3.1	4th European Junior Gliding Championships 1997 in Musbach, Germany. The German delegate Bruno Gantenbrink reported: The event will take place at the airfield of Freudenstadt-Musbach in the Black Forest from 10 to 23 August 1997, three training days preceding. The preparations are well in hand. Information No 1 has been mailed to all NACs, including the preliminary entry forms. The rules have been sent to Tor Johannessen, chairman of the Rules Sub Committee, and to the Bureau for approval. There are no fundamental deviations from the Sporting Code 3, Annex A. The championships will be flown in the two classes Standard and Club. The glider types LS 4 and DG 300 will be allowed to fly in the Club Class (see item 6.1 of these minutes). The entry fee is - as announced in the bid - 700 DM per glider. It covers all operational costs including camping, films, and maps, but except aerotows. Flights will be controlled by approved GNSS Flight Recorders. Time recording cameras and/or a second GNSS FR are allowed as back up systems. The Jury will be Jacky Clairbaux, France (President), Roland Stuck, France, and Ralf Fischer, Germany, as appointed by the plenum. The stewards will be Tadeus Wala, Slovak Republic, and Bostjan Oblak, Slovenia. Participants from non-European countries are welcome, but must fly the championships hors concours.
3.2	10th International European Women's Gliding Championships 1997 in Prievidza, Slo-vak Republic. Instead of the Slovak delegate, who was unable to attend, the Czech delegate Jaroslav Vach gave the report: In August 1996 the contest "Slovak Women's Glide" was held as a pre-European competition. Only 11 pilots from 3 countries participated in the common class, scored by a handicap formula. There were four tasks. The winner was Lenka Kuthanova, Czech Republic. This pre-competition was very useful for the organisers because they were able to gain experience with GNSS Flight Recorders and to check the preparations for the next year's event. The official invitation and the information bulletin for the Women's Championships were mailed to all NACs in September 1996. The rules have been mailed to the IGC Bureau. There are no deviations from the Sporting Code 3, Annex A. The entry fee is 650 DM as announced in the bid. The Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic has agreed to take over the patronage of the championships. The event will take place from 19 July to 2 August, five training days preceding. It will be held in the three classes Club, Standard, and 15 m. The Club Class will be scored by the decision of the plenum under item 6.1 of these minutes. The glider types LS 4 and DG 300 are allowed to fly in the Club Class in 1997. GNSS Flight Recorders will be the main documentation system, and time registering cameras may be used as back-up. The organisers are in negotiation with FR manufacturers on providing FR devices for hire. The maximum number of entries is 50. Each NAC may enter up to eight competitors plus reserve pilots, depending on vacancies. The current European Champions may compete additionally. Competitors from overseas are welcome, flying hors concours. Mrs Gill Van den Broeck, Belgium, will be a steward. The plenum appointed Professor Morelli, Italy, as President, and Fred Weinholtz, Germany, as member of the Jury. For the third Jury member there will be a proposal from the Slovak Republic to the IGC March meeting.
3.3	9th European Gliding Championships 1998 in Leszno, Poland. The Polish delegate Dr. Waldemar Ratajczak reported. The Preparations for the 9th European Gliding Championships are well in hand. The contest will take place at the Central Gliding School Leszno from 27 July to 10 August, a training period preceding. A test competition ("Pre-European Championships 1997"), open for foreign competitors - also from overseas - will be held at the same place from 27 July to 9 August 1997, a training period from 19 to 26 July preceding. The entry fee is 250 US$; an aerotow to 600 m will cost 23 US$. The charges for accommodation and glider hire will be announced after January 1, 1997. Entry forms and further details can be obtained from: Central Gliding School ul. Szybowników 28 64-100 Leszno-Strzyzewice, Poland Tel: +48-65-293219 and 292683,Fax: +48-65-294139 Considerable efforts are being made to improve the infrastructure of the Central Gliding School at Leszno. The service will be better in general. The rooms in the main building and in the other two buildings will be redecorated and better equipped, and the sanitary facilities will be modernised. The standard of the camping place will be improved. It is going to be entered onto the list of European Standard Camping Places. It is planned to rebuild the swimming pool. However, this is a very difficult and expensive project. The Central Gliding School will be connected to the Internet by the end of the year. Some modifications of the competition rules are under consideration. The best and most experienced Polish glider pilots are working on the POST rules, which will have to be accepted by IGC and the international gliding community. Also, there are ideas to introduce some of the "free flight" proposals into the European Gliding Championships, but this will certainly need thorough discussion. The German National Championships 1996 were held in Lüsse near Berlin, only about 125 km from the German-Polish border away. They had the permission to set border crossing tasks, which were actually flown. The Polish organisers for 1998 will negotiate with ATC, Air Force, commercial aviation and other sports organisations to gain the opportunity for border crossing flights to the west and east. The Italian delegate Smilian Cibic was proposed and approved by the plenum as President of the International Jury. The Stewards will be Tadeus Wala, Slovak Republic, and Fred Weinholtz, Germany. The Russian delegate, Yuri Kuznetsov, complained about problems experienced by Russian glider pilots crossing the border to and from Poland. Angela Sheard said that, on the contrary, her experience was that no problems were encountered with the border officials when they were informed beforehand and the pilot had a letter in Polish explaining the reason for his visit. The Polish delegate Waldemar Ratajczak promised to look into the matter.
