The first space-walk by Alexey Leonov in 1965, the first solo flight across the Pacific Ocean by Steve Fossett in 1995, the highest ballooning flight by Vijaypat Singhania in 2005, to name only a few. These are the outstanding records whose anniversaries will be celebrated by FAI in 2015 with a series of articles and social media messages. Dug out of the Federation’s archives, the most valuable, interesting and exclusive documents and pictures will be made available to the public and the media on these occasions.

FAI, as the world governing body for air sports activities, has accumulated an impressive quantity of space and aviation record dossiers. Since its foundation in 1905, more than 16’000 world and continental records have been ratified by the Federation.

Some of the records are still valid many years after their establishment, such as Maynard Hill’s who flew his model aircraft to a height of 8,205m in 1965, and  Ms. Lindsay Muir’s, who made an almost 20-hour hot air balloon flight in 2000. Some others have been superseded but the performances in themselves marked the history of aviation or space. Leonov’s first extravehicular exit from a spaceship in 1965 falls into this very special category.

“The FAI Head Office is a gold mine of information relating to the history of aeronautics and astronautics. We are proud to be the keepers of such priceless documents, and we really want to share it with the world,” FAI President Dr. John Grubbström said. “All of the records are about pushing the human body, technologies and aircraft to their limits to achieve performances that no one ever made before. Behind them lie stories of courage, determination and technical expertise that I am sure will spark interest within the air sports community and well beyond.”