For the 5th time in a row, a “memorial hans gutmann tourist rally flight georgia 2016” was organized in the adventurous spirit of late austrian aviator hans gutmann. This year’s lustrum rally brought us to a very special and brand new general aviation destination, the beautiful country of georgia in the european caucasus

The preparation started back in 2015, when luxembourg based private pilot peter sodermans established contact with the owners airfield of natakhtari (ugsa) , north of the georgian capital tbilissi. An exploration team was put together with the organizer of the previous “memorial hans gutmann tourist rally flight”, jean birgen (fai-gac long range rally organizer), as well as the luxembourg based russian private pilots artem kirillov and mike kornev.

During this 4 day exploration tour in 2015, these 4 pilots were able to check the various airfields and establish contacts with aviation authorities in georgia. On top, they were well received in person by the young georgian state minister for eu and atlantic integration, david bakradze. The minister proved to be an aviation enthusiast and pledged his full support to the development of general aviation in his country. The bold plan to setup the lustrum edition of the “memorial hans gutmann tourist rally flight georgia 2016” to georgia was born.