3.4	10th European Club Class Championship 1998. As announced in the March meeting 1996, the Czech delegate Jaroslav Vach presented a bid of his NAC to organise this event. The Czech National Aero Club had offers from three local aero clubs to organise this event. The committee decided unanimously in favour of the airfield Jihlava with its very active and experienced staff. They had organised the three last Czech Nationals successfully. Milos Dedera, the Czech top glider pilot, is a member of this club. Last year he twice flew a distance of 750 km with Club Class gliders. The airfield is situated in the Czech-Moravian highland in the south-western part of Moravia. Approximately 60 gliders can be allowed to compete. There are plenty of good outlanding fields in the whole contest area. The daily thermal time in spring and summer ranges from 6 to 10 hours. The average thermal strength is 2 m/sec with a maximum of 5 m/sec. The cloud base averages between 1500 m and 2800 m AGL. The airspace for gliding is free to FL 85, and at present there are no problems with other airspace users. The length of the tasks will vary between 200 and 500 km; many 500 km flights have been performed in this area. Thanks to a dense net of as-phalt roads the traffic conditions are good. The entry fee is 750 DM per glider, and aerotows will be 40 DM to 700 m, following the usual European standards. The present price of fuel (Super = 1 DM per litre) is slightly cheaper than in the surrounding countries. Three meals per day are between 17 and 21 DM on average. Many restaurants near the contest site offer famous Moravian meals including excellent beer and wine for low prices. The fees per day for camping at the airfield are 15 DM per caravan, 10 DM per tent and 4 DM per person. Hotel beds near the airfield range from 50 DM to 90 DM per night. In 1997 the Czech Nationals will be held at the airfield from July 19 to August 2. Competitors from Europe and from overseas are welcome. Detailed information will be published later. Helmut Kiffmeyer, chairman of the Club Class Sub Committee complained about the high entry fees of 750 DM. After discussion Jaroslav Vach agreed on trying to persuade the organisers to go down to 700 DM. The bid was accepted unanimously, provided that the entry fee will be fixed at 700 DM.
3.5	International European Motor Gliding Championships. Professor Morelli, chairman of the Motor Glider Sub Committee gave the following report: a) The 18 m wingspan gliders, with or without engine, are a reality that cannot be ignored. Many hundreds of them have been produced and fly in many countries. It is estimated that over 80% of them are delivered with an engine installed. They are becoming increasingly popular because a wing span of 18 m seems to offer a good combination of glider plus engine, i.e., good performance in both configurations. The Open Class gliders are being currently motorised. b) The German Championships for the 18 m Integrated Class (Mühldorf/Inn, 24 July to 4 August 1996), after the unfortunate (because of bad weather) attempts in Bartholomä (1994) and Paderborn (1995), finally enjoyed relatively good meteorological conditions. In the twelve days available, six contest days have been successfully flown. The percentage of motor gliders competing was smaller than in Paderborn: Number of competitors total motor gliders gliders Bartholomä (1994) 39 16 (41%) 36 Paderborn (1995) 31 21 (68%) 10 Mühldorf/Inn (1996) 34 20 (59%) 14 New types of motor gliders present: DG 800 18 m, ASH 26, Ventus 2. A LS 9 was damaged before the start of the competition. The basic rule was that in a situation where a plain glider had to land, the motor glider could use the engine to fly home. However, a "photo-vache" taken just before starting the engine allowed the photographed point to be considered as the landing point. The six valid contest days yielded the following results: finishers motor gliders gliders 1st triangle, 289 km 3 3 0 2nd triangle, 158 km 0 0 0 3rd triangle, 158 km 0 0 0 4th triangle, 161 km 18 10 8 5th triangle, 289 km 0 0 0 6th polygon, 409 km 19 9 10 The above figures show that task setting was generally too optimistic, but they are not very significant for an evaluation of the new proposed class. An interesting fact is that on each contest day a good mixture of plain gliders and motor gliders appeared in the scoring list. If in each contest day the first 10 pilots are taken into consideration, the following situation results: Contest day motor gliders gliders 1st 7 3 2nd 4 6 3rd 3 7 4th 4 6 5th 4 6 6th 3 7 final standing 4 6 These results show that plain gliders and motor gliders are capable of comparable performance, a conclusion indicating that it makes sense to let them compete in the same (integrated) class. c) Proposals to IGC: Recognise the Integrated 18 m Class so that Continental and/or World Championships can be organised for this class. The same could be done for the Open Class. If an Integrated Open Class is recognised, the existing Open Class (only plain gliders) could either be abolished or maintained. If the introduction of these new classes in the Sporting Code is considered too big a step at the moment, experimentation could be continued, encouraging international participation in the German Championships which could thus become International German Championships or Open German Championships, and could include, if convenient, both integrated classes. d) If the IGC decision favours the introduction of the new class(es), a possible time schedule could be the following: October 1996: The IGC European meeting expresses a favourable opinion for the introduction of two new FAI Championship Classes in the Sporting Code: The Integrated 18 m Class (Gliders and motor gliders with wing span not exceeding 18 m) The Integrated Open Class (gliders and motor gliders with wing span over 18 m). March 1997: The IGC Plenary meeting approves by vote. 1998: International (i.e., open for foreign participation) German Championships. 