F3B: Hohenstoffel Cup and Swiss Championship

After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the international F3B community gathered once again at the glider airfield in Binningen on August 27 and 28. You could really feel the excitement of competing again. This F3B competition counts toward the FAI World Cup and the Contest Eurotour, and is also used to determine the Swiss champion.

Saturday kicked off with a briefing for the 44 pilots. Since there was light ground fog, the start was set for 9 a.m. The competition began with a speed round. Wind conditions were rather challenging, as the wind was blowing at almost exactly a 90-degree angle to the launch field. Before each launch, there were discussions about which side to launch from. This also meant that the altitudes reached were not optimal. At noon, the first downpour hit, which was immediately used as an opportunity for the lunch break. The afternoon was rather short, as rain set in around 4:00 p.m., leading the competition organizers to suspend the event at 5:00 p.m.

Sunday dawned with beautiful summer weather again, though it took a while to get going. The competition resumed at 8:30 a.m. Fortunately, the wind direction was clear and the wind strength was ideal. The pilots battled for every second and every length, which also meant that some pilots went home with fewer models than they had arrived with. Worth noting is the best speed time of the competition. Johannes Krischke flew a time of 12 seconds on Sunday—an incredible time. You could practically feel the air sizzling.

The competition ended at 3:00 p.m., and the results were announced at 4:00 p.m. Johannes Krischke showed his composure and won the competition. He was closely followed by

Steffen Besemer in second place and Martin Weberschock in third. Congratulations to everyone!

Andreas Böhlen once again won the Swiss Championship standings, ahead of Michael Kirch and Hansruedi Zwingli in third place. Thomas Kübler, who is used to success, unfortunately had to settle for last place because he took too many risks in the first speed run. When it came to model selection, all the top pilots relied on the Weberschock Device, the Freestyler 6 from TUD, or the Pike Precision 2 from Samba Model. This also shows that the pilot’s skill is increasingly the deciding factor, as the models have become more standardized.

Many thanks to all the volunteers from various model flying clubs, as well as others who supported us. A special thank you also goes to the new catering team.

Text: Georg Roth,
Photos: Various