FAI Ballooning Commission (CIA)

FAI Ballooning Commission Annual Meeting Report

For More Information Contact:

Kirk S. THOMAS, President
CIA PR & Development Subcommittee
P.O. Box 25388 G.B.
Christiansted, St. Croix 00824-1388
VIRGIN ISLANDS
Tel. +1 (809) 773-6000 Fax. +1 (809) 773-6969
E-mail : Kirk.Thomas@pobox.com

MARCH 13, 1996 -- The FAI Ballooning Commission (CIA), under the leadership of President Jacques W. Soukup (ISV), just finished its annual meeting in Vienna, Austria with two days of Subcommittee meetings on March 6 & 7 and two days of Plenary Sessions on March 8 & 9, 1996. President Soukup, in his usual diplomatic way, kept the meeting moving at a comfortable pace and saw to it that all sides were clearly heard on all motions and discussions.

The full minutes of the meeting will be available from your country's CIA Delegate. The announcements of the Sporting Calendar, CIA Awards, Commission elections and the selection of the latest inductee to the CIA International Balloon and Airship Hall of Fame are covered in accompanying Press Releases.

FAI / CIA progress on joining the Internet was reported by Mr. Alex Nagorski (CAN), Chairman of the FAI Internet Working Group, to be moving forward quite quickly! E-mail is catching on, with many members on line and entire Subcommittees operating electronically. The announcement of the start of FAI's (and CIA's) new Web pages and ftp sites by the end of the month also generated quite a lot of interest. The web address will be announced later.

The CIA Subcommittees also worked hard. Below are actions proposed by the Subcommittees and passed by the CIA Plenary Session.

The Safety Subcommittee, under Jean Sax (BEL), produced a CIA Information document entitled "Safe Handling of Propane" which will be available on the Internet as well. They are also working on the final draft of a handbook for Safety Officers which should be ready by next year!

The Observer Subcommittee, under Arnost Honig (CZE), recommends that event organizers have insurance in place to cover Observers on the ground during their official duties during that event. They are also, in conjunction with the Rules Subcommittee, working on an international Observer ranking system to ensure that all Observers at a sanctioned event are qualified. Any comments should be made to your Delegate.

The PR & Development Subcommittee, under Kirk Thomas (ISV), and its working groups have standardized sanctioned event applications and planning guidelines for all sanctioned events. These are available from your CIA Delegate or the CIA Secretary. Stella Roux DeVillas (FRA), Chairperson of the Event Planning Advisory Service, showed at her first meeting the advantages of standardized applications, where the same information from all event bidders was made available to the CIA Delegates. The PR & Development Subcommittee has also created an affordable version of the CIA Sporting Badges and will be promoting them and the program through the coming year. This year they will be providing CIA Competition Diplomas for the top ten competitors of all sanctioned events which do not receive the FAI Diplomas from Paris. These new CIA Diplomas will be made available in addition to the CIA Medals which made their first appearance last year. Also, these same events will now receive the CIA flag and a copy of the new recording by the Royal Dutch Air Force Band of the FAI Anthem for their sanction fees.

Starting this year, the new LTA Education Working Group of the PR & Development Subcommittee will begin its work. Chairman Wang Lei (CHN), a teacher in Bejing, will be working to study and assist the CIA in defining CIA policy in education matters, to encourage youth participation in aerostation and to liaise with the FAI Aerospace Education Commission.

The Records Review Subcommittee, under Karl Stefan (USA), reviewed 11 world records during the past year and recommends a new computer program developed by Don Cameron (GBR) for the calculation of geometric altitude. They will also be assembling information on the History of Notable Balloon and Airship Flights. This listing will record significant achievements which do not qualify as official FAI World Records. They will also study the possibility of creating a new Open Class of ballooning record where an ascent to altitude is made in a balloon but with the pilot descending by parachute. This will be done in coordination with the FAI Parachuting Commission.

The Rules Subcommittee, under Jean Claude Weber (LUX), as usual turned out fine work. In addition to approving the various rules for this year's events, with modifications, each Working Group had other responsibilities. Mark Sullivan (USA) successfully steered his way at his first meeting as Chairperson of the AA/AM (Gas and Roziere balloons) Working Group. The rules for the world's oldest air race, the Coupe Gordon Bennett, essentially date back to 1906. Mr. Sullivan produced an excellent example of these rules using the current CIA Competition Rules numbering system, now making them similar in format with all other balloon competition rules without actually changing them! The AX (Hot Air balloons) Working Group under Les Purfield (GBR) continued to bring the AX Competition Rules in compliance with the new version of the General Section of the Sporting Code. The BX (Hot Air Airships) Working Group under Neil Robertson (GBR) submitted needed changes to airship competition rules, in particular regarding Right of Way, allowing disqualification from the task for infringements. Scoring Working Group Chairperson Masashi Kakuda (JAP) welcomed new members Bengt Stener (SWE), Mathijs DeBruijn (NED), Darryl Stuart (AUS) and Olivier Roux DeVillas (FRA). The Statutes, Bylaws and Sporting Code Working Group under Jean Claude Weber (LUX) changed Section One to allow sanctioned events to consist of a single flight with multiple tasks when specifically allowed by the CIA for special long distance Gas and Roziere type events, among others.

The Jury Board under Hans Akerstedt (SWE) recommended that all Jurors for airship events pass the new Test No. 5 on airship competition. Also, to ensure that more people serve on Juries, no one will be able to serve on more than two events in a single year or be Juror of the same class of World or Continental Championships in two consecutive years. Also, organizing NAC's must propose double the number of possible Jury Members than they need so that the CIA can select the Jurors. The CIA also banned the use of interpreters for Jurors.

The CIA also decided that since no drugs have ever been proven to enhance balloon flying performances, and since there is no evidence of systematic drug abuse in ballooning, that CIA will not spend the money on mandatory drug testing, nor require sanctioned events to do drug testing unless a country's laws specifically demand it. Also, CIA will be flexible as regards competition results, points or rankings as a result of required national drug testing.

The preparations for the World Air Games in Cappadocia, Turkey, are moving along rapidly! This year will be the test event, the Cappadocia Cup, a Premier Sporting Event for 35 competitors held from 18 -22 September. For a $250 entry fee, a contribution towards the cost of transport of balloons to Cappadocia and back, propane, maps and social events will be included. Discounts will be available on air fares and hotels/meals. A star team of Officials will make this a great event. The Event Director is Les Purfield (GBR), the Steward for the test event is Gary Britton (USA) with Darryl Stuart (AUS) joining Gary for the main event in 1997. Safety Officer is David Gleed (CAN), Chief Observer is Anita Noguera (SPA) and Chief Scorer is Bengt Stener (SWE). What an outstanding competition, in such spectacular surroundings, this will be!

At the end of the meeting, Istanbul was chosen as the site of next year's Plenary Session, and in appreciation for a job well done, CIA President Jacques W. Soukup was re-elected by acclamation for another year.

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