2000: European or World Championships for the integrated classes. The above data, considerations and proposals are the fruit of direct observation and of exchange of views with Helmut Lehmann (responsible for motor gliding in the German Aero club), organisers and competitors at Mühldorf/Inn, and previous contacts held by Piero Morelli. The German delegate, Bruno Gantenbrink, presented a motion of the German Aero Club, gliding section which is enclosed to these minutes as Annex A. The world-wide stock list of 18 m class gliders looks as follows: Country motorised total yes no Argentine 2 2 4 Austria 16 11 27 Belgium 6 3 9 Canada 1 1 2 Czech Rep. 4 0 4 Spain 2 2 4 Denmark 8 6 14 Finland 2 5 7 France 28 26 54 GB 28 71 99 Germany 319 336 655 Italy 15 14 29 Ireland 1 0 1 Japan 1 2 3 Luxembourg 2 0 2 Netherlands 13 29 42 New Zealand 0 1 1 South Africa 2 2 4 Slovakia 2 0 2 Switzerland 54 76 130 Sweden 12 0 12 Turkey 2 0 2 USA 22 14 36 Total 542 601 1143 Prepared by Helmut Lehmann, DAeC

A - Airspace:	The EGU participates on a regular basis in the EATCHIP/EATMS/ECR meetings, also on behalf of Europe Airsports. The aim is to defend the principle of VFR and the airspace available for VFR flight. Very useful comments on the draft EGU comment to the EUROCONTROL ACLAS (Airspace Classification) report have been made by Robert Danewid (Sweden) and Luc Beerts (Belgium). A FUA (Flexible Use of Airspace) seminar was held in Luxembourg, July 1995, with the main purpose of a dynamic civil-military exchange of existing airspace blocks. The EGU attended this seminar, mainly again to defend VFR and its air-space. It is not expected that the implementation of FUA will lead to sports flying reservations by re-classification of airspace. If a re-classification is made, then it will be independent of FUA. The problem is the mixed IFR-VFR traffic, mainly in Class E, which is controlled but allows VFR traffic without radio, transponder or clearance.
B - Transponders:	No clearance, nor radio contact are required for VFR in class E, F or G. Since class E is controlled airspace, conflicts between IFR and VFR are potential. An increasing number of near miss reports - massive A and C replies - must be taken seriously. The typical solution offered immediately is: "A transpon-der for all!". As a matter of fact is this idea not workable, because VFR relies on see-and avoid; VFR can only work safely when a good look-out is kept; It is impossible to control all VFR traffic on a good soaring day; No radar expert believes that massive Mode A and B replies can technically be handled; All gliders concerned would have to monitor the control frequency in question; Gliders are very difficult to equip with transponders because of the mass (high power consumption requires big batteries), of high cost of purchase, installation, and maintenance, and of the relatively complex cabling. Moreover, altimeters in feet would be required. These prerequisites may be acceptable for touring motor gliders. A great problem is the continual change of height in gliding flight.
C - Radio:	The immunity against high power FM broadcasting (ICAO Annex 10) has proved to be no real problem for the usual VHF radio (COM) sets used in gliding. The implementation of the 8.33 kHz channel separation mode (ICAO Annex 10) is foreseen for 1999. Only the upper airspace will be involved initially. However, there is the danger of an avalanche effect and eventually gliding may meet with this problem. It is not possible to give a good prognosis for the next course of events in this affair, because the first meeting of the EANPG Frequency Management Group has not taken place yet, being foreseen for November 96.
D - Radio Frequencies for Gliding:	For more than a year the EGU has advised its members to ask their national representatives to the EANPG FMG (see C) to apply for eight standard 25 kHz frequencies for gliding in the whole of Europe. The frequencies are: 122.475 MHz, 122.500 MHz, 123.350 MHz, 123.375 MHz, 123.425 MHz, 123.500 MHz, 129.975 MHz, 130.125 MHz.
E - JAA	JAR-FCL Part 1, Aeroplane. There is a close and successful cooperation with FAI (Max Bishop) and Europe Airsports (Rudi Schuegraf). The implementation of the JAR-FCL Part 1, already adopted, is foreseen for 1998. There are, however, legal and procedural problems which may well delay this implementation. Although the JAA work on the JAR-FCL Part 5, Glider and Balloon, has not begun yet, the JAR-FCL Committee has stated that the Touring Motor Glider (TMG) ratings will continue to exist on national glider pilot licences, which will then be mutually recognised between states. A point for the EGU to monitor will be the possibility of glider towing by TMG (glider) pilots. JAR-FCL Part 3, Medical: This JAR is in progress. The EGU input is being defined. The idea is to keep the medical procedures as simple as possible. JAR-FCL Part 5, Glider and Balloon: The JAA will decide later whether harmonisation of the various glider pilot licences is required or not. Medical and TMG ratings for glider pilots will, in that context, also be reviewed.

Fransois Van Haaff closed his report with the comment that the EGU work of course costs some money although the time and the expertise of the Executive Committee and the coordinators are free. He stressed that only a European organisation is able to address European institutions. Finally he urged all European national gliding organisations to demonstrate solidarity with the EGU.

An ample discussion followed this report. All delegates agreed on the necessarily good and important part the EGU is performing in favour of European gliding. They stressed the urgency to share the same views and to express the same arguments.

