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The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) is the world governing body for air sports
Air sports

The term Air sports covers a range of aerial activities such as:* Aerobatics* Air racing* Ballooning* General aviation* Gliding* Hang gliding...
 and aeronautics
Aeronautics

File:An-225 Mriya.jpgFile:Atlantis on Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.jpgFile:Typhoon f2 zj910 arp.jpgAeronautics is the science involved with the study, design, and manufacture of flight-capable machines, or the techniques of operating aircraft....
 and astronautics
Astronautics

Astronautics, or astronautical engineering, is the branch of engineering that deals with machines designed to exit or work entirely beyond the Earth's atmosphere....
 world records. This includes man-carrying vehicles from balloons
Balloon (aircraft)

A balloon is a type of aircraft that remains aloft due to its buoyancy. A balloon travels by moving with the wind. It is distinct from an airship, which is a buoyant aircraft that can be propelled through the air in a controlled manner....
 to spacecraft
Spacecraft

A spacecraft is a Craft or machine designed for spaceflight. On a sub-orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft enters outer space then returns to the Earth....
, and unmanned vehicles (such as model aircraft
Model aircraft

Model aircraft are flying or non-flying models of existing or imaginary aircraft, often scaled down versions of full size planes, using materials such as Ochroma pyramidale wood, foam and fiberglass....
 and UAVs
Unmanned aerial vehicle

File:MQ-9 Reaper in flight .jpgAn unmanned aerial vehicle is an unpiloted aircraft. UAVs come in two varieties: some are controlled from a remote location, and others fly autonomously based on pre-programmed flight plans using more complex dynamic automation systems....
). It was founded in 1905.

FAI is the international governing body for the following activities:

The FAI establishes the standards for records in the activities.






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The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) is the world governing body for air sports
Air sports

The term Air sports covers a range of aerial activities such as:* Aerobatics* Air racing* Ballooning* General aviation* Gliding* Hang gliding...
 and aeronautics
Aeronautics

File:An-225 Mriya.jpgFile:Atlantis on Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.jpgFile:Typhoon f2 zj910 arp.jpgAeronautics is the science involved with the study, design, and manufacture of flight-capable machines, or the techniques of operating aircraft....
 and astronautics
Astronautics

Astronautics, or astronautical engineering, is the branch of engineering that deals with machines designed to exit or work entirely beyond the Earth's atmosphere....
 world records. This includes man-carrying vehicles from balloons
Balloon (aircraft)

A balloon is a type of aircraft that remains aloft due to its buoyancy. A balloon travels by moving with the wind. It is distinct from an airship, which is a buoyant aircraft that can be propelled through the air in a controlled manner....
 to spacecraft
Spacecraft

A spacecraft is a Craft or machine designed for spaceflight. On a sub-orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft enters outer space then returns to the Earth....
, and unmanned vehicles (such as model aircraft
Model aircraft

Model aircraft are flying or non-flying models of existing or imaginary aircraft, often scaled down versions of full size planes, using materials such as Ochroma pyramidale wood, foam and fiberglass....
 and UAVs
Unmanned aerial vehicle

File:MQ-9 Reaper in flight .jpgAn unmanned aerial vehicle is an unpiloted aircraft. UAVs come in two varieties: some are controlled from a remote location, and others fly autonomously based on pre-programmed flight plans using more complex dynamic automation systems....
). It was founded in 1905.

