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World Air Sports Federation

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
Abbreviation	FAI
Formation	14 October 1905; 119 years ago (1905-10-14)
Founded at	Paris, France
Type	Nonprofit
Location	Lausanne, Switzerland
President	Greg Principato
Secretary General	Markus Haggeney
Website	www.fai.org

The World Air Sports Federation (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintains world records for aeronautical activities, including ballooning, aeromodeling, and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), as well as flights into space.

History

The FAI was founded at a conference held in Paris 12–14 October 1905, which was organized following a resolution passed by the Olympic Congress held in Brussels on 10 June 1905 calling for the creation of an Association "to regulate the sport of flying, ... the various aviation meetings and advance the science and sport of Aeronautics." The conference was attended by representatives from 8 countries: Belgium (Aéro Club Royal de Belgique, founded 1901), France (Aéro-Club de France, 1898), Germany (Deutscher Luftschiffer Verband aka "German Airship League", founded 1902), Great Britain (Royal Aero Club, 1901), Italy (Aero Club d'Italia [it], 1904), Spain (Real Aero Club de España [es], 1905), Switzerland (Aero-Club der Schweiz, 1900) and the United States (Aero Club of America, 1905).

On 2 February 2017 the FAI announced its new strategic partnership with international asset management firm Noosphere Ventures. FAI Secretary General Susanne Schödel, FAI President Frits Brink and Noosphere Ventures Managing Partner Max Polyakov signed the agreement, making Noosphere Ventures FAI's Global Technical Partner.

The FAI suspended Russia and Belarus due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, as a result of which pilots from Russia and Belarus will not be able to compete in any FAI-sanctioned event in the 13 FAI air sports disciplines, including paragliding, hang gliding, and paramotoring.

FAI General Conference

The 117th FAI General Conference took place in Dayton, Ohio, US (the 'Birthplace of Aviation') on 26 and 27 October 2023.

The 118th FAI General Conference was held from 20 to 21 November 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The 119th FAI General Conference will take place in Vantaa, Finland from 22 to 24 October 2025.

Sports

13 Sports:

1. Aeromodelling (modelling (space modulation) – Space Modelling)
2. Amateur-Built & Experimental Aircraft
3. Ballooning
4. Drones
5. General Aviation
6. Gliding
7. Hang Gliding
8. Microlights and Paramotors
9. Paragliding
10. Powered and glider aircraft Aerobatics
11. Rotorcraft
12. Parachuting (Skydiving)
13. Space

Air Sport Commissions

1. General Air Sports (CASI)
2. Aerobatics (CIVA)
3. Aeromodelling (CIAM)
4. Amateur-Built and Experimental Aircraft (CIACA)
5. Astronautic Records (ICARE)
6. Ballooning (CIA)
7. General Aviation (GAC)
8. Gliding (IGC)
9. Hang Gliding and Paragliding (CIVL)
10. Microlight and Paramotor (CIMA)
11. Rotorcraft (CIG)
12. Skydiving (ISC)

Events

• World Air Games
• World Paragliding Championships
• World Gliding Championships
• World Parachuting Championships
• FAI World Aerobatic Championships
• World Hot Air Ballooning Championships
• FAI World Paramotor Slalom Championships
• 2023 FAI F3P World Championships
• World Cup of Indoor Skydiving
• FAI World Grand Prix
• Red Bull Air Race World Championship
• Parachuting (Skydiving)

All the events sanctioned by the FAI are listed in its events calendar.

World Championships

The year that the first World Championship in each class (see Model aircraft competitions and classes took place are as follows:

1. 1951: F1A, F1B, F1C
2. 1960: F2A, F2B, F2C, F3A
3. 1961: F1D
4. 1970: F4B, F4C
5. 1972: S-classes
6. 1977: F3B
7. 1978: F2D
8. 1985: F3C, F3D
9. 1986: F3E (now: F5B)
10. 1989: F1E
11. 1994: F5D (now F3E)
12. 1998: F3
13. 2010: F6A (WAG)
14. 2010: F6B (WAG)
15. 2010: F6D (WAG)
16. 2011: F3K
17. 2012: F3F
18. 2013: F3N
19. 2013: F3P
20. 2014: F4H
21. 2018: F3U
22. 2019: F5J
23. 2024: F3M

Activities

The FAI is the international governing body for the following activities:

• Aerobatics through the FAI Aerobatics Commission (Commission Internationale de Voltige Aérienne – CIVA)
• Aeromodeling and drones through the FAI Aeromodelling Commission (Commission Internationale d'Aéro-Modélisme – CIAM)
• Ballooning through the FAI Ballooning Commission (Commission Internationale de l'Aérostation – CIA)
• General aviation through the FAI General Aviation Commission (General Aviation Commission – GAC)
• Gliding through the FAI Gliding Commission (International Gliding Commission – IGC)
• Hang gliding & Paragliding through the FAI Hang Gliding & Paragliding Commission (Commission Internationale de Vol Libre – CIVL)
• Human-powered aircraft through the FAI Amateur-Built and Experimental Aircraft Commission (Commission Internationale des Aéronefs de Construction Amateur – CIACA)
• Microlighting and Paramotoring through the FAI Microlight & Paramotor Commission (Commission Internationale de Microaviation – CIMA)
• Skydiving through the FAI International Skydiving Commission
• Rotorcraft through the FAI Rotorcraft Commission (Commission Internationale de giraviation – CIG)

The FAI establishes the standards for records in the activities. Where these are air sports, the FAI also oversees international competitions at world and continental levels, and also organizes the World Air Games and FAI World Grand Prix.

