On writing this we have exactly six weeks for the beginning of the
practice period of the 8th European Gliding Championships. The winter in
Finland has been longer than usual. You could ski in Helsinki area till
the beginning of April, which is very rare. However, the huge snowbanks
are disappearing quickly and the real gliding season will start any day.
Free Cambridge loggers limited to 50 units
The demand of free Cambridge GNSS Flight Recorders surprised the manufacturer.
Dave Ellis of Cambridge told that he is able to deliver only 50 units for the
EGC96. Our need is larger. Therefore we had to change our policy and rules.
Instead of accepting only IGC approved FRs, we have decided to accept three
non-approved FRs, which are under evaluation by IGC. These units are Peschges
VP8, Filser and Flugtechnik.
Please, find enclosed a revised questionnaire concerning the need and
usage of different FRs (not in this HTML version). We ask everybody to send the
questionnaire by fax back to us once again and as soon as possible.
After receiving them back we are able to find out the distribution of the
loggers. Peschges has offered their VP8 for rental. The price will be
350 DEM + German VAT/3 weeks. If the need of Cambridge is still higher
than 50, we will share the surplus evenly between the participating
countries.
We need a new Jury Member
Alf Ingesson-Thoor was promoted in Swedish Airforce. Because of his new
position he is forced to attend an important course, which overlaps
totally EGC96. Since this fact came out, Tor Johannessen asked us to
make Hannes Linke the Jury President. We are working hard with Tor and
Alf to find a new Jury Member. By the time of this writing we are still
missing him/her, but we will find an able-body person for the job.
Janet Janowitsch will be the editor of the Daily Bulletin
In the Bulletin Number 4 I wrote that we have a good hope the get a
well-known international person as an editor of our Daily Bulletin. This
dream became true. Janet Janowitsch of Austria/Australia will join the
organizing team. In addition to being an international level competition
pilot Janet is currently also the editor of the European Gliding News.
The name of our Bulletin comes from 1976 World Gliding Championships. It
will be called Groundloop. Our plan is to send at least a summary of Groundloop
to Internet so that it can be accessed from the results table. As you remember,
the URL:s of EGC96 -pages are:
We are very happy to tell you that there will 12 powerful towplanes in our
fleet during the contest. In addition to Finnish Pawnees and Agwagons we
will have three Wilgas from Estonia and two from Lithuania. Also the
Volvo-engined Swedish Pawnee may show up.
Remember the flags!
A local hardware shop arranged us brand new flagpoles almost free of
charge. However, we do not have the flags of all different countries. Please,
bring one flag for the permanent flying and one or more for the prize giving
ceremony with you. The height of the poles is 7-8 meters. Do not forget to
bring your National Anthem in a C-cassette, too.
Money matters
The competition office will accept Visa, Eurocard and Mastercard
credit cards in addition to cash in Finnish currency. The local
restaurant Lift&Sink will accept only cash. Our souvenir shop will
receive all currencies and all major credit cards.
The Team captains mobile phones sponsored by Mäkitorppa, Radiolinja and
Nokia will include phone calls up to FIM 300 (< FIM 0,99/min to other EGC96 GSMs). Calls
in excess to this must be paid by the teams. The phones are only for loan. They are for
sale after the competition. Please, tell us if you are interested in buying one (Nokia
2110). With the special EGC96 cover they will be collector's items in the future.
The Nokia dealer, Mäkitorppa will rent GSM mobile phones, if the teams
need more than the free one. The price will be FIM 600 for the competition
period + the phone calls. Give us a note of your needs. The camping fee in the
airfield will be FIM 35/caravan/night. The price includes electricity, sauna, showers etc.
A unique trophy by a famous Finnish sculptor
Janne Horma Memorial Trophy is a new unique trophy for the European Soaring Cup. The best
Team can keep this beautiful bird until the next Europeans. The Trophy has been created by
the famous Finnish sculptor Kain Tapper. He has donated the Trophy for this purpose to commemorate
his - and our - friend Juhani Horma, the creator of Räyskälä, who lost his life in a
tragic accident last Christmas.
Missing contest numbers
Enclosed entry list is not complete. We are still missing the details of
some gliders. The official Competition Program will be an annex of our
National Aviation Magazine, Ilmailu. We would prefer to have all the
details in the program as accurate as possible.
Kai Mönkkönen has a list of gliders for rent. There are competitive
gliders available for standard and 15-meter class, but unfortunately not
for the open class. The models include Discus, SZD-55, LS-7 and LS-6.
Contact Kai Mönkkönen for details.
Phone numbers and frequencies
Among the several annexes of this Bulletin you will find a list of team
frequencies and telephone numbers. Till about mid-May the numbers of the
Finnish Aeronautical Association are the best contacts. After that the
Räyskälä numbers become valid. The mobile phone numbers of the
organization are valid already now.
Pay attention that all the phone and fax numbers of Finnish Aeronautical
Association have been changed since the previous Bulletins (the correct
information is available from WWW also).
The annexes include a revised list of turn points, too. There are some
minor changes comparing to the earlier lists.
Contact us any time with your questions!
We look forward seeing you all in Räyskälä soon. Don't hesitate to
contact us if you have any questions. The best contact during the
next two weeks is Kai Mönkkönen. I will have a special flight around the
World and will be back in Finland only at May 5th.
Dr. Günther Eichhorn Travel Website
Soaring website