Activities

The FAI is the international governing body for the following activities:
  • Aerobatics
    Competition aerobatics

    Competition aerobatics is an air sport, in which referee rate the skill of pilots performing aerobatics flying.A popular name for aerobatics is "stunt flying." In competition aerobatics emphasis is on precise performance of a sequence of given or chosen aerobatic maneuvers....
     through the FAI Aerobatics Commission ("Commission Internationale de Voltige Aerienne" - CIVA)
  • Aeromodelling through the FAI Aeromodelling Commission ("Commission Internationale d'Aero-Modelisme" -CIAM)
  • Astronautic Records through the FAI Astronautic Records Commission ("International Astronautic Records Commission - ICARE)
  • Ballooning
    Ballooning

    Ballooning may refer to:* Hot air ballooning* Balloon ...
     through the FAI Ballooning Commission ("Commission Internationale de l'Aérostation - CIA)
  • General aviation
    General aviation

    General aviation is one of two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military aviation and scheduled air transport flights, both private aviation and commercial aviation....
     through the FAI General Aviation Commission ("General Aviation Commission - GAC)
  • Gliding
    Gliding

    Gliding refers to the descending flight of heavier-than-air craft, principally gliders s, hang gliders and paragliders. Technically, gliders, hang-gliders and paragliders are just different styles of glider used to pursue gliding and soaring for recreation, in the same way that sailboats and windsurfers share the lake and the wind....
     through the FAI Gliding Commission ("International Gliding Commission - IGC)
  • Hang gliding
    Hang gliding

    Hang gliding is an air sport in which a pilot flies a light and unmotorized foot-launchable aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminum or composite material frame with a fabric wing....
     & Paragliding
    Paragliding

    Paragliding is a recreational and competitive flying sport. A paraglider is a free-flying, foot-launched aircraft. The pilot sits in a harness suspended below a fabric wing, whose shape is formed by its suspension lines and the pressure of air entering vents in the front of the wing....
     through the FAI Hang Gliding & Paragliding Commission ("Commission Internationale de Vol Libre - CIVL)
  • Microlighting through the FAI Microlight Commission ("Commission Internationale de Microaviation - CIMA)
  • Parachuting
    Parachuting

    Parachuting, also known as skydiving, is where a person jumps from enough height so that he can deploy a fabric parachute and land safely.The history of parachuting appears to start with Andre-Jacques Garnerin who made successful parachute jumps from a hot-air balloon in 1797....
     through the FAI Parachuting Commission ("International Parachuting Commission - IPC )
  • Rotorcraft
    Rotorcraft

    A rotorcraft is a heavier-than-air flying machine that uses lift generated by Airfoil, called rotor blades, that revolve around a mast. Several rotor blades mounted to a single mast is referred to as a helicopter rotor....
     through FAI Rotorcraft Commission ("Commission Internationale de giraviation - CIG)


The FAI establishes the standards for records in the activities. Where these are air sports
Air sports

The term Air sports covers a range of aerial activities such as:* Aerobatics* Air racing* Ballooning* General aviation* Gliding* Hang gliding...
, the FAI also oversees international competitions at world and continental levels, and also organizes the World Air Games
World Air Games

World Air Games is an international air sports event organized by F?d?ration A?ronautique Internationale , inspired by the Olympic Games and held every four years....
 and FAI World Grand Prix
FAI World Grand Prix

FAI World Grand Prix is a Grand Prix Competition aerobatics series led by F?d?ration A?ronautique Internationale.Since 1990th run as Breitling Series up to 1995....
.

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
Yuri Gagarin

Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin , Hero of the Soviet Union, was a Soviet Union cosmonaut. On 12 April 1961, he became the first human in space and the first to orbit the Earth....
 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
Vostok spacecraft

The Vostok was a type of spacecraft built by the Soviet Union's space programme for human spaceflight....
, 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
    Balloon (aircraft)

    A balloon is a type of aircraft that remains aloft due to its buoyancy. A balloon travels by moving with the wind. It is distinct from an airship, which is a buoyant aircraft that can be propelled through the air in a controlled manner....
  • Class B Airship
    Airship

    An airship or dirigible is a aerostat that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust. Unlike other aerodynamics aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, which produce lift by moving a wing, or airfoil, through the air, aerostatic aircraft, such as airships and Balloon , stay...
    s
  • Class C Aeroplanes
    Fixed-wing aircraft

