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Youngsters from Georgia and USA win the 2002 Young Artists Contest. 2003 Contest dedicated to the first century of powered flight. The FAI Aviation & Space Education Commission has been working since more than 30 years to arouse young people’s interest in aviation and space.

From “Silent Flight” to “100 Years of Powered Flight”
Each year, all national member organisations of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) are invited to hold a national aviation art contest for youngsters and to submit a selection of 9 paintings to an international jury. During its last annual conference in Vienna, the FAI Aviation & Space Education Commission (CIEA) elected the winners of the 2002 Young Artists Contest, the theme of which was “Silent Flight” : Ruthann Lynn Jones, USA (junior - ages 6 to 9), Eka Tabliashvily, Georgia (intermediate - ages 10 to 13) and Matthew Paul Gauvin, USA (senior - ages 14 to 17) won the Gold Medals in their respective categories. As the Wright Brothers’ first powered flights will be celebrated next year, the 2003 Young Artists Contest will give the opportunity to young people to express in painting “100 Years of Powered Flight”.
(Results and paintings of previous contests, rules of 2003 Contest and addresses of FAI members available at www.fai.org/education/contests/artists/).

Over 30 years of involvement to arouse young people’s interest in aviation and space
The FAI launched the Aviation & Space Education Commission (CIEA) more than 30 years ago to create a greater public awareness and understanding of aviation and space activities. Since then, CIEA has placed great emphasis on capturing the interest of young people : they represent the future of aviation, and notably that of air sports. In practice, this means creating and administering programs that will not only educate, but also inspire young people to take up aeronautical professions and consider air sports as an important, demanding and motivating leisure activity.

CIEA educational programs : an attractive aid for schools and flying clubs
Experience has shown that teachers and students often have a latent interest in aviation and space. Aeronautical matters are commonly integrated into traditional subject areas like history, geography or physics. Once oriented to aviation and space education, teachers usually find that bringing related topics into the classroom creates an enthusiastic atmosphere for learning and challenging the imagination. Apart from the Young Artists Contest, CIEA has several programs available : A Guide to Aviation and Space Education, FAI recommended museums, international youth programs, instructional aids and resource materials. All these programs are available (www.fai.org/education/) to teachers and flying clubs willing to offer educational activities to young people.

Lausanne, June 13th, 2002

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Troy Bradley has broken three World Records, one of which was the oldest of all FAI World Records, on the books since 1922. In his amateur-built gas balloon, Troy Bradley covered a distance of 1’971 km in 35 hours and 18 minutes. The second oldest unbroken FAI World Record still belongs to the LZ 127 “Graf Zeppelin” airship.

Record breaking flight on board a homebuilt gas balloon
On Thursday, January 3th, 2002, the balloonist Troy Bradley (New Mexico / USA) took off from Amarillo (Texas) with his brand-new homebuilt Class AA-3 gas balloon containing 402 m3 (14’200 cubic feet) of helium. 35 hours and 18 minutes later, as he safely landed at Enon Valley (Pennsylvania), Troy BRADLEY had covered a distance of 1’971.81 km (1’225.23 miles), not only beating three World Records (Class AA-3, AA-4 and AA-5), but also breaking the FAI’s oldest aviation World Record. The previous distance record for Class AA-3 gas balloons was set on July 1st, 1922, when Georges Cormier (France) flew 804,17 km (499.69 miles).

FAI classification of aerostats
To allow a fair comparison of performances and as the level of performance differs significantly between different types of aerostats, the FAI recognizes various sub-classes in Class A (free balloons) and Class B (airships). Class A is divided into 5 sub-classes (AA – no airborne heater / AX – hot air balloons / AM - mixed, etc.), each containing 15 categories according to size (AA-1 : 250 m3 and less / AA-3 : 400 to 600 m3 / AA-4 : 600 to 900 m3, and so on up to AA-15 : more than 22’000 m3). Balloons of Sub-class AA are not equipped with an airborne heater and they obtain their buoyancy from a lighter-than-air gas (helium, hydrogen), without pressurisation of the envelope. Sand or water serves as ballast and is dropped overboard in small amounts to let the balloon go higher. When the pilot wants to land, he opens a valve at the top of the envelope to release small amounts of the lifting gas. To fly the maximum distance, the balloonist has to ration his use of both ballast and gas, while searching for the fastest winds at different altitudes. It is a sport of endurance and strategy.

Second oldest unbroken FAI World Record still belongs to the “Graf Zeppelin”
According to the FAI World Record files, the second oldest unbroken world record performance is still held by the famous airship LZ 127 “Graf Zeppelin”. The flight started on October 29th, 1928, at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station (NJ) and ended at Friedrichshafen (Germany) on November 1st. Dr Hugo ECKENER was at the controls of the airship and, together with his 41 crew members, 24 passengers and one stowaway (!), he covered a total distance of 6’384 km.

Lausanne, June 6th, 2002