21/11/2003 | Posted by Mike at 03:37 AM
by Mike Heuer
President of CIVA
CIVA just completed its annual plenary meeting a few days ago on 7th through 9th November 2003. It was a splendid meeting with 63 people in attendance from 22 different nations. The atmosphere was cordial, productive, and enjoyable --- and it was held on the Baltic Sea aboard the beautiful cruise ship "Symphony" owned by the Silja Line in Stockholm. Our hosts from Sweden and Finland did everything possible to make our meeting a good one and in a friendly atmosphere.
Many reports were reviewed by CIVA this year, proposed rules changes considered, and bids and proposals for future Championships, including three major events scheduled for next year, were all a part of the agenda package.
Following is a brief summary of the report that I presented to CIVA as President as well as some other news.
The Year's Activities
2003 has been a busy year for CIVA officers, sub-committee members, and your various elected officials. Three FAI aerobatic championships were held this year:
XXII. World Aerobatic Championships; Lakeland, Florida, USA
X. World Glider Aerobatic Championships; Pér, Hungary
III. Advanced European Aerobatic Championships; Karlsborg, Sweden
Reports from the various Jury Presidents, Chief Judges, and Contest Directors were included with the agenda packages for the plenary meeting this year. I want to pay special tribute to Jury Chairmen Karl Berger and Jiri Kobrle; Chief Judges John Gaillard and Pavol Kavka; and Contest Directors Phil Knight, L-G. Arvidsson, and Sándor Dózsa for their excellent work. Organizing, running, and supervising championships is a difficult task and our sport owes all of these men a debt of gratitude as well as the huge number of volunteers who made these events possible.
Pavol Kavka's work is particularly noteworthy as he served as the Chief Judge of both the AEAC and WGAC this year. The same could be said of our Boards of Judges as some of them also worked more than one event this year.
All three of our Championships were safely conducted and completed the necessary flights to name World and European Champions in the various disciplines. A total of 147 pilots flew in these three World or European Championships. My congratulations to all.
CIVA Sanction Fees Account
Liz Cook, CIVA Vice President of Finance, reported to CIVA on the status of our Sanction Fees account and our projected income and expenses in 2004. The account holds in excess of $60,000 at this time and up until now has been used to pay various officer travel expenses as well as jury and judge stipends for world championship events.
CIVA collects a sanction fee of $100 per pilot for world championship events and $75 for continental championships. In the past, we have also realized income from World Grand Prix competitions.
These funds have made much of our work possible. While there are some threats to our accounts now due to pending legal matters, I am confident that we will continue to have enough funding on hand to conduct our business and expand our activities in the future.
Collection of Entry Fees
Once again, contest organizers experienced difficulty in collecting Entry Fees from national aero clubs in a timely manner. This jeopardized the organization of these competitions. This problem has existed for as long as I have been President of CIVA. This problem has often been mentioned in Contest Director reports in the past.
This year, CIVA instituted a new procedure whereby the Bureau designates a particular country participating in WAC to forward its Entry Fees directly to our accounts at FAI headquarters. France was selected to do so this year. The French Team paid its fees promptly. After deducting the sanction fees when the event was completed, the remainder of the French funds were transferred to the WAC organizers in the United States.
While the transfer of these funds is not to occur unless the Chief Judge and Jury President certify the event was "satisfactory" and in accordance with our standards and regulations, it does not solve the problem of teams canceling at the last moment or being late in payment. As an example, two countries canceled their participation in AEAC this year which placed the organizers in financial jeopardy. While I do not have any particular solution to this problem, I would strongly recommend to all Delegates that their teams be realistic in terms of their participation in Championships. If there is any doubt that such participation will take place, I am sure the organizers of our various Championships would prefer that teams indicate they are not coming. If they can compete in the end, then organizers might consider this a "bonus".
To summarize, please do not indicate to organizers that your country will participate if there is doubt. It is far better for an organizer to create a budget based on a conservative estimate of entry fee income rather than one which is too high and based on optimistic preliminary entries.
I did, however, submit the following proposal to CIVA which was agreed at the meeting. It will be effective for all 2004 FAI Aerobatic Championships, to include EAC, AWAC, and EGAC:
At the time they submit their Preliminary Entry Forms, participants in World and Continental Championships will be expected to pay a deposit. The amount of the deposit will be approved by the Bureau of CIVA. Cancellation of participation after a date determined by the organizers will cause the deposit to be forfeited.
Trophies
Trophies continue to be a problem for CIVA and contest organizers. The sport of aerobatics presents beautiful awards and trophies to the winners of its competitions. FAI's trophies for teams and individuals are the most coveted in aerobatic competition. The list of winners of trophies like the Aresti Cup includes pilots who have become legends and heroes in our sport. Thus, I believe it is important for CIVA to continue to recognize the men and women in our sport in an appropriate way. This requires presenting trophies and awards of the highest quality and in the best possible condition.
The Aresti Cup was not presented this year at WAC in the United States. It now rests in Madrid in the care of Antonio Quintana, President of RACE. The trophy was given over to the Aresti family in Burgos, Spain in 2001 at the conclusion of the WAC. Full restoration of the Cup by the family was promised as well as the creation of small recipient awards that could be kept permanently by World Aerobatic Champions. Restoration work was not completed. The cost of shipping the trophy to Florida from Spain this past summer was prohibitive as the Cup is extremely valuable and insurance would have been very expensive.
The Manfred Strössenreuther Trophy also arrived at WAC in damaged condition. A piece of the marble top was broken off. The Trophy had been shipped to the USA by Hans Vogtmann and left his possession in perfect condition. No one took responsibility for the damages and when I inspected the trophy along with Ernst Paukner in Florida, the shipping case had already been opened. My assumption is that US Customs may have damaged the trophy when they opened the box for inspection. We will never know for sure.
