Welcome to the Gliding Event at the 2015 World Air Games!
Latest update 10 December 2015 0425 UTC The Competition is over. The winner is Sebastian Kawa of Poland. For the full list of results, see the Results Page. You can still read the race history as recorded by our Twitter Feed and Blog on the Live Coverage Page. And you can peruse the Photos Page and Videos Page. Thank you for your interest in this historic event! ريك الشاب |
Gliding at the WAG
Modern gliders are the most efficient aircraft in the world. The challenge to the pilot is to exploit that efficiency to the greatest extent possible, and racing is the best way to compare pilot skills.
The history of glider racing goes back about 70 years, and in the modern era, gliders have flown around closed circuit courses of hundreds of kilometres – faster than would be possible in a small powered airplane.
Traditionally, a glider race involves an all-day flight in which the pilots exploit the energy available in the atmosphere to the greatest extent possible, but recently new events have been created that emphasize the precise control of the aircraft itself – and take place over much shorter flights.
One of these is the “Glider Match Race” which will be presented for the first time at the FAI World Air Games in Dubai.
The Rules of Glider Match Racing
In Glider Match Racing, a pair of gliders will fly simultaneously over a predefined course of roughly 25 kilometres, and whichever pilot completes the course first, without exceeding a specified speed limit, is the winner of the match. The winner will be the pilot who can follow the course more accurately, control the glider more precisely, make more precise turns, and control the speed more effectively, all with the goal of being first across the finish line.
After a qualifying round in which all the pilots will be paired against each other once, the winners will face each other in a single-elimination finals round. The winner of the gliding event will be declared Winner of the FAI Gliding Match Racing Event and be awarded the Gold Medal. The pilots placing respectively second and third will be awarded the Silver and the Bronze medals.
Included in the complete set of rules is a specification of the courses and Turn Points.
The Competitors
The six competitors who have been invited are some of the most skillful glider pilots in the world. They are the champions of Austria, Chile, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, and Poland.
The site
The Glider Match Race will take place at the Skydive Dubai Desert Campus (also known as Margham Airport), located approximately 45 kilometres east of the city. We will share the airport with competitors in other Air Sport Disciplines.
The World Air Games
The World Air Games, conducted under the rules of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, is the premier international multi-discipline air sports event, fielding the world’s top Air Sports Athletes.
The 2015 Games are expected to be the largest ever, with over 1200 athletes participating.
Sports and Disciplines
Within each Air Sport, there are one or more competition formats, or “Disciplines.”
At these Games, these Disciplines will be on display: Powered Aerobatics, Glider Aerobatics, RC Helicopters, Scale Pylon Racing, Control Line Combat Models, Indoor RC Aerobatics, Public Aircraft Building, Hot Air Balloons, Hot Air Airships, Air Navigation Race, Airplane Landing Accuracy, Glider Match Racing, Paragliding Aerobatics (solo and synchronized), Paraglider Landing Accuracy, Weight-shift Microlights, Microlight Gyrocopters, Paramotor Slalom, Formation Skydiving, Parachute Artistic Events, Parachute Accuracy Landing, Canopy Piloting, Canopy Formation, Speed Skydiving, Helicopter Parallel Slalom, and Helicopter Parallel Fender.
26 events in all!
Links
World Air Games https://www.wagdubai.ae/
GMR Twitter Feed https://twitter.com/WAGDubaiGliding
For further information:
