August 1 Casual Fly-In

- The challenge must not call for a model built specifically for this competition.
- The competition should promote the trend in RC gliding toward improved performance in the direction of manned gliding. This means that the glide ratio and a wide speed range should be the decisive factors.

What we sought to improve:

- The weather conditions must not favor any pilot, nor must they disadvantage any pilot.
- The pilot’s flying and tactical skills must be the deciding factor.

– The competition must be interesting and exciting for participants and spectators alike and encourage model aircraft pilots to become more involved in competitive flying, thereby raising the performance standards of glider pilots.

A cross-country flight presented itself as the task at hand. However, to ensure that not only the model’s glide angle is evaluated, but also the pilot’s ability to assess and take advantage of weather conditions and to manage the flight wisely is rewarded, we have limited the distance to 1,200 meters. Under good conditions, this results in a race. The only viable format for the competition was the cup format, since only two flights taking place at the same time and in the same area can be compared. To prevent competitors from being eliminated right away due to bad luck with the draw or other mishaps, we created a repechage round through which anyone can still advance to the final.

At the club presidents’ conference in Efretikon, the presidents of the Bülach, Erlenbach, and Wehntal clubs agreed to organize a casual flying event with us from Mörsberg, during which we could test out the new format. We agreed on August 1 as the date for the event.

In the end, 9 pilots from Mörsburg, 5 from Büach, and 2 from Dietikon—who had agreed to participate on very short notice—took part in the friendly competition. The weather was very kind to us, even though it had been pouring rain the day before. Thanks to the simple rules—designed to prescribe as little as possible while allowing for maximum flying freedom—there were no misinterpretations, neither on the part of the pilots nor the timekeepers. From the kit-built Cirrus to the “Döbeli-Flitzer,” the entire spectrum of today’s model glider fleet was represented.

The first round went by very quickly. It became clear that the one-on-one matches were also very exciting for the spectators. The Mörsburg team didn’t perform very well in this round, as they lost most of their matches. The Büach team, on the other hand, was all the more successful, as they were able to capitalize on their competitive experience. It wasn’t the well-known names that everyone had expected who came out on top. For example, our regional champion Bruno Sieber was sent to the repechage by the young Hans Stoll in the very first round. The rematch came in the semifinals, where the two faced off again, and this time Bruno prevailed. Roman Urfer turned out to be another dark horse. He knocked out four opponents and fought his way through to the quarterfinals, where he faced Bruno Sieber, who ultimately proved to be too strong for him. With a perfect record and no losses, Hans-Ruedi Schläpfer qualified for the final. His opponent, Bruno Sieber, having been knocked out of the main round early on, had to take the arduous route through the repechage. But it turned out that just because someone loses in the first round doesn’t mean they’re the worst—they can still end up being the best.

At the end of the competition, everyone was thrilled with this format, and not a single person was heard complaining about fate or talking about chance and "what-ifs."

This event certainly helped foster a love of competitive gliding among the participating glider pilots. I hope that this enthusiasm will also be reflected in their results at official competitions. After all, no fewer than three participants from the SM 77 took part and discovered that they aren’t all that far behind the regular competitors. That means that many—especially young people—can rise to the top of the region with a little effort.

Since there has been a widespread call to repeat this competition, the Mörsburg Group will organize a new edition next year. The format and participants will be decided next winter.

Bear Ribs