In the past, the Eric Müller Trophy has been broken and the Nesterov Trophy does not stand straight up even today as its base is bent. We all remember when the Nesterov Trophy went missing for some months and was eventually found in Paris.
When I last saw the Advanced World Champion trophy in Slovenia, it was badly in need of small repairs and cleaning. That said, I am thankful at the same time that winners of the various trophies have not taken it upon themselves to do restoration or cleaning. The possibility of damage is too great.
So what is CIVA to do? CIVA does not have the funds to do extensive restoration work on the Aresti Cup though I would very much like to see this Cup presented for many years to come. All of us can recall many photos of it being awarded over the years since 1964 and I would like to continue that tradition.
Secondly, we have the larger issue of whether these beautiful and valuable trophies should continue to travel. My view is they should all be retired to a suitable display in an aviation museum somewhere or at FAI headquarters, though Max Bishop, Secretary General of FAI, is quick to point out that FAI hardly has the room for these trophies.
In turn, CIVA should provide for small replicas to be made which would be presented to the winners and retained by them permanently. The trophies should never leave their museum home.
CIVA did agree that the Bureau would be authorised to consider the matter (cost of transport, display/storage of trophies) with further input encouraged from Delegates.
Rules Proposals
At our meeting in Germany last year and again this year on the "Symphony", there was discussion regarding the need for the Rules & Judging Sub-Committees to publish their reasons when not recommending proposals from national aero clubs. CIVA Sub-Committees have considerable authority and responsibility --- all of their members are elected annually at plenary --- and any proposals received from national aero clubs which do not survive their scrutiny are not considered at plenary.
Eventually, such a requirement may be included in the Internal Regulations if CIVA so decides. However, I would mention that reasons can sometimes be quite lengthy and based on an historical context that may not be apparent to new Delegates. Remember that a Rules Sub-Committee meeting can usually last a full day with many discussions and debates. Summarizing the reasons for a proposal's rejection can be a challenge.
However, I do agree that Delegates deserve this courtesy. This year, we again had an informal discussion session on Friday before the plenary began and it afforded an opportunity to discuss rules proposals before the formal meeting. This was quite useful. It will help Delegates in drafting future proposals and discourage the practice of submitting the same proposals year after year.
Once proposals are submitted --- April 1st being the deadline each year --- they are posted on the CIVA website and everyone in the aerobatic community is encouraged to contact your national CIVA Delegate to provide input on these proposals.
2004 Meeting of CIVA
CIVA accepted the proposal of Spain to host the 2004 meeting in Madrid. It will take place just prior to the FAI General Conference and dates are 25th and 26th of September 2004.
While this is a considerable departure from our past practice of meeting in early to mid-November, I think it is a good plan. Last year, for various reasons, the Bureau decided not to meet in Madrid and our meeting was moved to Germany. I think we owe Antonio Quintana and the Royal Aero Club of Spain a chance to organize the meeting for us and having it close to the FAI General Conference would permit some of us to attend that meeting, all in one trip. Please remember that three of the CIVA officers (President, 1st Vice President, Secretary) do not reside in Europe so attending so many meetings can be difficult. I believe it is also important for CIVA to have a stronger presence at the FAI meetings and this would help make it possible.
Corps of Judges
As most Delegates know, the Judges who serve at our various Championships are not a part of national teams. We changed Sporting Code, Section 6, to reflect this FAI rule back in 2000. Judges always serve as international officials and should not wear any national emblems, team uniforms, or parade with national teams during opening or closing ceremonies. Not all have observed this protocol, but we are making progress.
This has sometimes created confusion with contest organizers, who are accustomed to judges being included with teams. Slowly, we have been able to separate the two groups and in most cases, judges are not included on entry forms with team members. At WAC and AEAC this year, judges were required to send in separate entry forms.
I would like to take a step further down the road to complete "internationalization" of our Board of Judges. Thus, I proposed the following at the CIVA meeting and it was accepted:
Judges who wish to serve at World and Continental Championships must send their entry forms directly to the President of CIVA. These forms will be reviewed by the Judging Sub-Committee and the Bureau of CIVA. Judge qualification and currency will be checked. "FAI Judges" who are to be paid the stipend will be selected by the Bureau from these applications. Organizers will be advised of the composition of the Board of Judges as soon as possible.
Current practice is for judges to arrive on the contest site, attend a briefing conducted by the Chief Judge, complete a written examination, and to participate in Programme Q (Known) as a minimum. The International Jury has sometimes collected the Judges Personal Data forms on site. However, this is much too late to determine if a Judge is current and qualified. While this new procedure does not specifically authorize the Bureau to reject any application, at least if there is a problem with a Judge's currency, it can be resolved long before he or she is expected to arrive on the contest site.
My eventual goal is to have CIVA receive, screen, and select all Judges for Championships. This is not what I proposed this year, but I wanted the Delegates to be clear as to where I think we should eventually be. Clearly, Judges must be international. This is required by the General Section of Sporting Code but we must take every step necessary to see that it is carried out from a policy and operational standpoint. Eventually, I hope we reach the point where we simply refer to these men and women as "FAI Judges" and not the "French Judge" or the "Russian Judge". Judges can have no nationality when they are on the line, judging aerobatic competitors.
Known and Q Sequences
My congratulations to the British and their Delegate, Alan Cassidy, for submitting the winning proposals for the Q programmes for both Advanced and Unlimited powered aerobatics. This is the first time that two submissions from the same country have been accepted by CIVA. The sequences can be found elsewhere on this website.
The Glider Known sequence that was adopted was submitted by the Glider Aerobatics Sub-Committee (GASC). The GASC always reviews the various proposals and submits its recommended programme directly to CIVA. It is usually approved as a matter of routine.
