Two World Championship Silver Medals for Our Electric Aircraft Pilots

The weather was also on Romania’s side. In any case, it poured with rain—but only on the reserve day, which didn’t need to be used. Contest Director Emil Giezendanner ensured that the F5B class ran smoothly. On Friday and Saturday, the Buzau Cup took place as a preliminary competition for the World Championships. The lucky winner was Thomas Wackerlin. From Monday through Thursday, 8 World Championship rounds were flown in F5B gliding and 16 in F5D pylon racing. The Swiss competitors faced both good luck and bad luck in both classes, where the competition was extremely close, as both the flying skills and the equipment of the top pilots were at a very high technical level. Favorable weather, tactics, and flying skills are decisive. In the F5B class, a thermal bubble more or less determined whether a pilot would finish in the top ranks. The team spirit in the

Team Switzerland was great—everyone helped each other, and everyone gave their best for the team. There was never any panic in our tent. Day after day, we consistently ranked among the top finishers in both classes. To put it simply: We were on track. On the last day, we had reason to celebrate quite early on, because Marcel Schlage flew his laps with the precision of a Swiss watch and, together with his assistant Franz Koukol from Team Austria, secured the silver medal.

In the F5B class, the final flight had to decide whether Thomas Wackerlin or Patrick Häusler would make it onto the podium. Unfortunately, Thomas hit a thermal in the wrong direction and had to land 46 seconds too early. This left him with the disappointing fourth-place finish. Luck was on Patrick’s side this time, as he claimed the silver medal. Fritz Jucker improved with each flight and helped us snatch fourth place in the team standings from the French.

Pierre Bühler, TM F5B/D