2007 Swiss RC Gliding F3B Championship in Etziken, SO

From May 19 to 20, 2007, the Swiss Championship in the “Formula 1 Class” of model gliding took place on the grounds of the IG F3B in Etziken (Solothurn). This highly successful Swiss F3B Championship was organized by the IG-F3B and MG-Langenthal. Peter Oberli was appointed as competition director. For him, this was his first F3B competition in this role and, at the same time, a trial run for the World Championships in Emmen.

With summer-like temperatures (reaching up to 27 degrees in some places), three full rounds were flown on Saturday without any major delays. As evening approached, conditions continued to improve, and the decision was made to begin Round 4. This was followed by an exciting distance and speed flight. In this fourth round, Stefan Böhlen impressed with 23 completed distances and a best time in the speed event (14.6 seconds!) that was exactly the same as his father Paul Böhlen’s. At 7:15 p.m., the first day of competition officially came to an end. One thing, however, was already clear on Saturday evening: After these nearly four completed rounds, the Böhlen family was in the lead.

The weather was at its best on Sunday as well. Right on time at 8:30 a.m., the competition resumed with the remaining timed flight from Round 4. Most of the pilots had no trouble completing the 10-minute flight. The competition continued with the timed flight from Round 5, followed by the cross-country flight for Groups 1, 2, and 3. Around 11:00 a.m., the wind picked up from the west, leading to a brief interruption while the winches were set up to pull in the opposite direction. Group 4 was then able to begin the cross-country flight with a decent headwind. After lunch, the competition continued with the speed flight from Round 5. Christian Müller put on an impressive performance here and was rewarded with a time of 15.66 seconds, after having to sacrifice his lunch break to make yet another repair to his fuselage. It’s just a shame that, despite this great speed flight, he incurred 100 penalty points because he landed his model in the wrong landing zone. In summary, it’s fair to say that luck wasn’t on Christian’s side this year, and so, unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for a podium finish. However, I’m firmly convinced that we’ll be hearing a lot more from this young, talented F3B pilot in the coming years.

The competition concluded with a sixth speed round. The scoring office, led by Markus Heer, was then busy calculating the final results: The Böhlen family took places 1 through 3, and—as was to be expected—the Swiss championship title went to the reigning world champion, Ans. As he has done many times before, he was the most consistent pilot and made virtually no mistakes. Fidel Frick of Liechtenstein missed the medal positions by 104 points. Heinz Bischofberger was also just one point behind Fidel Frick, placing him in 5th place.

The Crossfire from Breta Model was once again the most widely represented model at this competition (as it is at most Eurotour competitions). It stands out for its nearly perfect build quality, its easy handling, and its outstandin g launch heights. Breta’s latest creation, the Precious—which, as the name implies, means “precious” or “valuable”—has truly lived up to its name. Both Andreas Böhlen and Fidel Frick are getting along exceptionally well with this model, which only became available for purchase a few weeks ago. There’s certainly still plenty of “tuning potential” left. It will be interesting to see how it develops. The New Furio (also a Breta model), with its completely redesigned fuselage and newly bottom-hinged control surfaces, also makes a solid impression. The new Supersonic R from Aero Sport Becker is also a safe bet. Even the Supermaster, which is getting on in years, shows that it can still hold its own against today’s models.

Since a competition like this simply couldn’t take place without a substantial number of volunteers, we’d like to take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt thanks to all the many hardworking volunteers. Two renowned German F3B pilots, Michael Seyfang and Thomas Schorb, also made the trip all the way from Germany. They provided invaluable help and support to many “first-time F3B volunteers” during the competition. Special thanks go to Mauro Della Neve and André Bühler. They treated us to a truly delicious lunch on both days. Of course, we also can’t forget the wives, girlfriends, and mothers of the IG F3B members. They ran the refreshment stand flawlessly at this Swiss Championship and sweetened the competition for us with their homemade cakes.

The 2007 F3B Swiss Championship was a perfectly organized event from start to finish. On both days of competition, there were no model losses to report, aside from a few minor damage incidents. It’s a shame that more pilots didn’t sign up for this event.

Report and photos: Sämi Schaller