57th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett - presentation video

The Event Organising Team has just created a new presentation video for the 57th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett that will take place in Nancy, France, from 23 to 31 August 2013.

Gordon Bennett 2013 à Nancy (du 23 au 31 août... par GordonBennettTV

2013 Rankings in Canopy Formations

The Mondial in Dubai saw the largest participation ever in a Canopy Formations World Championships, with new players entering the competition, particularly in the 2-Way Sequential event.  However the rankings are dominated by the three “big” players, USA (1st) France (2nd) and Russia (3rd) with Austrialia close behind.

With a First Category Event only being held every other year, persistence pays and there is no change in the top 3 places, even though France swept the board with gold medals in Dubai.

Ukraine, Italy, the Czech Republic and Argentina entered the competition for the first time.

In 4-Way Rotations Russia retains 1st place, with France 2nd and Belarus 3rd, so no change; but both China and Argentina enter for the first time.

4-Way Sequential had low participation in Dubai, unlike all the other disciplines – again dominated by the “big” players with USA retaining their 1st position, and France overtaking Russia to 2nd place, leaving Russia in 3rd.

The latest ranking lists can be found under "Documents"-  "Rankings" - "2013".

2013 FAI World Championship for Aerobatic Model Aircraft in Coburg, Germany

Watch the great flights that made Gernot Bruckmann from Austria a World Champion !

14th FAI World Helicopter Championship

There is now a playlist with all the videos of the competition on the CIG Youtube Channel

The World Games 2013: List of Parachuting and Paragliding competitors now official!

The list of the competitors selected for the Paragliding Accuracy and Parachuting Canopy Piloting events of The World Games 2013 has been released. In total, 36 athletes for each air sport gained entry to The World Games 2013 in Cali, Colombia.

Read more...

20 balloons to participate in the 57th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett

Following the call for registration which ended on 15 February, the countries participating in the 57th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett are now known, as well as the number of balloons representing each country. 20 gas balloons from 10 nations will take part in the event which will take place from 22 to 31 August 2013. The start point for the race is in Nancy, France.

Read more...

2013 FAI World Championship for Aerobatic Model Aircraft in Coburg, Germany

All the pictures of the competition, the pilots, the opening and prize ceremonies, and much more !

Icarus Cup 2013: First ever Human-Powered Aircraft Competition to be sanctioned by FAI

The FAI has today announced that the Human Powered Aircraft (HPA) Icarus Cup 2013 has been sanctioned by the FAI as an FAI 2nd Category Event. This is the very first time that this sport has featured in the FAI Events Calendar.

Read more...

Baumgartner’s Records Ratified by FAI !

The FAI has today ratified the 3 world records claimed by Austrian parachutist Felix Baumgartner for Maximum Vertical Speed, Exit Altitude and Vertical Distance of Freefall.

On 14 October 2012 and supported by a team of experts from the Red Bull Stratos Mission, Felix took off from Roswell, USA, aboard a pressurised capsule attached to a helium balloon. Wearing a specially designed suit, Felix was carried high into the sky up to an altitude of 38969.4m, where he exited the capsule and launched himself down towards Earth. Felix achieved a freefall distance of 36402.6 m and reached the speed of 1357.6 km/h before opening his parachute and landing safely on the ground.

Read more...

Plenary 2013 - A New Competition Class Is Born!

The 2012 CIVL Plenary in JiaoXi, Chinese Taipei, had decided that a new Competition Class should be created, implemented in 2014 and included in a “light” EN certification as soon as possible.

The 2013 CIVL Plenary in Lausanne, Switzerland, discussed at length the Paragliding Subcommittee proposals, amended it, and voted almost unanimously (minus 1 voice) for the implementation of a new CIVL-EN Competition Class (CECC).

For the first time, all parties involved in the decision making process agreed in a long term solution that comes as a conclusion to 14 years of debate about Serial vs. Open in Category 1 competitions (see our historical analysis here).

CIVL, EHPU, PWCA, test pilots and PMA worked on a compromise that they agreed is the best long-term solution available.

• The competition gliders will have a limitation on aspect ratio,
• This limitation might encourage more manufacturers to produce competition gliders.
• Using optimum speed, in conjunction with the new End of Speed Section rule, will give more importance in wing design and pilot strategy to best glide performance (instead of maximum speed).
• The in-flight test will be done in the same configuration as for of competition flying (current harness, pilot reacting).
• The certification tests are simplified, hence faster and cheaper, opening the way to certification of gliders of all size.
• The characteristics and procedures can be revised every two years, allowing both stability and development.
• The reference to EN test (lines, load, in-flight test) will speed up the implementation of a new EN standard that CIVL is ready to be part of.

The implementation date of the new CECC has been pushed back to 2015 so that:

• Pilots and manufacturers have more time to adapt to the new regulation.
• The 2013 and 2014 seasons are run with the same gliders: EN certified without additional limitations.

This new regulation concerns only Category 1 competitions. Regarding category 2 events, NACs are responsible for managing the sport in their own territories and are best placed to make judgements on which rules are appropriate for their events.