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Air Sports
The term "air sports" covers a range of aerial activities, including air racing, aerobatics, aeromodelling, hang gliding, human-powered aircraft, parachuting, paragliding and skydiving. Recognized and regulated air sports Many air sports are regulated internationally by the Switzerland-based Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) and nationally by aero clubs such as the National Aeronautics Association (NAA) and the Royal Aero Club (RAeC). The FAI has separate commissions for each air sport. For example, the commission for ballooning is the Commission Internationale de l'Aérostation (CIA). Sports within the categories of air sports and their respective commissions are as follows: Motorized * Aerobatics (CIVA) * Aeromodelling (CIAM) * Air racing (GAC) * Drone racing (CIAM) * Flyboarding * Powered hang gliding (CIMA) * Powered paragliding (CIMA) * Rally flying (GAC) * Rotorcraft (CIG) * Ultralight aviation (CIMA) Wind/Gliding * Ballooning (CIA) ** Clust ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gliding
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. Gliding as a sport began in the 1920s. Initially the objective was to increase the duration of flights but soon pilots attempted cross-country flights away from the place of launch. Improvements in aerodynamics and in the understanding of weather phenomena have allowed greater distances at higher average speeds. Long distances are now flown using any of the main sources of rising air: ridge lift, thermals and lee waves. When conditions are favourable, experienced pilots can now fly hundreds of kilometres before returning to their home airfields; occasionally flights of more than are achieved. Some competitive pilots fly in races around pre-defined courses. These gliding competitions test pilots' abilities to mak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reno Air Races
The Reno Air Races, officially known as the STIHL National Championship Air Races from 2016, is a multi-day event tailored to the aviation community that takes place each September at the Reno Stead Airport a few miles north of Reno, Nevada. Air racing is billed as "the world's fastest motor sport" and Reno is one of the few remaining venues. The event includes races in six classes and demonstrations by airshow pilots. History Begun in 1964, the Reno Air Races feature multi-lap, multi-aircraft races among extremely high performance aircraft on closed ovoid courses which range between about (Biplanes and Formula One) and about (Jet, Unlimited) in length per lap. The chief organizer is the Reno Air Racing Association (RARA). The first Reno air races, in 1964 and 1965, were organized by World War II veteran Bill Stead. They took place at Sky Ranch airfield, a dirt strip barely long, which was located in present-day Spanish Springs. After Stead Air Force Base (20 miles to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Model Aircraft
A model aircraft is a small unmanned aircraft. Many are replicas of real aircraft. Model aircraft are divided into two basic groups: flying and non-flying. Non-flying models are also termed static, display, or shelf models. Aircraft manufacturers and researchers make wind tunnel models for testing aerodynamic properties, for basic research, or for the development of new designs. Sometimes only part of the aircraft is modelled. Static models range from mass-produced toys in white metal or plastic to highly accurate and detailed models produced for museum display and requiring thousands of hours of work. Many are available in kits, typically made of injection-moulded polystyrene or resin. Flying models range from simple toy gliders made of sheets of paper, balsa, card stock or foam polystyrene to powered scale models built up from balsa, bamboo sticks, plastic, (including both moulded or sheet polystyrene, and styrofoam), metal, synthetic resin, either alone or with carbon fibr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FAI Gliding Commission
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. It is one of several Air Sport Commissions (ASC) of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), or "World Air Sports Federation". FAI is the world body for sporting aviation and the certification of world records for aeronautics and astronautics and was founded in 1905. When the IGC was founded in 1932, it was called CIVV (Commission Internationale de Vol à Voile) and has also been called CVSM (Commission de Vol Sans Moteur). It is the FAI commission responsible for the international competitions, records and badges that apply to gliders and motor gliders. The term "sailplanes" is sometimes used. Hang gliders and paragliders have a separate body called the FAI CIVL Commission, which stands for "Commission Internationale de Vol Libre". The World Gliding Championships are organised every tw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canopy Piloting
Canopy piloting (also known as swooping) encompasses several disciplines, all involving the flight of a skydiving parachute. "Swooping" is a form of canopy piloting associated with advanced skydiving. Given the close proximity to the ground during the various maneuvers, as an exhibition swooping is spectator friendly. Records World records that have been recorded and verified include{{cite web , url=http://www.fai.org/record-parachuting , title=Parachuting , publisher=Fai.org , accessdate=17 May 2013 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629231803/http://www.fai.org/record-parachuting , archivedate=29 June 2015 : :G-1-f1 : Distance - General - Canopy Piloting Records : 151.95m :Date of : 15 June 2012 :Parachutist(s): Nick Batsch (USA) :Canopy type: Daedalus JPX Petra :Course/place: Rockmart, GA (USA) :G-1-f2 : Speed over a 70m course - General - Canopy Piloting Records : 2.404 sec :Date of : 15 June 2012 :Parachutist(s): Greg Windmiller (USA) :Canopy t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hopper Balloon
A hopper balloon (simply hopper) is a small, one-person hot air balloon. Unlike a conventional hot air balloon where people ride inside a basket, there is no basket on a hopper balloon. Instead, the hopper pilot usually sits on a seat or wears a harness similar to a parachute harness. Hoppers are typically flown for recreation. These aircraft are sometimes called "cloud hoppers" or "cloudhoppers". However, these terms formally refer to the products of a particular manufacturer, specifically Lindstrand Balloons. Nonetheless, "cloudhopper" is used by many people as a genericized trademark, which refers to all craft of this general type. Most hopper balloons have envelopes that range in volume from and have a maximum flight duration of 1 to 1.5 hours. The two principal commercial balloon manufacturers today offering hopper balloons for sale are Cameron Balloons and Lindstrand Balloons. Most other hopper balloons are experimental aircraft designed and built by amateur constructors. His ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cluster Ballooning
