52. 2026 ALPS CUP

The 52nd Cupe des Alpes takes place one week after the F3A-FAI World Cup in Bendern (LIE) and is the international F3A friendly flying event for the NOS region. Once again this year, 20 top pilots from Europe and Switzerland (Finland, Italy, France, Germany, and Norway) were welcomed at the beautiful “Waldflugplatz” airfield operated by MG Flaachtal.

The host, MG Flaachtal, did an outstanding job organizing the event and was a wonderful host. Thank you very much. The winner was Lassi Nurilla from Finland, a former world and European champion, ahead of the two Swiss national team members, Reto Schumacher and Philipp Schürmann. The pilots flew the P-27 and F-27 maneuver programs—introduced just this year—at a very high level. The models consisted mainly of biplane versions with counter-rotating propellers (coax). Who still adjusts torque these days? The thermal gusts made flying anything but easy for the pilots. Whether the biplane truly proved to be superior was difficult to assess due to a lack of sufficient opportunities for comparison. ■ GZ

P.S.: In the future, only dark-colored tents—such as blue ones—will be permitted for the judges during the summer.