5.1	25th World Gliding Championships 1997, St. Auban, France, 30.06. to 12.07.1997. The French delegate and Chairman of the Organisation Committee, Roland Stuck, and the Championships' Director, Jacky Clairbaux, reported: They explained the weak points of "Lavender Glide 1996" by the absence of important experts of the organisers' staff who were flying in the contest themselves. Additionally there were some internal tensions in the F.F.V.V. These problems have now been solved. 101 pilots from 24 countries competed in Lavender glide, among them 13 world or European champions and 78 pilots from abroad. The weather was poorer than expected, and task setting for this reason very difficult. Nevertheless, 11 tasks were flown and a total distance of 300,901 km was covered. The best speed attained was 153 km/h in the Standard Class. The main concern of the organisers is still safety. Beyond of the fatal accident of the Swiss pilot Frederico Blatter - the investigation report has not yet been published - five gliders were more or less seriously damaged. This happened mainly due to the poor weather conditions that lead to more outlandings than usual. In order to have more harvested fields in 1997, the dates of the Championships have been postponed by one week. The PCs and the software performed well but the preparation of scoring was obviously too late. The scoring team did not have time enough for the necessary training. The Local rules were subject to late changes. This led to excessive GNSS control failures and substantial inefficiency in verification. The result was a considerable dissatisfaction among the competitors. For 1997 the scoring team has been drastically changed, and fast, reliable scoring will be ensured by rigorous measures. For point verification the rules set for the EG-Champs in Finland will be used (cylinder or beer can). Other improvements for the World Championships 1997 will be: Only 235 HP tow planes will be used; Tow-ropes will be supplied by organisers; There will be more water points; There will be a mobile weighing platform. The organisers hope that the accounts of Lavender Glide will almost be balanced in spite of the low entry fees. They regret that - due to the depreciation of the Dollar and to the introduction of sanction fees - they must increase the entry fee to 3800 FF. They pointed out that this amount is half the sum requested at the last championships. As promised before, 20 free entries will be reserved for overseas pilots. For the International Jury the plenum appointed: President: Tor Johannessen (Norway), members: Bob Henderson (New Zealand) and Fred Gai (Germany). The stewards will be: Tapio Savolainen (Finland), Alf Ingesson Thor (Sweden), and Hannes Linke (USA). Bulletin No 1 was published in mid October 1996. A long discussion followed the report of the French representatives. The President Professor Ryder referred to the Bureau meeting the day before and stressed that a move to another area will not be recommended, because the situation had not changed since the IGC awarded the championships to St. Auban. However, the Organisers declared that they take the matter very seriously and intend to pay great attention to safety aspects during the contest, particularly in task setting. In the discussion which followed, three matters were in the focus of interest: The use of a single frequency (or one frequency per class) for radio communications, to enforce the rule about external information to the pilots; Different start points accessible to all classes to avoid leaching and gaggles; Requirement for distinctive colour marking of the gliders (anti-collision marks). The French delegate expressed his concern that the use of single frequency would represent a big departure from present practice. However, the majority of the attendants appeared to favour these proposals and gave their different reasons for this. The President urged the delegates to discuss these matters at home and come to the March meeting with a view and with the mandate to decide accordingly. Also the Bureau will consider these problems. There will be a cor-responding item on the agenda of the spring meeting, 1997.
5.2	26th World Gliding Championships 1999 in Bayreuth, Germany. The German alter-nate delegate, Fred Gai, reported: The preparations for the event are well in hand. After a considerable extension of the airfield Bayreuth three runways for take-offs and four runways for landings will be available. The organisers expect that tasks will be flown across the border to the Czech Republic. There are no changes regarding the financial requirements yet. An international gliding contest as a kind of rehearsal will be organised from 24. July to 8. August. Invitations to all NACs will be distributed in time. More information will be given at the March meeting, 1997.
5.3	Report on the FAI General Conference 1996 in Bled, Slovenia. For professional reasons the President had been unable to attend this meeting. The General Secretary of FAI, Max Bishop, gave a short report: The General Conference was excellently organised and enjoyed a good atmosphere. By majority vote the mandate of the President was extended to up to six years. A corresponding change of the statutes will be made. The First Vice President, Alvaro de Orleans Borbon, was re-elected. During the Gordon-Bennet balloon race a German registered gas balloon with a US crew was shot down in the airspace of Belorussia by a Belorussian military helicopter. The FAI is not satisfied with the official investigation report on this accident that is considered incomplete and contradictory. They are sure that the crew has behaved correctly according to the laws, did not sleep and had their radio switched to the correct frequency. The FAI urges that legal action be taken against the responsible per-sons, and no FAI event will be organised in the Belorussian airspace until the prob-lems are solved. The FAI General Conference 1999 will be held in Cyprus.
5.4	World Class Glider. Professor Piero Morelli, chairman of the World Class Subcommittee, reported. 5.4.1 General: According to information received from the manufacturers of the World Class Glider PW-5, the aircraft factory PZL-Swidnik, ten units are manufactured and delivered every month. The expected delivery status on mid 1997 will be 145 units as follows: Africa 0 units Asia 10 units America North 37 units Australia/ New Zealand 25 units America South 19 units Europe 54 units In addition to the 11 licences sold to parties interested in manufacturing the PW-5, three more were sold to Brazil, Philippines and Russia. According to information received from the Warsaw University of Technology (WUT) no one of the licence purchasers has started production yet. However, the US company Apex, holder of a licence, is in contact with a Chinese aircraft factory of 40 000 employees in Xian. 5.4.2 1st Austrian PW-5 Cup with International Participation. The event was organised by the Austrian Aero Club in cooperation with the Flieger-club Turnau at Lanzen/Turnau airfield, located between Graz and Mariazell, Austria, August 3 to 14, 1996. Five competitors took part, 3 from Austria, 1 from Switzerland and 1 from Poland (Swidnik Aero Club). They were one less than expected because of a fatal crash in Innsbruck a few weeks before the event during a winch launch (pilot's error). Promise of participation from other countries was not upheld. The atmosphere was fine and friendly with much enthusiasm about the PW-5. At the same time in the same site 8 pilots were competing for the Open class Nationals. The meteorological conditions were very variable, at their best not very strong. I could see only the first of five contest days and the briefing of the second. Norbert Niessler, PZL dealer for Austria and Germany, kindly informed me after the end of the contest. Five speed tasks were given, the second one not valid due to poor weather. The others were over distances of 121 km and 196 km (both finished by all), 246 km and 144 km (one finisher each). The winners' speed ranged between 42 and 75 km/h. The final winner was the Polish pilot Andrzej Choma. It was a successful event. Much is due to the clever local organisers and to Mr Norbert Niessler, a very dynamic man, indeed. In the first days a WUT group of three young engineers, members of the PW-5 design team, was present as agreed for the demonstration of the templates and the ballast. 5.4.3 Templates Three templates for checking the wing sections were demonstrated. They are made of aluminium alloy, anodised, with 1 mm (tolerance +/- 0.01 mm) in excess of the nominal profile. Marks at the wings of each production glider indicate the correct location. The tolerated deviation is +/- 1 mm all around. Therefore, two checks are required: (1) The template being like compasses, one must be able to close it at its free end; (2) A 2 mm gage must not enter the gap at a location specified on the template. The demonstration was made on all five competing gliders, all produced by PZL Swidnik and carrying the following construction numbers and registration marks: 17.03.007, OE-5604; 17.03.013, HB-3020; 17.03.015, OE-5579 17.04.006, SP-3618; 17.04.014, OE-.5628. The glider 17.03.007 had had the right wing repaired in Germany. Template 3 showed approximately 2 mm out of tolerance chordwise and rather large gaps on the lower contour. The left wing was good, and there were no problems with any of the other gliders. The WUT team mentioned the cost of a set of templates around 6000 US$, much higher than expected. In any case, FAI would get one set free of charge (Agreement). The WUT team (Messrs Tadeusz Wiacek, Miroslav Ciesla, Piotr Kossakowski) agreed with me that: (1) simple templates will be provided for checking the wing-fuselage fairing at the wing trailing edge and the main wheel fairing; (2) guidelines and instructions in both Polish and English will be provided, indicating how all checks are to be carried out and, additionally, how the fuselage main section would be checked (one idea is to measure both perimeter and width); (3) an inquiry would be made to see how the cost of templates could be reduced; (4) it will be the task of WUT to provide a set of templates for Inonu, September 1997. 5.4.4 Ballast for All-Up Weight: The ballast system consists of 8 red-painted lead blocks numbered 1 to 8 and ar-ranged as follows: 1. 7 kg; 2. 7 kg; 3. 6 kg 4. 6 kg 5. 6 kg 6. 6 kg 7. 4 kg 8. 6 kg They are supported by rubber strips glued on the inner bottom skin of the fuselage in eight chambers of different sizes, also numbered 1 to 8. Rubber strips are also glued to the lower face of the seat. They support the blocks at negative g's. To accommodate the blocks 26 screws have to be screwed out to remove the seat. After the required number of blocks has been put in the appropriate chambers the seat is screwed in again. It has round spyholes corresponding to each chamber and can easily be sealed (e.g. by a wire through a harness attachment). The demonstration on the glider with the construction number 17.04.006 was in general satisfactory. The following was agreed with the WUT team: (1) All blocks will be adjusted to 6 kg. (2) A description of the system and instruction for the installation of the blocks will be issued as Annex to the Flight Manual, with the approval therefore of the Polish authority. (3) Instructions will be provided for the gliders already delivered. (4) PZL Swidnik would be asked to consider the possibility of delivering gliders ready (rubber, numbering, holes) for the installation of the ballast blocks. (5) It will be the task of WUT to promote initiatives so that the whole ballast system is produced and implemented as above, and offered on sale to any pilot intending to compete at Inonu, Turkey, September 1997. The World Class was discussed together with item 5.5 "World Air Games" (see last paragraphs of item 5.5).
