World record holding aviator receives Royal recognition

Congratulations to aviator, Steve Wood

Our congratulations to record-breaking aviator, the irrepressible Steve Wood, who went to St James' Palace last week to be presented with The Air League's Scott-Farnie Award by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.

The FAI has just ratified another 35 records giving him 64 world records at present - with another 14 pending!

We have been looking at how many world records he could have claimed using the official start / finish times submitted to the FAI for the records he has claimed.

It gets complicated as the FAI Has changed its rules three times in recent years to stop ridiculously slow speeds being claimed. Up to 2006, any speed could be claimed which is why some records are down to just 8 km/h (5 mph). From 2006 to 2008, speeds below the clean stall speed of the aircraft (or 100 km/h if the stall speed was not known) could only be claimed if other records were claimed on the same route which were above the stall speed. From 1 March 2008 the FAI has simplified the rules and now only speeds above the clean stall speed (or 100 km.h) can be claimed.

We have also been researching the records set by Sheila Scott - who is generally regarded as having set the most aviation records of any British pilot up to now. In the Encyclopedia Britannica she is reputed to have broken "more than 100 light-aviation records" between 1965 and 1972. However, she claimed only 77 official FAI world records (which is why Steve has claimed 78 records) and of those 77 records 30 were duplicate 'Feminine' records which have been superseded by the FAI as no longer valid as there is now no 'feminine' category.

It seems that Sheila Scott may have set more than 100 aviation records but only claimed the 77 world records. Based on the same rules as existed when she set her records, Steve actually set a massive total of 320 world speed records, but of course has only claimed 78 world records.plus another 5 British National records.

Under the 2007 rules which applied during all but his last flight, Steve could have claimed 197 FAI world records, plus the 5 British National records. Under the 2008 rules he could have claimed 161 FAI world records, plus the 5 British National records.

I hope you are keeping up! But let me summarise.

All of Steve’s 78 claimed records meet the 2008 rules and, if you apply the 2008 rules to other pilots records, the situation changes dramatically.

Based on claimed records:

Steve become no. 1 in the world for the number of records ever set in a homebuilt aircraft as the previous 'top scorer' (H G Schmid) claimed 168 records of which only 61 records would be valid under the 2008 rules. This compares with Steve’s 78 claimed, and still valid, records!

Sheila Scott's total of 77 records would reduce to just 38 valid records. Another British pilot, Victor Davies, claimed 62 records and this would reduce to 28 records. Judith Chisholm originally claimed 56 world records but 29 of these were 'feminine' and her total would reduce to just 16 records under the new rules. Interestingly the number of records set by a British pilot in a single year back - 27 records set in 1952 by T W Hayhow - stays unchanged, but, in any event, Steve smashed this total by setting 78 world records in a single year.

Of course, irrespective of the changes in the FAI rules, Steve is now the top scoring British aviator in the history of aviation presently holding 64 FAI world records with another 14 world records pending ratification.

We are all very proud of Steve. On the same day that Steve received his prestigious Scott-Farnie Award medal, another Yorkshireman was there. Her Majesty The Queen knighted Sir Michael Parkinson – we think she might have put the royal sword to Steve in recognition of his amazing achievements.

Headline Management’s Steve Wood receives international media coverage

Steve Wood featured in EAA journal

Following world record breaking aviator Steve Wood’s confirmation from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) that he set a total of 29 world speed records in his GlaStar, during the second "four corners" flight around America in 2007 media coverage has been secured around the globe.

That achievement breaks the record for the most FAI world records ever made in a U.S.-registered homebuilt aircraft, exceeding Bruce Bohannon's 28 achieved in his modified RV-4, the Flying Tiger. Steve, whose airplane is affectionately known as GOOFY (N-600FY), flew his first four corners flight in 2005 and continues to set new records.

Headline Management issued a press release announcing the FAI recognition. This was picked up by a whole host of media but Steve was particularly pleased that the US’s premiere aircraft association’s magazine, the EAA featured him in this month’s issue.

Steve is represented in Europe by Headline Management of Basingstoke, England http://www.headlinemanagement.co.uk/




Read the article on-line: http://www.eaa.org/news/2008/2008-03-20_goofy.asp

FAI ratifies 29 world records for aviator Steve Wood

It's now official . . .

