Mr Bernald Smith has rendered eminent service to FAI over many years in administrative and representational work, as a delegate to FAI Commissions and in the organisation of sporting events. Deputy Director of the FAI World Gliding Championship in 1983, and Director of the 1991 World Championship, he was already decorated for his achievements with the Lilienthal Medal, gliding’s highest award, and he continues to provide outstanding service to the soaring community in the broadest sense (including hang gliding, paragliding and microlight flying) through his activities as Chairman of the FAI Gliding Commission’s GNSS Committee, and as FAI’s representative to the RTCA, monitoring developments in airspace management and avionics as they affect the sport aviation community. He was for many years a Delegate to the IGC and rose to be a Vice President, a post he also holds in the FAI Environmental Commission. His work with RTCA frequently takes him away from home, often on long trips to Europe for joint meetings, for which FAI never pays expenses. He is often the sole voice for sport aviation in these meetings and he never fails to speak up for all branches of air sport. These international activities come on top of the many responsibilities he has discharged and still discharges at national level. Bernald Smith has served the international air sport community in an exemplary way, and richly deserves the FAI Bronze Medal.
Lilienthal and Chanute might be considered as the fathers of hang gliding, but their gliders were fragile and hard to control in turbulent conditions. The sport of hang gliding really began in Australia in 1963, when John Dickenson invented the modern hang glider. The glider was robust, able to withstand many crashes and still fly, easy to transport and store. The design could be comprehended after a moment's viewing and replicated with no special tools, materials or knowledge. The control system was intuitive and efficient. The glider was so easy to fly that one would become a pilot and achieve Icarus’ dream simply by running off a hill and learning on the way down.The magic of Dickenson’s device is the perfect coincidence of extreme simplicity, user friendliness and copy-ability. No other aircraft in history is as easy to build, fly and duplicate as the Dickenson wing. Almost 50 years after it was created, it is still the template for beginners’ hang gliders. From 1963 to 1969, the Dickenson wing was boat-towed and released. In 1969, it was foot-launched, ridge-soared and taken around the world. In just six years, the number of Dickenson gliders went from a few dozens to tens of thousands, when hang gliding became part of FAI in the Commission Internationale de Vol Libre (CIVL). The sport of hang gliding has never been honoured by a FAI Gold Air Medal. It makes CIVL, supported by France and Australia, all the more proud to nominate John Dickenson, holder of FAI Hang Gliding Diploma in 2006, for the highest FAI award.
