Niviuk's new two-line competition wing, the Icepeak 5
CIVL has shortened by two weeks the 60-day rule for manufacturers of Open Class paragliders for the 2011 World Championships.
The new deadline for registering a paraglider to be used in the competition in Piedrahita is now 20 May 2011 – 45 days instead of 60 days before the World Championships in Spain.
The move seems to have come because some manufacturers were not ready to submit their gliders to the FAI for registration.
In an email sent on 9 May, CIVL president John Aldridge acknowledged the short timescale manufacturers have been working to and gave those manufacturers two weeks grace. He wrote:
Although most manufacturers of Competition Class gliders have worked with the existing 60 day deadline to register their glider models at www.fai.org/hang_gliding/compclassgliders some manufacturers started a little later and the work of testing and documentation is still in progress for them.
The CIVL Bureau recognises that, although a lot of information was provided as we worked toward the new rules, manufacturers could not be certain that the Plenary would approve these proposals. Some felt it prudent to wait until these rules were actually published; others were more involved in the process and had the confidence to start the new and more complicated process early.
For this reason the Bureau has agreed to allow a little more time. The new (and final) deadline for completion of testing and registration is Friday 20th May.
Under the new rules for competition gliders, paragliders have to be built and load-tested 60 days before the World Championships. Pilots have to have received them 30 days before the comp.
The rule change, which was adopted earlier this year, is to stop manufacturers and pilots turning up at the competition with un-flown and possibly un-inflated prototype comp gliders.
The tweak in the new rules comes a few days after the initial list of registered paragliders was published.
That list, published last week, included five Ozone R10s / R11s, the Swing Core2, Axis Mercury 2, Advance comp wing, Gin Boomerang 8, Niviuk Icepeak 5, UP’s Edge XR and Aircross U6.
Sol’s Tracer and TR2 and Apco’s Enigma are listed as ‘partially documented’.
Under the 60-day rule gliders must undergo strength testing and manufacturers must submit documentary evidence (like this publicly available Ozone R11 internal test report) and video (not made public) to the FAI showing how their gliders react in certain SIV situations.
The rule change only affects manufacturers. Pilots will still have to comply with their 30-day rule: pilots must be in possession of their comp glider a full 30 days before the championship starts.
The 12th FAI Paragliding World Championships kicks off in Piedrahita, Spain on 3 July later this year.
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