We are very sorry to inform you that, on Friday morning, an accident occurred during a training session, causing injuries to the Russian pilot Alexander Krotov. In order to allow proper investigation, the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau suspended all the flights for the rest of the day.

On Friday evening, due to the uncertainty of the situation, and in order to avoid inconveniences to the public, Twin Ring Motegi, the Event Organiser, decided to cancel the whole event, including the 19th FAI World Grand Prix.

Motegi, 1 November 2003

Welcome to Motegi ! Before the competition starts on Saturday 1 November 2003, this first report will concentrate on a general presentation of the Twin Ring Motegi, the location of the 19th FAI World Grand Prix 2003, and on the preparation work achieved on Thursday 30 October.

What is Twin Ring Motegi ?

Located north-east of Tokyo (between the Japanese cities of Naka and Utsunomiya / approx. 2 ½-hours drive from Tokyo-Narita International Airport), Twin Ring Motegi is an island of technology and speed lost in a luxurious nature made of forests and small mountains.


Apart from the main facilities, a 2.4-km oval race track and a 4.8-km road course dedicated to car and motorcycle races, different courses for karts and a dirt track are available, as well as the Honda Collection Hall, the Honda Fan Fun Lab (a technical site showing the future of vehicles and robots) and... a 500-meters concrete runway. This short and "aircraft-carrier-like" runway requires from pilots a high degree of concentration, and frequent go-arounds. Adjacent to the runway, a series of tents constitute the "hangars" used for the maintenance of aircraft.

Reassembly of aircraft is terminated

Delivered to Japan in containers, the reassembly of the aircraft has been terminated Wednesday afternoon. After thorough ground checks and test flights, the first training flights for Artistic Programs and Time Challenge competition could take place today in a clear sky.

Friday 31 October : Official Practice Day

Friday, the first day open to public, will be the Official Practice Day, allowing fine-tuning of aircraft and infrastructure. For further information : Haute-Voltige

In our next reports, we will come back to the competitors, to the aircraft and to the competitions that will be held on Saturday and Sunday.

Held every year since 1998, the Haute Voltige Aerobatics Japan Grand Prix is the showcase for the FAI World Grand Prix, an aerobatic competition of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the world airsports federation. In 2002, the spectators reached a total of 50,000.

The 2003 Haute Voltige Aerobatics Japan Grand Prix will be held from 31 October to 2 November inclusive at Twin Ring Motegi, Japan (130 km North-East of Tokyo).
Its highlight will be the 19th FAI World Grand Prix featuring 50 pilots from 16 different nationalities, including Grand Prix champions like Peter Besenyei (HUN), Jurgis Kairys (LTU) and Klaus Schrodt (GER), the 2001 and 2003 World Aerobatic Champions, as well as the Flying Bulls and the Matadors Formation Teams.

Svetlana Kapanina, the best ever
A special award will be made to Svetlana Kapanina who is the first pilot ever to win a World Champion title more than twice and deserves the award of best female aerobatic pilot in history.
In June, at the World Aerobatic Championships held in Florida (USA), she was awarded her 4th title in the female category (1996, 1998, 2001, 2003) and, for the first time ever, a woman was ranked No. 2 overall (including men).
At the age of 34, an age where most men are lucky to have been selected more than once for their national team, let alone reaching the podium, Kapanina became a legendary figure of Aerobatics.
Before her, only Betty Stewart (USA, 1980, 1982), Petr Jirmus (CZE, 1984, 1986) and Catherine Maunoury (FRA, 1988, 2000) had been World Champions twice.

Two Programmes in the 2003 FAI World Grand Prix
The first programme, "Technique and Precision" will be composed of figures defined by each competitor and flown by all others without any rehearsal.
The second programme "Artistic Creativity" will be the masterpiece 4-minute freestyle to music for solos, 10 to 12 minutes for formation teams.

Launch of the World Grand Prix Virtual category
Commencing in 2004, the World Grand Prix Virtual competitions for Formation Teams and Solos will be introduced. This new initative will be launched at Motegi by way of a live demonstration by the Virtual Haute Voltige Team, a virtual formation team of 5 aircraft.
For more details, please visit : www.haute-voltige.com/virtualHVteam/

Haute Voltige Showtime
Apart from the FAI World Grand Prix competition flights, the audience will certainly be thrilled by the extra attractions :
- The Haute Voltige Time Challenge : an individual race against time at low altitude over a defined circuit in front of the public audience, and including some aerobatic figures.
- Haute Voltige Specials : combined flights to music performed by solos and teams.
- Virtual Haute Voltige Interactive in the public zone.