Other Rules
The new 2004 versions of Section 6 of Sporting Code and CIVA Regulations will be up on the CIVA website and available for download (in PDF) as soon as possible. Fortunately, changes were fairly minor this year and the new Advanced aircraft list will not go into effect until 1 January 2005. This is always a very hot topic and occupies many hours of CIVA's time each year.
The Summary of Conclusions for the meeting --- also available on this website --- can be consulted on the specifics of rules changes which were approved at the plenary.
CIVA Archives
The subject of preservation of historical documents, photographs, and contest materials is something very dear to my heart. I have been collecting and preserving aerobatic material for over three decades and eventually the CIVA-related material will be in a separate archive. I tend to save everything --- even car park passes! Yet I believe it to be important.
Anyone who has material related to the World and European Aerobatic Championships (in both power and glider) and would wish to donate it to the CIVA Archives should contact me. I have little material for glider, as an example, and almost non-existent files for pre-1984 contests in Unlimited. I welcome your donations.
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05/02/2003 | Posted by Mike at 10:07 PM
This Year's Championships
The 2003 aerobatic contest season is about to begin and there are three exciting FAI Aerobatic Championships on the calendar this year at which hundreds of aerobatic pilots will be competing. I know that I can speak for FAI and CIVA when I say that we expect these to be some of the best organised and administered competitions in our long history. My thanks to the various organisers for stepping forward and offering to host these important events --- and to keep the traditions of aerobatic competition alive even in these difficult economic times.
The XXII World Aerobatic Championships is being organised this year by IAC, the American aerobatic association, and will take place in Lakeland, Florida, USA on 25th June through 4th July. Contest Director is Phil Knight, an experienced Unlimited pilot, former member of the US Team, and an accomplished organiser and judge. Phil's experience is extensive and he is doing a good job of putting this important event together. He is supported by an outstanding staff.
I am also delighted that Advanced European Aerobatic Championships will be organised this year in Karlsborg, Sweden --- the first time for an FAI Championships in Scandanavia. The Swedes, Finns, Danes, and Norwegians have been active in CIVA for years and have been putting on domestic and regional competitions for the last 20 years. I know the competition will be a good one and is headed by Lars-Göran Arvidsson, Sweden's Alternate Delegate to CIVA. He also has a lot of good help and support. The contest will be held on 25th July through 2nd August.
Finally, once again, Hungary has stepped up to the challenge and will organise the X World Glider Aerobatic Championships. Hungary has a long tradition in both powered and glider aerobatics and have successfully hosted many competitions in the past. It will be held in Pér, Hungary on 2nd through 15th August.
CIVA Meets in Germany
CIVA held its plenary meeting at the Burg Rabenstein, north of Nürnberg, Germany on the 16th of November 2002. The meeting was hosted by the Deutscher Aero Club (DAeC) and organised by Hans Vogtmann of Creussen, Germany. Hans has been a tireless worker on behalf of CIVA for many years and frequently serves as our representative to the organisers in the months prior to various Championships --- helping them get the details right and making these contests a success. The meeting, its surroundings, the venue, and the social events were some of the best I have ever experienced in 18 years of attending CIVA meetings. The beautiful castle, the stunning countryside, and the attention to detail in the meeting organisation made our plenary both enjoyable and productive. I will discuss some of the details in this column. Full minutes of the meeting can be found on the Meetings page on this website as well.
World Air Games
The III.World Air Games were an important agenda item for CIVA this year. The Bureau of CIVA has been working with the World Air Games Coordinating Committee (WAGCC) and its chairman, B. J. Worth (USA), for some time now in preparing our specifications for the Games.
One thing was obvious early in the discussions --- the Games must be smaller, more compact, more centrally located, and feature the top competitors in the world. They also must be able to be televised and easily understood if we are to expect wide media coverage of the event in the future. Thus, CIVA's mission --- as directed by the WAGCC and the FAI itself --- is to provide a format that will fit into this new concept.
While the work is far from finished and regulations must be written and approved, we envision a fairly small "masters" type of event featuring the world's best pilots flying free style sequences to music. In fact, this is what has been done at the World Grand Prix of Aerobatics (WGPA) events, directed by Jean-Louis Monnet, for many years. Thus, we actually hope to have the World Air Games --- from an aerobatic standpoint --- as a Grand Prix style event. These have been immensely successful in Asia as consistently reported by our CIVA officials who have worked the WGPA in Motegi, Japan. I believe that a Grand Prix at the Games will greatly enhance the overall impact of the WAG as I have long believed that aerobatics is one of the most spectacular of air sports.
We will announce more news on this subject soon.
Rules Changes for 2003
Much of CIVA's work centers around the various rules changes proposed by member countries and subsequently considered by Sub-Committees.
The CIVA Rules, Judging, and Glider Aerobatic Sub-Committees play an extremely important role in our work. Each year, members of these sub-committees are elected at the plenary meeting of CIVA. These positions are highly sought after and usually a large number of candidates run for the positions. Members of sub-committees not only include Delegates and Alternate Delegates but also highly regarded members of the aerobatic community who have considerable experience in our sport.
The Sub-Committees discuss each proposal in detail and then issue their recommendations to the plenary. Any rules proposal which does not survive sub-committee discussions is not presented at plenary. The sub-committees can also modify and alter proposals as well before presentation to plenary. Of course, this gives the sub-committees a tremendous amount of power but their work has always been highly regarded by Delegates and most of their recommendations are usually adopted, though not without some spirited discussions at times. It is the nature of competition aerobatics.
Once again, this last year there were many proposals. Let me summarize what CIVA did and why.