The FAI organises the FAI International Drones Conference and Expo. This event offers a platform for organisations, businesses and individuals to discuss how drones are used today and to create a framework for how they will be used and impact on life in the future.

The FAI also keeps records set in human spaceflight, through the FAI Astronautic Records Commission (International Astronautic Records Commission – ICARE)

Kármán Line definition

The FAI defines the limit between Earth's atmosphere and outer space, the so-called Karman Line, as the altitude of 100 kilometres (62 miles; 330,000 feet) above Earth's sea level.

Records

Among the FAI's responsibilities are the verification of record-breaking flights. For a flight to be registered as a "World Record," it has to comply with the FAI's strict rules, which include a proviso that the record must exceed the previous record by a certain percentage. Since the late 1930s, military aircraft have dominated some classes of record for powered aircraft such as speed, distance, payload, and height, though other classes are regularly claimed by civilians.

Some records are claimed by countries as their own, even though their achievements fail to meet FAI standards. These claims are not typically granted the status of official records. For example, Yuri Gagarin earned recognition for the first manned spaceflight, despite failing to meet FAI requirements. The FAI initially did not recognize the achievement because he did not land in his Vostok spacecraft (he ejected from it), but later it recognized that Gagarin was the first human to fly into space. The FAI then established the Yuri A. Gagarin Gold Medal, which has been awarded since 1968.

Classes

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The following types of craft have records:

• Class A Free Balloons
• Class B Airships
• Class C Aeroplanes
  • Class CS Solar-Powered Aeroplanes
• Class D Gliders & Motorgliders
• Class E Rotorcraft
• Class F Model Aircraft
  • Class F1 – Free flight
  • Class F2 – Control line
  • Class F3 – Radio control
    • F3K – Discus Launch Glider
    • F3F – Slope Soaring
  • Class F4 – Scale model aircraft
  • Class F5 – Electrically powered model aircraft
    • F5B – Electric powered motor gliders
    • F5D – Electric powered pylon racing model aircraft
  • Class F8 – Autonomous flight (created by CIAM in 2006, later retired)
  • Class F9 – Drone Sports
    • F9A – Drone soccer
    • F9U – Drone racing
• Class G Parachuting
• Class H Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) Aeroplanes
• Class I Manpowered aircraft
• Class K Spacecraft
• Class M Tilt-Wing/Tilt Engine Aircraft
• Class N Short Take-off and Landing (STOL) Aeroplanes
• Class O Hang Gliding & Paragliding
• Class P Aerospacecraft
• Class R Microlights and Paramotors
• Class S Space Models (Model rockets)
• Class U Unmanned aerial vehicles

