2021 Scale Swiss Helicopter Championship

Where there’s work, mistakes happen, and the editorial team doesn’t want to stop working just to avoid making mistakes. Unfortunately, an error crept into the editorial team’s coverage of Daniel Müller’s article in the last issue (6/2021). In that article, the scale helicopters were overlooked—or rather, were missing entirely. With this article, we’d like to make up for that oversight.

The Interlaken Model Flying Club (MGI) had decided to make another attempt in 2021 after the 2020 Scale Swiss Championships were canceled. The SMV’s Scale Technical Commission (FAKO) gratefully accepted this offer and provided enthusiastic support from the very beginning. The pandemic restrictions were significantly less stringent than they had been in the fall of 2020. The only exception was that, for the first time in over 20 years, the refreshment stand had to be set up in a tent. The hangar normally designated for this purpose was made available to the pilots, their models, and their helpers.

Since the competition always begins early Saturday morning, the MGI volunteers had to set up the infrastructure as early as Friday at noon. Thanks to an experienced and well-coordinated team, this labor-intensive work was completed by early evening.

Many participants arrived as early as Friday, set up camp in the hangar for the weekend, and didn’t miss the opportunity to make practice flights. This was to familiarize themselves with the field and the surroundings.

Early Saturday morning, Daniel Müller, President of MGI, welcomed all participants, judges, and officials to the briefing. Thomas Günther served as competition director for the Jet and F4C categories, while Rolf Duppenthaler was in charge of the F4 Helicopter category. In their respective divisions, the two ensured that the Swiss Championship ran smoothly at all times.

In the helicopter category, only the Semiscale class took place; unfortunately, there were too few entries for the Scale class, so no 2021 Swiss champion was crowned in that division.

However, this did not dampen the competitive spirit; on the contrary, motivation and camaraderie were high. The atmosphere among the participants was first-rate, and not just because of the great weather conditions. Everyone helped each other; there was no sense of competition. It was very gratifying that two new pilots—Philipp Allemann from MG Bern and Hansrudi Bühler from MG Marbach—were welcomed to the scene for the first time.

After the model build evaluation—which accounts for 20% of the score in the Semiscale class, with the flight performance accounting for 80%—the participants flew the first two rounds on Saturday. The third and final round followed on Sunday morning.

The participating pilots demonstrated a very high level of skill in flight, suggesting that everyone had trained intensively for this Swiss Championship. Special mention goes to newcomer Philipp Allemann, who executed the load flight perfectly. During Sunday’s exhibition flight, he managed

It was even able to set down the longline load on the mountain landing pad.

Of the seven helicopters deployed, five were Lama SA 315 B models! This helicopter seems to be growing in popularity as a model, even as the real thing is slowly but surely disappearing. In fact, only one real-life Lama is still flying today—in Ticino with the company HeliTV. As the models were being transported from the hangar to the airfield, the saying “Pilots on a Lama trek” soon began circulating among pilots and helpers.

Hansruedi Bühler and Daniel Hoffmann were particularly well-received with their “turbine Lamas” and beautiful, spacious

Flügen. Only Daniel’s Milka cow, riding as a passenger, just wouldn’t stay still. No wonder, given the beautiful, lush green late-autumn meadows of the Interlakner Bödeli!

Once again, Michael Tschiemer deservedly claimed the Swiss championship title, followed by Jan Zurbuchen in second place and Thomas Feller in third. Looking at the winners’ podium, one might almost get the impression that this was an MGI club championship. When asked what exactly makes “scale” flying so fascinating, Jan Zurbuchen gave me the following answer:

“Many people want to fly scale models, but proving yourself in a competition is something else entirely. It can’t be compared to aerobatic displays, where the precision of the maneuvers and the composition of the program don’t play a major role—there, people mostly just clap. Competition pilots develop a different feel for flying, focus more intently on the setup of their airplane or helicopter, and form a team (pilot, aircraft, launch assistant). When the run goes well, the joy is immense—something you see time and again among newcomers. “And this year, there were quite a few new faces.” Hopefully, in the coming years, the number of newcomers will remain at this level

from 2021 or perhaps even higher. We also hope that more participants will sign up in the Scale category so that, in the future, a Swiss champion can once again be crowned with a sufficient number of participants. Thanks to the well-managed and efficient scoring process led by the two competition directors, there was still enough time on Sunday before the awards ceremony for a free exhibition flight, which was enthusiastically taken advantage of by participants from all categories, much to the delight of the visitors.

Once again, the MGI succeeded in creating excellent conditions for a Swiss Scale Championship. Spectator turnout was very high for a competition, even though advertising was deliberately kept rather modest. The presence of a knowledgeable audience was also notable.

The MGI organizers would like to extend special thanks to Bente Zurbuchen and her helpers in the food and beverage service. A big thank you also goes to all the volunteers, officials, and judges. These are exactly the people an organizer needs behind the scenes to pull off such a great event.

Anyone interested in this competition class is welcome to contact Roland Kaufmann, FAKO Scale Heli, for more information. The 2023 Swiss Championship will take place on September 24 and 25, 2023, in St. Stephan.

Report: Jan Zurbuchen,

MG Interlaken, in collaboration with Anton Laube

Photos: Hansruedi Schoch, Steve Henzen