2nd International Electric Aircraft Meet

The meeting had already been planned back in 1973 in such a way that it would not take on the atmosphere of a championship. The main purpose of the event was for electric model aircraft pilots and those interested in this category to exchange experiences. However, since the goal was to demonstrate the capabilities of the electric models, we set very specific tasks for the pilots and their models, such as distance, endurance flight, landing accuracy, etc. It soon became apparent that, given the current state of development in electric flight, all the requirements had been set too low, so that in the end, the rankings were decided almost exclusively by fractions of a second of deviation from the ideal time. Despite difficult weather conditions—launches took place in the lee of a wooded hill—virtually every model made it over the forest into the updraft zone with the kind of confidence and ability to handle challenges that any experienced motor glider pilot could hope for. During the event, the well-known models E-1 (Multiplex) by Helmut Schenk, Hi-Fly, and Mosquito (Graupner), as well as various home-built designs, were flown. While the Hi-Fly and the E-1 have been available as kits on the market for some time, the very impressive Mosquito model will not be available in specialty stores until later this summer. Since we plan to report in detail in MFS 4/75 on the various electric models that are now accessible to everyone, we will refrain from providing further descriptions here. You may already find a wealth of important information in our photo report by Andreas Schelling.

The event was organized by the Illnau-Effretikon and Pfäffikon/ZH model aircraft clubs and is scheduled to take place again in the spring of 1976—albeit with a revised program. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all those involved and to the numerous spectators for their interest.

Emil Giezendanner