Judge Performance Factors (JPF)
Those of you active in competition know that CIVA uses a fairly simple method of evaluating judge performance which we call "Judge Performance Factors (JPF)". The aerobatic contest scoring software we use automatically provides these numbers and the International Jury uses them to review the quality of judging at every Championships. JPFs are also taken into account when after each flight programme and, in the past, judges have been deleted from the line if they did not perform up to our standards. A full explanation of the JPFs can be found in the appendixes of the various Parts to CIVA Regulations.
Beginning this year, JPFs will be manually adjusted upward for those judges who fail to see zeroes or zero when they shouldn't, as determined by the majority of the Board of Judges. "Majority rule" is a key feature of our regulations in various areas but remember that sometimes this majority is achieved after a review of the video of the flight takes place. Thus, there are many safeguards built into the system.
It is CIVA's view that JPFs must be adjusted if a judge is not seeing zeroes, for example, that occur and is subsequently overruled by the majority of the judging panel. In the past, the zero has been raised to at least the lowest mark given by another judge and then fed into the computer. Now these judges will be identified and their JPFs changed accordingly. This will give us more realistic JPFs.
Programme 4
Also known as the "Four Minute Free", this flight programme is one of the most exciting and innovative in aerobatic competition. It is always enjoyed and favored by spectators and the media as well. It was introduced into the WAC in 1972 and has been a feature of the Championships ever since.
In recent years, however, it has been flown as a separate trophy event. The results from Programme 4 have not been included in the overall results to determine the World Champion. This was because there was concern on CIVA's part over the judging criteria and the subjectivity of the judging.
In 2001, CIVA introduced new judging criteria for the flight which was the result of considerable work on the part of an experienced working group. It is much more detailed today and the criteria for the various marks are well defined. Since we introduced the new criteria, there have been no proposals to change it.
Thus, CIVA agreed to re-introduce Programme 4 into the final results beginning on 1 January 2003 ---- after two years of experience with the judging criteria including the World Championships in Spain in 2001 and the European Aerobatic Championships in Lithuania in 2002. However, some of our Delegates were not satisfied that the aerobatic world is ready for this change just yet, so a proposal was introduced by France to delay the inclusion of this flight programme into the flight results until 1 January 2004. This was agreed by CIVA in November.
I am hopeful there will be no further delays. This flight programme is immensely popular with the public and also requires a pilot to show elements of skill beyond the technical flying which is featured in classical competition. He or she must show innovation, versatility, creativity, style, and flair. While these elements can be different to judge than say, for example, the roundness of a loop, they are all a part of the wonderful world of aerobatics. I hope we can return to more of the artistry that characterized our sport in the early years.
Unlimited Pilots in Advanced
For several years, CIVA has had a rule which prevents Unlimited pilots from flying in Advanced Championships for at least one calendar year after they have competed in an FAI Unlimited Championships. This year, that limit is increased to two years.
CIVA does not want Advanced to be invaded by Unlimited pilots seeking medals and trophies, as was made clear when the one-year rule was adopted. To make this even more strict, the two-year limit was almost unanimously supported.
Keeping the Advanced category truly "Advanced" is a difficult task for CIVA. We wrestle with it each year, usually when it comes to the approval of aircraft types for the category. The decisions we take in this regard take into account many factors --- including what is available in the way of aircraft.
This year, however, we did approve the introduction of outward rolling turns into the Advanced Unknown list of figures. These figures, though more difficult than rolling circles to the inside, do not pose performance issues for aircraft --- just more practice for pilots.
Order of Flight
In powered FAI aerobatic competitions, the order of flight for pilots is determined by the rank order of the official standings after the previous flight(s). This year, that will change slightly.
There will be an order of flight random drawing among the top 10 pilots only after Programme Q and all subsequent programmes. This will alleviate the concerns of some who feel that judging is affected by rank order and may also provide a bit of relief from the stress of competition as it comes to the end of a flight.
I expect this will be the subject of many future discussions. While using rank order has been controversial since its introduction 10 years ago, it has been quite popular with the organizers, with judges, and with the media and public. The excitement increases as the flight programme rolls to a close --- and everyone's eyes are on the pilot in the box for those last few flights as the World Champion is determined. But we will give this new system a try and see how it works in 2003.
Changes to FAI Catalogue
Those of you who have flown "crossover" spins and tried to make them look good for the judges are going to appreciate this news. They are being removed from the FAI Aerobatic Catalogue this year. They go the way of the super slow roll and the barrel roll (in power) and are now relegated to trash heap of aerobatic history. I doubt if many will miss them. The removal of these figures was the only change this year to the FAI Catalogue.
The new Catalogue is available for download on this website.
New Classes of Competition
John Gaillard of South Africa --- and CIVA's First Vice President --- introduced a proposal last year to create new categories of competition centered around the YAK-52 and the Pitts S-2B aircraft. Both of these aircraft exist in large numbers around the world. The new competition would be based on the Advanced category and would be "single type" competitions. John is working on the rules now for these competitions and we expect their introduction soon.
I think it is very important for all aerobatic leaders --- both in CIVA and in the various national aerobatic associations --- to think of new ways to get more pilots involved in FAI competition. The more pilots we have participating, the better for our sport. Perhaps this will be another way to do it.
Other Rules
There are some other interesting new rules being introduced this year. Please see the Minutes for details (a table of changes is included as an attachment to those Minutes).
The bonus points for Unlimited Free Programmes have changed slightly. Reserve marks, formerly given by Judges, are eliminated and an average is now used when a minority zero is raised. New rules are also introduced on the use of video as well.
The Leon Biancotto Diploma
CIVA awards the Leon Biancotto Diploma from time to time for outstanding contributions to the sport of aerobatics. This year's award went to Martin Stahalik, a respected aerobatic pilot from the Czech Republic who made his mark in both Advanced and Unlimited competition as well as in aerobatic instruction. He lost his life a couple of years ago in an accident in the Netherlands. I was delighted with this decision --- I had known Martin for some years and had a great respect for his abilities. We miss him greatly.
