51st Zäziwiler Friendship Fly-In, RCS Hang

Under perfect weather conditions, we were able to hold our 51st Friendship Fly-In on March 24, 2019, after postponing it by one week. We’re glad we made the right decision. About 70 pilots from all over Switzerland registered and participated. Thank you all very much for your interest! This year, Paul Böhlen from MG Riggisberg celebrated his 50th participation!

The participants arrived, enjoyed some coffee and sandwiches, and were then welcomed by our president, Thomas Stucki, and competition director, Werner Hörler. The schedule for the day and the most important rules were explained, start numbers were handed out, sunscreen was applied, and then the models were taken up the mountain. The competition began at 9:00 a.m. sharp.

With little to no wind, the pilots immediately delivered excellent performances. Aside from one tree collision near the launch area, the first round went off without a hitch. It was challenging for the pilots to spot their models—especially the “smaller” DLGs—from the very first second (with the forest in the background). However, the pilots handled this well. The day remained very exciting, as the participants’ scores were very close together after the first round.

Second and third rounds: A light wind picked up from the west/northwest. It wasn’t very strong, but its effect was still noticeable. Several participants were unable to reach the three-minute flight time limit because the locations with updrafts and thermals shifted rapidly. This led to several out-of-field landings, as pilots in the eastern approach area would occasionally get “sucked down” by the wind and then be unable to reach the landing field. At the launch site, the wind was also blowing from behind.

and the gliders had to be launched “with the wind.” Despite these rather challenging launch conditions, almost all launches went off without a hitch. Many thanks to our colleagues at the launch site, who did a great job and surely woke up with sore muscles the next day! The variety of gliders was fantastic again this year! Vintage balsa gliders, foam gliders, DLG models, balsa-ribbed constructions, fiberglass, and carbon fiber—they were all represented. It was exciting to see how the pilots searched for—and found—thermal tubes and updrafts. In the morning, conditions were better on the eastern side of the slope. In the afternoon, they were better on the north/northwest side of the slope or over the rooftops of the village. Pilots from the various clubs appreciated the chance to reconnect and exchange ideas after the winter break. Throughout the day, they talked shop, discussed various topics, shared stories about the model projects they’d completed over the winter, pondered plans for the new season, and, of course, embellished a story or two about their flights. We had a great atmosphere at the airfield! Our food and beverage stand also played a big part in that. Werner, Thomas, and Fritz kept things moving smoothly throughout the day

"Handled." The drivers were both ambitious and laid-back!

The three-generation trio of Glen, Andy, and Peter Maurer from the MG Bern was also there again. To our delight, several up-and-coming talents were at the starting line and even competed very successfully. Bravo! The overall rankings can be viewed on the Modellfluggruppe Grosshöchstetten website. A big thank you goes out to the pilots for participating in our competition and 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 love to welcome you back to the event.

We wish you a wonderful and successful 2019 season as you enjoy our great hobby: plenty of updrafts, beautiful maneuvers, and few “crashes”!

**See the rankings and photos at:**
http://www.mg-gh.ch