FREE FLIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER

In a highly competitive field of 37 pilots, he achieved an excellent 6th-place finish. With a keen sense of the challenging conditions, tactically sound decisions, and strong flights, he established himself among Europe’s elite. The other Swiss competitors also showed great dedication. René Pfister finished in 19th place, while Erwin Pfister took 32nd place. Both battled the challenging conditions throughout the championship and contributed valuable points to the team’s total. In the team standings, the Swiss team finished in 8th place out of 10 nations.

A week later, the free-flight pilots in the F1A, F1B, and F1Q categories traveled to Prilep, North Macedonia. Experienced pilots Alfred Andrist (F1B), Dominik Andrist (F1A + F1B), and Lauri Malila (F1A) were among the competitors. For F1B and F1Q pilot Urs Muntwyler, it was his first European Championship. He competed in the Prilep World Cup, advanced to the runoff, and finished in 7th place. In the first competition of the European Championship for F1Q electric gliders, Urs Muntwyler placed 21st out of 32 competitors. The Italian Francesco Gradi took first place.

The F1A high-launch pilots Lauri Malila (2023 World Champion) and Dominik Andrist took to the air on Wednesday. In strong winds, both reached the tiebreaker after 7 flights. Twenty-five pilots qualified for the first 6-minute tiebreaker in strong winds. Dominik Andrist flew for 283 seconds, which earned him a very respectable 9th place. Lauri Malila’s model struggled with the strong winds and managed only 139 seconds. This was only enough for 23rd place. With just 2 pilots (out of 3), Switzerland finished in 21st place. The new European champion is Tapio Hanhilammi from Finland.

F1B Rubber: There were 68 F1B pilots at the start. Alfred Andrist was the only Swiss pilot to complete all flights and advanced to the tiebreaker the following morning. In the tiebreaker, the model did not reach the maximum altitude, resulting in a flight time of 210 seconds (winner: 399 seconds) and a 22nd-place finish. Dominik Andrist finished 47th and Urs Muntwyler 57th. Switzerland ranked 16th out of 25 nations. The winner was Jes Nyhegn of Denmark.

“After the competition
is before the competition.”

An opportunity for a rematch at the European Championships arose as early as the following week in western France. There, the Swiss delegation at the European Championships was bolstered by F1A pilots Christian Andrist and Michi Bleuer. In the “Hispano-Francia” World Cup, Michi Bleuer and Dominik Andrist advanced to the tiebreaker. The following day at the “Trophée Belge,” Urs Muntwyler, coached by Alfred Andrist, took 3rd place in the F1Q playoff. Lauri Malila won the F1A 4-minute playoff with an altimeter reading of 77 m.

On the final day, at the “Poitou” World Cup, Lauri Malila followed up with another victory, achieving the greatest altitude in the 4-minute tiebreaker. He launched his model with a 50-meter line to a distance of 122 meters. He is now in second place in the F1A World Cup annual standings with 25 points remaining. Michi Bleuer finished 6th in the tiebreaker, and Dominik Andrist placed 10th out of 35 pilots. In F1B, Alfred Andrist placed 17th out of 26 competitors.

This marked the end of an intense free-flight competition period, which placed high physical demands on the pilots due to very high temperatures of around 35 degrees in the shade. Free-flight pilots would do well to rise to the challenge of the high temperatures. Postponing the event to fall dates would be one option.

True to the motto “After the competition is before the competition,” we are now looking ahead to the rest of the 2026 season and the 2027 World Championships in Mongolia.

*Urs Muntwyler*