Youngest helicopter pilots qualified for the 14th FAI World Helicopter Championship

The FAI Rotorcraft Commission (CIG) announces the preliminary results of their worldwide search to find the youngest qualified helicopter pilots.

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The 3rd FAI Asia Paragliding Championship has started!

The 3rd FAI Asia Paragliding Championship has started in Linzhou, People's Republic of China. We publish at News of Events pages regular updates on this competition. The competition started May the 24th and will end on June the 2nd. About 70 pilots are attending the competition. Most pilots are Asian and a few come from other continents. Pilots are seen here lining up for registration.

Launch of the FAI On-line Helicopter Competition

The FAI has just launched the FAI On-line Helicopter Competition with the aim of giving the opportunity to helicopter pilots from all around the world to pit their skills against each other in an exciting and easy to organise competition. The first year runs from 1 April 2012.

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1st Memorial flight Rally Hans Gutmann: A well-known and respected pilot to be remembered

In remembrance of Hans Gutmann, his friends of the Austrian and Luxembourg Aero-Club Karl Brandstetter and Jean Birgen have taken up the organisation of the 1st Memorial flight Rally Hans Gutmann. Departing on 16 June 2012 from Gragnano Trebbiense, Italy, the pilots will stop in France, Spain, Portugal and France before arriving in Bitburg, Germany, on 23/24 June. Pilots can participate in one or several stages of the flight.

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The first two gliding international competitions in Europe !

 The gliding season is nearly to start in Europe with the first two international events that will take place in the same period, in Germany with the 2012 Teutorace and in Italy with the Trofeo Città di Torino, now in its fortieth edition.

Follow these two exciting competitions that will start on Easter Sunday (April 7th) !

• FAI Gliding Events Calendar

IPETA

Announcing the formation of the International Parachute Event and Tours Association following agreement at the FAI/IPC 63rd Plenary Meeting in Argentina.

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Dates from the competition diary in London’s Olympic Year 2012

Gliding is not yet an Olympic sport but there is plenty for enthusiasts of all levels to look forward to in this Olympic Year, 2012, even if the temporary London area no-fly zones will affect some British glider pilots during their short summer season!

A new FAI Sailplane Grand Prix series begins with qualifying events in Romania, from 29th April, South Africa, September 28th, Australia in November and Chile in December, offering a great variety of conditions and scenery across the world to challenge the best of the best pilots in competition today.

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Venues for the 2012/2013 FAI Sailplane Grand Prix Qualifying events

The calendar for the SGP Qualifying Series for 2012-2013 has been set:

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3rd Dubai International Parachuting Championship & Gulf Cup 2011 - Daily Diary - 4th December

Day 4 - Almost over for some, long way to go for others - and all to play for.

An unusual Baloon amongst those helping to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Indepednce Day	Along with the 16way CF stack (pictures to follow) skydivers built a "happy birthday" message with fun and respect.

Another long day for the Accuracy jumpers, early start and late finish.  At least in Dubai it does not run on into the evening, as it is dark by 5.30 - and we are treated to magnificent sunsets at the end of each day.  This is really developing into an interesting and tight competition : at the end of 5 rounds appropriately the Male Individual event has in first place one of the UAE competitors, Al Gaith Ahmed Rashed on 1cm with 4 tied for 2nd place on 2 cm and 5 tied in third place with 3 cm.  Their 6th round commences early tomorrow after the Female 5th round is completed.  The competition here is between the Chinese and Russian competitors with China in 1st and 2nd  Russia in 3rd and Chinese and Russian tied in 4th place.

Whilst Formation Skydiving completed the 7th round, Canopy Piloting filled the middle of the day with two exciting rounds of Distance.  With a moderate following wind for the first round there were no huge scores, but after mid-day the wind picked up and the 2nd round gave some very impressive runs and a few bruise inducing arrivals, as each competitor pushed the limits of their performances.  Many of the judges for Formation Skydiving are also judging Canopy Piloting, and so the 8th round of FS, planned for the afternoon has been rescheduled to later in the week to allow the round 7 scores to be published, and to give those competitors a day off in Dubai.

Meanwhile Canopy Formations continued, by the end of the day 4 rounds of all events had been jumped and scored.  The weather forecast for tomorrow is similar to today and so it is planned to continue with the Accuracy, then Canopy Piloting with another round of Accuracy and one of Speed.  Canopy Formations will continue to take place out on the Racecourse in the town.

3rd Dubai International Parachuting Championship & Gulf Cup 2011 - Daily Diary - 30th November 2011

Official Opening

The opening ceremony commenced at 8.00 p.m. to packed stands and everyone was treated to a beautiful and spectacular ceremony.  The speeches were kept short and welcomed all to the 3rd Dubai International Parachuting Championships and Gulf Cup.

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