Selected records

Date	Measurement	Person	Aircraft	Type	Ref(s)
Class A: Free balloons
31 January 2015	160 hours 34 minutes.	Troy Bradley (United States)  Leonid Tyukhtyaev (Russia)	Two Eagles Balloon	Duration
31 March 1999	40,814 km.	Bertrand Piccard (Switzerland)  Brian Jones (Great Britain)	Breitling Orbiter	Distance
4 May 1961	34,668 meters	Malcolm Ross (United States)  Victor Prather (United States)	Winzen	Absolute altitude
Class C: Aeroplanes
11 February 2006	41,467.53 km	Steve Fossett (United States)	Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer	Flight distance record (without refueling)
28 July 1976	3,529.56 km/h	Eldon W. Joersz (United States)	Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird	Flight airspeed record
31 August 1977	37,650 m	Aleksandr Vasilyevich Fedotov (Soviet Union)	MiG E-266M	Flight altitude record
22 October 1938	17,083 m	Mario Pezzi (Italy)	Caproni Ca.161	Flight altitude record (piston engine without payload)
Class CS: Solar-powered aeroplanes
7 July 2010	9,235 m 26 h 10 m 19 s	André Borschberg (Switzerland)	Solar Impulse (Prototype)	Solar powered Duration and Flight altitude record
25 May 2012	1116 km	André Borschberg (Switzerland)	Solar Impulse (Prototype)	Solar powered Distance
Class D: Gliders & motorgliders
3 September 2017	15,902 m	Jim Payne (United States)  Morgan Sandercock (Australia)	Windward Performance Perlan II	Gliding Altitude
2 September 2018	23,202 m	Tim Gardner (United States)  Jim Payne (United States)	Windward Performance Perlan II	Gliding Altitude (to be ratified)
21 January 2003	3,008.8 km	Klaus Ohlmann (Germany)  Karl Rabeder (Austria)	Schempp-Hirth Nimbus-4	Gliding Distance
Class E-1: Helicopters
11 August 1986	400.87 km/h	John Trevor Egginton (Great Britain)	Westland Lynx G-LYNX (modified)	Speed over a straight 15/25 km course
Class G-2: Parachuting performance records
14 October 2012	1357.6 km/h	Felix Baumgartner (Austria)	Red Bull Stratos	Vertical speed
8 February 2006	400 Skydivers	World Team	5 Lockheed C-130	Largest Skydiving Formation
Class I-C: Humanpowered aeroplane
23 April 1988	115.11 km 3h 54mn 59s	Kanellos Kanellopoulos (Greece)	MIT Daedalus 88	Human powered Distance and Duration
2 October 1985	44.32 km/h	Holger Rochelt (West Germany)	Musculair II	Speed over a closed circuit
Class I-E: Humanpowered rotorcraft
25 September 2013	1min 37.5 sec	Justin Mauch (United States)	Gamera	Duration
Class O: Hang Gliding & Paragliding
13 October 2016	564.3.0 km	Donizete Baldessar Lemos (Brazil)  Rafael Monteiro Saladini (Brazil)  Samuel Nascimento (Brazil)	Ozone Enzo 2 Ozone Enzo 2 Gin Boomerang 10	Straight distance with a paraglider
Class R: Microlights
14 February 2002	187 km/h	Julian Harris (Great Britain)  Bob Sharp (Great Britain)	Jabiru Aircraft UL	3 axis flight airspeed record
Class U: Unmanned aerial vehicles
14 August 2001	96,863 feet (29,524 m)	Piloted remotely by Greg Kendall (United States)	AeroVironment Helios Prototype	Sustained horizontal flight altitude record by a winged aircraft

Awards

The FAI Gold Air Medal was established in 1924 and was first awarded in 1925. It is reserved for those who have contributed greatly to the development of aeronautics by their activities, work, achievements, initiative or devotion to the cause of Aviation. The FAI has also awarded the Paul Tissandier Diploma since 1952 to those who have served the cause of aviation in general and sporting aviation in particular.

The FAI also makes awards for each of the following air sports.

• Awards for Ballooning:
  • The Montgolfier Ballooning Diploma
  • The Santos Dumont Gold Airship Medal
• Awards for General Aviation:
  • The Charles Lindbergh General Aviation Diploma
• Awards for Gliding:
  • The Lilienthal Gliding Medal
  • The Pelagia Majewska Gliding Medal
  • The Pirat Gehriger Diploma
• Awards for Rotorcraft:
  • The FAI Gold Rotorcraft Medal
• Awards for Parachuting:
  • The FAI Gold Parachuting Medal
  • The Leonardo da Vinci Parachuting Diploma
  • The Faust Vrancic Medal
• Awards for Aeromodelling:
  • The FAI Aeromodelling Gold Medal
  • The Andrei Tupolev Aeromodelling Medal
  • The Alphonse Penaud Aeromodelling Diploma
  • The Antonov Aeromodelling Diploma
  • The Andrei Tupolev Aeromodelling Diploma
  • The Frank Ehling Diploma
• Awards for Aerobatics:
  • The Leon Biancotto Aerobatics Diploma
• Awards for Astronautics:
  • The Yuri A. Gagarin Gold Medal
  • The V.M. Komarov Diploma
  • The Korolev Diploma
  • The Odyssey Diploma
• Awards for Hang Gliding:
  • The Pepe Lopes Medal
  • The FAI Hang Gliding Diploma
• Awards for Microlight Aviation:
  • The Colibri Diploma
  • The Ann Welch Diploma
• Awards for Aviation and Space Education:
  • The Nile Gold Medal
• Awards for Amateur-Built Aircraft:
  • The Phoenix Diploma
  • The Phoenix Group Diploma
  • The Henri Mignet Diploma

FAI Young Artists Contest

The FAI Young Artists Contest is an international painting competition for youngsters between the ages of 6 and 17. Each FAI Member Country organises the contest in their country, and the national winners are submitted to the International Jury each year.

Members

Active members

Associate members

Affiliate members

Temporary members

Suspended members

See also

• Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
• Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme
• Hot air ballooning
• List of spaceflight records

References

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External links

• Official website
• Documents and clippings about Fédération Aéronautique Internationale in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

• Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
• 1905 establishments in Switzerland
• Aerobatic organizations
• Aeronautics organizations
• Organisations based in Lausanne
• Sports organizations established in 1905
• Standards organisations in Switzerland
• Aviation organizations
• Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations
• International standards organizations