Elections
In addition to various contest officials and sub-committee members, CIVA also elects its officers each year. All incumbents were re-elected and I am honored once again to be able to work with several fine individuals who have devoted much of their lives to work on behalf of aerobatics.
My congratulations to John Gaillard (South Africa), CIVA's First Vice President, who will also serve once again as Chief Judge of the World Aerobatic Championships in the USA. John is CIVA's most experienced Chief Judge and is a tremendous asset to our organisation. He also will chair the Judging Sub-Committee.
Second Vice President is Jiri Kobrle (Czech Republic). Jiri has been a close friend since 1982, when I first met him at the WAC in Spitzerberg, Austria. He is the longest-serving and most experienced Delegate in CIVA. He first competed at the 1964 WAC in Bilbao, Spain and has served as Judge, Chief Judge, and Jury member and chairman at countless competitions. His wise advice and counsel is invaluable to me and CIVA.
Third Vice President is Osmo Jalovaara (Finland). Osmo has extensive business and FAI experience, having served as President of another FAI commission. He also has the maturity and good judgement which make him a natural for a CIVA leadership position. He is active both in the WGPA and the WAG preparation. I value his views.
Karl Berger is serving once again as our Vice President of Glider Aerobatics. From Austria, Karl has also devoted most of his adult life to aerobatics. He was there when the first World Glider Aerobatic Championships were organised in the 1980's. His many years of service as Vice President, chairman of juries at many competitions, and a contest organiser himself have given him an experience base which is invaluable to CIVA.
Finally, our Secretary is Liz Cook of Australia. Liz has occupied this position for many years. Also a contest organiser and experienced judge, Liz brings an enthusiasm and a work ethic to aerobatics that I can only envy. Her "sixth sense" about issues and problems are always important in our work.
Of course, there are many other CIVA officials out there --- on the various working groups, the sub-committees, and in contest positions. Our team of workers is a large one and highly qualified. I am lucky to count most of them as friends and it is an honor to serve with them on your behalf.
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24/04/2002 | Posted by Mike at 11:09 AM
 Just a short update this month…
Summer is rapidly approaching and a full schedule of FAI Aerobatic Championships are well underway in their planning stages.
The European Aerobatic Championships will be held in Lithuania this year. Bulletin #1 for this competition can be found on this website and downloaded for your information. The organizing committee is headed by long-time aerobatic competitor Vytautus Lapenas who also runs a flight school there. "Vitas" has competed at Unlimited level for many years and was last seen flying his Sukhoi 29 in the World Aerobatic Championships in Burgos, Spain last summer. He is widely admired in the aerobatic community and I expect he and his organizing committee will do a fine job. EACs have been organized for decades and this contest continues this tradition.
The V.Advanced World Aerobatic Championships will be held in Slovenia this year under the guidance of Martin Burjan, long time delegate to CIVA. Martin hosted the CIVA plenary meeting in Bled in 2000 and it was outstanding. His staff will do a masterful job on this contest as well, I am quite sure.
Finally, the European Glider Aerobatic Championships will be held in Pasewalk, Germany in July under the guidance of Manfred Echter. Glider aerobatics is thoroughly entrenched in CIVA now and an important part of our activities.
Thus, three new Champions will be named this year and will take home well deserved trophies. We will, of course, have reports on those contests as they progress --- as we have in the past.
Our new CIVA Aerobatic Contest Scoring System (ACSS) will also be in use at these contests. I would pay special tribute to Michel Dupont of France who has developed this new program. It has undergone several beta versions, hours and hours of testing and fine-tuning, but will get its full operational debut at the EAC in Lithuania -- the first contest on the schedule. Michel will be on hand to assure its smooth operation. We also plan to have it available in CD form when the final beta version has been tested and evaluated.
Judges for AWAC are being voted upon by the Bureau of CIVA as I write this page. Those designated as "FAI Judges" will be paid stipends, as will their assistants, in accordance with our new International Corps of Judges program introduced in 2001. In the future, Judges will not be considered part of a team but rather independent evaluators of aerobatic performance with no national tie. This is as it should be. While some Judges are "FAI", any nation can send a judge to a World Championships. After Programme Q, based on performance, the final panel is then selected. The Bureau may select a maximum of 7 Judges to be FAI-designated and paid, but all Judges regardless of designation must survive the test of Programme Q (or the Known in Gliders) to continue in the competition. This is done by the International Jury's review of Judges Performance Factors (JPFs) which are derived by the contest scoring system.
Ultimately, our goal has and always will be providing the best judging we can for our highly skilled competitors who only seem to improve each year.
Regarding World Air Games …
As many of you know, the next Games are tentatively scheduled for 2005. As far as aerobatic participation is concerned, this is still to be determined. Aerobatics obviously must be a part of the WAG --- our sport is one of the most attractive and exciting to spectators and media. But it appears now that the "new" format for the Games will be a smaller one and therefore not set up for a full contingent of teams from around the world. Perhaps just the top 20-30 pilots or so. How these will be selected and how the classical World Aerobatic Championships will fit in is yet to be decided. We will begin discussions this summer at AWAC and then again in the Fall during our plenary meeting.
More soon …
Mike HEUER
CIVA President
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01/11/2001 | Posted by Mike at 11:17 AM
This column is one of the most difficult I have had to write --- simply because the many events of the past few months in the aerobatics world and our world as a whole have been so significant. Where to begin?
World Air Games
During June 2001, the World Air Games were conducted in Spain and the CIVA events were an important part of the Games. In Burgos, the XXI World Aerobatic Championships were held under the direction of Luis Cabre. The event was a huge success and participants were very satisfied with its organization and outcome. Burgos was an old Spanish Air Force base built during their civil war and it was perfect for a WAC contest site. Luis provided strong and decisive leadership for the event but was also assisted --- as we all are --- by outstanding volunteers. I wrote Daily Reports from the contest site which can still be viewed on the FAI website.
