AeCS Model Aircraft Veterans' Conference

Led by Veterans’ Representative Jürg Fischer, the program included a tour of MDC Max Daetwyler AG, a company with a rich history in Swiss aviation that is also recognized today as a state-of-the-art technology group.

The connection to this company was established by Martin Michel, an AeCs veteran and member of the MDC AG executive board, as well as by the very active veterans of the Langenthal Model Flying Club. Peter Daetwyler, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Daetwyler AG and an active pilot himself, personally led this extraordinary tour of his company that Sunday morning; the company currently employs over 350 people at its Bleienbach plant alone. The group gathered right away for the welcome reception in one of the company’s own hangars. The brief coffee break, followed by a company overview presented by Martin Michel, naturally took place amidst the aircraft stationed there, with evocative names such as C-36 and MD Swisstrainer. The company’s founder, Max Daetwyler, had developed the Swisstrainer—among other things—on his own, along with the matching boxer engine. The C-3603 owned by P. Daetwyler is the world’s last airworthy aircraft with an original 12-cylinder inline engine. Among us veterans present, there were quite a few who had built scale models of this aircraft, which provided plenty of conversation topics.

In fact, during the extremely interesting company tour, we repeatedly came across historical artifacts such as aircraft, engines, and structural components. The MDC AG premises also house numerous beautifully crafted model airplanes, which are the work of Rudolf Sägesser and have found a fitting home here as a unique collection. This name, too, made history in our region’s aircraft manufacturing industry; unfortunately, Rudolf Sägesser, like Max Daetwyler, is no longer with us. MDC Max Daetwyler AG has been developing and manufacturing equipment for die production in gravure and flexographic printing since 1965, making it one of the world’s pioneering companies in this field. This encompasses materials engineering, precision mechanical engineering, electrochemistry, and process automation, to name just a few. Peter Daetwyler and the MDC team explained all of this to us in detail that Sunday morning.

Although today the company primarily manufactures precision equipment for the prepress market worldwide, its strong ties to the aviation industry run like a common thread through the entire company. Back when the Mirage was manufactured under license in Switzerland, MDC AG also served as a key supplier of manufactured parts. Even today, the company is developing a boxer four-cylinder engine in its own workshop, based on the design originally conceived by Max Daetwyler. In another MDC hangar, we came across a Ryan PT22 that is currently being overhauled. Meanwhile, as rain began to fall, Mathias Glutz’s Evans Volksplane was just being parked—which turned out to be a stroke of luck for us, as we were now able to admire this stunning aircraft up close and chat directly with its builder. Working entirely on his own, he had built his Volksplane from scratch, strictly following the plans, over the course of 10 years.

During the cocktail reception prepared by Myrtha and Jürg Fischer in the company cafeteria, many people found themselves raving once again about the wealth of aviation history on display. There was plenty of time for conversation here as well. But by then it was well past noon, and we set off for Gasthof Kreuz in Bleienbach, where we were able to enjoy the excellent cuisine. After a hearty meal, Jürg Fischer led us through the administrative portion of the conference. Those present, including newly inducted veterans, were given a special welcome and welcomed into the circle of AeCS veterans.

We would like to take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt thanks to Peter Dätwyler and his team for their attentive care and wonderful hospitality, which we were able to experience on this memorable day at MDC Max Dätwyler AG in Bleienbach.

*Christian Vonäsch,
Langenthal Model Flying Club*