Jay Moledzki is a Canadian skydiver/canopy pilot. Moledzki is noted for having won many medals in canopy piloting since the first Canopy Piloting World Parachuting Championships in Vienna, Austria in 2006, [1] the second Canopy Piloting World Championships in Pretoria, South Africa in 2008, [2] the third Canopy Piloting World Championships in Kolomna, Russia in 2010, [3] and the fourth Canopy Piloting World Championships in Dubai, UAE in 2012. [4]
Richard Glenn Rutan is a retired United States Air Force officer and fighter pilot, test pilot, and record-breaking aviator who in 1986 piloted the Voyager aircraft on the first non-stop, non-refueled around-the-world flight with co-pilot Jeana Yeager. He was born in Loma Linda, California, where he gained an interest in flying at a young age. He is the older brother of famed aerospace designer Burt Rutan.
The Scaled Composites Model 311 Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer is an aircraft designed by Burt Rutan in which Steve Fossett first flew a solo nonstop airplane flight around the world in slightly more than 67 hours. The flight speed of 551 km/h set the world record for the fastest nonstop non-refueled circumnavigation, beating the mark set by the previous Rutan-designed Voyager aircraft at 9 days 3 minutes and a top speed of 196 km/h.
The 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.
The Gordon Bennett Cup is the world's oldest gas balloon race, and is "regarded as the premier event of world balloon racing" according to the Los Angeles Times. Referred to as the "Blue Ribbon" of aeronautics, the first race started from Paris, France, on September 30, 1906. The event was sponsored by James Gordon Bennett Jr., the millionaire sportsman and owner of the New York Herald newspaper. According to the organizers, the aim of the contest "is simple: to fly the furthest distance from the launch site." The contest ran from 1906 to 1938, interrupted by World War I and in 1931, but was suspended in 1939 when the hosts, Poland, were invaded at the start of World War II. The event was not resurrected until 1979, when American Tom Heinsheimer, an atmospheric physicist, gained permission from the holders to host the trophy. The competition was not officially reinstated by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) until 1983.
The International Aerobatic Club (IAC) is a division of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and the National Aeronautics Association (NAA). It promotes aerobatics and governs the sport of competition aerobatics in the United States under the regulations of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).
A parafoil is a nonrigid (textile) airfoil with an aerodynamic cell structure which is inflated by the wind. Ram-air inflation forces the parafoil into a classic wing cross-section. Parafoils are most commonly constructed out of ripstop nylon.
The term "air sports" covers a range of aerial activities, including air racing, aerobatics, aeromodelling, hang gliding, human powered aircraft, parachuting, paragliding and skydiving.
The flight endurance record is the longest amount of time an aircraft of a particular category spent in flight without landing. It can be a solo event, or multiple people can take turns piloting the aircraft, as long as all pilots remain in the aircraft. The limit initially was the amount of fuel that could be stored for the flight, but aerial refueling extended that parameter. Due to safety concerns, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) no longer recognizes new records for the duration of crewed airplane or glider flights and has never recognized any duration records for helicopters.
The FAI World Air Games (WAG) is an international air sports event organized by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, inspired by the Olympic Games.
The International Gliding Commission (IGC) is the international governing body for the sport of gliding. It is governed by meetings of delegates from national gliding associations.
Svetlana Vladimirovna Kapanina is a Russian aerobatic pilot.
Vertical formation skydiving (VFS) is a subcategory of formation skydiving using high-speed body positions normally associated with freeflying. Competitors build pre-selected formations in free-fall with multiple people gripping each other's limbs or specially built "grippers" on their jumpsuits.
Jerzy Makula is a Polish pilot who won the FAI World Glider Aerobatic Championships seven times.
Chris Hayes is a Canadian skydiver. Hayes is noted for having won the bronze medal in speed canopy piloting at the first Canopy Piloting World Parachuting Championships in Vienna, Austria in 2006.
Edward Makula was a Polish glider pilot and engineer.
Sándor Katona is a Hungarian glider aerobatic pilot.
Parachuting, also known as skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point to Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes. It may involve more or less free-falling which is a period when the parachute has not yet been deployed and the body gradually accelerates to terminal velocity.
Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word soaring is also used for the sport.
Luca Bertossio is an Italian aerobatics pilot performing glider aerobatics as competitor for the Italian National Glider Aerobatic Team and as a professional Airshow pilot and Flight Instructor.
Ernesto Gainza Medina, is a professional skydiver, stunt performer and stunt coordinator, skydiving consultant, skydiving instructor and instructor examiner. He is also an experienced BASE jumper, wingsuit flyer and Guinness world record holder.
