2008 Airship Competition Comes To St. Petersburg

The 8th FAI World Hot Air Airship Championship will take place in Saint Petersburg, Russia on June 21-28, 2008. This marks the first time that Russia will host the championship and the first time in seven years since the last World Hot Air Airship Championship has been held.

In addition to the hot air airship competitions an International Balloon Fiesta will also be held. About 20 hot air airships are going to participate in the World Hot Air Airship Championship. The International Balloon Fiesta will unite more than 80 hot air balloons, with both normal and special shape categories.

Russian organizers convinced the FAI Ballooning Commission (CIA) to approve Russia and award the right to stage the 8th World Hot Air Airship Championship during the annual plenary meeting of the Fédération Aéronautique International at Luxembourg in March, 2007.

Russian organizers promise to make the event exciting as pilots perform different tasks which may require refueling stops and logistics by ground crews. Teams will compete in point to point races, declared time races, precision task races and the slalom.

The balloon slalom is a speed race on a slalom course of approximately 1 km with gates to be passed each 50 to 100 meters. Pilots have to move their airship of a mass of about 4.5 tons around the poles as quick as they can.

Pylons will be installed on Neva River in the center of Saint Petersburg and airships will fly three to five times around a triangular course timed for maximum speed.

"We plan to combine a race with a "Le Mans" start. It means that pilots run by foot towards their airships and try to be the first in the air", says 8th FAI World Hot Air Airship Championship Sports Director Pit Thibo (Luxembourg).

In June 21-28, 2007 at a pre-championship competition, Saint Petersburg hosted the MegaFon World Hot Air Airship Cup with International Balloon Fiesta "MegaFon - Rise Above the Clouds" which was held in Pushkin at the Tsarskoe Selo State Museum Complex.

These events were held as a trial run for the World Championship and helped the Russian organizers to ensure that all of the necessary conditions for hosting a FAI Category One competition in 2008 are in place.

Russia has also hosted events like the MegaFon World Cup and International Balloon Fiesta where more than 40 crews from 18 countries participated in the flights.

FMI: www.world-airship2008.ru