Regional Championships

Identical updraft conditions for all competitors, from first to last—that’s a weather situation that’s quite rare in our country. The sixty participants in the regional competition on March 9 between Wil and Mandach in Aargau were truly spoiled by the weather gods in this regard. However, the steady, brisk westerly wind, blowing at 7 to 10 m/s, gave the less experienced pilots a bit of a hard time, while the winner was able to pull off two perfect rolls with his Acropendler model just before landing.

The new landing evaluation criteria introduced last year played a role in ranking the competitors. Anyone who wanted to force a landing in the top group inevitably ran the risk of scoring a zero due to the model flipping over or a hard landing. To make matters more difficult, there was no completely flat area available for the landing zone—only a gently sloping hillside.

Observing the flights of the top-ranked pilots, one realized just how crucial the collaboration between pilot and “mechanic” is, especially in slope flying. Although only the pilot’s name appears in the rankings, success comes solely from the 100 percent commitment of both the pilot and the helper.

Finally, a note on the regulations: I am convinced that, based on the current regulations—though some minor adjustments and clarifications would certainly be necessary—competitions can be held that are ideally suited to the possibilities of slope soaring, provided the following conditions are met:

• a suitable flying site with alternative options in case of wind shifts
• a well-coordinated organization with enough volunteers
• Good weather. Rolf Girsberger