Cluster ballooning is a form of ballooning where a harness attaches a balloonist to a cluster of helium-inflated rubber balloons. Unlike traditional hot-air balloons, where a single large balloon is equipped with vents enabling altitude control, cluster balloons are multiple, small, readily available and individually sealed balloons. To control flight, arrest a climb or initiate a descent, the pilot incrementally jettisons or deflates balloons. Ballast, e.g., bottled water, can also be jettisoned to facilitate ascent. Notable flights and balloonists The Swiss adventurer Auguste Piccard experimented with cluster balloon flight in Rochester, Minnesota in July 1937. In September of the same year, inspired by Piccard, an American photographer for Paramount News used 32 weather balloons for a feature photography assignment near Old Orchard Beach in Maine. Suspended from the balloons by a parachute harness in order to take aerial film footage, his mooring rope broke and he was lifted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hot Air Ballooning
Hot air ballooning is the activity of flying hot air balloons. Attractive aspects of ballooning include the exceptional quiet (except when the propane burners are firing), the lack of a feeling of movement, and the bird's-eye view. Since the balloon moves with the direction of the winds, the passengers feel absolutely no wind, except for brief periods during the flight when the balloon climbs or descends into air currents of different direction or speed. Hot air ballooning has been recognized by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) as the safest air sport in aviation, and fatalities in hot air balloon accidents are rare, according to statistics from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). History First manned flight The first clearly recorded instance of a balloon carrying passengers used hot air to generate buoyancy and was built by the brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier in Annonay, France. After experimenting with unmanned bal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ultralight Aviation
Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with ailerons, elevator and rudder, calling the former "microlight" and the latter "ultralight". During the late 1970s and early 1980s, mostly stimulated by the hang gliding movement, many people sought affordable powered flight. As a result, many aviation authorities set up definitions of lightweight, slow-flying aeroplanes that could be subject to minimum regulations. The resulting aeroplanes are commonly called "ultralight aircraft" or "microlights", although the weight and speed limits differ from country to country. In Europe, the sporting (FAI) definition limits the maximum stalling speed to and the maximum take-off weight to , or if a ballistic parachute is installed. The definition means that the aircraft has a slow landing speed and short ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rotorcraft
A rotorcraft or rotary-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft with rotary wings or rotor blades, which generate lift by rotating around a vertical mast. Several rotor blades mounted on a single mast are referred to as a rotor. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) defines a rotorcraft as "supported in flight by the reactions of the air on one or more rotors". Rotorcraft generally include aircraft where one or more rotors provide lift throughout the entire flight, such as helicopters, autogyros, and gyrodynes. Compound rotorcraft augment the rotor with additional thrust engines, propellers, or static lifting surfaces. Some types, such as helicopters are capable of vertical takeoff and landing. An aircraft which uses rotor lift for vertical flight but changes to solely fixed-wing lift in horizontal flight is not a rotorcraft but a convertiplane. Classes of rotorcraft Helicopter A helicopter is a rotorcraft whose rotors are driven by the engine(s) throughout ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Powered Paragliding
Powered paragliding, also known as paramotoring or PPG, is a form of ultralight aviation where the pilot wears a back-pack motor (a paramotor) which provides enough thrust to take off using a paraglider. It can be launched in still air, and on level ground, by the pilot alone — no assistance is required. In many countries, including the United States, powered paragliding is minimally regulated and requires no license. The ability to fly both low and slow safely, the "open" feel, the minimal equipment and maintenance costs, and the portability are claimed to be this type of flying's greatest merits. Powered paragliders usually fly between at altitudes from 'foot-dragging' up about to or more with certain permission. Due to the paramotor's slow forward speed and nature of a soft wing, it is risky to operate in high winds, turbulence, or intense thermal activity, especially for inexperienced pilots. The paramotor, weighing from is supported by the pilot during takeoff. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Powered Hang Glider
A foot-launched powered hang glider (FLPHG), also called powered harness, nanolight, or hangmotor, is a powered hang gliding, hang glider harness with a internal combustion engine, motor and propeller (aircraft), propeller in pusher configuration. An ordinary hang glider is used for its wing and control frame, and the pilot can foot-launch from a hill or from flat ground, needing a length of about a football field to get airborne, or much less if there is an oncoming breeze and no obstacles. History Adding propulsion While powered microlights (ultralights) developed from hang gliding in the late 1970s, they were also a return to the type of low-speed aircraft that were common in the earlier years of aviation, but which were superseded as both civil and military aircraft pursued more speed. For a second time in aviation history, during the 1970s, motorization of simple gliders, especially those portable and foot-launched, became the goal of many inventors and gradually, sma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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