The FAI has ratified the first 29 of the 70 world records the inimitable aviator Steve Wood flew in Goofy during 2007.

This means that Steve has set the most FAI world records records ever flown in a US registered homebuilt airplane beating the previous record of 28 records set by both Bruce Bohannon and Donald P Taylor in his Thorp. So a GlaStar now holds this 'record'!

Steve has also set a record for the number of FAI world records flown in a single year by a British pilot - beating the previous 27 records set by T W Hayhow in 1952 flying a Auster Aiglet.

Our research also shows that has set a 'record' for the shortest FAI world speed record ever flown at 0.23 nm between cities. The record in question is no 14776 - Windsor, ON (Canada) to Detroit, MI (USA) - at a speed of 237.5 km/h. Interestingly, he flew the reverse direction at a speed of 253.4 km/h but this was TOO FAST to comply with the FAI's timing accuracy rules!

The FAI has yet to ratify the 35 international world records our intrepid aviator flew in November and December 2007.

Photo: Steve’s plaque received February 2007 from Jeppesen congratulating him on his record breaking achievements.

Steve Wood - record breaker extraordinaire!

Steve’s 70 World Records - A Record in Itself!

We have had a number of requests for information about the photo in our headline banner. Well, it is aviation's very own hero - Steve Wood.

Steve’s 70 solo international FAI World Records is a record in itself as no other British aviator has flown as many record in any kind of flying machine. It even beats the number of aviation records set by the legendary Steve Fossett who holds 51 current world records, of which just 20 are solo records.

In May 2007 Steve officially set three international FAI World Records for Class C-1b, Speed over Recognised Course. All three records were for international flights to and from the USA. The records were from London to New York, Orlando to London and London to Detroit, with the record from London to New York being flown is a time faster than Concorde’s! Of course, whilst the London involved has the Thames river, just like its namesake in England, it was in fact in Canada, but the records nevertheless were truly international.

At the end of July 2007, Steve flew a 10000 mile / 7 day flight around the ‘four corners’ of the USA becoming the first British pilot to be officially recorded for such a flight. But there was much more to this record setting flight - Steve provisionally set a further 29 international FAI World Records during the flight, including two transcontinental records. These were from Vancouver to Bangor and Seattle to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Other records included San Diego to Vancouver, Los Angeles to Vancouver, London to Atlanta etc.

In November 2007, a further 6 international FAI World Records were flown between the USA and the Bahamas. Then in December 2007, Steve flew another 32 international FAI World Records, again between the USA and the Bahamas.

All of Steve’s 70 solo international records have been accepted by the Royal Aero Club as British National Records, and once the records are ratified by the FAI as official world records Steve will really be in the record books being:
No. 1 in the UK for the most aviation world records ever set by a British pilot in any type of flying machine
No. 1 in the UK for the most aeroplane world records ever set in a single year
No. 1 in the USA for the most world records ever set in a US registered homebuilt aircraft
The first British pilot to fly a homebuilt aircraft around the ‘four corners’ of the USA
No. 2 in the entire world for the number of world records set by a pilot of any nationality flying a homebuilt aircraft

Steve has smashed a 56 year old record for the most FAI aeroplane world records set by a British pilot in a single year. The previous record of 27 records was set by T W Hayhow in 1952, flying an Auster Aiglet. Even the legendary Sheila Scott set only 23 world records in a single year back in 1967, so Steve’s 70 records beats this by a huge margin, AND all of Steve’s records were set in a single year - 2007!

The previous total for the number of records ever set by a British aviator, Victor Davies with 62 records, has also been broken. These 62 records comprised only 46 individual records. They also included 30 records which might not be valid under the present world record rules and 16 records which were ‘out and back’ records. In the balloon and airship section another British record breaker Julian Nott, is shown as setting a total of 53 world records (36 still current) but these were for only 7 individual records duplicated in multiple categories for the same balloon / flight.

So in reality Sheila Scott’s total of 37 records set has been up until now the definitive number of individual aviation records set by a British pilot and Steve has beaten this by a long way!