FAI News Release - 07 June 1999
LAUSANNE WELCOMES FAI - AND THE SUN SHINES...
Saturday 29 May 1999 was a glorious day of uninterrupted sunshine and
unrestricted visibility, and an historic day in the annals of the FAI.
Crowds of people massed on the banks of Lake Geneva to welcome FAI to
Lausanne. To celebrate FAI's official arrival in the Olympic Capital, a
reception was held on the terrace of the Olympic Museum, overlooking
Lake Geneva and the Savoy Alps beyond. FAI Council Members were honoured
to have as their principal guests HE Juan Antonio Samaranch, IOC
President, M. Jean-Jacques Schilt, Mayor of Lausanne, and General
Fernand Carrel, Chief of Staff of the Swiss Air Force.
The central attraction which the crowds gathered to see was a display of
air sports over the lake, organised by the Aero Club of Switzerland,
starting with fly-pasts by old and new: a 1930s Tiger Moth and a
state-of-the-art Stemme S10 motor glider. There followed precision
parachuting into the confined and steeply-terrassed garden of the
Museum, featuring the Swiss Accuracy Landing Champion and James Bond
stunt-man B J Worth in his trademark dinner jacket (a rig he does not
normally wear in his other role as FAI Parachute Commission Vice
President!). Then came virtuoso aerobatics in a CAP 231;
radio-controlled mini-Montgolfières - an unusual and highly colourful
spectacle; and a bravado demonstration of paragliding, with the
paraglider pilot towed to altitude behind a speedboat on the lake, and
then landing back on the boat.
Throughout the day, the gardens of the Museum were given over to a
static display of air sports - aeromodels, balloons, hang gliders - even
a Swiss-manufactured microlight (they can be built here, even if an
ill-advised regulatory authority bans them from flying.)
In his speech to the guests, FAI President Eilif Ness, said that the day
marked the realisation of a long cherished dream. He pointed to the wide
range of responsibilities of the FAI - ballooning, through parachuting,
and aeromodelling to hang gliding, paragliding, aerobatics and flying in
microlights, powered aeroplanes and helicopters, including home builts
and continued:
"In two years' time - in June 2001 - the FAI World Air Games will be
held in Andalucia, Spain. More than 4 000 athletes representing all the
different air sports will assemble for a great festival of high level
aerial competition. We see this event, in a sense, as our own tribute to
the Olympic ideal, and it is fitting that we should be here today in
this beautiful setting to celebrate the launch of a new era in our
history..... We hope that, at some date in the not too distant future,
the Olympic Games will move into the third dimension and include at
least one air sport. In the meantime, we pledge to support the Olympic
Charter in our own competitions."
IOC President Samaranch then received from FAI President Ness, as a
permanent reminder of the day on which FAI officially celebrated its
arrival in the Olympic Capital, a collage of the winning paintings in
the FAI's Young Artists' Contest, depicting how air sports may one day
appear on the Olympic programme.
The IOC President and Mayor Schilt both warmly welcomed FAI to the
Olympic Capital, pledging their continued support to our Federation.
It was a memorable day for us all, especially the many children gathered
in the park, and the local press coverage was enthusiastic.
FAI has a fresh lease of life in its new Swiss home.
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
Avenue Mon-Repos 24
CH-1005 Lausanne
Switzerland
Email : press@fai.org
Tel : +41 21 345 1070
Fax: +41 21 345 1077