5.5	World Air Games: The Turkish delegate, Yücel Akyol, and Fred Weinholtz as IGC advisor of the Turkish organisers reported (see also Annex B to these minutes): 5.5.1 General: A detailed report, established according to the requirements of the WAG Main Project Document (MPD), version 2.1, appendix I, paragraph 3.6, was published on October 5 and sent to 15 addressees. The subject is the Anadolu Gliding Cup 1996, which was organised and carried out by the Turkish Aeronautical Association (THK) at the Gliding Centre Inonu-Eskisehir from 7 to 22 September 1996, preceded by five days' training. It must be mentioned first that the Anadolu Gliding Cup was a successful competition, much enjoyed by both competitors and crews (and - hopefully - the organisers also). This was due in particular to the overwhelming hospitality of the Turkish hosts at Inonu, the great devotion of all organisers' staff, and the steadfast will of the people responsible to learn and gain experience. Moreover, the composition of the competitors was very fortunate. They appeared as a group of real gliding friends, their patience and their great understanding for the cup being a test competition contributed much to the good outcome. The positive role of the Norwegian Jury President Tore Björnstad must be stressed particularly. The Turkish National Gliding Centre Inonu with its excellent facilities was a great venue for a gliding contest as expected and as reported earlier. The fact that the English language is not spoken much in Turkey was largely compensated by very enthusiastic young interpreters. A few of the foreign guests could not eat the Turkish food - which otherwise was good and tasty. The kitchen demonstrated flexibility and offered English style cooked vegetables. The area around Inonu is hilly to mountainous to the north, west and south. To the east there is rolling country with a few rocky mountains up to 2000 m. Good competition flying is possible, provided the necessary airspace and a reasonable height limit are granted. Unfortunately this was not given in 1996, but a corresponding application is made for 1997. Due to communication problems in the WAG Headquarters a number of enquiries from different NACs had not been answered. Consequently, only eleven competitors from five countries had arrived to participate. Fortunately it was possible to convince the eleven German gliding sports soldiers of the year 1996 to come to Turkey for participation. They experienced a real horror trip travelling by road by way of Romania and Bulgaria. The roads were in a terrible state, and cars, trailers and gliders were damaged. Repeatedly gangs of beggars tried to stop the convey. They threw stones at the Germans when they did not get any money. The customs officials and the border police required money for everything. This travel route cannot be recommended for 1997. The weather was - as usual at gliding contests - far below average. There were morning temperatures of 2 degrees C, and on a few days it rained. Nevertheless, eight contest days were flown, partly with good thermals of about four and more meters per second up to 3000 m MSL. However, since the days in September are already getting rather short, a thermal time of only about four hours was available. Consequently, the tasks were not very long. Triangles between 155,9 km and 317,7 km were flown. The winners' speeds were between 79,2 km/h and 101,7 km/h. Two traditional cats' cradles (without speed scoring) were set. The winners covered 250,5 and 270 km. Three tow planes (Polish manufactured Wilgas) and four German double drum winches (Tost) were available on the airfield. They launched 22 gliders within 30 minutes, a performance that must and will be improved in 1997. However, re-landings after launch because of lack of thermals were a rare exception. The competitors flew 162 contest flights. Fourteen times pilots did not fly the task for different reason. Only 17 outlandings were registered, and no damages occurred as a result of task flying. The opening and closing ceremonies, the prize giving and the farewell party were organised well and met the general expectations. There is no doubt that competitors and crews enjoyed Inonu. Of course many details must be revised, errors corrected, and preconditions improved to ensure that the 1997 "First World Gliding Championship of the World Class", as an important part of the World Air Games, can find their deserved success. (See 5.5.2 below.) The International Jury, approved by the plenum, will be Tor Johannessen, Norway (President) Professor Piero Morelli, Italy, (Vice President) and one Turkish member. The Stewards will be Oran Nicks (USA) and Rainer Wienzek (Germany), who is also administration advisor. Further personnel are the FAI event expert and advisor Fred W. Weinholtz, Germany, and the Meteorological expert and advisor Carsten Lindemann, Germany. 5.5.2 Necessary Improvements for 1997: The communication between THK and competitors must be improved. Procedures must be found for providing the necessary number of PW-5 gliders. Note: On 07.11.96 the FAI General Secretary announced that the manufacturer had sent him the addresses of all owners of a PW-5 (96 in number), who will be asked to make their gliders available if they do not intend to compete themselves. Accommodation: Some minor maintenance and renewal work must be done. The camping area must be activated. Caravans must be offered for hire. The bed-rooms in the dormitories should be rearranged and offered as four-bed rooms at adequate cost. The warm water supply must be improved. Food must be prepared in a way to avoid stomach problems (as done in 1996); Real "American breakfast" should be offered. International access: The 1996 welcome system for foreign guests must be used also in 1997. Reduced ferry fares must be offered. All foreigners must be warned against travelling by road through Romania and Bulgaria. Local transport and road network: The retrieval method used in 1996 should be continued in 1997. More accurate road maps with reasonable scales would be welcome. Enough cars with tow hooks for hire should be made available; The use of (hired) mobile telephones - if possible sponsored - could become essential. Winch launching: A cable length of at least 1050 m must be provided. Aero tow launching: At least five tow planes plus one reserve must be available. Additional equipment must be made available according to the Event Project Document Gliding, item 6 "List of Special Equipment", revised by Srecko Medven, 15.09.96. A modern weather satellite receiver must be available on the airfield. Hourly synop data, reliable and on time, are essential. The aeronautical navigation maps (Tactical Pilotage Chart 1984) are too old and no longer reliable. More recent maps would be welcome. Airspace: The contest area must be enlarged to the north-west and to the north. The CTR Eskisehir must be reduced to a diameter of 10 km or at least shaped as a rectangle of about 10 by 20 km. The maximum permitted altitude must be lifted to FL 135 (4000 m MSL). Task setting and scoring systems for World Class Contests must be considered. Evaluation will be by GNSS FR with time cameras or a second GPS unit as back-up the discretion of the competitors. The number of staff must be reconsidered. The take-off frequency must be increased (at least one glider every 45 seconds). 