2008 Swiss Championship

On Sunday, August 30, 2008, the Hofdere-Indoor and Emmen-Seetal model aircraft clubs hosted the 1st Swiss Indoor Model Aerobatics Championship. Competitors vied for top spots in three different programs featuring varying levels of difficulty and tasks. Twenty model airplane pilots from Switzerland and Liechtenstein took part.

In Program B, which is tailored for advanced pilots, five participants competed for the win. The program includes relatively difficult maneuvers but allows pilots to freely choose the direction of flight for each maneuver, so they can perform them on their “preferred side.” Julian Kamber from Erlinsbach was declared the winner of this program. Christian Oppliger from Ellg and Daniel Sembinelli from Erlinsbach took the remaining places.

The Swiss champion was crowned in the more difficult “A” program. Here, 14 participants competed for the win. In this program, the 13 flight maneuvers had to be performed during a flight time of approximately 2 minutes. Noldi Peyer from

The 2nd Swiss F3P Championship will take place on March 29, 2009, at the Wetzikon Vocational School. The event is organized by MV Pfäffikon. The Swiss Championship will be held in the F3P class (using the new A program). In addition, competitions will be held in the simpler B program as well as in freestyle. For more information: www.modellflug.ch

Schlieren was honored. He prevailed in the competition thanks to his precise execution of the maneuvers and his consistency. He also demonstrated his skill as a talented model builder by flying in the winning model—the one ultimately used in the competition—the day before and successfully putting it to use. Close behind him was Nico Strelbel from Bäretswil, who, at 11 years old, was the youngest participant in the entire competition. In third place was Stefan Kaiser from Gamprin, who also showcased his skill in this event.

In the “Aero-Musical” program, the pilots flew a self-designed freestyle routine for 2 minutes to a selected piece of music. The judges evaluated, among other things, difficulty, execution, use of space, and synchronization with the music. Additional points could be earned with special show effects, such as ribbons attached to the aircraft. This challenging task

Six pilots competed. Junior pilot Stefan Kaiser from Gamprin, Liechtenstein, performed the task best. He impressed the judges with his perfect interpretation and clean execution of the aerobatic maneuvers. Raphael Tinguely from Schmitten, FR, and Christoph Hardegger from Gams, SG, took second and third place, respectively. The aircraft used have improved once again, though not in a revolutionary way. For the most part, in addition to the

few biplanes, most pilots flew monoplanes. The dominant model in the F3P figure programs was the Clik!, which delivers optimal performance with a weight of 125 to 140 g. Once again, AXI and Strecker motors dominated; they all weigh around 18 g and are flown with 2 LiPo cells. When it comes to the model itself, weight is certainly one of the most important factors alongside the model’s geometry. This helps with speed

to take it out and demonstrate its agility. Christoph Hardegger’s AM model has proven that even somewhat exotic designs can fly superbly. As for the motors, no excessive power is required. A certain “smoothness” in the motorization contributes to a calm flying style, which has a positive effect on the score. Combined with the intensive training that is—unfortunately—still indispensable,

results in the flights impressively demonstrated to us by the top pilots. Meanwhile, CIAM has officially adopted the F3P class and confirmed two new programs (preliminary round and final). It will now be necessary to evaluate whether the new program should be flown as early as this year. The programs have become significantly more difficult and require much more space. This raises the question of whether the pilots

will be getting started with the new program, and we’ll be handling the infrastructure.

For this young discipline to survive in the future, we need not only active pilots but also urgently need judges trained in F3P. Please contact your regional chief judges. They will inform you about the next steps.

Felix Zünd

Free-Flight Models (F1) in Emmen

The F1 model aircraft category refers to flying free-flight models. In this category, the models must be built with the utmost care, as they are intended to exhibit the best possible flight characteristics without external control.

At this year’s Swiss Championship, competitions were held in the following three categories: F1A refers to models that are not powered by a motor and have no moving

may have wings. F1B models are equipped with rubber-powered engines that must not weigh more than 30 g. The third category flown is designated F1ASK (special constructions), which includes the following types: flying wings, canards (the front wing must have a maximum area of 1⁄3 that of the rear wing), tandem (the front wing must be larger than 1⁄3 but no larger than the rear wing), and rotary-wing aircraft (which generate lift—

(The surfaces must rotate around either horizontal or vertical axes.) The 2008 Swiss Championship

Championships took place on June 29, a glorious midsummer day, at the Emmen airfield, where 23 participants gathered. The wind was blowing at 2.7 m/s from the northwest, and the entire competition was directed by Charly Stierli of Dintikon. For the first time in a long while, a Swiss Junior Championship title was awarded again this year, which was won by Emanuel Strub. In the F1A category, Gottfried Bachmann won ahead of Daniel Trumpf and Christoph Bachmann. Rainer Lotz became the Swiss F1B champion, ahead of Giancarlo Polla and Martin Greub. Flying a special-construction model (F1ASK), Heiner Borer took first place, ahead of Christoph Bachmann and Gottfried Bachmann.

It should be noted that there were no issues with Ruag or the military this year. Thanks go to all the volunteers who made this event possible. (tk)