You know what I mean?

If citizens lose trust in their government agencies, our direct democracy is in grave danger. I cannot recall a time when our world and our governments were so entangled in contradictions as we are today: We must reduce CO2 emissions, yet at the same time we are planning gas-fired power plants. We are apparently dependent on coal-fired electricity from abroad. How do we intend to conserve energy or switch to “clean” energy while also managing population growth?

Without the Aero-Club of Switzerland—and the parliamentary motions by Matthias Jauslin and Kurt Fluri—the EU’s “threat law” would have easily been passed in parliament, affecting us model aircraft enthusiasts. Well, we would have kept flying anyway. I won’t comment on compliance with the growing flood of legislation. We don’t even need to look beyond our national borders to see this. However, I must once again note that even within our own ranks, there are enough colleagues who, with their schoolmasterly attitudes and vague threats, seek to draw our attention to violations of some regulation or even intimidate us. Fear is a poor advisor. As far as our flying sites are concerned, I am convinced that, for example, not all cantonal building departments treat our applications fairly. The process couldn’t be simpler: they raise the requirements so high that, without consulting experts, it’s almost impossible to meet all

requirements. The effects of electromagnetic pollution from our electric models on the bending behavior of earthworms must be clarified in advance. That costs money and time. As a citizen and taxpayer, I take the liberty of questioning disproportionate regulations from time to time (public laughter can be one way to do this). Often, seemingly impossible solutions turn out for the best. Why not give it a try yourselves? Good luck. ■

Emil Ch. Giezendanner

redaktion@modellflugsport.ch