european hang gliding & paragliding union - ffvl.fr · european hang gliding & paragliding...

European Hang Gliding & Paragliding Union

EHPU c/o Schweizerischer Hängegleiter-Verband Seefeldstrasse 224 • 8008 Zürich/Switzerland

homepage: www.shv-fsvl.ch • e-mail: [email protected] phone: ++41(0)1 3874680 • fax: ++41(0)1 3874689

1

European Hang Gliding & Paragliding Union Minutes of the second Annual General Meeting, held on Saturday 1st February, 2003 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Present: Heitor Araujo FPVL (Portugal) Pietro Bacchi President FIVL (Italy) Anna Bonomini FIVL (Italy) Yves Borreman President, FBVL (Belgium) Sergio Calabresi FIVL (Italy) Antonio Gomes da Cruz President, FPVL (Portugal) Charlie Joest President, DHV (Germany) Jorge Oliveira FPVL (Portugal) Angus Pinkerton BHPA (UK) & CEN/EHPU Airworthiness & Testing Consultant Harriet Pottinger Chairman, BHPA (UK) Luigi de Stefanis FIVL (Italy) Klaus Taenzler DHV (Germany) Observers: Chris Borra Chairman, KMVvL / PG division (Netherlands) Olivier Burghelle President CIVL / President EA Arne Hillestad NAK/NLF (Norway) Scott Torkelsen President, DDU (Denmark) In attendance: Jennie Burdett BHPA Office Manager, EHPU AGM Minute Secretary INTRODUCTION Charlie Joest informed members that the French and Swiss delegates, including EHPU President Gerard Blandin and EHPU General Secretary Hanspeter Denzler, were unable to get to the meeting due to adverse weather conditions at Heathrow Airport. In addition, Gerard had been taken seriously ill and had been rushed into hospital. Subsequent apologies were also received from the Sweden delegate, obstructed by adverse weather conditions at Stansted. As Germany was due to take over EHPU presidency for 2003/4, it was agreed that Charlie Joest should chair the meeting with assistance from Klaus Taenzler who had been working closely with Hanspeter. Charlie opened the meeting by welcoming Olivier Burghelle the President of CIVL and thanking Harriet Pottinger and the BHPA for arranging the meeting. Delegates from Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway who were prospective members of the EHPU and attending the meeting as observers were also welcomed. The three prospective members gave a brief outline of their own Federations and what they were hoping to get out of the EHPU. For their benefit Charlie explained how the EHPU had developed out of the Gerard Blandin's concept of a meeting of the Presidents of European HG & PG Federations.




2

The Presidents of all the Federations present introduced themselves and gave a short description of their own Federation. Sergio Calabresi was particularly pleased to inform the meeting that FIVL is now officially recognised in Italy by their National Aero Club, which is a major step forward for the Federation. They will now be able to make many improvements in the situation of HG & PG pilots in Italy, as well as being able to have a representative at CIVL meetings. There was a short discussion of the misunderstanding that had caused Austria to decline to join the EHPU in 2002. Sergio suggested that when the new Austrian President is elected in March 2003, the EHPU President should send a letter inviting Austria again to join the EHPU. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING There were no amendments to the minutes of the meeting held at Tegernsee on January 26 2002 and these were approved as a true record. 10. ADOPTION OF NEW MEMBERS Yves Borreman asked what the position of the new members was in respect of voting. Whilst all three would be recommending to their Federations that they should join the EHPU they did not have the authority to agree this before reporting back. The position was clarified that their contributions would be welcome to the discussions at the meeting, but they would not have a vote on any matters that required one until after their membership had been agreed. It was agreed that if any Federation applied for membership during the year, approval of such applications would be the first item on the Agenda (following the formal business items) at the next AGM. (The normal business items being: approval of the minutes of the previous meeting, approval of the Annual Report from the General Secretary, and approval of the Financial Report from the Treasurer.) The new member Federations would then be eligible to vote on any matters during the meeting. Scott reported that Sweden and Iceland had also expressed an interest, and EHPU membership would be discussed at the next meeting of the Scandinavian Federations. 1. ANNUAL REPORT Unfortunately as Hanspeter Denzler, General Secretary, was not present the Annual Report was not available. There was no Treasurer’s Report. FOR ACTION 2003-1: Hanspeter to circulate Annual Report for 2002/3 to all EHPU members. 2. THE POSITION OF EHPU & EUROPE AIR SPORTS TOWARDS EASA Klaus explained that JAA (Joint Aviation Authority) had 36 member authorities and made General Aviation recommendations for the whole of Europe, but did not include hang gliding and paragliding. The JAA recommendations had no legal authority, and the European Commission had decided that this was necessary. As a result the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) had been formed, which will do much of the work of the JAA and the national Civil Aviation Authorities. EASA rules will be legally binding throughout the EU. Europe Airsports (EA) is funded by the National Aero Clubs of Europe and represents air sports to both the JAA and the EU. EA have had a HG & PG Working Group (Chaired by Klaus Taenzler) but as JAA did not make rules for HG & PG, and all rule making for HG & PG was the responsibility of the national Civil Aviation Authorities, the Working Group have had little to do. This has now changed and




3

EASA have asked EA for a proposal on how EASA should work for HG & PG. Basically Federations have to decide whether they want EASA to make the rules for our sport or whether this should stay within the national authority. It is the majority position of the EHPU members that rule making should stay under national control but it was agreed that EHPU should canvass the views of all European hg/pg federations, not just its own members. 3. EHPU AS EAS WORKING PARTY Klaus took the input he had received from the EHPU members to a meeting with EA and EA accepted unanimously that HG & PG should stay under national regulations and that EHPU should have formal observer status with EA. Klaus would be the EHPU working party co-ordinator on EA. 4. AIRSPACE DEVELOPMENT IN EUROPE A new airspace structure is due to be in place by 2015 and EuroControl, under pressure from commercial airlines is pressing for a simpler classification. The three categories of airspace will be: U Unknown K Known (position and/or intention required) N Intended (position and intention required) Olivier Burghelle reported that the proposed definition for users of U is: • Continuous 2 way communications not always required • Transponders not always required • Traffic not always under ATC The word “always” is of notable concern. Flight Level Z, the level above which all airspace will be controlled, has not yet been agreed but EHPU wish it to be set as high as possible. The options currently under consideration are believed to be FL95, FL115 and FL135, with pressure from commercial users to have a low limit. Olivier commented that pressure from the commercial airlines will almost certainly mean that we have to accept a level of FL95 and it would be in our best interests to make a proposal now. The meeting then discussed what the current situation is in each country so that EHPU could reach a consensus of what is actually needed. These current rules are: France FL 95 or 3000 ft agl Germany FL 100 / 130 above the alps. Controlled airspace starts at maximum of 2,500ft

agl. but HG/PG allowed there. (Allowed in E, F and G.) UK FL 245 Norway No limit Denmark 900 meters or 3000 ft amsl (not lower than 100 meters agl) Italy General: No flights inside controlled Airspace (incl. Class E), inside restricted

areas, inside prohibited areas, in a radius of less than 5 miles centred in an airport outside ATZ. Weekdays: (depends on military activity) up to 500ft




4

above highest peak within radius of 3km. Weekends & Holidays: The same but up to 1000ft. (This is Italian law.)

Belgium Unofficially the same as for gliders: 4500ft amsl. Higher with special

clearance. No official status for HG/PG. Netherlands (PG only, HG not known) 100m amsl. 8 places with radius of approx 1mile

where this is raised to 700m amsl. Therefore, practical PG XCs are illegal. NB highest point in Netherlands is approx 200m amsl. Greater restrictions currently under development!

Portugal Same as Italy – GA rules. Up to 1000ft agl in uncontrolled airspace. Annual

negotiations with national airspace authorities for competitions, special areas and schools, eg comps 11500ft amsl. Special negotiations may extend for 6 months – 1 year and renewable annually.

Klaus said that someone with suitable knowledge is needed to co-ordinate airspace matters for the EHPU and Harriet proposed Tom Hardie, who is very knowledgeable and experienced in airspace matters. Proposal agreed unanimously, with the comment from Italy in particular that Sergio would like to offer his professional expertise to assist Tom. FOR ACTION 2003-2: Each Federation to send the name and Email address of their airspace contact to Hanspeter. A general discussion ensued, during which Angus pointed out that there is a tendency in Europe for agreements to be at the most stringent current level. If we were not both careful and lucky, we could end up with the same rules as whichever country currently has the tightest regulations. Harriet expressed concern that EHPU has only seven members and the other 20 or so EU countries will not have a voice if EHPU does not represent them. We should therefore liaise with the other countries regardless of them not being EHPU members. Klaus fully supported Harriet’s statement and said that this could simply be achieved by increasing the number of email addresses used to circulate information. He added that Hanspeter had invited all the countries to join the EHPU and more countries are now expressing an interest. It was felt that EHPU could not be relying on NACs to pass on information but should try to make direct contact with the people who actually need the information. We need to get information from all the HG & PG Federations and Scott suggested that this contact information could be obtained at the forthcoming CIVL meeting. FOR ACTION 2003-3: Olivier Burghelle to ask for contact names and email addresses at CIVL meeting. It should also be made clear that EHPU has formally replaced the EA HG & PG Working Group. Returning to FLZ, after further discussion members agreed that the preferred option would be: FL135 or 3,000ft above the highest point within a radius of 5km, whichever is highest at any given point. The minimum acceptable would be: FL95 or 2,000ft above the highest point within a radius of 3nm whichever is higher at any given point.