5.5.3 Considerations on the Philosophy of World Class Contests. When the World Class was invented many years ago, the general hope prevailed that the new class would create a good chance to change deeply inveterate and hence obstructive views. Many were confident that the traditional virtues of gliding could be reborn for the benefit of our sport. Among such virtues are certainly simplicity, as opposed to complexity, understand-ability, and priceworthiness. Of course, no intrinsic values of modern gliding may be endangered by the endeavours to reintroduce old virtues. If World Class Championships are flown under the conditions and rules of the present championships, but with the admittedly poorer performance of the gliders, there is a danger that they will not be appreciated as something special, but judged as a second- or even a third-rate gliding contest only. That must be avoided if the World Class is expected to succeed in achieving its objectives. Fred Weinholtz stressed that, according to his experience, it is difficult to introduce new ideas to glider pilots regarding their sport. 5.5.4 Discussion: After two meetings regarding the subjects World Class and World Air Games had already taken place in small groups the day before and after these matters had been discussed thoroughly already in the Bureau meeting, a very lively debate arose in the plenum. It was explained that - following the idea of the General Secretary Max Bishop - all European owners of a PW-5 will be asked to make their glider available for Inonu, if they are not going to compete themselves (see "Note" under "Necessary Improvements" above). Nevertheless, concern was expressed there might not be enough PW-5 gliders to compete in Turkey. Regarding the transport to Turkey, it was suggested that a part of a ferry deck - preferably from Triest - should be rented and a collective shipment organised. All problems such as task philosophies, scoring and those related to GNSS must be solved soon, preferably before 1 December 1996. Many delegates expressed their dissatisfaction with the manufacturer of the PW-5 and the Polish authorities. There is a height limit of 5000 m in the handbook - probably due to the flutter tests, which have yet not been finished. In some states considerable difficulties exist regarding the registration, in the USA due to administrative reasons, in Sweden because the canopy jettisoning system is not a one hand operation. Particularly the poor communication performance of the Swidnik factory was criticised by many. There was a proposal to deliver an ultimatum to them. The Austrian delegate Dr. Otwin Meszaros reported on three serious PW-5 accidents in Innsbruck. One of them, a fatal winch launch accident, was obviously due to a pilot's error, another one was probably caused by medical reasons, nothing is known about the third one. A positive aspect was the information that the Norwegian pilot John Erik Laupsa won 2000 US$, a prize offered by Scandinavian Airlines, for the first 300 km triangle flown on a PW-5. Now there is the prize of 8000 US$ for a 500 km triangle offered by the same company. Bruno Gantenbrink praised the good cooperation with PZL Swidnik. He had received his PW-5 at the arranged date and in excellent quality. He mentioned that - in the past - he had to use preliminary permits to fly also for gliders from German production. All delegates shared the opinion that the World Air Games are a very important FAI event and must be supported by IGC. Suggestions were made to fly the WAG in another class than the World Class. Finally, the delegates were asked to estimate the most probable participation in the 1st World Gliding Championship of the World Class (PW-5) 1997 in Inonu, Turkey from their respective countries. The result was as follows: The following countries will participate with their own PW5s: Two participants: Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Sweden, Turkey, USA; one participant: Netherlands, Switzerland; total: 24 gliders from 13 countries. If there are acceptable conditions for hire, the following competitors can be added: two from Australia, Spain, Great Britain and Russia, one from the Netherlands and Switzerland, making 10 more pilots and 4 more countries, i.e. a total of 34 entrants from 17 countries. It is therefore evident that the conditions for a World Championship will be fulfilled. Professor Piero Morelli and Fred Weinholtz, who were empowered by the IGC Bu-reau to prepare the event in their own responsibility, informing the Bureau completely and constantly, were encouraged to continue the preparations.
5.6	GPS / GNSS The chairman of the GPS Subcommittee, Bernald Smith, reported about developments that might have some impact on the use of GNSS in gliding. One example is the growing acceptance of both GPS and now, GLONASS, not just in aviation, but also in other fields such as the marine, surveying, time control, ground vehicles, etc. This is helping to bring down the cost of FRs used by the gliding community. The chairman reported that two new combined GPS/GLONASS receivers are now on the market, one from Germany and one from US. These engines will give much better availability, continuity, integrity, and accuracy to positioning information. It remains to be seen how soon our gliding community manufacturers will start using such units as the combined engines are currently one order of magnitude more expensive. However, it was pointed out how fast competition brings down prices. Thus it is expected they will drop dramatically in price within three years. Interference continues to be of concern, although units coming on the market are more robust and better able to reject any but the interference coming from close-by equipment, like UHF radios on the glider itself, which can be overcome by simple, low cost filters on the UHF radio. The use of inflight real-time UHF datalink in Finland's European Championships with GPS was discussed. There was praise for what Finland accomplished as an excellent first step in what may prove to be a highly desirable aspect of GPS by being able to show the public the contestants' progress around the course, with the excitement of seeing them get low and recover or landout, as the case may be. Bernald Smith reviewed for the delegates the manufacturers' meeting of the previous day, stating that consensus was achieved on nearly everything regarding rules changes to be proposed for the plenary for next March. These proposals will be distributed to all with that meeting's agenda next January. One point of contention is the complication perceived by many for using IGC GNSS procedures, which will be simplified if the new rules for next year are adopted. Another issue is whether lesser security requirements would be acceptable for certain levels of badges, for instance. The point was made that IGC has previously rejected proposals to have different levels for badges, records, and contests. Cambridge, Filser, Print Technik, and Peschges were represented at the manufacturers' meeting, along with other interested persons totalling about twenty. Bernald Smith thanked them for their attendance and also the GFAC, in particular citing its two members present, Ian Strachan, chairman thereof, and Angel Casado with special expertise in security matters, for their hard work this year getting three manufacturers approved, with others currently under review. Finally the chairman explained the following acronyms: FR Flight Recorder GFAC GNSS Flight Recorder Approval Committee GLONASS Russian Global Navigation Satellite System GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System GPS USA Global Positioning System and urged the delegates to use the terms "transfer" instead of "download" and "upload", and "flight recorder" instead of "logger". The report of the GFAC chairman, Ian Strachan, is enclosed as Annex C. See also the letter of the Swedish Soaring Federation, enclosed as Annex D.
