XXXVI Congress

for the 36th OSTIV Congress, 19 – 23 August, 2024, to be held at the site of the 38th FAI World Gliding Championships for the 18m-, 20m-, and Open Classes, in Uvalde, TX, USA. The Congress will be organized as a hybrid meeting, with excellent facilities available for those who attend in person, and with online streaming as well.

For those who plan to attend in person it is strongly recommend to take care about accommodation as soon as possible. Options are shown at https://wgc2024uvalde.com/housing/. The WGC organizers have negotiated special rates for attendees of the competition and of the OSTIV Congress. All of the hotels are within a 5 minute drive of the airport and the Junior College where the Congress will take place. For additional options, reach out to the WGC housing team at Housing@wgc2024uvalde.com.

The Congress addresses all scientific and technical aspects of soaring flight including motorgliding, hang-gliding, paragliding, ultralight sailplanes and aeromodelling.

Opportunity for presentation and discussion of papers is given in the following categories:

Meteorological Sessions

• Meteorology:
  Meteorological data acquisition and service for gliding operations,
  Weather forecasting for soaring flight
  Digital technologies
• Climatology:
  Climates that support soaring flight
  Climate change and soaring
• Atmospheric Physics:
  Period cycles, turbulence, boundary layers in complex terrains
  Analytical techniques of delineating thermal and mesoscale structures from routine or experimental ground and/or flight data, or from remote sensors
  Modeling of thermals, mesoscale or microscale structures

Sessions on Sailplane Design and Development

Sessions will cover all aspects of the design, development and operation of sailplanes. Topics may include

• Airworthiness, structural concepts, new materials, fatigue, crash-worthiness, and manufacturing processes
• Aerodynamics and flight mechanics
• Trajectory optimization
• Stability and control
• Airframe vibration and flutter
• Propulsion systems
• Design integration and optimization
• New developments in flight testing
• Airworthiness requirements
• Cockpit instruments, including navigation instruments
• Autonomous soaring

Training and Safety Sessions

Training and Safety sessions will be held on subjects covering disciplines such as

• Flight training, theory and analysis of techniques and results, psychology, objectives, training facilities and material
• Human and medical factors in aircraft design and operation
• Piloting techniques
• Flight operation in controlled airspace
• Safety devices
• Advanced Risk Management or Safety Management Systems (SMS) focused on soaring operations

Joint Sessions

Joint Sessions cover topics of general interest in the field of gliding such as

• Soaring history
• General philosophy of competition classes
• Documentation of badge and record flights
• Common interests with other air sports like hang-gliding, paragliding, microlights and ultralights
• Human-powered flight; solar-powered flight.

Deadlines for Abstracts and Final Congress Contribution

The deadline for the Abstracts - max. two A4 pages including figures - is 1 March, 2024. Letters of acceptance together with instructions for paper preparation will be mailed by 15 April, 2024. Final four-page summaries of your contribution to be included in the conference booklet are requested by 15 June, 2024. The four-page summaries of all presentations will be published as part of the Conference Proceedings. The Proceedings will be referenceable by its ISBN. Please use the form below to send a copy of your Abstract to the OSTIV Secretariat, admin@ostiv.org .

Congress Presentations

Oral presentations at the Congress will be limited to 30 minutes. There is no registration fee for the Congress. OSTIV encourages submission of full papers to the international journal Technical Soaring (ISSN 0744-8996) after the Congress.

Support for Student Participation to the Congress

OSTIV encourages university students to attend the Congress in person. Therefore, students can apply for partial re-imbursement of the cost of travel to the Congress. Re-imbursement will be limited to 50% of the travel fare, not exceeding the amount of EUR 400. Invoices of travel fares and proof of enrolment in study programme must be shown during the time of the Congress.

Best Student Papers Awards

Awards of EUR 400 will be presented to the students delivering the best presentations throughout the Congress. We seek papers by Bachelor students, Master students, and doctoral students. To be eligible, student presenters must be the first author and submit an abstract and four-page summary by the aforementioned deadlines, as well as a manuscript to Technical Soaring prior to the Congress. Students who are unable to attend the Congress may use the online stream to present their work.

Nominations OSTIV Plaque / Klemperer Award

During the Opening Ceremony of OSTIV Congresses the OSTIV Plaque and Klemperer Award may be presented to the person who has made the most noteworthy scientific and/or technical contribution to soaring flight in recent years. All OSTIV Members can send in nominations. In making such nominations, particular attention should be given to recent contributions to soaring flight by the nominee, although earlier outstanding work also will be taken into account. Nominations should include details of the nominee’s contributions and a short biography. All nominations for the OSTIV Plaque / Klemperer Award must be received by R. Radespiel, the President of OSTIV, ℅ TU Braunschweig, Institute of Fluid Mechanics, Hermann-Blenk-Str. 37, D-38108 Braunschweig, Germany, president@ostiv.org by 1 March, 2024.

Congress Site and Attendance

The Congress will be organized as a hybrid meeting, and it will take place at the site of the 38th FAI World Gliding Championships for the 18m-, 20m-, and Open Classes, in Uvalde, Texas, USA. Meeting rooms will be provided by the Southwest Texas Junior College, which is located close to the airport. The Congress Organizer will provide an online means of Congress participation.