Mikhail Mamistov
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Mikhail Mamistov learnt to fly in 1983 in the then Soviet Union and went on to become one of the most decorated pilots in the history of Aerobatics competition.
“I was 18 in 1983," he explained during an interview at the 2016 FAI European Aerobatics Championship in the Czech Republic. “I studied physics at university, but after I discovered flying I soon forgot about physics!”
He found his discipline in aerobatics. “You can do everything in three dimensions. It’s not just flying point A to B, like a bus or a ship. Aerobatics is real flight.”
Now, Mamistov is a fulltime aerobatics instructor based in St Petersburg. He teaches aerobatics at home and abroad.
Mamistov entered his first competition in 1987. “My first medal was for cross country flying. But then my first international competition was in 1995 and it was Glider Aerobatics. We went to France and I won.”
That same year he went to the FAI European Glider Aerobatic Championships. “And I won that. Then the next year I won the FAI World Glider Aerobatic Championships.”
Having won both European and World titles in glider aerobatics he moved to powered aerobatics.
“From 1999 I took part in all the competitions. 2000 I was second, 2001 I was World Champion, and 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012 I was European Champion, and 2011 I was World Champion again.”
It is that list that qualifies him as the world’s most decorated Powered Aerobatics pilot.
Mamistov puts part of his success down to his country's system of Powered Aerobatics training. The system has its roots in the Soviet era, when aerobatics received more state funding than it does today.
The sport has been good to him. “I have had many high points. My first international competition in 1995 was very good. In 2001 when I was World Champion that was very good. And 2011 when I was World Champion again was very good."
He added: “All my life I dreamed of flying. From five-years old I understood, ‘Yes, I want to be that.'"
Career Highlights
1995: FAI World Glider Aerobatics Championships, Gold
1996: FAI European Glider Aerobatics Championships, Gold
1997: FAI World Glider Aerobatics Championships, Gold
2001: FAI World Aerobatic Championships, Gold
2004: FAI European Aerobatic Championships, Gold
2006: FAI European Aerobatic Championships, Gold
2008: FAI European Aerobatic Championships, Gold
2011: FAI World Aerobatic Championships, Gold
2012: FAI European Aerobatic Championships, Gold
2013: FAI World Aerobatic Championships, Silver
2014: FAI European Aerobatic Championships, Silver
2015: FAI World Aerobatic Championships, Silver
2016: FAI European Aerobatic Championships, Gold
2017: FAI World Aerobatic Championships, Gold
2019: FAI World Aerobatic Championships, Bronze
Honorin Hamard
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Honorin Hamard is a multiple world record holder in Paragliding, and has been both FAI Paragliding World Champion and FAI Paragliding European Champion.
He got the flying bug aged 14 from his father, who had been a pilot since the late 1980s but had given up the sport when his son was born. “For my father it was fun. He liked the social side, but for me, I wanted to win,” Honorin has said.
He learnt to fly on the coastline and in the flatlands of Normandy, France, but moved to the Alps to focus on flying as he became more involved in the sport. Once there he soon found his way onto the French national paragliding squad, under the direction of legendary French hang gliding and paragliding coach Didier Mathurin.
He rose quickly through the ranks, coming third in the Under-21s French Paragliding Championship in 2008, and becoming French Under-21 Champion in 2012.
Three years later he won the FAI Paragliding World Championships in Colombia in 2015 when he was just 24-years-old. He went on to win the FAI Paragliding European Championships in 2016, too.
Away from the competition circuit Hamard has also set several paragliding world records. Flying solo he set a declared flight to goal, 423.5km, in Brazil in 2013. Also in Brazil he set three tandem records flying with his girlfriend Karine Gras, on flights that took 11 hours. They also pushed the record for longest straight-line tandem paragliding flight to 403km.
A professional paraglider test pilot he flies 600 hours a year.
Career highlights
2013: FAI Paragliding World Record, Declared flight to goal, 423.5km, Brazil
2015: FAI World Paragliding Championships, Gold
2016: FAI European Paragliding Championships, Gold
2017: FAI World Paragliding Championships, Bronze
2019: FAI World Paragliding Championships, Bronze
Corinna Schwiegershausen
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Corinna Schwiegershausen was born in Bremen, Germany in 1972 and took up hang gliding in 1991. She has been FAI Women's World Hang Gliding Champion four times.
"My father started the sport and I immediately wanted to go flying as well," she has said. "It just felt natural for me. I love to be in the air, that is my element. Competitions are just a good excuse to spend more time up there."
