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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Preview of the FAI Sailplane Grand Prix in Spain

Sunday 17 April 2016 will be the first race day of the second Sailplane Grand Prix 2016 in the beautiful valley of Cerdanya, nestled in the eastern Pyrenees. The Cerdanya valley has a remarkable micro climate providing consistent and exciting conditions for sailplane racing. At 3000ft above sea level it is one of the highest airfields in Europe and the 9000ft mountains on each side of the valley provide the pilots with potential for high speed racing.

The  list of competing pilots contain several great names who are seriously competing for a coveted qualification for the FAI/SGP final to be held at Potchefstroom South Africa in November 2016.

If you compare previous results, the favourite to win has to be Christophe Ruch (France). Ruch was runner up in the last FAI/SGP in Varese Italy narrowly losing first place to his fellow countryman Maximilian Seis. His performance in the last few Europeans Championships show the depth of his ability,  3^rd in 2015, 2^nd in 2013 and the champion in 2011. Winning last year’s French FAI/SGP event and second place in the 2015 final is evidence of his understanding of the tactics for SGP racing and his commitment to reaching the top of this event.

There are at least two pilots who will make sure Ruch has to perform really well to take the top spot.  Fellow countryman Louis Bouderlique and from Great Britain Mike Young are probably the two most likely to squeeze Ruch at the top. 

Bouderlique has a very impressive record. He is current French National 15m Champion and winner of the 2013 European 15m Championships. Not having flown an SGP event since 2008 he will surely be a behind the curve tactically but will no doubt soon be in the groove of SGP flying and pushing for a first place. 

Mike Young has not been as active in International contests in recent years but his 3^rd place in the 18m World Gliding Championships in 2012 is testament to the depth of his experience and talent. Young, who has more recent experience in SGP events, took 4^th place in the 2014 Spain SGP contest, and this experience may well give him a small edge. 

Of the other pilots in the contest there are several who are capable of a surprise top place. Philippe de Pechy from France is a very experienced and competent pilot. Jorge Arias is the top Spanish pilot in the contest and will certainly be very competitive now that he has a competitive Ventus 2 sailplane. Fridolin Hauser from Switzerland is a very experienced mountain pilot who won a race day in the 2014 Spain SGP but is probably not as competitive as in the past.  However, he will no doubt be there amongst the day results on some of the race days.

The races will be covered live using the excellent imaging of Silent Wings Studio and the local team will be working hard to bring you all the news and action as it happens.

Check out the Spain FAI/SGP event website for daily news and race coverage and join us on facebook and Twitter for updates.

SGP correspondent 11.04.2016          

News from IGC Plenary

The IGC Plenary meeting took place in the city of Luxembourg on 26 – 27 February 2015.  There were 35 countries represented.  Members of the Plenum and their guests were welcomed by the Luxembourg Delegates, Carlo Lecuit and Arny Weber.  Of special note was the attendance by the Delegate from China, Zhaofang Han.

We were honored by the presence of FAI President John Grubbstrom.

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SC3 Erratum

Gliding pilot Sebastian Kawa named Athlete of the Month by IWGA

The International World Games Association (IWGA) announced the nomination of Polish pilot Sebastian Kawa as the Athlete of the Month for December 2015. 

Kawa has just won the Gliding event of the FAI World Air Games Dubai 2015 and has been keeping himself at the top of Gliding competitions for more than a decade. 

FAI congratulates him on this great news.

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First sailplane flight over Dubai

On 7 December 2015 an historic first flight of a sailplane over the skyline of Dubai was performed. The pilots were Klaus Ohlmann and Tilo Holighaus.

Here is Klaus's story of that flight.

After my presentation at the end of the Aeromedical congress, I paid a visit to our gliding friends in the Desert Drop Zone, where they were engaged in the "Gliding Match Race" event. Afterwards, we joined the German team for dinner in their hotel.

As part of the effort to demonstrate our sport in Dubai, Schempp-Hirth had brought a brand new Arcus M , the latest doubleseater of their glider production. Tilo Holighaus proposed to me the idea of making some VIP-Flights with the Arcus. It was his brother Ralf who innocently posed the question of whether the famous skyscrapers of Dubai could produce lift, with an onshore breeze from the Gulf.

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FAI World Air Games Dubai 2015

From 1 to 12 December, the FAI World Air Games Dubai 2015 celebrated air sports from around the world.

875 athletes from 55 countries competed in the biggest air sport event ever organised !

• Pictures
• Videos
• News articles
• Press releases in Arabic, English, French, German, Russian and Spanish

New Gliding Competition Format at the FAI World Air Games Dubai 2015

A new and exciting format of gliding competition will be used for the very first time at the FAI World Air Games Dubai 2015: the FAI Gliding Match Racing. Six elite pilots will compete in two identical high performance Discus 18 meter sailplanes. The competitors will race against each of the other pilots in a round robin event for 5 days from 4 to 9 December.

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FAI World Air Games Dubai 2015 - Gliding Bulletin

The Gliding Bulletin for the FAI World Air Games Dubai 2015 is now available for download.

New Sporting Code Documents

The 2015 Edition of Sporting Code Section 3 (Gliding) becomes effective on 1 October 2015.