Russian Adventurer Fedor Konyukhov launches Solo Around-The-World Bid

On Tuesday, 12 July at 07:30 Local Time (00:30 UTC), Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov, 65, took off in a hot-air balloon in Northam, Western Australia, in a bid to beat the record time for a solo flight around the world. This has only been achieved once before by no other than the late American aviator legend Steve Fossett, who also took off from Northam Airfield in 2002 and is still a current FAI World Record. Konyukhov and his team have been preparing for the challenge for close to a year. He is confident that the balloon’s new technology will help him to break the standing record. He is hoping to fly 33,000km in 13 days or less.

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22 September 1936: The FAI World Record of Maurice Claisse

The Bréguet Dorand aircraft was an experimental helicopter which was built in the Gyroplane Laboratoire in France.

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7 September 1956: The first human flies above 100.000 feet

60 years ago on 7 September 1956, American Test pilot Iven C. Kincheloe Jr. flew at more than 3.200 km/h (2.000 mp/h) and to a height of 38.5 km (126.200 feet), becoming the first human ever to fly above 100.000 feet with the Bell X-2 rocket-powered research airplane.

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Gearing up for the 20th FAI European Aerobatic Championships 2016

The Czech Republic is gearing up to host the 20th European Aerobatic Championship at the end of August – and has won some high-level approval from inside the Czech government.

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Paramotor Slalom Champion: Alex Mateos

Alex Mateos won the 2nd FAI European Slalom Paramotor Championships in Spain in June. This was only the second time this competition has been held in this rapidly evolving discipline.

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12 June 1936: The FAI World Record of Louise Thaden

Today we would like to commemorate a female American pioneer and a major figure in aviation who was not only a highly successful Golden Age air racer and holder of various aviation records, but also one of the first female pilots to make aviation her business. On 12 July 1936, exactly 80 years ago, Mrs. Louise Thaden set a FAI World Record in Female Light Plane “Speed over 100km” by reaching a speed of 176,356 km/h (109.582 mp/h) in a 90-horsepower Porterfield at Endless Caverns, Virginia (USA).

Click here to read more: FAI Dossier.

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Enter the 2017 FAI Young Artist Contest and Show Us Your Vision of Flying!

Does flying make you dream? Yes? Then pick up your pens, pencils or brushes and enter the 2017 FAI Young Artists Contest to reach for the clouds. The aim is to create a picture that illustrates this years’ theme “Beyond the Clouds”, and to show us your vision through your eyes!

Youngsters from three age categories: Junior (6-9), Intermediate (10-13), Senior (14-17) are invited to participate.

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Bertrand Piccard’s New York - Seville Flight: Performance Notifications Received by FAI

The FAI has received the following performance notifications from the Solar Impulse team, following Bertrand Piccards’s flight from New York (JFK International Airport), USA, to Seville (International Airport), Spain, with the solar-powered aeroplane “Solar Impulse 2”. 

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Bertrand Piccard is on his way back to Europe!

Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard is following Charles Lindbergh’s path as he took off from JFK International Airport in order to cross the Atlantic Ocean – one of the most challenging legs of the circumnavigation!

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Photo book of the FAI World Air Games 2015 Now Available !

The success of the FAI World Air Games spurred us to compile in a book the very best of the competition.

When flicking through the pages, you will easily understand why we titled it “The Sky is Our Stadium”: for twelve days in a row, the sky of Dubai was filled with fantastic competitions and spectacular air shows. Via the impactful pictures we remember all these special moments that marked what was the biggest multi-airsports event ever organised.

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