI Executive Board and the Vice-Presidents (Air Sport Commission Presidents and the NAC representatives) spent a considerable amount of time discussing how to develop the World Air Games for the future. The proposal is that a series of Regional Air Games (RAG) will be held over the next two or three years, leading up to a larger World Air Games.
The RAG will be designed to be held at a single venue with only a limited number of Air Sports present. For us this fits exactly with the new Sailplane Grand Prix event that we have designed – as short, sharp competition with opportunity for other Air Sports to also hold events on the same airfield.
We are looking forward to being able to work with the FAI Executive Board and other Air Sports to develop the RAG.
A subsequent meeting of the Air Sports Commission Presidents endorsed support for the RAG concept. A number of other issues were discussed at this meeting, including:
Sailplane Grand Prix
The 1st World Sailplane Grand Prix, being held in Saint Auban (France) from the 2nd to the 11th of September 2005, is on track for being a showcase event with a full field of 20 entries. We are very grateful to the FFVV and the people at Saint Auban for their support of this event.
Bids are already being received for the 2006 Sailplane Grand Prix qualifying contests and for the 2007 2nd World Sailplane Grand Prix.
Remember, bids for the 2006 Sailplane Grand Prix qualifying contests close on 31st August 2005 and for the 2007 2nd World Sailplane Grand Prix on 31st October 2005.
IGC Officials
The Bureau recently conducted an audit of all those currently nominated as Officials (Jury and Stewards) for IGC sanctioned gliding championships. This audit revealed that there were a number of people who had not actually been involved as either Jury members or Stewards in the recent past. As a result the respective NACs have been contacted to confirm that the persons they have nominated are still available for duty as IGC Officials.
The Bureau will be conducting these audits frequently in future as part of the quality control of our Championships to ensure that we have the best possible people overseeing our events.
Anyone can be nominated to take on these roles, but they must be experienced in competitions at an international level and be very knowledgeable of the Annex A Rules. All nominations must come through NACs, or Gliding Organisations, so that the Bureau knows that the person nominated has the support of their national body.
Plenary 2006
Sir John Allison, President of Europe Air Sports (EAS), has agreed to be our keynote speaker at the Plenary meeting in 2006. By March next year we may well have seen a significant amount of legislation introduced by EASA, which will impact directly on the 90,000 glider pilots in Europe. By building a close relationship with EAS we anticipate being able to support the EGU in protecting the sport of gliding in Europe. I would like to again note that I believe that all Gliding Presidents should attend our plenary session in Lausanne in 2006 as I believe that this meeting will be a critical turning point in the development of our sport.
The Bureau will be considering a number of options to try and ensure that all NACs that have Delegates nominated to the IGC actually attend this meeting.
Enjoy your soaring safely
Bob Henderson
President, IGC
June 8th, 2005
July 24th, 2005
Anti Collision Devices in IGC Championships
Dear Friends
In 2004 the anti-collision system FLARM was introduced to the IGC at our Plenary meeting in Lausanne. It is now in extensive use in Europe and is also used elsewhere in the world.
The IGC endorsed the use of such technology as providing a significant benefit to flight safety.
In April 2005 the gliding board of the German Aero Club endorsed the use of FLARM in soaring competitions and championships.
In May 2005 Aerokurier published a comment about FLARM:
"The Swiss collision avoidance system for gliding, FLARM, cannot be used in international gliding competitions. The exclusion is purely a formality. The FAI competition regulations forbid the exchange of data during competitions, but FLARM relies on extensive exchanges of data in order to work." (Translation courtesy of Fred Weinholtz).
This opinion was picked up by at least one other gliding magazine, the Gliding Kiwi in the June/ July 2005 issue:
"FAI has ruled that Flarm (sic), the Swiss collision avoidance system cannot be used in international gliding competitions. FAI competition regulations forbid the exchange of data during competitions. FLARM relies on extensive exchanges of data in order to work. Common sense will prevail on this issue for sure."
I do not know if other gliding magazines and publications have picked up this erroneous opinion, but the time has come to end this speculation.
Fact: FLARM uses a comparison of electronic data between aircraft to determine if a collision risk exists (no collision risk equals no warning).
Fact FLARM only provides relative position information for the aircraft creating the risk (position in a 360 degree circle).
Fact: FLARM is very short-range.
Fact: FLARM does not provide relative position information if there is no collision risk (so it cannot be used to leech!)
The relevant Annex A Rule currently states:
5.3.1 Radio Transmitters and Transceivers Radios are for voice transmissions between team members and between them and the Organisers only.
b. Any other data transmission between competitors, or between them and the ground, except as required by the Organisers, is prohibited.
This Rule was written to stop the transfer of data - such as from GNSS units that would provide information about air mass and rates of climb, etc - especially when gliders were out of sight of each other. It was never intended to void flight safety.
The existing Annex A wording competition permits organisers to require all gliders to carry FLARM, for example, as a means of reducing the risk of mid-air collisions.
We have had a number of debates in the last few years about how to minimise the mid-air collision risk in competitions. As a result, I find it extremely frustrating that interpretations have been placed on a sound and workable Rule in this way without seeking advice or clarification from the Bureau.
I would be very concerned if I thought that someone might lodge a protest about the carriage of a device such as FLARM during a contest.
