50th Zäziwil Friendship Fly-In, RCS Slope, March 25, 2018

The 50th “Zäziwiler”! Wow, we’re actually a little proud to be celebrating this anniversary! For many pilots from all over Switzerland, this has been—and still is—the kickoff to their respective new flying seasons.

Unfortunately, we had to postpone the competition to March 25, 2018, due to bad weather. However, it turned out to be a good decision. We model airplane enthusiasts aren’t made of cotton candy, but it was simply too cold and wet on the original date.

We started off with a cold but beautiful day. Most people handled the switch to daylight saving time well and arrived on time. Once again this year, participants traveled from all over Switzerland! Thank you for making the long trip to join us! Fortified with coffee, sandwiches, or “Tübeli” from our fantastic food stand, we got started. First, our president, Thomas Stucki, and the competition director, Werner Hörler, welcomed the participants with a pilot briefing and explained the most important rules; then the models were taken up the mountain, and the competition began.

Zäziwiler = Model Aviation

The pilots immediately showed that they hadn’t forgotten a thing over the winter, as they delivered excellent performances right from the start. Particularly encouraging: After the first round, a woman—Eveline Blickensdörfer—was in the lead. Bravo!

Conditions during the second and third runs were somewhat variable. Wind speeds varied, and the thermals weren’t consistent. As a result, we had to change the landing directions a few times. This led to a few out-of-bounds landings or early landings. We also had to note a few tree strikes, whether up on the mountain or in the landing area. These “mishaps” are just part of our hobby.

Throughout the day, the food stand kept us well-fed with delicious grilled meats, sandwiches, cake, coffee, mineral water, and beer, which went a long way toward creating the great atmosphere. Many thanks to Adrian Glauser, along with Svenja, Rolf, Peter, Louise, and Klara!

Just like last year, there was a special highlight this time around: the three-generation trio featuring Glen, Andy, and Peter Maurer from the MG Bern.

The variety of aircraft was also fascinating. Everything was represented, from ultralight DLG gliders, flying wings, balsa-ribbed constructions, foam-core gliders, and fiberglass to carbon-fiber composites. It was also great to see how the pilots found thermal tubes and/or updrafts. We even got to marvel at a few aerobatic maneuvers here and there before the pilots began their approaches for landing. The atmosphere at the field was fantastic! Werner and Thomas kept us moving smoothly through the day, but with a calm and pleasant demeanor. During the pilots’ breaks between flights, there was plenty of time for technical chatter, discussions, and a bit of tall-tale telling.

Everyone watched the announcement of the rankings with bated breath at the end:

(The complete rankings can be viewed on the Grosshöchstetten Model Flying Club’s website: www.mg-gh.ch). The rankings clearly show that the competition remained very exciting right up to the end. The point totals are very close!

Once again, a big thank you to all the volunteers from the Grosshöchstetten Model Flying Club for their hard work!

We’ll be holding the “Zäziwiler” again next year in March, and we’d be delighted to welcome you back to the event. We wish you all a wonderful and successful 2018 season as you enjoy our great hobby (plenty of updrafts, beautiful maneuvers, and few “crashes”).

Dominic Frey