!!!Flugsport

Sports, Aerial: The oldest discipline in aerial sports (since 1882) is 
 Ballooning, introduced by V. Silberer, who was also responsible for 
founding an association for aerial sports. Attempts at piloting a 
glider plane preceded the early stages of motorised flying (I. 
Etrich), which is mainly practised today with light planes, sporting 
planes, ultralights in the form of navigational, precision and stunt 
flying. The practice of flying glider-planes began in Austria with 
glider competitions in the Semmering area in 1910/1911. R. Kronfeld 
attained world-class level in long-distance and high-altitude flying 
in the twenties; only after World War II in 1952 were national 
championships held again; in 1968 H. Woedl became world champion. 
Parachuting as a sport comprises accuracy parachuting, freestyle and 
formation skydiving competitions; the beginnings of these disciplines 
coincide with the liberalisation of aerial sports in the fifties. 
Model plane flying with glider or motorised planes or helicopters 
weighing 5-20 kg began in the twenties; in recent times Austria has 
recorded many victories in world championship competitions (e.g. R. 
Freudenthaler). Organised hang-gliding, also practised in competition, 
became popular in the 1970s (first hang-gliding association world-wide 
founded in Koessen in Tirol in 1973), somewhat later paragliding rose 
to popularity. Aerial sports are organised under an umbrella 
organisation, the Austrian  Aero-Club.

!Publications
Aeroclub-Info; prop (Modellflugmagazin); 
Oesterreichische Flugsport-Zeitung.

!Literature
Oesterreichischer Aero-Club (ed.), Flugsport und 
allgemeine Luftfahrt in Oesterreich, Vienna, without date (1989).


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