2008 FAI World Championships ... unfortunately didn't make it to the fly-off

The competitors—Koni Oetiker, Reto and Ruedi Baumgartner, the tow team of Ivo Langensand and Padi Zwyssig, and team manager Ernesto Weber—were all in good health and high spirits, and were looking forward to the upcoming event in Turkey.

Thursday, June 26, was set-up day and a training session, which, to our delight, went very well and marked the first time we were able to ride thermals. It’s worth noting that the facilities for the teams were excellent, and we quickly felt right at home. As is customary at a World Championship, the preliminary competition took place from Friday through Sunday, giving us a chance to rehearse for the real thing. We adjusted our team to the World Championship conditions and are now definitely looking forward to the competition with great anticipation.

On Monday, August 30, the big day finally arrived: The World Championship kicked off with 23 teams. Conditions in the morning were very good, and our flights were acceptable. In the afternoon, the wind picked up from the sea and presented us with problems we’d never encountered before. Finding thermals was very difficult, and we had to fly unusually far to be successful. This weather pattern—calm in the morning and then strong winds starting at noon—persisted throughout the entire competition week. As a result, quite a few pilots were unable to fly their models “back home.” A mishap that unfortunately also proved to be our team’s undoing on several occasions and led to extra work for the entire team, as models had to be searched for in the woods or cornfields. Fortunately, we were able to get the models back in working order in time time and again, even though improvisation was required.

Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to qualify for the fly-off with the top 11 pilots and were stuck watching from the sidelines. The Swiss pilots achieved the following rankings: Reto Baumgartner, 20th place; Koni Oetiker, 57th place; Ruedi Baumgartner, 66th place out of 77 participants. Benedikt Feigl from Germany ultimately came out on top and confidently claimed the World Championship title. Heartfelt congratulations from the Swiss team. On Sunday, the trip back to Switzerland went as planned, and we all agreed—next time, we want to be among the leaders.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors Slowflyer, Vaucher Sport, Colombo AG (Peter Hagmann), Expotechnik (Geri Mäder), Zürich GA Bern-Süd (Markus von Gunten), and digitgraf (Ernesto) for their fantastic support. And let’s not forget the Swiss Model Flying Association—thank you very much!

Report: Ernesto Weber
Photo: Koni Oetiker