Main decisions taken at the FAI Ballooning Commission 2015 Annual Meeting

The 2015 Annual Meeting of the FAI Ballooning Commission (CIA) was held on 20 and 21 March 2015 in Lausanne, Switzerland. 

Troy Bradley and Leonid Tiukhtyaev, the pilots who crossed the Pacific Ocean earlier the year onboard the Two Eagles balloon, honoured the meeting with their presence.

Here are the main decisions that were taken during the meeting:

Future competitions

The organisation of the following competition has been awarded:

2017

• 4th FAI Women’s European Hot Air Balloon Championship
  Awarded to Leszno (POL)
  5 to 9 September 2017

 Check out the calendar for all Ballooning past and future events.

Sporting Code changes

Amendments will be included in the 2015 Version of Sporting Code Section 1.

Awards

The 2015 Mongolfier Ballooning Diploma (Best Performance, Hot Air Ballooning) was awarded to Sandra Rolfe from Canada.

On 2014.02.09 Ms. Sandra ROLFE (CAN) set the Female Duration Record for AX-03 balloons. The new (and still current) record of 4h 17min 42sec exceeded the previous record (3h 35min, set in 2007) by almost 20%!
Ms. Rolfe has been a hot air balloon pilot since 1995 and is actively involved in the Canadian Balloon Association. She has participated in the Canadian Hot Air Balloon Championship on several occasions, and attends events internationally. She is the current President of the Canadian Balloon Association, a position she has held since 2012.
Beginning in 2001, Ms. Rolfe consciously set out to increase the participation of women in ballooning and specifically in record setting activities. Ms. Rolfe is much more than just a pilot - she is the leader in all phases of each record attempt, including the design and construction of many of the aerostats used for her record attempts. Her team includes women in all aspects of record flight attempts - from construction of her balloons, through flight planning, observation and retrieve.

Hall of Fame

The inductees for 2015 are:

• David Levin (USA)
• Janet Folkes (GBR) - posthumous

Youth camp

The Delegates agreed to support the 15th International Youth Camp with a donation of 2000 Euros to assist in the promotion and operation of the camp. The camp will take place in Radesin, Czech Republic, from 8 to 15 August 2015.

Bureau Elections   

President : Jean-Claude WEBER (LUX)
1st Vice President : Hans AKERSTEDT (SWE)
2nd Vice President : Uwe SCHNEIDER (GER)
New / 3rd Vice President : Lindsay MUIR (GBR)
Secretary : Paolo OGGIONI (ITA)

Subcommittee Chairperson    

Jury Board: Hans AKERSTEDT (SWE)
Officials SC: Steve IRELAND (AUS)
Public & Media Relations SC: on hold
Records SC: Lindsay MUIR (GBR)
Rules SC: Uwe SCHNEIDER (GER)
Safety & Education SC: Bengt STENER (SWE)
Event Development Services SC: Paolo OGGIONI (ITA), Lindsay MUIR (GBR)
Competitors SC: Andy BAIRD (USA)
World Ranking List Keepers: Gerald Sturzlinger (AUT), Uwe Schneider (GER)
Technology SC: Claude WEBER (LUX)
CIA Awards Working Group: Hans AKERSTEDT (SWE)

Technical Representatives & Special Duties

CASI : Jean-Claude WEBER (LUX)
EnvC : Steve IRELAND (AUS)
CIMP : David BAREFORD (GBR)
Webmaster: not assigned
New / World Air Games Liaison Officer: Hot Air Ballooning - Mark SULLIVAN (USA); Gas Ballooning - Pit THIBO (FRA)

Next meeting

The next FAI Ballooning Commission annual meeting will take place on on 18 and 19 March 2016 in Mallorca, Spain.

Pictures

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