The Model Airplane Enthusiast and the Aero Club

At first, only the balloons were “flying”; soon the powered aircraft caught up, but it took a very long time before even the last glider pilots were deemed “house-trained” enough by the AeCS—and especially by its local chapters—to be admitted into their highly esteemed association.

Why am I telling you this? To show that the situation among model aircraft enthusiasts today is nothing new:

• We have model aviators who save themselves the AeCS membership fee—and they often don’t realize what they’re missing out on.
• But we also have sections within the Aero-Club whose boards cannot bring themselves to grant model flying groups and their members the right to be admitted into their ranks.

Both are problems that have only one thing in common: they affect people with shared interests, at least as far as their hobby is concerned—the model aviators.

Membership in the AeCS—which costs no more than 22 to 32 francs per year, depending on age—entitles model aircraft pilots to participate in competitions and championships, while automatically providing accident insurance and full liability coverage for damages resulting from flight operations. Last but not least, members also receive a monthly copy of *Aero-Revue*—a highly regarded trade journal—and enjoy other benefits that stem from being part of the large AeCS association!

The sections of the Aero-Club of Switzerland serve as regional links, on the one hand, between the individual aviation disciplines and their groups within their region, and on the other hand, between their members and the governing bodies of the national association. This includes model aviators, and there is no doubt that they must be affiliated with the section in their respective region if the AeCS’s objectives are to be properly understood. Unfortunately, this is not yet the case for a good half of the model aviation members belonging to the AeCS! The sections there do not take care of “their” model aviators, under the mistaken belief that they do not need them. However, the model aviation movement is too important to simply overlook. It serves as a vital cornerstone not only for training suitable young talent but also for promoting an appreciation of aviation among the general public.

The sections are also intended to provide practical support to model aviators organized in model flying regions, for example, by helping to secure flying sites and assisting in maintaining them—when the inevitable attacks from noise opponents arise—and by helping to bridge financial shortfalls. The section channels all funds received from model aviators as membership dues directly to the model aviation organization, along with additional contributions from the section’s treasury. In this way, it fulfills a complementary role to the Aero-Club of Switzerland, whose mission—carried out by the Central Secretariat in Lucerne—focuses primarily on the organization of the sport itself (competitions, qualifying flights, and championships at home and abroad) and, in this context, offers significant benefits to all AeCS model aviators.

Hopefully, many of the model airplane enthusiasts who are not yet members of the AeCS will soon find their way to our club. In the interest of the cause, we should all promote this at every opportunity. We would have even greater success if all sections would soon accept model airplane enthusiasts as members on favorable terms!

Model aviation must be assured of its recognition by the other aviation disciplines, and every individual model aviator should recognize that he or she is a fully recognized member of the entire AeCS recreational aviation community.

AeCS
Zurich Section Hannes Steiger, President