On May 19th and 20th, 2022, Aix-Marseille will host the world’s first wind tunnel flight competition, for people with motor disabilities. This unprecedented event will involve 70 competitors; both men and women, of approximately twenty nationalities. ‘Let’s fly the world!’ is the motto of this international and unique event, and its main goal is to allow as many athletes as possible to experience the thrill of flying within a perfectly safe environment.

This first #HandiflyRACE will also be an opportunity to conduct live testing of the equipment that facilitates the evolution of disabled people in the wind tunnel. Said testing phase represents a genuine laboratory of experiments that will be useful to all attendees, competitors or not. In France, six venues currently host future participants in their training phase, and they are as follows; Argenteuil, Lille, Lyon, Paris (La Villette), Poitiers and, obviously, Aix-Marseille, where the various races will take place. The French Skydiving Federation (FFP), who organizes the event, has drawn up a scale of points which corresponds to the disability of each candidate. This scale will be used to designate the first world champion of the specialty, at the end of this twoday competition.

#HandiflyRACE is part of the #WindtunnelHandifly project, supported by the European Commission (Erasmus+ Sport program). It was launched in November 2020, and consists of promoting the mass development of flight for people of all types of disabilities, including; motor, sensory, and intellectual. It has been enacted thanks to a European network of wind tunnels located in Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Czech Republic, and France.

Wind tunnel flying is an ideal way to allow any person, whatever their disability, to discover flying, and then to be able to evolve towards independent flying. With an activity where everything has yet to be invented, the #WindtunnelHandifly project aspires to contribute to equal opportunities, as well as add to a modern and exemplary symbol of social inclusiveness. In this context, #HandiflyRACE symbolizes a great meeting place for the world’s elite, and is therefore an invaluable source of inspiration for the whole community.

Find out more on the FFP website.