    A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of heavier-than-air flight whose Lift is generated not by wing motion relative to the aircraft, but by forward motion through the air....
  • Class D Glider
    Glider

    Heavier-than-air unpowered aircraft do not need propulsion once airborne. Gliders, balloons and kites are unpowered aircraft.Gliders such as gliders, hang gliders and paragliders gain their initial flying speed from some launch mechanism, and then gain additional energy from gravity and from updrafts such as thermal currents....
    s & Motorgliders
    Motor glider

    A Motor Glider is a fixed-wing aircraft that can be flown with or without engine power. The FAI Gliding Commission Sporting Code definition is:...
  • Class E Rotorcraft
    Rotorcraft

    A rotorcraft is a heavier-than-air flying machine that uses lift generated by Airfoil, called rotor blades, that revolve around a mast. Several rotor blades mounted to a single mast is referred to as a helicopter rotor....
  • Class F Model Aircraft
    Model aircraft

    Model aircraft are flying or non-flying models of existing or imaginary aircraft, often scaled down versions of full size planes, using materials such as Ochroma pyramidale wood, foam and fiberglass....
  • Class G Parachuting
    Parachuting

    Parachuting, also known as skydiving, is where a person jumps from enough height so that he can deploy a fabric parachute and land safely.The history of parachuting appears to start with Andre-Jacques Garnerin who made successful parachute jumps from a hot-air balloon in 1797....
  • Class H Vertical Take-off and Landing Aeroplanes
    VTOL

    VTOL is an abbreviation for Vertical Take-Off and Landing aircraft. This classification includes fixed-wing aircraft that can hover and take off and land vertically, helicopters, and other aircraft with powered rotors, such as tiltrotors....
  • Class I Manpowered aircraft
  • Class K Spacecraft
    Spacecraft

    A spacecraft is a Craft or machine designed for spaceflight. On a sub-orbital spaceflight, a spacecraft enters outer space then returns to the Earth....
  • Class M Tilt-Wing/Tilt Engine Aircraft
    Tiltrotor

    A tiltrotor aircraft combines the vertical lift capability of a helicopter with the speed and range of a turboprop fixed-wing aircraft....
  • Class N Short Take-off and Landing (STOL) Aeroplanes
    STOL

    STOL is an initialism for short take-off and landing, a term used to describe aircraft with very short runway requirements.The formal NATO definition is:...
  • Class O Hang Gliding
    Hang gliding

    Hang gliding is an air sport in which a pilot flies a light and unmotorized foot-launchable aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminum or composite material frame with a fabric wing....
     & Paragliding
    Paragliding

    Paragliding is a recreational and competitive flying sport. A paraglider is a free-flying, foot-launched aircraft. The pilot sits in a harness suspended below a fabric wing, whose shape is formed by its suspension lines and the pressure of air entering vents in the front of the wing....
  • Class P Aerospacecraft
  • Class R Microlight
  • Class S Space Models
  • Class U Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
    Unmanned aerial vehicle

    File:MQ-9 Reaper in flight .jpgAn unmanned aerial vehicle is an unpiloted aircraft. UAVs come in two varieties: some are controlled from a remote location, and others fly autonomously based on pre-programmed flight plans using more complex dynamic automation systems....


Some of the records


Date MeasurementPerson Aircraft Type
Class A: Free balloons
March 21, 1999 40,814 km Bertrand Piccard
Bertrand Piccard

Dr. Bertrand Piccard is a Switzerland psychiatrist and balloon .He was born in Utah, Hollady canton. His grandfather Auguste Piccard and father, Jacques Piccard, were noted balloonists and inventors....
 and
Brian Jones
Brian Jones (aeronaut)

Brian Jones is an English balloon .Brian Jones, along with Bertrand Piccard, co-piloted the first successful uninterrupted circumnavigation of the world on board the balloon Breitling Orbiter....
 Breitling Orbiter
Breitling Orbiter

