19th Swiss Presidents' Conference at the Mythenforum, Schwyz

Yves Burkhard opened the SPK meeting promptly at 9:30 a.m. He welcomed the assembly and, in particular, Xaver Schuler (President of the Cantonal Council) as the representative of the Canton of Schwyz. Unfortunately, Werner “Kö” Kölliker (honorary member) was unable to attend due to health reasons, and Beat Neuwander (Chairman of AeCS) was unable to attend due to work commitments.

Mr. Xaver Schuler welcomed the assembly on behalf of the canton and expressed his gratitude for the commitment of the clubs and the association to the public. He congratulated the Schwyz-Uri Model Flying Group in particular on its 50th anniversary and then presented the canton of Schwyz to the assembly. Contrary to general political conventions, the presentation was to the point, refreshing, and exceptionally brief. Xaver Schuler concluded his welcome remarks with a Schwyz yodel. The assembly was delighted and applauded spontaneously.

Felix Kiser, as Secretary General of the AeCS, also delivered a greeting, emphasizing the importance of the model aviation association as part of the AeCS. In his remarks, he pointed out that regulation by the authorities will increase and that this can only be resolved collectively under the motto: “Back to Reason.” New regulations must be introduced and implemented with a sense of proportion; overregulation must be avoided. In a retrospective, he looked back on “100 Years of Aviation” and praised the joint celebration of the Swiss champions

in Grenchen as the highlight of the year. In an overview, he presented membership trends for the years 2003–2010. Only the skydiving and model aircraft divisions showed positive growth in membership numbers, with the model aircraft division experiencing above-average growth. All other divisions are stagnating or experiencing a steady decline in membership.

René Müller, President of the RMV Central Switzerland, also welcomed the assembly as the organizer of the SPK. He gave a brief overview of the RMV Central Switzerland and proudly highlighted its 50th anniversary, the positive growth in membership, and the founding of new clubs in recent years.

Before the official portion of the meeting, Yves Burkhard thanked Marco Schnyder for his invaluable service as secretary of the AeCS, a role he has held for 34 years.

Yves Burkhard reported from the Executive Committee for the last time. The stated goal of having 175 member clubs in the SMV by the end of 2010 was exceeded. There are now 176 clubs, and membership has also risen again to over 7,400 members. This is a tremendous success resulting from years of groundwork and advocacy among the clubs, during which the understanding grew that we can only meet the new challenges together. He reported on the increasing public pressure, which is leading to more and more restrictions, including in the—

for the world of model aviation. He once again made it clear that model aviation is a sport that is firmly established in the public eye, and that a model airfield is also a sports facility and should therefore be granted the same rights as other sports facilities. He called on the assembly to use the upcoming elections to increase political pressure on behalf of model aviation so that we can continue to practice our sport on an equal footing in the future.

From the perspective of model aviation, last year’s highlight was undoubtedly the model aviation demonstration at the Emmen Air Show. The association is very proud of the pilots who compete in national and international championships and achieve top rankings there. This greatly advances the cause of model aviation and presents this aspect of the sport in a positive light to the public.

The SMV is currently in the preliminary stages of planning the 2013 Jet WorldMasters in Meiringen. The organizing committee is already actively engaged in discussions with local officials, the authorities, and all sponsors, and will make a decision by summer 2010; this decision is intended to ensure that this specific event imposes no financial burden on the SMV but rather is self-sustaining.

At the conclusion of his report, Yves Burkhard once again recalled the tragic accident in Samedan and commended the professional handling of the situation by all those involved on site. The association’s thoughts remain with the families of the victims. The SMV President’s annual report was met with a round of applause.

Bernard Grandjean, Head of Finance, presented the financial report and

showed that the annual financial statements closed with a small profit of approximately CHF 2,000 instead of the budgeted break-even point. The breakdown of the financial statements made it clear that well over half of the revenue is reinvested directly into model aviation and the regional clubs. Unfortunately, compared to recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the financial support required by clubs to address legal issues.

Peter Germann, Head of the Sports Division, presented the sports sector in a concise and philosophical summary. He pointed out that, at the national level, more than 50 competitions and 24 Swiss championships reflect an overall encouraging positive trend in performance and rankings at the highest level. However, Peter Germann also pointed out that there is a lack of young talent at this high level and that, unfortunately, participation numbers in some championships are stagnating. Here, the SMV and its affiliated clubs are called upon to identify the causes and motivate new participants. New, interesting, and spectacular categories, such as F6A, are intended to motivate new members to compete in the championships. However, promotion does not mean only supporting elite athletes, but above all promoting participation across the board and fostering young talent. In this context, Peter Germann highlighted the outstanding achievements of Swiss pilots at international competitions. Special mention was made of Dominik Andrist, who, at just 21 years old, was the youngest member of a Swiss national team to compete in the F1E European Championships and was awarded the Arnold Degen Challenge Cup for his performance. →

F1 Free Flight: MV Bern
F2 Tethered Flight: MBZ Basel
F3 R/C: MV Riggisberg
F4 Scale: MV Interlaken F5
Electric: MV Pfäffikon F6
Promotion: Heli Club Freudwil F
Space: MG Kulm

At the farewell ceremony for Christoph Bachmann (FaKo President F1) and Georg Biber (FaKo President F2), Peter Germann paid tribute to the decades of service these two model aviation experts have dedicated to the sport in various committees. Both received a commemorative gift as a token of appreciation; their dedication was acknowledged by those present with a round of enthusiastic applause.

