Swiss F6A Artistic Aerobatics Championships in Grenchen

As part of Air Display 2010, the first Swiss Championships in the F6A category were held in Grenchen. The F6A class is an acrobatic freestyle competition set to music.

Under excellent weather conditions—blue skies and no wind—the event began with a 2-minute preliminary program. Emil Giezendanner, the competition director, briefed the pilots in attendance on the competition format and explained the available flight box at the MG Grenchen airfield. Five participants each in the fixed-wing and helicopter categories took on the challenge for the inaugural edition of this championship. For the judges as well, F6A and F6B are among the newer categories. As a result, the scoring guidelines were reviewed once more before the start.

The F6A class is characterized by musical accompaniment and flight maneuvers choreographed to the music. Some pilots apparently viewed this requirement as rather incidental. But the success of this class will quickly become apparent, as it offers pilots a very good introduction to competitive sport at relatively affordable conditions—a sport that, incidentally, was very well received by the numerous spectators, who rewarded the pilots’ performances with loud applause each time. The music is usually played from a CD, which the pilot must bring along. Progress in model aviation is evident not only in the fact that flights are conducted exclusively using 2.4-GHz systems, but also in the fact that today’s smartphones are capable of more than just making phone calls: some pilots played music directly from their own iPhones. Future organizers should take this possibility into account when planning the event.

Even the 2-minute program offered an early glimpse of the favorites in each category. Competing in the fixed-wing division were Jean-Claude Spillmann and Michael Hauser, both of whom have many years of F3A experience and are now bringing that expertise to this class. In the helicopter category—where most models were equipped with internal combustion engines, in contrast to the fixed-wing aircraft, which were all electrically powered—a few startup issues did arise, as evidenced by frantic tuning efforts right before the competition. But here, too, the favorites quickly emerged. The preliminary program was completed around noon, interrupted only by a brief mandatory break because the paratrooper unit was using the area directly adjacent to the model airfield as a training ground for their afternoon performance at the Air Display. The concluding 4-minute program was ultimately dominated by the pilots, whose diverse flight routines harmonized best with the music. Jean-Claude Spillmann in the fixed-wing category and Dario Neuenchwander in the helicopter category deservedly took first place in their respective categories. It was particularly striking in the helicopter category just how tightly the most complicated flight maneuvers were executed in such a small space. Thus,

many spectators, visibly impressed by the flight maneuvers, let their thoughts run free: “Do they even know what they’re flying there?” (helicopter) and: “If I were to fly that maneuver, I’d order a new model right away” (fixed-wing).

Yes, ... they knew it. And how. The first competition in the F6A class wrapped up around 2:00 p.m., and the subsequent awards ceremony, held around 3:00 p.m., was a festive affair, while the Swiss Air Force’s PC-7 team put on a spectacular aerial display over Grenchen. Let’s hope that the organizing committee for the next F6A Championship will be able to add more pilots to the starting grid. After all, the F6A class has the potential to become a crowd-pleaser. *rb/SMV*