After completing a degree in graphic design she moved to Munich to be closer to good flying sites. She quickly rose through the competition ranks and won her first FAI World Championship gold medal in 1998.
She went on to win two more FAI World Championships, in 2004 and 2006, and also won the FAI Women's European Hang Gliding Championship in 2008. She was part of the German women's team that won its sixth successive FAI World Championship gold in 2006 too.
Her advice for new competition pilots is straightforward. "Be prepared – get the best equipment possible and test it before the comp, so you know you are comfortable and safe.
"Also look into the psychological sides of a long, exhausting comp. Learn to admit that you make mistakes, analyse them to improve your skills, and then forgive yourself. And try not to make the same mistake again.
"Look at the other pilots with respect and see them as your friends. They will help you find thermals, learn fast and get better. I also never forget that there are, and always will be, pilots with much better skills than mine. It is great to always keep learning!
"Finally, always be humble and happy that every day you have the privilege to spread your wings and fly."
Career Highlights
1998, FAI Women's Hang Gliding Championship, gold
2004, FAI Women's Hang Gliding Championship, gold
2006, FAI Women's Hang Gliding Championship, gold
2008, FAI Women's Hang Gliding Championship, gold
Christian Ciech
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Christian Ciech is one of the most consistent and successful pilots in competition hang gliding. He has held FAI European and World Championship titles at the same time, and has also won numerous FAI team gold medals.
He learnt to fly in 1988 when he was 17. "I remember it very well because I was asking myself, How am I meant to fly straight with this glider?!" Showing an early aptitude he realised the glider he was on "did not fly very straight" but he still managed to land it in the right field. "I have been hitting the field ever since."
A professional test pilot for a hang glider manufacturer he grew up in the Dolomites in Italy, before moving to Lake Maggiore, on the southern side of the Alps to be near work.
Hang gliding competition is as much about the psychological "head game" as it is the physical act of flying the glider. To do well, pilots must stay cool, and so it is for Ciech. "The best situation for me is when I'm not thinking about the results, and instead I'm thinking about what I can learn from the flight.
"If I set my mind in this way, it's the best thing I can do. It's not always possible, of course. Sometimes the competition stresses you out and you fight for the result, but that doesn't work very well for me. Flying to learn is the way I fly competitions."
Career highlights
1998: FAI European Hang Gliding Championships, Bronze
2002 and 2004: FAI World Hang Gliding Championships (Class 5), Gold
2015: FAI World Hang Gliding Championships (Class 1), Gold
2016: FAI European Hang Gliding Championships (Class 1), Gold
2017: FAI World Hang Gliding Championships (Class 1), Bronze
2019: FAI World Hang Gliding Championships (Class 1), Silver
Team Golds at the FAI World Hang Gliding World Championships: 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019
Sebastian Kawa
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Sebastian Kawa is one of the most accomplished glider pilots in the sport. A multiple FAI World Champion and FAI European Champion he has excelled in all classes of gliding since the turn of the century.
However, his competitive roots lie not in the air but in the sea. From the age of 8 to 18 he sailed competitively at national and international level for Poland.
He took up gliding in 1988 aged 16 and within two years had clocked up 200 hours, as well as reached milestones like completing a 3,000m gain-in-altitude and a 300km triangle flight.
After winning the Polish Junior Gliding Nationals in 1992 he gradually climbed the ladder of elite glider racing. His first international podium came with a Bronze medal at the FAI World Gliding Championships in 1999. He won his first FAI World Championship in 2003.
In 2005 he was ranked number 1 in the world for the first time. He spent the next decade at number one or number two in the world rankings, and dominated the elite level of competition.
In 2012 he won his fourth FAI World Championship gold medal and became the most successful competition pilot in history. He has continued to win gold medals and is now the most decorated glider pilot in history.
In 2011 he published his autobiography, a Sky Full of Heat, in Polish and English. An active coach, teacher and trainer for all levels of pilot, Kawa revealed in his autobiography that it takes, "10 years of maximum concentration and effort to get to fly against the masters".
As well as competing around the world, he has pushed the boundaries of gliding flight with high-altitude flights above Aconcagua (6,962m) in Argentina, and in the Everest region of Nepal.
A qualified medical doctor he is married with two children.
