Profiles of the Board Members

Flying laps at the Runden airfield never appealed to him. Competing against others—that’s what kept Yeginsoy involved in model flying for so many decades. He competed in national and international competitions in categories such as F3C (helicopters) and F3A (fixed-wing aircraft), as well as in the European Akro Cup, which is not part of the FAI competition series. Today, he flies with the Reusstal, Buchs (AG), and Gäu model flying clubs, still takes part in regional competitions, and showcases magnificent warbird models at the IG Warbird air shows. “The trend is toward larger models—you can see them better.” The statement combines humor and fact—after all, eyesight does decline with age.

Faruk Yeginsoy’s motivation to stay active remains undiminished. Retired for five years now, he devotes a considerable portion of his time to model aviation. He wouldn’t have wanted to take on just any position, but when he learned about four years ago that the Sports Department on the SMV board was up for appointment, he reached out to Adrian Eggenberger and Yves Burkhardt. His application could be described as a formality. After all, he knows the ins and outs and understands what matters in sports. He was, therefore, the ideal candidate. But Yeginsoy had also been active outside the airfield even before that. Nearly half a century ago, he founded the Reusstal Model Flying Club together with fellow enthusiasts, and he steered the club’s fortunes as president for its first 20 years. For several years now, he has been active on the SMV’s Central Switzerland Regional Board.

Yeginsoy notes a lack of ambition to compete with others and, more generally, a lack of willingness to get involved among young athletes. “We’re struggling to find young talent in all sports categories.” In some categories, it’s no longer even possible to hold a Swiss championship. The rules require a minimum of five participants. “I’m constantly being asked for permission to reduce the number of participants. That’s a shame! In the past, the 10, 15, or 20 athletes allowed to compete in the Swiss Championship had to qualify through regional and interregional preliminaries.”

But it’s not just athletes who are missing—there’s also a shortage of judges. “For years now, we haven’t been able to fill a single judge’s position,” laments Yeginsoy. If there’s a lack of new talent, either judges have to be flown in from abroad at great expense, or competitions in certain categories have to be canceled.

Yeginsoy is also concerned about the increasingly limited training opportunities. “To reach the top and stay there for years, you’d have to train every day.” That’s difficult at a typical model airfield. The other members don’t appreciate it very much when someone wants to train constantly. Some model airfields are also facing closure—for example, because residential areas are expanding further and further, leading to complaints from neighbors, or because they lack building permits and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to obtain them. Often, model flying groups aren’t even listed on the municipalities’ club registries. Yeginsoy regrets this. If more model flying groups participated in village events and collaborated with other clubs, it could have a positive effect.

Model aircraft sports in Switzerland currently consist of eight specialized committees that make independent decisions for their respective categories. They organize Swiss championships and select participants for international competitions. Yeginsoy works very closely with them and represents them in the SMV as a supervisor before the Executive Board and the delegates. The sport has a budget of 150,000 Swiss francs available through the SMV. Yeginsoy reviews the financial reports from the technical committees and maintains an overview of the costs associated with, for example, a Swiss championship or an athlete’s participation in a world championship.

The promotion of young talent in sports differs from standard youth development in that it also aims to engage pilots who are no longer quite young. Here, too, Yeginsoy works closely with the FaKos. “We haven’t yet found the right formula at the national level. There are specific projects like the one led by Hugo Peyer, who trains young pilots. With the ‘Sportflyer,’ we’ve created a new class as a stepping stone to F3A. The difficulty level of the programs is lower, and simpler models can be used. Knowing that young athletes often lack the funds, we occasionally give young competition pilots models donated by experienced model aviators.” Because the joy of building has now become just as great as the fun of flying, even Faruk Yeginsoy occasionally has to part with a model to make room for new projects.

The interview was
conducted by Andrea Bolliger

For two summers, Faruk Yeginsoy worked as a teenager to buy his first remote-control model—a used one. “Back then, in the late 1960s, you couldn’t get much for your money,” he recalls. He gave it away long ago, which he regrets. “Today, controllers like that are valuable as antiques,” he says. For as long as he can remember, he’s been interested in aviation. He had to give up on getting a pilot’s license in Switzerland because of color blindness. Getting his license abroad was too much of a hassle for him. Incidentally, this limitation didn’t stop him from taking up photography as a hobby. His main subjects are photos of airplanes at air shows in England and the U.S.