Rainer Beckerbauer reported on his first year as head of the Communications Department. This led to the need to procure newly designed promotional flyers and tents. The 8-page flyers are now available in the three national languages; they can be obtained from the Central Secretariat. Two tents, each measuring 6 x 3 m, were purchased for trade shows and events. Printing the SMV logo on them will be completed in the coming weeks. The tents can be reserved and rented from the AeCS Secretariat. Over the course of the year, a new flight simulator with a large flat-screen monitor will be made available for

and club activities, making them more appealing.

The Infrastructure Department, led by Adrian Eggenberger, was honored in 2010 with the FAI’s “Honorary Group Diploma for Aeronautics.” The award will be presented at the AeCS Delegates’ Assembly on March 19 in Berlin and represents a major distinction for the sport of model aviation. Adrian Eggenberger reported that cooperation with the clubs is now very good, as they are increasingly aware of safety issues and are eager to seek advice and support to resolve local problems. This is successful in most cases. Cooperation between the Infrastructure Department and environmental organizations and other associations is very good. His recommendation is to always seek dialogue early on should a problem arise, in order to avoid legal disputes.

Edgar Bruhin, Head of the Safety Sub-Department, opened his presentation with the principle of the Federal Charter: “Protection of the Population.” A pilot’s preparation is crucial to the success of a flight, but so are the framework conditions, such as securing the flight area and ensuring safety during model construction. Only when all three areas are addressed together can a safe flight and safe model aviation be ensured. In April 2011, the “UNO” seminar will open with the topic “Safety in Model Aviation,” and the series will conclude in the fall of 2011 with the “DUE” seminar on “Safety at Events.” Information on the respective events will be published in a timely manner at www.modellflug.ch.

René Müller, Head of the Regions Department, reported on the completed revision of the bylaws, which better accounts for current circumstances and framework conditions

, making them easier to read, streamlining them, and giving them a more modern design. No fundamental changes were made. However, the changes effectively lead to the abolition of the “Regions” department on the SMV Executive Board. The new bylaws were unanimously approved by those present.

In what was arguably the most eagerly anticipated item on the agenda—the elections—Peter Germann (previous Head of the Sports Department) was elected SMV President to succeed Yves Burkhard, to loud applause. Adrian Brunni, a young but very experienced F3A pilot and former president of MG Luzern, was elected as his successor as head of the Sports Department. He has been working with Peter Germann in the Sports Department for quite some time and can therefore already be considered “well-integrated.” Adrian Brunni was also elected to great applause.

Giancarlo Polla volunteered to succeed Christoph Baumann (FaKo President F1), and Peter Hofacker was nominated to succeed Georg Biber (FaKo President F2). Yves Burkhard introduced both candidates, who are well known in their respective communities; they were elected by those present with loud applause as proven experts.

Yves Burkhard is being nominated as an honorary member by resolution of the Executive Board. Heiner Borer paid tribute to Yves Burkhard’s achievements to date as president, model aviator, and as a person in an emotional laudatory speech. Yves Burkhard, along with his wife—who has always been a great supporter of him and, by extension, model aviation in general—was bid farewell not to retirement but to his new role as AeCS Vice President with very loud and prolonged applause.

Emil Giezendanner presented the “Picture of the Year” award to Thierry Ruef for his photograph depicting a mass launch during an F3J competition. The new support program from the “modell flugsport” Foundation is called “Talent Wings” and supports young model builders and/or model-building projects with prizes of up to CHF 5,000. Details can be found at www.modellflugsport.ch.

As a surprise, René Müller announced a raffle generously sponsored by the Seminar and Wellness Hotel Stoos. The prizes included a wellness weekend for two people and two day passes for the Stoos ski resort. Monika Burkhard drew the winning number. The representatives of the Uri/Schwyz Model Flying Club would have been the original winners. However, as the event organizers, they generously returned the prize, allowing it to be raffled off again. We hope the winners will have a great time at this special ski resort in Central Switzerland, which offers many surprises and a fantastic panoramic view.

The afternoon event was themed “How Do I Build an Airplane”—but not just any model, rather a manned VSTOL for four people that combines the characteristics of a helicopter with those of a fixed-wing aircraft. This ambitious project was impressively presented by David Pos-

va, CEO of RayResearch, in an impressive presentation. From the initial idea to the airworthy product, he outlined all the stages and obstacles in the development process, as well as the problems solved so far and how they were implemented. He highlighted the close collaboration with model builders, who test solutions and/or ideas on the model and verify their functionality

before moving on to the next stage of development. As the highlight of the presentation, Bernard Grandjean was then able to demonstrate the Ray model—which is based on a quadcopter control system—to the large audience still in attendance. Once in the air, the model is relatively easy to control, but takeoff and landing are extremely difficult—a fact that

the attendees discovered with a chuckle. Further details about the project and how to support it can be found at www.rayaircraft.com. The 19th Presidents’ Conference concluded at 4:00 p.m. The 20th SPK will take place on March 3, 2012, in Lodrino, TI.

*rb/smv*