World XC Online Contest: the 2014 winners

Since 2010, the CIVL/FAI World XC Online Contest has hang-gliding and paragliding pilots of the world participating.

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CIAM Flyer (1-2015) - They can’t stop enjoy flying

Catapult Gliders is a brilliant class to start a flying career with and the class can also give the expert flyer lots of fun. Simple, cheap and quick models to build and flying is spectacular.

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Two Eagles Balloon Lands in Mexico After Crossing the Pacific Ocean in a Record Time

Two Eagles Balloon landed on Saturday just off the Baja coast near La Poza Grande in Mexico, at six days, 16 hours and 37 minutes into the mission after taking off from Saga, Japan, on Sunday 25 January. The pilots Troy Bradley and Leonid Tiukhtyaev made a controlled descent to a gentle water landing about four miles off the Baja coast.  They have been picked up by a fishing boat and taken to shore.

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Birmingham, USA, wins the bid to host The World Games 2021

The International World Games Association (IWGA) awarded the organisation of The World Games 2021 to Birmingham, Alabama, USA. This decision was announced this morning by IWGA President José Perurena at a press conference in Lausanne, Switzerland, in the presence of FAI representatives.

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Colombia welcomes the Paragliding World Championship

The 14th FAI World Paragliding Championship has started on January 10th in Roldanillo, Colombia, with 148 pilots and 38 nations.

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FAI Sailplane Grand Prix news January 2015

The first FAI Sailplane Grand Prix event of 2015 at Worcester in the Cape Mountains of South Africa produced some spectacular races. The fastest race speed was 189.9 Kilometres per hour by Laurens Goudriaan of South Africa during race 4 with a fantastic flight around 475 kilometres, even the slowest winning race speed was 138 kilometres per hour. The contest was a close match with a battle for first place between Laurens and Uli Schwenck of Germany but Laurens last two day wins clinched the first place and this top pair blew away the opposition with their consistent and very fast flying. The race location at Worcester has proved itself to have a great potential as a Grand Prix site and I am sure there are many pilots who will be keen to fly the next event there. See all the results and event videos at http://www.sgp.aero/southafrica2015

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CIAM Flyer (6-2014) - Creating Aeromodelling Exhibitions

Whenever aeromodellers appear in public, they encounter an appreciative audience. Air shows outdoors, in a stadium or an indoor arena, are among the most important communication instruments. While championships are more likely to be of interest to insiders, the variety presented at an air show can inspire a broader audience. During the colder seasons, during extended periods of strong winds, rain or snow, exhibitions of model aircraft in large indoor spaces will always draw crowds.

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1985-2014 : The Two Stories of the Exceptional Pilots Who Flew Over Himalaya on a Glider

The Himalaya and its vast territories, gigantic mountains, spiritual people and wild beauty have long exerted extraordinary fascination - which is far from fading.

Ever since the 19^th century when Europeans were increasingly present in the region, adventurers coming from all around the world strived to understand its culture and conquer its vast lands and high summits. The tops of Kamet, Minya Konka, Kabru and Annapurna were the first to be reached in the 30s and early 50s, and in 1953 Sir Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa Tensing Norgay ascended the tallest of them all, the Everest. The immense worldwide impact of their successful expedition, which instantly made of Hillary and Tensing Norgay living legends, contributed to fuel the myth of the Everest and of the whole of Himalaya. Since then, all the mountains of the Himalaya chain have been climbed and thousands of hikers and trekkers come to Nepal every year in search for adventures and challenges.

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New FAI Anti-Doping Rules to Come into Force on 1 January 2015

The World Anti-Doping Agency approved a new version of its World Anti-Doping Code during their last Conference. This comes into force on January 1st, 2015. This required a revision of the FAI Anti-Doping Rules.  The new code also gave us some extra flexibility with details in our FAI rules. After a thorough and careful review, the FAI Anti-Doping Rules have been approved by WADA and by the FAI Executive Board and will also come into force on January 1st, 2015. They can be downloaded here.

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Executive Board and Liaison Officers in Dubai to Discuss the FAI World Air Games

FAI officials gathered in Dubai this week to get to know the members of the Organising Committee, the host city and the competition venues of the FAI World Air Games Dubai 2015. A series of meetings were held where the Executive Board and the FAI World Air Games Experts from the Sports Commissions discussed the key issues pertinent to FAI’s flagship event.

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