Janusz Centka (born 20 April 1950, in Tonowo) is a Polish

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

pilot who has won two

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

and three

World Gliding Championships The World Gliding Championships (WGC) is a gliding competition held every two years or so by the FAI Gliding Commission. The dates are not always exactly two years apart, often because the contests are sometimes held in the summer in the Southern ...

.FAI IGC pilot ranking: Janusz Centka

European Gliding Championships The European Gliding Championships is a gliding competition held every two years. Gliding is a competitive sport and was even a demonstration sport at the 1936 Summer Olympics. It was due to become an official Olympic sport in the Helsinki Games i ...

– accessed 2008-02-02 In 2002 he established a world record in speed over a triangular course of 1000 km (144.95 km/h) in the 15m class in a SZD 56 Diana from

Ely, Nevada Ely (, ) is the largest city and county seat of White Pine County, Nevada, United States. Ely was founded as a stagecoach station along the Pony Express and Central Overland Route. In 1906 copper was discovered. Ely's mining boom came later than ...

(USA).FAI world records by Janusz Centka
– accessed 2008-01-11 In 2003, he was awarded the Paul Tissandier Diploma, and in 2004 he was awarded the

Lilienthal Gliding Medal Lilienthal Gliding Medal – the highest soaring award in the world, established by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) in 1938 in honour of Otto Lilienthal, a German pioneer of human aviation. It aims "to reward a particularly rema ...

by the

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The (; FAI; en, World Air Sports Federation) 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 maintai ...

gliding commission.FAI awards received by Janusz Centka
– accessed 2008-01-11 He is a member of the gliding club at

Leszno Leszno (german: Lissa, 1800–1918 ''Lissa in Posen'') is a historic city in western Poland, within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is the seventh-largest city in the province with an estimated population of 62,200, as of 2021. Previously, it ...

and works as a

Boeing 767 The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body aircraft developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified on ...

captain and

flight instructor A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...

for

PLL LOT LOT Polish Airlines, legally incorporated as Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S.A. (corporation), S.A. (, ''flight''), is the flag carrier of Poland. Established in 1928, LOT was a founding member of IATA and remains one of List of airlines by foundat ...

.Famous pilots of PLL LOT
– accessed 2008-01-11

References

1950 births Living people Polish glider pilots Lilienthal Gliding Medal recipients Glider flight record holders Place of birth missing (living people) Poznań University of Technology alumni {{aviation-bio-stub