The lighter it is, the faster it flies!

It was back in the last millennium when some model airplane enthusiasts tried to build a Fokker 27, a Venom, a DC-3, or something similar—completely without an engine, exhaust, fuel tank, landing gear, and so on—and fly them off a hillside. Peter Hofer from Altdorf was one of these model airplane pilots. It was he who organized the first gathering of this somewhat unique model aviation community at Biel Kinzig. Present on September 24, 1994, were Peter Hofer as the initiator, Alfred Genther as a veteran of this model aviation genre, Walter Wolf, Urs Brechbühl, Alex Arnold, Paul Schilliger, and the author of these lines, Martin Zürcher. The first gathering was so successful that, that very same evening in the parking lot of the Biel-Kinzig Railway, the decision was made to found the IG PSSAS.

Yes, the IG PSSAS still exists. Not much has changed in the past 25 years. At its peak, the IG had around 40 members. Unfortunately, as is the case with other interest groups or clubs, there’s a lack of new members. Young people today have so many different recreational options that it’s hard to choose just one. Even the PSS members couldn’t prevent this: since the group was founded, everyone has gotten 25 years older. For some, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to climb the mountains; for others, glasses have become standard gear; for still others, it’s their profession that imposes limitations; and some have turned to other interests. But the core group is still there, and in recent years they’ve learned a thing or two about building and designing the models.

“The lighter it is, the better it flies.” Fredy Genther recognized this truth many years ago. Not only is a lighter plane easier to fly, but it also offers advantages during landing or in an emergency—that is, a crash. Yes, it happens—PSS models do fall out of the sky, too. But Fredy’s models are so light and delicately built that they simply lack the kinetic energy to break apart in a crash. The transparent Venom shows how the master of lightweight construction does it. And if things ever get critical, Fredy deploys the parachute, and the model drifts toward the ground, dangling from the canopy. Now, this extreme lightweight construction isn’t for everyone. If you want to cover real distance or fly some maneuvers, you’ll need a few more grams in addition to the right design. Balsa, Styrofoam, and EPP are the preferred building materials. These days, you really see all kinds of models filling the sky. It’s still the case that PSS pilots meet at least four times a year somewhere in the Alps. The Furka, the Grimmialp, and the Cavall Drossa in Ticino remain, as they have in the past, among the favorite meeting spots. Admittedly, we, too, have noticed that something is changing in the atmosphere. Over the past 10 years, we’ve often had bad luck with the weather.

Unfortunately, the author is one of those people who, because of his job, has to work almost every weekend. However, he never misses the Furka gathering in the fall. Last year, Fredy Genther, René Walther, Christoph Rufle, Hans Roser, Peter Graf, Kilian Henzi as the guest of honor, and the author could be found high above the Uri region. If everything goes right, it looks something like this: “I’m coming from the right... Oh, sorry, I meant the other right.” Yeah, things get pretty lively at times. From the right, the author’s PC 21 shoots down the slope; from the left, Peter Graf’s Focke-Wulf approaches menacingly; suddenly, Kilian Henzi’s Shooting Star joins the fray as well, René Walther dodges the whole commotion with his Kraftei, and Hans Roser’s James Bond plane chases Christoph Rufle’s custom-built aircraft. Only Fredy Genther couldn’t care less about the whole thing. Sitting comfortably in his chair, he’s let his little Piper climb almost into the stratosphere. Suddenly, the boss shows up. A huge eagle is on a patrol flight. But he doesn’t find the unidentified flying objects particularly interesting and flies off again. It was a different story with the mountain jackdaws. They really had a blast with René Walther’s Alula. He uses it for thermal and updraft soaring. For minutes on end, the mountain jackdaws circled with that strange man-made bird. With Fredy Genther’s Venom, the black aerial acrobats even performed some truly beautiful formation flights.

Every year during the long Pentecost weekend, an international model glider competition takes place in Mâcon, France. In addition to utility and scale gliders on Thursday and Friday, the PSS class is held on Saturday. The idea of participating in this event had been on the minds of some PSS pilots for quite some time. In 2016, Urs Brechbühl, Peter Graf, and the author managed to travel to Mâcon as a small Swiss delegation. About 40 pilots with many different models were at the starting line. First, the models were closely examined and evaluated by a jury; then it was time to demonstrate them in flight. Conditions were relatively good during the build evaluation, but the wind died down shortly afterward. As a result, the rankings were determined without the flying portion. All the Swiss pilots placed in the top quarter of the rankings. The author was even delighted to take second place. This year, Graf, Brechbühl, and—this time—René Walther traveled to Mâcon. The bottom line: Once again, everyone achieved very good placements. Urs Brechbühl from Thun was celebrated as the big winner of the 2019 Mâcon VDP meet. As of the time these lines were written, there was still no video of the 2019 awards ceremony, so here is a link to a video of the 2016 awards ceremony:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dy2t68B6Jk QR code

The story of the IG PSSAS continues. Even though we’ve had a bit of bad luck with the weather on occasion in recent years, we’ve been treated to some especially good flying days time and again. The next Furka gathering is coming up soon. This event is organized on short notice, usually in September or October. We hope that the IG will be able to celebrate its 25th anniversary under especially good flying conditions. In any case, a delicious dinner among friends—a circle that has grown over the past 25 years—is guaranteed. Perhaps there are one or two of you who have gotten a taste of PSS from the photos here. Anyone who’d like to join us at Furka with a glider is more than welcome. Just send an email to the author to sign up: tinu.z@bluewin.ch

The photos in this post were contributed by René Walther, Peter Graf, and the author.