For more details, please visit : www.haute-voltige.com/en/fwgp/events/current/motegi03/home.htm
Website in Japanese : www.twinring.jp/hautevoltige/

Media contacts
For all media and TV coverage, please contact the public information department of Twin Ring Motegi (Promoter) at :
media@twinring.co.jp
Tel: +81 3 3278 0731
Fax +81 3 3278 0733
Twin Ring Motegi Co. Ltd
2-6-20 Yaesu, Chuo-ku, tokyo.

Competition Organizer
Haute Voltige
FAI World Grand Prix
4 rue du Château, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Tel: +41 (32) 721 2036
Fax: +41 (32) 721 2046
E-mail : grand-prix@haute-voltige.com
Internet : www.haute-voltige.com

Lausanne, 1 October 2003

In order to read the latest information concerning the 2003 FAI World Grand Prix and Haute Voltige Air Musical, please click on the following link :
Haute Voltige - Newsletter 02/2003.

Lausanne, 31 March 2003

The FAI World Grand Prix aims to develop the artistic aspect of aerobatic demonstrations and flying to music. Open to top level solo pilots, formation teams and constructors, the FAI World Grand Prix is the only international competition where each pilot flies to music (2 programmes). The 17th FAI World Grand Prix was held at Brno, Czech Republic, on May 18th and 19th 2002, together with the new Haute Voltige Performance, “The Call of the Skies”.

Under a clear blue sky and with a public audience of more than 15’000 enthusiasts, the FAI World Grand Prix was held for the first time in Central Europe. Czech TV broadcast 3 x 6 min. live reports on their morning show (pre-event) and a 30 minutes report was broadcast on Sunday 26th May at 4.30 pm.

Competition results
SOLO PILOTS : 1. Klaus Schrodt, GER : 21945 points - Extra 300 S / 2. Mikhail Mamistov, RUS : 21375 points - Sukhoi 31 / 3. Nikolay Timofeev, RUS : 21030 points - Sukhoi 31 / 4. Viktor Tchmal, RUS : 10500 points - Sukhoi 31 / 5. Peter Besenyei, HUN : 10470 points - Extra 330 L / 6. Jurgis Kairys, LIT : 10380 points – Juka / 7. Alexander Krotov, RUS : 8205 points - Sukhoi 31

FORMATION TEAMS : 1. Flying Bulls, CZE : 20970 points - Zlin 50 LX / 2. Matadors, GBR : 19905 points - Su26/31 / 3. Space Knights, FRA : 17895 points - AcroEze

AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURERS : 1. Extra, GER / 2. Sukhoi, RUS

The Martin Stahalik Trophy was awarded to Klaus Schrodt, Solo Category winner of the 17th World Grand Prix.

Spectacular demonstrations
Haute Voltige Performance : The “Call Of The Skies” was performed each day after the competition. The story was told through the aircraft and for the first time, military aircraft (Mig21, Mi24, Galeb) and radio controlled aircraft joined the Haute Voltige solos and formation teams.
Juka : an aircraft manufactured by Jurgis Kairys (http:\\www.haute-voltige.com/e/grand_prix/aircraft/juka.htm), made its first public display with spectacular aerobatic abilities.

FAI World Grand Prix to include new air sports
After the successful demonstrations of aeromodelling presented this year at Brno, aeromodelling will be fully integrated to the FAI World Grand Prix competitions as of 2003; a future introduction of other air sports like parachuting or helicopter flying is under evaluation.

For further information about the 17th FAI World Grand Prix and next competitions, please visit our Website www.fai.org or www.haute-voltige.com

Lausanne, May 28th, 2002

The Haute Voltige Young Pilot project (HVYP) is sponsored by the Haute Voltige group to support young solo aerobatic pilots in their aim to reach FAI World Grand Prix level (top ranking in the CIVA Unlimited World Aerobatic Championships).

All National Air Sport Control Organisations and CIVA delegates were contacted and invited to nominate their potential candidates who met the following criteria:
- Male or female pilots under 26 years of age at time of application
- Aerobatic advanced level as a minimum
- Holding a commercial pilot licence

The selection list closed on 15th February and we now congratulate the successful pilots:

Unlimited Category:
Zachery HEFFLEY (21), USA, 100 total flying hours

Advanced Category:
Sabina BUCHLI (25), Switzerland, 780 total flying hours
Tamàs ROHÀCS (21), Hungary, 500 total flying hours

The basic idea is to use the structure of the FAI World Grand Prix (champions, aircraft, events), as a support for:
- Promotion of these pilots;
- Assistance for sponsorship;
- Development of their skills in 4-minute freestyle programme and Flying to music