Air sports

Air sports is a generic term for numerous aeronautical activities including aerobatics, air racing, ballooning, gliding, hang gliding, parachuting and paragliding. The world governing body for air sports is the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (International Aeronautical Federation; FIA) which was founded on 14 October 1905 and has its headquarters in Lausanne. The most famous air racing event was the Schneider Trophy, contested from 1913 to 1931 and highly prestigious in the 1920s. The event was especially notable for its 1927 winner, the Supermarine S.5 seaplane, designed by Reginald Mitchell and a direct forerunner of his Supermarine Spitfire.