In those Daily Reports, I failed to mention the good work of the starting team: radio controller was Clemente Ros. Chief Starter was Javier Aranduy. Starters included Marc Pellň, Paul, Juan Socias, and Juan Velarde. My apologies for not recognizing these gentlemen before. In addition, my special thanks to Smara Iglesias and her team of office workers who carried out their duties so well.
The judging took place under the direction of our veteran Chief Judge, John Gaillard of South Africa. WAC 2001 was the first competition where the new "International Judging Corps" concept was utilized. I have discussed this in previous columns. Several of the judges were selected by the Bureau of CIVA and were paid stipends for their work from our sanction fees account. Since the sanction fees come from pilot entry fees, it could be said that the pilots were paying for the best judges we could provide. Judges were selected based on their experience and judge performance ratings at past championships. It worked quite well and will be continued at the AWAC in 2002 in Slovenia. My goal is to separate judges from teams --- where they have never belonged, in my view --- and to establish judges as independent and international officials once and for all.
The end result --- the naming of Mikhail Mamistov as the new World Aerobatic Champion and winner of the Aresti Cup --- was widely acclaimed as the correct one. Mikhail's performance was consistent and superb. New Women's World Champion is Svetlana Kapanina, who won the title for the first time in aerobatic history. Another outstanding achievement. My congratulations to all the winners. Be sure to visit the FAI website for all of the results and details.
A World Glider Aerobatic Championships was also held in Palma Del Rio during the Games. Without going into too much detail here, let me just state that the event was disappointing. There were numerous organization problems with the event, despite the hard work of Jaime Julve, Contest Director; Karl Berger, head of the International Jury and the CIVA Liaison Officer for the event; and Mady Delcroix and Manfred Echter, our event experts there. All of them did everything possible to make the event a success but were stymied by local problems and failures of people to deliver on their promises. Let me just pledge to the aerobatic community that we will do everything we can to see that this does not happen again. I am quite sure that the EGAC in Germany next year as well as the WGAC in Hungary in 2003 will be characterized by excellent organization --- as these countries have long traditions in glider aerobatics.
For the future? FAI has made the commitment to continue the World Air Games in 2005. The event site has not been chosen and bids will be accepted soon. CIVA will support the event to our full capacity as always --- and I know I will be counting on the same small group of people, all of whom have become good friends, in helping to see this event become a success as well. The Games are important to the future of air sports --- they provide a way for us to show the world and the media what air sports are all about, all in one country at the same time. Our future depends on the Games' success.
Advanced Category
The Advanced World Aerobatic Championships --- first held in Cape Town, South Africa in 1995 --- has become a very important event to our future and to the involvement of more pilots in FAI aerobatic competition. The event has grown steadily since that first year. European Advanced Championships have now been held twice --- in Slovenia in 1998 and Hungary in 2001. Sweden is interested in hosting one in 2003. Of course, we will all return to Murska Sobota, Slovenia in 2002 for the 5th AWAC.
Prior to the CIVA meeting in Prague in November, we held an informal discussion and planning session on several issues. One of these was Advanced. I can say with certainty that most everyone had strong feelings about the future of this category and all agree that it must continue, grow, and prosper. The general consensus at that meeting was restrictions on aircraft must continue. During the plenary session, CIVA also decided to remove the CAP 231 and Extra 260 from the approved list --- these had been approved on a temporary basis for this year only. Thus, I expect these discussions will continue but let me report something I think is important for all competitors in this category and those who are thinking about it --- CIVA will provide stability to the aircraft list. This is important for everyone's planning and aircraft purchasing. Therefore, I fully expect that when a new aircraft is approved, it will not be for the following year but rather at least two years down the road. This is only fair.
Will the approval process continue yearly ? The answer is yes, if CIVA receives proposals for additions. Will it continue to be difficult and fraught with controversy? I believe it will but sometimes political processes are not easy and everyone must realize that this is indeed an international program with each country involved having its own priorities, difficulties, and unique situations. This is why each aircraft approval must be dealt with one by one. I am committed to the growth of Advanced and the involvement of new pilots in FAI competition --- it is one of the reasons we exist. But I also am cautious about too many changes at this point and am worried that if we are not careful, the category could be destroyed. I ask everyone to please present your views to your national delegates and to also sign up for the CIVA Discussions list --- see the FAI website for this --- where messages can be exchanged between the nearly 200 people who are on that list already and which includes all of the delegates to CIVA.
Prague
Just a few days ago, CIVA held a quite successful meeting in Prague. We managed to finish it all in one day --- 10 November. Results of that meeting are available on this website. Rules changes are not significant this year, as you will see from the document summarizing the CIVA actions, but a new group of Family 1 figures have been added to the catalogue and new numbers have been assigned some of the old ones.
Let me mention one thing, however, which did come out of this meeting as a result of a proposal from Spain. CIVA agreed to include the name of Jose L. Aresti in the Catalogue. It will now be called the "FAI Aresti Aerobatic Catalogue" and tribute is paid on the cover of the book to the many years of work this man did to create the aerocryptographic system which became the basis of classical aerobatic competition. It was first introduced into aerobatic competition in 1964 and his system was used until 1988 when the present Catalogue was published. However, his work must not go unrecognized and it is appropriate that the Catalogue be named after him. My congratulations and thanks to Mr. Aresti, who resides in Madrid.
Incidentally, the Aresti Cup which he donated to FAI almost four decades ago, is currently undergoing restoration in Spain. It will return to the scene in 2003 in its full beauty. I am pleased that the Spanish agreed to undertake this important work as the trophy had deteriorated through the years due to shipping and handling. Some parts are missing and will be restored. Be sure to see the Trophies section of this website for photos of the trophy and listing of the winners.
