Fédération Aéronautique Internationale

The 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 maintains world records for aeronautical activities, including ballooning, aeromodeling, and unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as flights into space.

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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, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the United States.
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 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:

Air Sport Commissions

Events

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

World Championships

The year that the first World Championship in each class

1989: F1E
1994: F5D
1998: F3
2010: F6A
2010: F6B
2010: F6D
2011: F3K
2012: F3F
2013: F3N
2013: F3P
2014: F4H
2018: F3U
2019: F5J
2024: F3M

Activities

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

Aerobatics through the FAI Aerobatics Commission
Aeromodeling and drones through the FAI Aeromodelling Commission
Ballooning through the FAI Ballooning Commission
General aviation through the FAI General Aviation Commission
Gliding through the FAI Gliding Commission
Hang gliding & Paragliding through the FAI Hang Gliding & Paragliding Commission
Human-powered aircraft through the FAI Amateur-Built and Experimental Aircraft Commission
Microlighting and Paramotoring through the FAI Microlight & Paramotor Commission
Skydiving through the FAI International Skydiving Commission
Rotorcraft through the FAI Rotorcraft Commission

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

Kármán Line definition

The FAI defines the limit between Earth's atmosphere and outer space, the so-called Kármán line, as the altitude of 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, 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

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
* 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
Class U Unmanned aerial vehicles

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.