13 November 1926: The FAI World Record of Major Mario de Bernardi

One of the last records we would like to commemorate this year comes from an Italian pilot, famous in civil and military aviation:

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12 November 1906: The first flight by Santos-Dumont

110 years ago, exactly today, the first officially observed flight in Europe that was longer than 25m was performed in Paris (FRA) by the Brazilian Aviation Pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont, resident in France and famous for his experiments with small airships and balloons.

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40 Years Ago Today: Eldon Joersz became the fastest man in the world – a record that still stands today

On this day in history Eldon W Joersz officially became the fastest man in the world, when he flew his US Air Force Blackbird plane at an astonishing 3,529.56km/h (2,194 mph).

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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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2015 FAI Annual Report released

The 2015 FAI Annual Report provides an overview of all our activities with plenty of pictures. More compact than the previous editions, it includes the competitions, records, awards, our sponsor Breitling, our partner Red Bull Air Race, and much more!

• View online Flipbook
• Download PDF

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Winners of the 2016 FAI Young Artists Contest Revealed

The FAI international jury selected the winning paintings of the 2016 FAI Young Artists Contest, a competition which every year honours the best paintings from youngsters in three age categories from 7 to 16 years old.

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USA Tops the Final Medal Table of the FAI World Air Games

The United States has finished at the top of the medal table at the FAI World Air Games Dubai 2015, with 7 gold medals, 4 silver and 6 bronze. USA led a tight battle with France which just missed the top by 1 gold medal and takes second place with 6 gold, 10 silver, and 2 bronze medals. Russia came third with 6 gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze.

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Flying high: final FAI World Air Games medals awarded

Twelve sets of medals were awarded at the Closing Ceremony of the FAI World Air Games in Dubai, as the sun set on the two-week event celebrating air sports from around the world.

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Glider Match Racing and General Aviation medal ceremony

The winners of the General Aviation and Glider Match Racing stepped up for their medals yesterday (December 9), at a ceremony held at the Sky Dubai Palm Dropzone.

Polish glider pilot Sebastian Kawa claimed gold in the Glider Match Racing, after a thrilling final against Austrian Werner Amann. Tilo Holighaus of Germany took bronze.

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Off the map: Norevik and Strømme win the Air Navigation Race

Norwegian pilot Kurt Norevik and navigator Petter Strømme flew their way along an unmarked corridor in the desert using only a compass, a stop watch and their eyes to win the Air Navigation Race at the FAI World Air Game.

The pair were among 14 teams competing in this new race designed to test piloting skills, held at the Desert Dropzone. Spectators followed the pilots as they flew the course via live tracking online.

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