Coupe Icare
The Coupe Icare (German: Ikarus Competition) is a four-day, annual flight festival for free-flying aircraft.
It took place for the first time in 1974 in Saint-Hilaire in the Isère department ( France ), making it the oldest free-flight festival in the world. The aim is to let unusual things fly alongside hang-gliders and paragliders . Everything is allowed - regardless of whether it is a bed, a 2CV duck on a paraglider or an entire house.
It is roughly comparable to the Red Bull Flight Days , but the aircraft are not launched from a launch pad , but take off from one of the four launch sites with an altitude difference of approx. 1000 meters or are dropped from an airplane. For this reason, however, (almost) all aircraft are relatively airworthy.
The Coupe Icare attracts around 8,000 flyers and 40,000 spectators from all over the world every year. A disguise competition, a trade fair and a film festival take place together with the flight festival.
In 2005 there was a fatal accident when a Swiss delta sailor collided with a paraglider and fell from a height of around 30 meters.
Competitions
The following national and international have been held at the Coupe Icare so far:
- 1974: The 1st Icare coupe
- 1979: The world championships in hang gliding
- 1982: The European Championship in Tandem Hang Gliding
- 1987: The 1st French championship in paragliding
- 1988: The 1st European Paragliding Championship (World Cup Open)
- 1988: "The Icarus Challenge": triathlon climbing , caving and paragliding.
gallery
One of the starting places at the Coupe Icare
Looping of a delta glider at the Coupe Icare
Aerial acrobatics at the Coupe Icare 2004
The flying skills are followed by many spectators
Coupe Icare 2014, disguise bow ties
Coupe Icare 2014
