FAI - World Air Sports Federation

🎈 The Gordon Bennett Cup is underway!

Yesterday’s launch day proved particularly challenging, with changing weather conditions and strong winds making the inflation process highly complex. Despite the difficulties, all preparations were completed and the balloons finally took to the skies at around 1:00 a.m.

Since then, the teams have taken noticeably different routes. One team headed out over the Baltic Sea, apparently pursuing a route towards Scandinavia, while a larger group is currently approaching the Kaliningrad strategy.

The first team has already landed, with the restrictions posed by Berlin airspace reportedly influencing the decision. All remaining teams are still airborne, and several could be heading into another night in the air 🌙

With different routes unfolding across the sky, the race remains wide open. Wind, weather and airspace will continue to shape the teams’ strategies, and positions could change significantly over the coming hours 🗺️🎈

Photo & video: Stefan Büschken & Tobias Landmann

🎈 They’re off!

The balloons competing in the 69th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett, the FAI World Long Distance Gas Balloon Championship, have taken off last night from Gladbeck, Germany.

Follow their progress live and track the teams:

🔗 https://live.gordonbennett.aero/

📷 Bennie Bos

It is twenty years since famous adventurer Steve Fossett and former NASA research pilot Einar Enevoldson (both USA) set an FAI world altitude record in gliding by surfing stratospheric mountain waves to soar to an astonishing 15,460m!

👉🏼 FAI absolute altitude record for gliding: 15,460m
👉🏼 Above El Calafate in the Andes mountains, Argentina
👉🏼 29 August 2006

Wearing space suits and seated in the modified pressurised cabin of a Glaser-Dirks DG-505 glider, “Perlan 1”, the pair proved the theory that stratospheric mountain waves could be the gateway to extreme altitude flight without an engine.

The Perlan 1 record was surpassed in 2017 by Perlan 2, a pressurised glider, then twice again in 2018. The record set by Perlan 2 on 2 September 2018 for 22,657m still stands today!

🔗Read more about Perlan and stratospheric mountain waves::

https://www.fai.org/news/20th-anniversary-perlan-1-glider

Images: Perlan Project

Be part of a global celebration of air sports this October! 👀👆🏼

The International Day of Air Sports is celebrated on 14 October, with events taking place on and around the day across the world! 🎉

👀👉🏼 Whether you’re planning an open day, workshop, trial flight, school activity or community event, we’d love to see you take part! 🙌🏼

Registering your event is easy:

👉🏼 Plan your activity.
👉🏼 Complete the online event submission form on FAI Website.
👉🏼 Submit it for review - approved events will appear on the global IDAS Event Locator.

📣 Register your event via the link in our bio.

Between 11 and 15 August, 26 crews competed in the Polish Open Microlight Championship 2026, an official FAI Category 2 event 🇵🇱

Pilots were tested in precision, planning, and tactical skill across demanding Navigation, Circle, Corridor, Economy, and precision landing tasks.

Alongside the host Polish team, competitors joined from the Czech Republic 🇨🇿, Germany 🇩🇪, Lithuania 🇱🇹, Ukraine 🇺🇦, and the United Kingdom 🇬🇧.

Results
AL-1 Class
🥇 Václav Puža (CZE) 🇨🇿
🥈 Arnošt Stelšovský (CZE) 🇨🇿
🥉 Jan Pařez (CZE) 🇨🇿

AL-2 Class
🥇 Yuriy Yakovlyev & Tymofii Iakovliev (UKR) 🇺🇦
🥈 Juraj Čekan & Zdeňka Drimajová (CZE) 🇨🇿
🥉 Kryštof Adam & Ondřej Roblík (CZE) 🇨🇿

WL-1 Class
🥇 Błażej Piech (POL) 🇵🇱
🥈 Colin Johnson (GBR) 🇬🇧
🥉 Henryk Orwat (POL) 🇵🇱

WL-2 Class
🥇 Rafał Błaszczyk & Adam Rodaszewski (POL) 🇵🇱
🥈 Linas Bruzikas & Viktorija Krutulyte (LTU) 🇱🇹
🥉 Laurie Hurman & Mary Russell (GBR) 🇬🇧

GL-2 Class
🥇 Łukasz Hałasa & Rafał Klęk (POL) 🇵🇱
🥈 Piotr Gajewski & Marcin Gajewski (POL) 🇵🇱
🥉 Wieńczysław Wolny & Jacek Szymczak (POL) 🇵🇱

📸 Photo credits: .rodaszewsky

The countdown is on for the 27th FAI World Glider Aerobatic Championship and 15th FAI World Advanced Glider Aerobatic Championship!

👉🏼 From 2-12 September 2026, the world’s leading glider aerobatic pilots will gather at Fayence-Tourrettes Airfield in Fayence, France 🇫🇷

Glider aerobatics combines precision flying with careful energy management. Once released from the tow aircraft, pilots complete their aerobatic sequences without engine power, using only the altitude and speed available to them.

📅 The road to the championships:

👉🏼 20-28 August: Unofficial training
👉🏼 29 August-1 September: Official training
👉🏼 2 September: Opening Ceremony
👉🏼 3-11 September: Competition flights
👉🏼 12 September: Awards & Closing Ceremony

The championships are organised under the auspices of the Fédération Française de Vol en Planeur, with AAPCA - Les planeurs du Pays de Fayence as operational organiser.

We’ll be covering the event throughout the championships on FAI social channels. 👀🔥

🔗 Story & info: https://www.fai.org/news/worlds-leading-glider-aerobatic-pilots-prepare-championship-action-fayence-france?type=node&id=208900

Photo credit: FAI / Mika Ganszauge, Marcus King