A Very Successful 2023 in Sports

The results achieved by our various national teams are truly impressive.

• Participants in 12 European and World Championships across 4 continents
• 2 world championship titles in the
  individual category (F1A and IJMC 15 kg)
• 1 IJMC team world championship title
• 3 World Championship runner-up titles (IJMC 20 kg, F3C, F3K)
• 1 F3C team world runner-up title
• 1 × 3rd place at the F3P Team World Championship
• 1 × 3rd place in the F1B World Championship

Each of us can surely imagine the immense effort and resources required to reach these heights. The driving force behind taking model aviation to these heights lies deep within each of us, but without the right environment, it would be nearly impossible.

There are clubs that provide the necessary infrastructure and ensure that members with athletic ambitions also have the opportunity to train. This isn’t always a given, because when serious training is taking place, the space available for other pilots is often limited. We live in an age where many people would prefer to simply consume. Many just want to pursue their hobby undisturbed at a perfectly maintained model airfield—preferably whenever they feel like it. A training day, during which the field is blocked off for the entire day, is met with reluctance.

Then there are the technical committees that must organize all the Swiss championships (some of which consist of multiple rounds), national team competitions, and qualifying events, as well as various elite training sessions, etc., every year. All in all, more than two dozen events! Sometimes it takes a very long time to find a club willing to make its field available for such an event.

Inevitable behind it all is the necessary paperwork. The technical committees must implement international regulations at our national championships and, in turn, advocate for our national interests at the CIAM level.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to find judges for the aerobatics classes, and the technical committees must train them, maintain their expertise, and supervise them during events. In the free flight and glider classes, the number of volunteers required is sometimes nearly as high as the number of pilots. This, too, is one of the tasks of the organizing technical committee.

When all the factors mentioned come together and align, our teams have the optimal conditions to deliver the performances we hope for. Looking back now at the results mentioned above, we can assume that while we may not have done everything right, we certainly did a great deal right. A huge thank you to all the athletes and everyone involved who contributed in any way to this fantastic result. This is not something to be taken for granted and requires great discipline and a lot of dedication to achieve such results.

*Faruk Yeginsoy, Head of the SMV Sports Department, October 2023*

Report in French:
https://www.modellflug.ch/FR/home

Report in Italian:
https://www.modellflug.ch/IT/home