A 3D digital animation of the drone racing track in Shenzhen, China gives a first person view of a drone as it races through the twists, turns and obstacles of this incredible track.

Being built for the 1st FAI World Drone Racing Championships in China from 1-4 November 2018, the track will be 650m long and divided into three vertical layers, with a vertical height difference of six metres.

FAI Secretary General Susanne Schödel joined a panel of experts at the recent Olympism in Action Forum in Buenos Aires, Argentina to debate the question: What is the Future of Sport?

Observed by some 1,500 spectators including International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, the lively discussion covered the various ways young people today are reinventing the definition of “sport” and what it means to be an athlete.

The Russian Spacemodelling team dominated the leader boards at the 2018 edition of the FAI S World Championships for Space Models, picking up around a quarter of the prizes up for grabs.

“At the recent world championships at the Kruszyn Airfield in Wloclawek, Poland, our team claimed about 25% of the awards on offer,” said team manager Alexey Ezzhov. “It was a great achievement.”

The host nation showed its strength the last day of Europeans. Friday proved to be a fantastic flying day and rounds 9, 10 and 11 were completed. Weather forecasts for Saturday were unanimous- rain - and the closing ceremony was moved to late Friday evening.

On the occasion of the 55^th anniversary of the first flight of the modern hang glider, Pat Crowe's role in driving the boat that towed the revolutionary new aircraft was recognised with the presentation of the FAI Hang Gliding and Paragliding Diploma.

Drone racing is booming – and with the first FAI Drone Racing World Championships on the horizon, we got the lowdown on just what a top-level drone-racing pilot needs.

Pilot: Obviously the first thing is the pilot. A junior is under 18. You will see they all wear first person view (FPV) goggles, and use a radio control to fly their drone. Some like to stand, some like to sit: at a big drone race you’ll see both.

FlyDonna is a two-day event for female pilots and air sports enthusiasts, combining air shows and entertainment with networking and Round Table discussion to promote female participation in aviation. 

The photo shows the all-female parachute team displaying the FlyDonna flag.

The FAI travelled to Shenzhen in China earlier this month to take part in a press conference to promote the first-ever FAI World Drone Racing Championships – due to take place in Shenzhen later this year.

Attended by FAI officials including Secretary General Susanne Schödel and Executive Director Bengt Lindgren, the press conference also involved a number of important representatives of both the organising committee and local government.

On September 24, 2013, Canadian pilot Alexis Reichert set a new female world record for flight duration in a human-powered rotorcraft by staying airborne for 53 seconds in the Atlas Human-Powered Helicopter.

Ratified by FAI, her record-breaking flight fell into the air sports category Experimental/New Technologies.

It was conducted at The Soccer Centre in Ontario, Canada less than a year after initial flight-testing of the Atlas began, and was measured using video analysis of the flight data.