5.7	Barron Hilton Cup The President reported: Two fundamental changes occurred at the Barron Hilton Cup, the "world's biggest gliding contest", during the last 12 months: (1) The world has been divided into 5 regions in which the decentralised contest will be hold in future. (2) The German company Daimler Benz Aerospace joined the US hotel chain owner and enthusiastic glider pilot Barron Hilton as his partner in sponsoring the event. This ensures the continuation of the event for the near future. The recognition of the BHC as an FAI first class event by IGC was an important step in gaining further sponsorship. The winners plus the current world champions are invited to a ten days' Soaring Camp on Barron Hilton's Flying M Ranch in Nevada, which is known among glider pilots world-wide as a "Soaring Paradise". This year at the beginning of August the weather was exceptionally good. The participants flew a number of national records and seven 1000 km badge flights. The President Peter Ryder was successful in performing a 1000 km flight on an old 17 m Kestrel without water. The delegates congratulated him with much applause.

6.1	New Glider Types for the Club Class Helmut Kiffmeyer, chairman of the Club Class Subcommittee, brought forward the motion already announced by him in earlier meetings. He proposed taking the glider types LS 4 and DG 300 into the Club Class. The approximately 1000 LS 4 and 300 DG 300 gliders flying world-wide are no longer competitive in the international Standard Class. Considering the purpose of the Club Class (laid down in the Sporting Code, Section 3, paragraph 6.7.1.1.a), it should be the time now to introduce them into the Club Class. The proposal found much support among the delegates. The vote by show of hands resulted in a great majority in favour with one abstention and no votes against. From 1997 the glider types LS 4 and DG 300 will be recorded in the international Club Class handicap list with an index of 108, this classification being preliminary for one year and to be reconsidered after the experience of the European gliding season 1997. The index list for European Club Class championships will include all gliders with indexes from 98 to 108. If gliders with indexes of 96 or below compete in future international Club Class competition, they will be scored with an index of 98. The preliminary Club Class index list for 1997 reads as follows: 108: LS 4, DG 300 102: ASW 19, Pegase A & B; 100: ASW 19 Club (fixed wheel), Cirrus 75, DG 100/101, Standard Jantar II and III, LS 1f, Hornet, Standard Astir; 98: ASW 15, Cobra 15 m, DG 100 Club (fixed wheel), LS 1 0, c, d, Std Cirrus, Std. Libelle, VS-0-10
6.2	Norwegian Announcement of a Bid to Organise the 10th European Gliding Championships 2000. The Norwegian glider pilots Tom Erik Hole, Arild Solbakken and John Eirik Laupsa gave an excellent presentation on gliding in Norway in general and the airfield Elverum in particular. They supported their report with effective colour slides and by overhead projector. They announced free airspace, clear air and excellent visibility, strong thermals, high cloud, and a thrilling countryside with plenty outlanding fields. Elverum, the national gliding centre, is 1200 m by 150 to 200 m in size. It is situated at about the same latitude as Borlänge and Rayskala and offers attractive competition and good service at low cost. The weather statistics for June show nine hours daily sunshine in average, 20 thermal days with lift from 11.00 hrs to 19.00 hrs. The normal thermal strength is between 2 and 5 m/s. The typical winner's speed is about 130 to 140 km/h. The Norwegian representatives announced their formal bid for the next European IGC meeting. They will profit from the Swedish and Finnish experience and plan to organise the Nordic Championships in 1998, the Pre-Europeans in 1999 and the Europeans in 2000. In this context Fred Gai, Germany, announced a bid for the European Championships in the year 2000 in favour of the airfield Lüsse near Berlin, and the British delegate, Brian Spreckley, announced another one for Lasham, UK, for the same year. A decision will be taken at the next European meeting, in October 1997.
6.3	Decrease of Membership in European Gliding. This matter was discussed on request of the Dutch delegate Niels Visser. There is much concern on the decrease of the membership in international gliding, not only in Europe but also overseas. A rough estimate shows that the gliding community worldwide has lost approximately one third of their 200 000 members they had about 15 to 20 years ago. Some reasons for this development were brought forward, e.g. the increase of the number of other (cheaper) aviation sports, the lacking willingness of young people to spend all their free time for one sport for life, etc. The Australian and New Zealand Gliding Associations, who have already lost quite a number of members, introduced some measures. In Australia there is a temporary membership to secure the use of the club equipment, combined with the hope that some of the temporary members would decide to stay with gliding. In New Zealand a promotion foundation was created. The membership fees of this body are used to finance actions aimed at the enlistment of new members and persuading them to stick to gliding. The matter was considered very important. It will be put on the agenda for the March meeting 1997. All delegates are requested to bring figures, trends, results, etc. regarding this matter.
6.4	Interim Report from the Subcommittee on World Records: The chairman, Ross Macintyre, New Zealand, could not give his report because of lack of time. His interim report is enclosed as Annex E to these minutes.
6.5	Retirement of Long-Standing IGC Delegates. John Roake, New Zealand, and Bernald Smith USA, both of them having served IGC as delegates and Vice Presidents for many years, informed the plenum on their retirement at the March meeting 1997. The President expressed his preliminary thanks for their great contribution to the sport of gliding. He asked both of them to serve gliding in future also, and particularly Bernald Smith to stay as chairman of the GNSS Subcommittee.

The next European IGC meeting will take place in Paris, Hotel Frantour, on 4.10.1997.