Behind the Statistics

Sadly they are all the competitors are from Europe, which is pretty much par for the course. We had hoped for a South African team and even an American entry but microlighting is not the sport of the wealthy and the costs of shipping the aircraft long distances are high. Also, many of the competitors are instructors who use the same aircraft for both their work and their sport; they can’t afford to be without them for the months it takes to ship aircraft around the world. Even from within Europe we might have hoped to see a few more of those who have competed in recent years. The French, of course, are absent, making a political protest because they had backed a bid from the Lebanon which the FAI rejected on security grounds. Austria, Portugal and the Netherlands have also entered small teams in recent years but not consistently and not this year. The fundamental requirement is usually a strong microlighting community in the country concerned and, with the exception of France, all the strong microlighting nations from Europe are here. In smaller microlighting nations what is particularly needed is someone to champion the sport. This is what Norway has in Tormod Veiby and it is thanks to him that Norway has this year doubled its entry to two aircraft.