5

It should be noted that this position may be subject to amendment, depending on the advice of our Airspace Officers, and should be regarded as agreed in principle rather than an unchangeable policy. Transponders The meeting discussed the possible requirement for all users of controlled airspace to have transponders by 2005. Angus reported on trials that had been taking place in the UK. The aim has been to produce a lightweight transponder that was about the size of a GPS, had a battery life of at least four hours and weighed around 0.5kg. This specification had not yet been approached. Charlie felt that whilst we should fight the requirement to carry transponders, it is highly likely that in ten years time we will all have them, otherwise we will never be able to enter controlled airspace. It may become the norm in the same way as many people now have a GPS. It was agreed that transponders are currently unacceptable on grounds of: • Philosophy -unnecessary for hg/pg pilot safety • Practicality -weight,expense, certification, battery life, antenna mounting • Flight Safety -probable impact on ATC systems of large numbers of irrelevant traffic

signals • Associated inevitable requirement to carry certified airband radios, plus radio licences, and hence the impact on ATC of increased incoming radio traffic, plus increased bandwidth requirements. This is a good reason why we have to argue FLZ upwards, to avoid transponder problems as outlined above. 5. SAFETY HARMONISATION FOR HANG GLIDING AND PARAGLIDING. The European Safety Harmonisation Committee (ESHC) was originally started to co-ordinate several related issues in different countries, including understanding the different pilot rating and training systems. This task included the requirement to collate incident data from all the countries and agreement had been reached on a common database format so that data could be exchanged. At the last EHPU meeting it was agreed that John Lovell should be the ESHC Co-ordinator but he has had difficulty in contacting the right people in each country. To expedite the matter John planned a meeting in London to finalise the usage of the fields on the Incident Report database and to decide how the data should be collated and disseminated. However, not many countries were able or willing to send a representative. It was not important where the meeting is held, but it is important to get matters finalised and in practice it is felt that this cannot be done effectively by email. Although the database fields have been agreed, use over the past year has shown that consistency must be achieved on the exact meaning and usage of the fields, otherwise information cannot be usefully exchanged. This will be the final step in making it a pan-European system. It was agreed that the ESHC should come under the EHPU umbrella, with John Lovell continuing as EHPU Safety Co-ordinator (Chairman of ESHC). Full EHPU support was given for a meeting of the ESHC and John should contact everyone again. FOR ACTION 2003-4: Each Federation to send the name and Email address of their safety contact to Hanspeter.




6

6. HARMONISATION OF HOMOLOGATIONS, QUALITY CONTROL AND RECOGNITION OF THE TEST ORGANISATIONS Sergio reported that CEN Technical Committee 136 had approved the PG Flight Test Standard, and the document has been passed to CEN HQ for circulation to the member countries national standards bodies for final vote. It was expected that this would be completed in about two months, and the CEN norm for paraglider flight tests will be complete. Klaus congratulated Angus and the working group on getting the standard completed and added that DHV were very enthusiastic about the new standard and saw it as a significant enhancement to safety. The DHV had already taken the key new CEN requirements and incorporated them into the DHV tests. When the CEN Standard was formally approved, the DHV intended that it would be referred to in the German air law. The DHV considered that the remaining problem now is ensuring that tests carried out at different test houses are consistent, otherwise there is a danger that different test teams will produce different results. In order to avoid this problem the German/Austrian and Swiss teams will test together using pilots from the different countries. Harriet asked Klaus if DHV would now be using CEN A, B, C & D categories rather than DHV 1, 2 & 3 and Klaus replied that he would have to liaise with his technical team before giving a definite answer. Angus said that even with the potential issue of different test houses, we now have a much tighter testing system than previously. Everyone agreed to his request to support the new CEN norm by publishing something in their Federation magazines. Pilots should be encouraged to buy CEN certified canopies tested by independent test houses. FOR ACTION 2003-5: Each Federation to publicise their support fore the new CEN PG Flight Test standard in their magazines. 7. EQUIVALENCE OF LICENCES There had been a problem for pilots wanting to fly cross-country abroad, in that there is no common standard of minimum pilot qualifications. This has now largely been resolved by use of the IPPI card although in the UK pilots are expected to begin flying XC with IPPI 4 whereas in Germany and Austria there is a minimum legal requirement of IPPI 5. The other issue is in regard to instructors who want to do training abroad. This is a very complicated issue that is not going to be solved quickly, and it was agreed that it should be left on the table. Each Federation has been tasked to produce training systems (in English) for members to look at and this is ongoing. The BHPA circulated UK pilot training booklets and dual/tandem pilot information at the meeting. Members were also asked to support Aerotow.com, a British led European flight park being set up in Avila, Spain, with the aim of revitalising HG training in Europe. 8. DECISION ON OTHER EHPU PROJECTS Web Sites Klaus gave a short presentation of the DHV Website. He explained that DHV had considered replacing their magazine entirely by the website but had decided against it. The meeting was very




