By : Linda Renwick

An official competition of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the FAI World Grand Prix of Aviation (FWGPA) is an ambitious sporting event, tailored to accommodate the technical, artistic and cultural dimensions of aviation through the 21st century.

Of course, aviation is now one hundred years old, but the pioneering spirit of discovery and adventure still exists and is the driving force of the FWGPA, the only aviation competition travelling the world with a circuit of events each year:

• The FWGPA is the only aviation competition to music.
  The pilots fly a program to the music of their choice and are graded on technical and artistic criteria, making this competition a “mix” between Formula I and figure skating.

• The SKY BOX airshow aerobatic team (Czech Republic).

  The FWGPA is the only aerobatic competition open to both solo pilots and formation teams.
  Under fantastic physical pressure of up to 10 g’s (10 times their weight), pilots must display to perfection a combination of figures called rolls, loops, hammerheads or tumbles. A freestyle choreography for solo flights as well as for those who share their destiny in a formation team.
  
  To bring a new thrill with strict observance of safety rules, teams were integrated into the competition in 1998.

• The FWGPA is the only aviation competition traveling around the world.
  Thirty one events since 1990 with elite international aerobatic pilots selected within the frame of the Olympic movement through national, continental and world championships. The Grand Prix has been displayed in Europe (13 events), USA (4), Canada (1), Japan (5) and China (8) with crowds of up to 300'000 spectators in one day.

• Twin Ring, Motegi, October 98

  Sport? You call this sport? But aviation is only a hobby for wealthy people!
  It is this remark that inspired Jean-Louis Monnet, former fighter pilot and leader of the famous Patrouille de France, to create the FWGPA with multiple challenges. No, he said, this remark indicates a complete lack of understanding about the aviation community and its culture. The majority of sport pilots are not wealthy, they invest everything into their passion and make a lot of personal sacrifices. Certainly this sport is not cheap, however, can we say that investing twenty thousand dollars a year for three years to propel a normally gifted pilot from his first flight to the top international level is a prohibitive cost? I don’t think so, especially when this extreme sport born from the toughest air combats, requesting as much concentration and precision as a martial art, is also an adventure in the fields of technique, advanced technologies, art and culture. Of course, we have to create new conditions for young people, such as the French genius Eddy Dussau who at the age of 21 and only three years after his first flight, flew with the French team, the best in the world. Another is the beautiful Russian, Svetlana Kapanina, twice Female World Champion and who in 1998 was placed 3rd Overall (including men). It is possible to be a World Aerobatic Champion before you reach the age of 25, however it is much more difficult to earn a living with it.
  
  Too esoteric, the world of sports aviation had to challenge itself to finally admit that the mythical air show heroes of the 1920’s now belong to a lost generation and that to organise a competition that was incomprehensible to the spectator was of no interest at all.

Award Ceremony, Lausanne, 5 February 99

• Average competition duration is 2 hours (normally 10 days with classical competitions).
• Simplified and easy to understand regulations.
• Competitors restricted to no more than 12 of the world’s top unlimited pilots (up to 90 competitors at classical competitions).
• Formation Teams have been introduced.
• Flights are to music.
• Live video transmission and in flight data are broadcast to giant video screens.
• A sufficient number of competitions are held each year to develop an interest with the media and for educating the public on this little known sport.
• A participation, an organisation and a true international establishment.

Crowd at CHANGSHA, China, November 98

• In the technical domain, the FWGPA is not only a testing bench for sport aircraft manufacturers, but is also a research and development tool in different communication / marketing areas. For example:
  • It is important to involve the spectator into the heart of the action. Because Aerobatics offers an extraordinary appeal of the 3rd dimension, it was essential to present "live" to the public the elements of flights for a better understanding of not only the regulations but to show all the effects on the pilot.
  • The FWGPA has taken the path of digital and instantaneous flight images (distances, altitudes, angles, speed, accelerations): digital in-board cameras to provide interior views and striking sponsor visibility, choice of camera angle by the spectator (interactivity is necessary and productive), direct transmission on-site and via Internet, etc…
  • Very often television cameramen have difficulty to maintain the extreme manoeuvres of aerobatics within the screen. The FWGPA is exploring the possibilities for a simple and cost effective system for cameras to automatically track the aircraft in order to provide a stable image and best sponsor legibility.
  • All this will improve the quality of measuring the pilot's performance, therefore the judging of the athletes, a subject which is today as sensitive as in figure skating!

CHANGSHA, November 98

• Certainly, if we limit ourselves to only the geometrical frame, then it will be difficult to integrate musicians, dancers, actors and all other art forms into the FWGPA.
  
  However there is a link between man and space, between the acrobat and the astronaut, and this is why the FWGPA will more frequently subscribe to the scientific and effective environment of a "Festival" which is larger than a sporting competition.
  
  The FWGPA will then take its emotional and intellectual dimensions and astonish the spectator by offering an impressive show in the form of an immense three dimensional theatre, that goes even beyond the Olympic motto Citius, Altius, Fortius, fighting against the spirit of gravity.