IGC Annual Plenary Meeting
The FAI Gliding Commission (IGC) held its Annual Plenary Meeting on 27 and 28 February 2004 at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. Summary of the most important decisions :

Elections : Mr Bob HENDERSON (NZL) was elected as the new IGC President, replacing Mr Tor JOHANNESSEN (NOR), who presided over the Commission for the last 6 years, and was unanimously elected President of Honour. Mr Eric MOZER (USA) was elected as 1st Vice-President, while Roland STUCK (FRA), Brian SPRECKLEY (GBR), Dick BRADLEY (RSA), Axel REICH (GER) and Vladimir FOLTIN (SLK) were elected Vice-Presidents; see the updated list of IGC Officials & Delegates.

Future Competitions : New competition venues were selected. The FAI Sporting Calendar for Gliding has been updated accordingly (13th FAI European Gliding Championship 2005 / 4th FAI World Club Class Gliding Championship 2006 / 5th FAI World Class World Gliding Championship 2006).

World Class : All pilots competing at a World Class Championship fly the same type of aircraft, the PW5. The concept of this light-weight glider developed in Poland was originally inspired by the "Olympia", a glider specially developed for the Olympic Games in Helsinki (1940); unfortunately, the Second World War broke out and the Games were cancelled.

Awards : IGC's top award, the prestigious Lilienthal Medal, was awarded to the father of the World Class Glider, Prof. Piero MORELLI (ITA), who has made an outstanding life-time's contribution to technical soaring. Prof. Peter RYDER (GER), IGC President of Honour, and Mr Tapio SAVOLAINEN (FIN) were awarded the Pirat Gehriger Diploma.

Next Plenary Meeting : Lausanne, 4 and 5 March 2005

IGC Ranking List
Prepared by a number of hard working volunteers over a three-year period, the IGC Ranking List was introduced in 2003 and forms a small part of IGC's strategy to make competitive gliding events more widespread and accessible.

The most important objectives of the IGC Official Ranking System are :

- to represent as accurately as possible the relative performance of gliding competitors from their results in national and international competitions,
- to promote gliding competition by improving their attractiveness and contact between media and the Gliding Community,
- to create a focus for promotion of competitive gliding,
- to promote the development of a high quality international competition structure.

The IGC Ranking List has two components :
- The Pilot's Rating is the result of his/her performance at IGC-sanctioned competitions,
- The Competition Rating depends on the type of competition, the quality of the pilots and the number of competition days.

All IGC Category 1 events (i.e. World and Continental Championships) are automatically included in the Ranking List, while the results of other international or national competitions may also be included under certain conditions.
For further information : About the IGC Ranking System

The updated IGC Ranking List recently published reflects the latest results from the Australian and South African Nationals. The winner of the Australian 15m class in 2004 was Michael SOMMER, who jumped 61 places as a result of his excellent performance. The biggest place gain was Harry WONDERGEM, who gained 588 places, rising to 447 in the Ranking List. In March, Keith NICHOLSON will add a facility to directly compare pilots' performances.

CIVL Officials
In the FAI-News # 05/04, we reported on the CIVL Plenary Meeting held recently in Croatia. In the second paragragh "Elections", we unfortunately omitted to mention Mr Jim ZEISET (USA), who was also elected as a CIVL Vice-President. We apologize for this omission and congratulate Mr Zeiset on his election. (See the updated list of CIVL Officials)

New World Record Claims

FAI has received the following World Record Claim :

Class C - Aeroplanes / Claim number : 8754
Sub-class : C-1 (Landplanes)
Group 3 : turbo-jet
Type of record : Speed over a Commercial Air Route
Course/location : Hong Kong (China) - Singapore (Singapore)
Performance : 837 km/h
Pilot : William R. WALLACE (USA)
Aircraft : Boeing 747-400 / Airline : United Airlines
Date: 29.02.2004
Current record : 793.15 km/h (09.03.2001 - William A. DIAS, USA)

The details shown above are provisional. When all the evidence required has been received and checked, the exact figures will be established and the record ratified (if appropriate).

For further information on World Records,
please consult the latest news, including all claims pending ratification, at :
- General Aviation World Records

Lausanne, 5 March 2004