Finally
Lastly, the events of September 11th. Let me say very firmly that air sports will continue and grow despite the attacks of that day which resulted in the deaths of people from some 80 nations. The FAI and CIVA are committed to this. All Championships scheduled for 2002 will continue.
I think we should all remember that one of the greatest benefits of air sports is how it brings people together from all over the world and how our events promote international understanding and goodwill. I find it interesting to note that many of the nations who participate in world aerobatic competitions are also allied in the coalition against terrorism --- we understand the threat to freedom and how international cooperation, trade, and exchange of ideas can promote peace.
Since I am an American as well as an airline pilot, these events had special meaning to me. Let me thank everyone in CIVA who sent messages of condolence to me, on behalf of their countries, and to express their solidarity. It meant a lot to me. Thank you.
Mike HEUER
CIVA President
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01/02/2001 | Posted by Mike at 11:23 AM
 It has been some time since I last communicated with everyone through these pages on the CIVA website but since September, CIVA has been quite busy planning and preparing for the 2001 contest season. Now it is close upon us.
In November 2000, CIVA held its annual plenary meeting in Bled, Slovenia. Minutes of the meeting can be found here. The Minutes document is a lengthy one --- it was amazing to me how much business was accomplished in only one and a half days.
Bled was a real pleasure for me personally --- the site was a beautiful one and a particular surprise as I had never traveled to Slovenia before. After flying into the capitol city of Ljubljana, I traveled by rental car to Bled, only a short distance away. Set alongside a beautiful, small lake, it is one of the most picturesque towns I have ever visited in many years of travel throughout Europe. The Slovenes were warm and gracious and the meeting venue well organised and without any difficulties. It helped make the meeting as successful as it was.
But of course, we were not in Slovenia to be tourists --- nearly 50 CIVA Officers, FAI representatives, Delegates, Alternates, Technical Specialists, and observers were in attendance. Twenty-three nations were represented in person or by proxy. All were there to discuss the many proposals which were laid before CIVA as a result of our rules-making procedure, which was new this year, and the three major Championships that were held in 2000. Numerous reports were heard and acted upon. A summary of the actions taken by CIVA is summarized in a document which can be found here.
Let me discuss some of the issues …
If you have followed this website, read my previous "President's Pages" and viewed the Daily Reports from the Advanced World Aerobatic Championships in Germany in July 2000 and the World Aerobatic Championships in France in August 2000, you are familiar with some of the issues.
The 60% Rule
Recall that one of the most controversial rules at WAC last year was the "60% Rule" --- the CIVA Regulation which required the International Jury to cut anyone from the competition who did not receive 60% of the total possible points in Programme Q. This was immensely unpopular --- though well intentioned. CIVA voted in November to revert to the rule we had before which causes the Jury to only disqualify those pilots who we believe to be unsafe. It has complete discretion to determine what that is and is a rule I have personally applied and support. Now, pilots will continue flying in the rest of the competition if they made a simple mistake, such as flying in the wrong direction, yet are safe and capable.
The New FAI Catalogues
Please note that CIVA approved the Third Edition of the FAI Aerobatic Catalogue and the Glider Aerobatic Figure Catalogue at this last meeting. These new versions --- in PDF format --- have been available on this website for some weeks. Please click over to those pages and download this document if you have not done so already.
Nice changes have been made to Family 8. Incidentally, updates will also be made to the Unknown Appendixes in the various Parts of CIVA Regulations to reflect the availability of these new figures for Unknowns as well. Pilots who do not fly Advanced or Unlimited level will find some figures in here as well which they might find enjoyable and useful in constructing Free Programmes. Don't think that CIVA only thinks of the top end of the competition spectrum!
The Corps of Judges
I have spoken about my proposal in previous columns. It became a personal priority this year as CIVA President to enact proposals which would create a truly international cadre of Judges which we use at World Championships. These ideas and proposals were finally approved by CIVA in November and take effect this year.
Here is how it will work. Over the next few weeks, your National Delegate to CIVA will submit the name of an FAI International Judge for consideration by the CIVA Judging Sub-Committee for service at the upcoming World Aerobatic Championships in Burgos, Spain and the World Glider Aerobatic Championships in Palma Del Rio, Spain. Both of these events are taking place as a part of the II World Air Games in June and early July 2001. It will be a spectacular event and aerobatics will be a key feature of the Games --- as well as the media coverage we expect to result.
Those nominations must be received by 1 March 2001. The CIVA Judging Sub-Committee will meet in Munich, Germany on 28-29 April to consider these nominations and to name a panel of 7 Judges for each of these competitions. The remaining slots (as we can accommodate up to 10 Judges at a Championships) will be filled on site after JPF's are evaluated upon the completion of Programme Q and for Gliders, the first Known.
Thus, what can happen is this --- 7 CIVA selected Judges will judge Programme Q in Burgos, as an example. Any number of other Judges can come and try out. We have had as many as 14 in the past. But after Q, we must narrow it to a maximum of 10. Those choices will be based on the JPF's which are run on each Judge. The JPF (Judge Performance Factor) is an acronym that has come into everyday use in CIVA circles. And you will hear more about it in the future. It is a simple method, covered in an Appendix to the CIVA Regulations, to determine how Judges stack up against the entire panel. It is quite effective and accurate. It's beauty is in its simplicity.
Judges and Assistants will be paid $500 by CIVA if selected by the Sub-Committee. Assistants are actually provided by NAC's and not chosen by CIVA. Entry fees for Judges are waived by the organizer. Full accommodation and meals are provided to Judges. In the future --- starting in 2002 --- this same privilege will be extended to Assistants as well. We want to help the best Judges attend these events and not be frozen out by financial considerations. Assistants are an important part of the "Judging Team" and good ones always make the Judge more effective and accurate. This is why we have included them in the stipends as well as the waiver of Entry Fees in the future.