7

impressed by the DHV Website and Klaus was asked whether DHV would be willing to create a site for the EHPU. Klaus replied that Hanspeter had already intimated that he would be willing to do it. FOR ACTION 2003-6: Charlie and Hanspeter to liaise on creating a EHPU website, to be shown to members for approval before going on line. Flying Sites Harriet reminded members that BHPA had been successful with a site (Stanage Edge, Derbyshire) which had been under threat from environmentalists who felt that HG & PG was disturbing the Ring Ouzel (a rare bird species). It turned out that the presence of pilots was actually beneficial to the birds and flying was now under fewer restrictions than before. Last year EHPU had agreed that it would be useful for a European facility to collate this type of information in case any other sites are threatened. Clive Robinson is now doing this and anyone is welcome to contact him. Heitor Araujo asked for a copy of the report on Stanage Edge. This would be made available as soon as it has been written up. Angus said that Ann Welch had been very active in promoting our ‘silent’ sports as being environmentally friendly and continuing this work could be seen as a memorial to her. HG and PG have lost two internationally outstanding individuals over the last year, Walter Neumark and Ann Welch, who had both been instrumental in making our sports what they are today. 9. NEXT WAG EDITION Oliver explained that the next WAG would be in 2005 with a new, smaller format that would not include XC, but would include speed gliding, aerobatics and accuracy landing. The rules for aerobatics have been proposed and there will have to be a new aerobatics rating. Before each competition there will be a selection when pilots will have to demonstrate their ability. An aerobatics working group within CIVL has been proposed and there is a possibility of creating a world ranking of aerobatic pilots. Olivier asked EHPU members for their thoughts on these proposals and explained that if it is to go ahead it will require the support of Federations. He requested members to inform their CIVL delegate of their conclusions before the next plenary meeting (late February 2003). FOR ACTION 2003-7: Olivier to circulate his papers on the proposals for aerobatics. FOR ACTION 2003-8: All members to let Olivier know their position on aerobatics competitions before the CIVL meeting. 11. MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTION Countries considering joining the EHPU are Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Fees were discussed and it was agreed that these were negotiable and it was the intention that they would never be made prohibitively expensive for any nation. The following Federation membership size dependent fees (in Euro, per annum) were agreed:- Below 250 members € 250,00 251 - 1,000 Members € 500,00 1,001 - 10,000 Members € 1000,00 Above 10,000 Members € 2000,00




8

12. ANNUAL BUDGET Olivier suggested that the budget could be circulated by Email. In fact as the meeting had just set the membership fees, this had effectively set the maximum budget. 13. ELECTION OF PRESIDENT, TREASURER AND GENERAL SECRETARY Germany, the next country in alphabetic rotation after France, had accepted the invitation to provide the EHPU President, and (as indicated at the start of the meeting) Charlie Joest appointed President. Pietro Bacchi was elected Treasurer and Hanspeter Denzler was re-elected as General Secretary. Charlie officially thanked Gerard Blandin for his presidency over the last year and the meeting agreed that as Gerard was the creator of the EHPU he should be appointed Honorary Life President. 14. VARIOUS Sergio suggested that at the ESHC meeting items for discussion should include training and licences. This would avoid the necessity for two separate meetings and save money. Angus agreed to pass on this suggestion to John Lovell and they would come up with a proposal. The date for the next EHPU meeting was agreed as Saturday 31 January, 2004 in Verona, Italy. The suggested schedule would be for an informal get-together on Friday evening, a more formal dinner on Saturday night, and the meeting to conclude at mid-day on Sunday. Jennie was thanked for taking the minutes of the meeting. BHPA and EHPU acknowledge gratitude for the financial assistance of UK Sport towards hosting the EHPU AGM 2003. The meeting closed at 18:30.

european hang gliding & paragliding union - ffvl.fr · european hang gliding & paragliding...

Documents