1989 Swiss Championships Free Flight F1A/SK and F1B, Linthebene

On Saturday morning, the competitors in the F1B, F1C, and F1M categories traveled to Tuggen, where they were greeted by beautiful sunshine. But what gave the jury—under the expert leadership of Fredy Andrischt—a headache was the nearly hurricane-force Föhn storm that swept across the Linth Plain. Even waiting for the wind to die down didn’t help. The Föhn continued to blow well into the afternoon, so the competition had to be called off at 1:30 p.m.

The approximately 30 participants accepted the jury’s decision to reschedule the competition for Sunday, along with the F1A and F1A/SK categories.

While it was the wind on Saturday, on Sunday it was the rain that became our constant companion. We did our best to provide the participants and their models with dry shelter. Due to the less-than-ideal weather conditions, the jury offered the championship participants three options: 1. Fly in the rain, 2. Reschedule for Saturday, November 4, at the International Meeting in Bern, or 3. Fly on the rescheduled date of November 12, as per the announcement.

The majority of those present decided to hold the Swiss Championship on the spot. It must be noted, however, that of the 70 pilots originally registered, only

44 pilots took to the starting line. So it came as no surprise that the remaining group was well-equipped with weatherproof clothing. (After all, our hobby is still practiced outdoors.)

With conditions the same for everyone, four rounds were ultimately flown, and a total of eleven “perfect runs” were achieved in the F1A category.

The new Swiss champions are Toni Bucher in the F1A category, Paul Schmitter Sr. in the F1A/SK category, and Dieter Siebenmann in the F1B (rubber-powered) category.