Career Highlights
1999: FAI World Gliding Championships (World Class), Bronze
2003: FAI World Gliding Championships (World Class), Gold
2004: FAI World Gliding Championships (Club Class), Gold
2005: FAI European Gliding Championships (Club), Gold
2005: FAI World GP Gliding Championship (15m), Gold
2006: FAI World Gliding Championships (Club Class), Gold
2007: FAI European Gliding Championships (Club), Gold
2007: FAI World Sailplane Grand Prix World Final (15m), Gold
2010: FAI World Sailplane Grand Prix World Final (15m), Gold
2010: FAI World Gliding Championships (Standard), Gold
2011: FAI European Gliding Championships (Standard), Gold
2012: FAI World Gliding Championships (15m), Gold
2013: FAI World Gliding Championships (Standard), Gold
2013: FAI European Gliding Championships (18m), Gold
2013: FAI European Gliding Championships (Standard), Gold
2014: FAI World Gliding Championships (15m), Gold
2015: FAI European Gliding Championships (18m), Gold
2015: FAI World Air Games (Gold)
2017: FAI European Gliding Championships (20m), Gold
2017: FAI World Gliding Championships (13,5m & 15m), Gold
2018: FAI World Gliding Championships (15m), Gold
2018: FAI World Gliding Championships (Two Seater), Gold
2018: FAI Sailplane Grand Prix World Final (15m), Gold
2019: FAI European Gliding Championships (15m & 18m), Gold
2021: FAI World Gliding Championships (15m), Gold
2021: FAI Sailplane Grand Prix World Final, Gold
2022: FAI European Gliding Championships (15m), Gold
2023: FAI European Gliding Championships (18m), Bronze
2023: FAI World Gliding Championships (15m), Gold
Ferenc Toth
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Ferenc Toth spent over 20 years at the top of his game, after winning his first major competition in Glider Aerobatics in 2000, aged 32. That was the FAI European Aerobatic Glider Championships, held in Provence, France, and it was a close battle between him and Jerzy Makula – the ‘grandfather’ of glider aerobatics – for the top spot.
Three years later he won the ultimate prize – the FAI World Championship gold medal, when he again battled it out with Makula for the first place on the podium. Since then his form has barely wavered – he has been on numerous podiums at major international competitions since.
Toth competes in the Unlimited Class of Glider Aerobatics, flying a Swift S-1, a dedicated solo aerobatic glider. A classic, it is considered the ultimate competition wing for glider aerobatics.
Besides a good glider, what is his secret, what makes him so good? “I think my secret is I can concentrate during my flights," he says. "Everyone is nervous in competition, of course, but when I am in the aircraft, before release, I can concentrate for the next four of five minutes. I am clear in my head.”
Toth started flying gliders in 1986, and spent nearly the first decade of his flying career in standard gliders. But he always thought he would enjoy aerobatics.
“I became an aerobatic pilot in 1995,” he says. “Everybody starts with the standard glider, looking for thermals and flying. But aerobatics pilots need more adrenaline, more challenge.
“When I was a young pilot with only two years’ experience I wanted to do something more. Nobody forced me, nobody pushed me, it was just a feeling from inside.”
That “feeling inside” has motivated him throughout his career. He has been an instructor, an aerobatics coach and a team trainer as well as a power precision and glider cross country pilot.
A professional airline pilot he switches to aerobatics at the weekend. “In my job I am sitting in the cockpit pushing buttons. But when I’m in the glider yes, this is flying.”
He adds: “When I’m training I’m happy. When we are flying in the air everybody has the same feeling – of freedom and being happy.”
Toth announced his retirement from competition at the 24th FAI World Glider Aerobatic Championships in Issoudun, France in 2022.
Career Highlights
2000: FAI European Aerobatic Glider Championships, Gold
2003: FAI World Aerobatic Glider Championships, Gold
2006: FAI European Aerobatic Glider Championships, Gold
2007: FAI World Aerobatic Glider Championships, Silver
2008: FAI European Aerobatic Glider Championships, Gold
2010: FAI European Aerobatic Glider Championships, Silver
2012: FAI World Aerobatic Glider Championships, Silver
2015: FAI World Air Games, Glider Aerobatics, Silver
2015: FAI World Aerobatic Glider Championships, Gold
2016: FAI World Aerobatic Glider Championships, Gold
2017: The World Games, Gold
2017: FAI World Aerobatic Gliding Championships, Gold
2018: FAI World Aerobatic Glider Championships, Gold
2019: FAI World Aerobatic Glider Championships, Gold
2021: FAI World Aerobatic Glider Championships, Gold
2022: FAI World Aerobatic Glider Championships, Gold