Breitling Orbiter was the name of three different Rozi?re balloon made by Cameron Balloons to circumnavigate the globe. The first two balloons never made it, while the Breitling Orbiter 3 made a successful attempt in 1999 ....
 		 Distance
May 4, 1961 34,668 m Malcolm Ross and
Victor Prather 		Winzen Absolute altitude
Class C: Aeroplanes
February 11, 2006 41,467.53 km Steve Fossett
Steve Fossett

James Stephen Fossett was an United States businessman, aviator, sailor, and adventurer and the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon....
 		 Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer
Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer

The Scaled Composites Model 311 Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer is an aircraft designed by Burt Rutan in which Steve Fossett flew a solo nonstop airplane flight around the world in a time of 67 hours 1 minute from February 28, 2005 until March 3, 2005....
 		 Flight distance record
Flight distance record

Flight distance records without refueling. Some records were certified by the F?d?ration A?ronautique Internationale....
 (without refueling)
July 28, 1976 3,529.56 km/h Eldon Joersz SR-71 Flight airspeed record
August 31, 1977 37,650 m Alexandr Fedotov MiG E-266M Flight altitude record
Flight altitude record

These are the records set for going the highest in the atmosphere from the age of ballooning onward. Some records are certified by F?d?ration A?ronautique Internationale....
October 22, 1938 17,083 m Mario Pezzi
Mario Pezzi

Mario Pezzi was an Italian aviator known worldwide for his flight in which he achieved greater height than any other pilot in a propeller-powered airplane....
 		 Caproni 161 bis Flight altitude record
Flight altitude record

These are the records set for going the highest in the atmosphere from the age of ballooning onward. Some records are certified by F?d?ration A?ronautique Internationale....
 (piston engine without payload)
Class D: Gliders & Motorgliders
August 29, 2006 15,460 m Steve Fossett
Steve Fossett

James Stephen Fossett was an United States businessman, aviator, sailor, and adventurer and the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon....
 and
Einar Enevoldson
Einar Enevoldson

Einar K. Enevoldson Is the director of the Perlan Project. He was a civilian research pilot for NASA's Hugh L. Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif....
 		 Glaser-Dirks DG-505M
Glaser-Dirks DG-500

The Glaser-Dirks DG-500, and later the DG-505, is a two-seat glider of glass-reinforced plastic and carbon fiber reinforced plastic construction, manufactured in the DG Flugzeugbau GmbH in Bruchsal, Germany....
 (modified) 		Gliding
Gliding

Gliding refers to the descending flight of heavier-than-air craft, principally gliders s, hang gliders and paragliders. Technically, gliders, hang-gliders and paragliders are just different styles of glider used to pursue gliding and soaring for recreation, in the same way that sailboats and windsurfers share the lake and the wind....
 Altitude
January 21, 2003 3,008.8 km Klaus Ohlmann
Klaus Ohlmann

Klaus Ohlmann, born 1952 in Neustadt, Germany is a German Gliding pilot who has established 36 world records approved by FAI Gliding Commission....
 and
Karl Rabeder 		Schempp-Hirth Nimbus-4
Schempp-Hirth Nimbus-4

The Schempp-Hirth Nimbus-4 is a family of high-performance FAI Open Class gliders designed by Klaus Holighaus and manufactured by Schempp-Hirth Flugzeugbau GmbH in Kirchheim, Germany....
 		 Gliding
Gliding

Gliding refers to the descending flight of heavier-than-air craft, principally gliders s, hang gliders and paragliders. Technically, gliders, hang-gliders and paragliders are just different styles of glider used to pursue gliding and soaring for recreation, in the same way that sailboats and windsurfers share the lake and the wind....
 Distance
Class R: Microlights
February 14, 2002 187 km/h Julian Harris and
Bob Sharp 		Jabiru UL 3 axis flight airspeed record.


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