As a result of this situation the Bureau is making an immediate amendment to this Rule so that it will now read:
5.3.1b "Any other data transmission between competitors, or between them and the ground is prohibited, except as required: (i) by the organisers; or (ii) for safety purpose or; (iii) for anticollision warning,"
I have received an email that suggests that this is just a "storm in a teacup", but this action is, I believe, necessary to make the Bureau's intentions absolutely clear.
This does not, however, help us in our aim of making the Rules simpler.
Enjoy your flying and keep a good lookout!
Bob Henderson
President, IGC
July 24th, 2005
September 21st, 2005
Dear Friends
Sailplane Grand Prix
In April this year I wrote to you with a timetable for the Sailplane Grand Prix event bids for 2006 and 2007. Since then we have had a very successful 1st World Sailplane Grand Prix event at Saint Auban, France. I am extremely grateful to the FFVV, the team at the CFHN, and especially to Roland Stuck, for the initiatives to undertake this event. I know that the 17 pilots representing 12 nations had a great time and really enjoyed the competition.
Your Bureau has received a number of bids to host Qualifying Grand Prix events in 2006. The original timescale was for bids for the Qualifying events to close at the end of August. However, there has been additional interest generated in hosting Qualifying events in 2006 following the success of the 1st World Sailplane Grand Prix in St Auban.
As a result we would like to advise you that:
IGC Bureau meeting and FAI General Conference
The IGC Bureau is meeting in Paris on the 10th and 11th of October to review progress on our strategic aims and general business. A number of us will then be joining the FAI at the General Conference at the Aero Club de France to celebrate the Centenary of the FAI. I will send out another newsletter following these two meetings.
Attached to this newsletter is my report to the FAI General Conference.
Bob Henderson
President, IGC
September 21st, 2005
The International Gliding Commission held it’s annual meeting in Lausanne in March 2005. Changes to the format of the meeting included having keynote speakers and presenters and providing a significant period of time for discussion on the strategic question of where gliding, as a sport, should position itself for the future.
As a result the Bureau has been working on a long-term Strategic Plan for the IGC.
Key decisions taken included the intentions to:
Awards conferred were:
During 2005 the following Championships were held:
Strong bids were provided from several countries for the new calendar of gliding championships in 2007 and 2008. The bids were awarded as follows:
Two “gliding weeks” were held to contribute to the celebration of the FAI Centenary. The aim of these two-week periods (one northern hemisphere and one southern hemisphere) was to record the total number of kilometres flown by all glider pilots during the nominated days. The German OLC website and the French NetCoupe were used to log and record the flights. The total distance flown was an astounding 2,511,421 kms, achieved with a massive 5,224 flights. This is equivalent to 62-and-a-half times around the Earth! Diplomas will be awarded to the best flight in each FAI class.
We are moving to a “per-pilot” sanction fee system and transferring the responsibility for the costs of providing Event Officials from the Organisers to the IGC with the expectation that the latter will be in place for Fiscal Year 2007. This is part of our strategy to improve the quality control of our International Championships. This will see the IGC committing to between 20 and 25,000 EUR expenditure per annum commencing in 2007.
As reported last year, the marketing of our sport to the public remains a challenge. The use of in-flight tracking devices, in-flight video, new styles of glider racing and the use of the internet to turn a glider race into a public spectacle are all being pursued to try and make the sport more visible. There are a number of commercial solutions now being developed to meet this challenge and we look forward to their continued development over the next year. We also look forward to being able to integrate our Sailplane Grand Prix into the FAI Regional and World Air Games events as part of this marketing strategy.
Airspace, Membership and global participation remain other key issues. We continue to push our airspace requirements, we are developing our communication tools to reach more pilots and are examining ways to ensure that all countries are able to participate in IGC and to have the opportunity to compete in and host World Championships.
Finally, I would like to extend grateful thanks to Secretary General Max Bishop and the staff at the FAI Office for their untiring work and generous support on IGC’s behalf.
President
International Gliding Commission
November 11th, 2005
Dear Friends
Qualifying Sailplane Grand Prix 2006
The interest in the SGP events for 2006 as been great following the very successful 1st World Sailplane Grand Prix held in St Auban by the FFVV.
As a result the Bureau decided in our mid-year meeting in October to extend the time for bids for Qualifying Grand Prix events in 2006 to 31st December 2005. Incomplete bids will not be accepted.
Currently we have accepted the following 2006 Qualifying Grand Prix events:
The reason for choosing this date is to ensure that the pilots who fly at Omarama, New Zealand, in January 2006 will know how many places are available for qualification towards the 2nd World Sailplane Grand Prix in 2007.
A very successful Bureau meeting was held in Paris in early October. My thanks again to our colleagues at the FFVV for their hospitality and the use of their offices.
Key points from this meeting were:
The FAI General Conference was a grand affair, with the functions being quite stunning – both the venues and the banquets. The Centenary Dinner on the last evening was magnificent and it was a pleasure to be able to be present to recognise and applaud the outstanding achievements of eight men and eight women from all air sports and across the years for their contributions to aviation and for their achievements.
The website for The 29th FAI Multi Class World Gliding Championships is now online at http://www.wgc2006.se/index.php.
Bob Henderson
President, IGC
November 10, 2005