What this all does is remove the Judges from affiliation with national teams. Amazing as it may seem to outsiders or newcomers to the sport, Judges have been a part of their nation's team for the past 40 years. When I first came into the international aerobatics arena, I was quite surprised by this --- but it has taken many years to change. Imagine referees being a part of a ball team of any kind? That sort of bias and pressure would not be tolerated in any other sport. I believe this step has been one of the most significant CIVA has taken in recent years to make our sport more fair and objective.
The 4 Minute Free in Unlimited
Also known as Programme 4, the "4 Minute" has been a part of the World Aerobatic Championships in Unlimited since 1972. Over the years, it was a part of the overall final results for quite some time but in recent years, it has been a separate trophy flight. The results of this beautiful, artistic programme have not been included in determining the World Aerobatic Champion.
I am hopeful this will soon change. However, the first step was the review of the judging criteria for this flight with an eye toward more definitive criteria for the Judge so he or she could do a better job with this flight. The work of deriving new judging criteria for the flight was carried out this past summer and fall by CIVA Delegates John Gaillard of South Africa; Ernst Paukner of Germany; and Alan Cassidy of Great Britain. This resulted in a proposal for CIVA which was adopted last November with only minor modification. It can be viewed at the end of the summary of rules above.
Once we work out the criteria, the next step will be the inclusion of the results of this programme in the final standings. That will not take place until at least 2002 --- perhaps later, depending on how it works out this year in Burgos.
But I think CIVA is going in the right direction here. In addition to the hard and difficult technical flying we now see at WAC's, we will also see more emphasis on the artistic side of this brand of flying --- something which is recognised indirectly in the words for aerobatics in other languages. "Kunstflug" in German and "Voltige Aerienne" in French --- both of which translate to "artistic flying".
I might add there is little doubt in most people's minds where the media interest lies in our competitions. It is in the 4 Minute Free. Everyone who covers our events want to film this flight. In the future, it may not be necessary to try to explain why it is not included in the results. I hope so.
Gender
Those of you who have read my columns also have noted that it has been a personal crusade of mine to remove the gender differentiation we now have in Unlimited rules. That effort has spanned over 10 years and has included numerous discussions at Sub-Committee and plenary level.
This year --- with the support of the Sub-Committees --- the proposal to eliminate the separation of men and women in aerobatic competition was brought to the plenary meeting of CIVA. Before we got too far into the discussions, I decided to withdraw the proposal and promised to not bring it to the table again.
Why? It wasn't because I felt the issue was a loser. I had felt that the votes were there at CIVA to get this proposal enacted. However, after thinking about it for some time after the WAC in France last year, I realised that it might just be the wrong thing to do. I became quite concerned --- thanks to the comments made to me by such aerobatic notables as Mady Delcroix, Dominique Roland, and some of the Ukrainians --- that it might result in fewer women participating in our sport. While I felt --- and still feel --- that men and women can compete equally and both have equal skills and talents in flying airplanes, what we cannot tolerate is any further reductions in the number of pilots flying at Unlimited level. Our sport has suffered enough shrinkage as it is in this difficult and challenging category. So I decided to withdraw the proposal. You won't be hearing from me on this subject any further.
Height Measurement
For several years, the glider aerobatic community has made use of a simple and accurate device we call the HHMD --- the "Huber Height Measuring Device". This lightweight little box is mounted in gliders during competition flights and provides signals to the pilot and Chief Judge as to high and low altitude infringements. It takes the guesswork out of judging altitude penalties --- an area where Judges have been notoriously weak for many years. They really cannot be blamed for this --- concentrating on an Unlimited Free Programme, for example, is highly demanding and there is not much room to be an altitude judge as well. Some are much better at it than others, too.
The HHMD has been adapted for powered aerobatic aircraft and tested last year in France and Germany. We are pleased with the results. Therefore, CIVA voted to require this device at this year's WAC in Burgos. All competition aircraft will carry the HHMD. The rules for its use will be included in CIVA Regulations.
The HHMD will have two tremendous benefits for our sport --- it will insure that penalties are properly assessed and those who break altitude limits are penalised. It will also promote safety as altitude awareness will be even more important than before as penalties will not be missed. Details on the device can be found in the Minutes of the CIVA meeting.
Discovery Wings
Yes, aerobatics will be gaining even more coverage on TV in the near future. Discovery Channel has filmed the WAC in France and will be broadcasting the programme sometime in the spring of 2001. We will announce those show dates here.
They are also attending the World Air Games as well. This is all good news for our sport but will require new thinking and changes in our Regulations if we are to accommodate the media in the manner they are used to in other sporting events.
As an example, the time is not far off when we will have to require that provision be made for cameras to be carried on board competition aircraft. Imagine any car race today without the "in cockpit" filming. The small, lightweight cameras available today --- some the size of a cigar --- have made this possible. The thrill of aerobatics can be made even more alive and exciting for TV viewers when viewed from the cockpit. We will be discussing those details in the months ahead.
Special Meeting in Munich
… and along those lines, CIVA will hold a Special Meeting of all Delegates in Munich, Germany on the last weekend of April, the 28-29th. It became quite apparent during our meeting in Slovenia that such a special session was necessary. Sub-Committee meetings will be held at the same time.
This meeting will be more narrow in scope but not importance. How to carry our sport into this century and to develop it into a more media-friendly sport --- which will lead to sponsorships and greater public support --- will be the topics.
Sometime soon, the agenda of the meeting will be drafted and circulated to Delegates. Comments will be welcome from all of the aerobatic community.
Mike HEUER
CIVA President
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