Dear friends,



As you know, we concluded just a few days ago our annual plenary in Riyadh, capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The current bureau members of Rob Hughes (1st Vice President), Nayot Kurukitkoson (2nd Vice President), Barney Townsend (Secretary) and myself as President received the faith of all 15 delegates present as well as the 9 proxies.



On behalf of the bureau I would like to thank you for your confidence in us for the forthcoming year. The plenary also voted for Alf Nipe from Norway to be our new Treasurer. This bureau will do our best to run the CIMA business for the next 12 months.


While the draft minutes were made available to the Bureau on Sunday (a new record) and will be published soon, I would like to give some details of the main results of our meeting.



Before I do so, it is an honor to say thank you to our hosts this year, the Aeroclub of Saudi Arabia and our key contacts Aref, Kamil and, last but not least, Ayed for their most generous welcome. They treated us very well and gave us an interesting insight into the culture, history and hospitality of this country.



In the light of several changes to the legal definition of a microlight in Europe and overseas, CIMA has adjusted the MTOW in its definitions to open up competitions and records to these 'new' microlights:



Landplane flown solo                                         400kg


Landplane dual but flown solo                           500kg


Amphibian/seaplane solo                                   450kg


Amphibian/seaplane dual but solo                     550kg


Landplane dual                                                   600kg


Amphibian/seaplane dual                                   650kg


Autogyro operated on water                              650kg


GL1 fits into Landplane dual but flown solo     500kg


GL2 Autogyro fits into landplane dual              600kg

WL1 only, landplane flown solo and dual: no separate weight limit
WL2 only, landplane dual: no separate weight limit

As a consequence, the minimum speed was set to 83 km/h. The deck length for take offs and spot landings was also changed from 100 to 125 metres. Delegates hope that the adjustments to the new regulations around the world will attract more pilots to participate in our championships.



In addition, we want to reduce those tasks that are related only to the performance of the aircraft and less dependent on the skill of the pilot. Therefore, the following tasks have been removed from the task catalogue in S10, Annex 4:

• speed triangle out & return,
• speed triangle & turn point hunt,
• limited fuel & speed triangle
• duration & speed


What else was decided by the plenary?



• Lithuania was awarded the 15th FAI European Microlight Championships in early August 2019.

• The Egyptian bid to host once again an FAI World Paramotor Slalom Championship
was not accepted. Instead it was proposed to the organizer to hold an FAI World Paramotor Slalom Challenge as a  CAT2 event.


• There are indications that there may be interest from India in holding the FAI Asia Oceania 
• Paramotor Championships in 2019, but no firm details yet; 
• The bureau will investigate further and keep delegates updated.
• Brazil's bid to host the FAI World Paramotor Championships in 2020 was accepted.


• France intend to bid for the FAI World Paramotor Slalom Championships in 2020.


• Estonia confirm that they are intending to send a firm bid for hosting the 1st FAI World Paramotor Endurance Championships in 2020.


• The Czech bid for hosting the FAI World Microlight Championships 2020 was accepted by the plenary.


• An expression of interest came from Belgium for an FAI paramotor championship in 2021.


• All FAI World Championships in 2020 may be in conflict with the FAI World Air Games 2020 in Turkey. After getting more detailed information about the current status of WAG2020, CIMA will need to decide not only about the tasks and selection process but also about the CAT1 events in this year.



Of course, these are not the only issues discussed and decided at our plenary. All other items of importance will be mentioned in the minutes, which will be ready and published soon. There are some other reports on the CIMA WIKI which will give further details.


I hope that this brief summary will give you enough information to distribute to your competitors and to your national aero clubs. Of course, the CIMA bureau will continue to keep you updated whenever necessary.



On behalf of the CIMA bureau,
 with regards



Wolfgang Lintl

President

FAI CIMA (Microlight and Paramotor Commission)