107th FAI General Conference

The sessions of the 107th FAI General Conference were held in Royale Chulan Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 4 and 5 October 2013.

More than 150 delegates from 39 Active, 1 Associate, 1 Temporary Member Countries and 2 Affiliated Members were present, as well as FAI elected Officers, Presidents of Honour, Companions of Honour and delegates appointed by Presidents of Commissions and Observers.

The General Conference was officially opened on Thursday 3 October during a ceremony where FAI Awards and FAI Breitling Awards were presented.

For the first time, an electronic voting system was used during the sessions of the FAI General Conference. This new technology allowed a considerable gain of time during votes and will be re-used in the future.

FAI Companion of Honour

Mike Heuer from USA was appointed FAI Companion of Honour.

Mike Heuer is a founding member of IAC (the American Aerobatic Organization) and officiated as USA Delegate to the FAI Aerobatics Commission. He became President of the same Commission in 1986 and stayed in place for 26 years. During his administration, power and glider aerobatics have matured and different categories exist with more pilots participating in FAI Aerobatic Championships than ever before. He is a former member of the FAI Executive Board and the NAA and EAA Boards of Directors, he has received many awards including the FAI Silver Medal.

Projects

Reports on different projects were made during the General Conference. They included:

• Commercial Activities
  FAME's activities during the year include the signature of Memoranda of Understanding with three Airsports Commissions and the search for new sponsors
• Regional Vice Presidents
  The three Regional Vice Presidents (South East Asia, South America, South Africa) were present and reported on their past and future activities
• New FAI Organiser Agreement
  A new Organiser Agreement has been made for the World Air Games.
  Work for the the new Organiser Agreement for FAI sanctioned competition is in progress.
• FAI Anti-doping Programme
  The FAI Anti-doping Programme is now running efficiently, with the management of the Registered Testing Pool (RTP), the set-up of the out and in competition testing and the development of educational activities
• IWGA The World Games 2013
  The World Games 2013 in Cali, Colombia, were a significant success for the FAI, as three sports featured at the programme (parachuting canopy piloting, paragliding accuracy and indoor aeromodelling as a demonstration sport). All tickets for the airsports events were sold out for all four competition days. 
• FAI World Air Games
  Several options are being examined for the location of the 2015 FAI World Air Games, and discussions with potential host cities are still ongoing. A decision is expected to be made by the FAI Executive Board in December 2013.

New FAI Members

• Libya - Active Member, Class 10
• Peru - Active Member, Class 10
• Portugal (Federação Portuguesa de Aeromodelismo) - Associate Member, Aeromodelling
• Laos - Temporary Member

Future General Conferences

The participants at the FAI General Conference voted in favour of the bid by Royal Netherlands Aeronautical Association (KNVvL) to host the 109th FAI General Conference in Rotterdam in 2015.

The next FAI General Conference will take place in from 17 to 18 October 2014 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Elections

There were no elections this year, except for the Statutes Working Group and CASI Active Members Representatives.

The next elections for the FAI Executive Board, including the Presidency, will take place in 2014.

Technical Commissions

The FAI Aviation and Space Education Commission and the FAI Environmental Commission remain technical commissions and the question of their conversion into Expert Groups will be discussed at the next FAI General Conference.

Minutes

The Minutes of the General Conference will be released at the beginning of 2014.

Pictures

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