2008 Swiss Championship

In Program B, which is tailored to advanced pilots, five participants competed for the win. The program includes relatively difficult maneuvers but allows the pilot to freely choose the direction of flight for each maneuver, so that he can perform them from his “preferred side.” Julian Kamber from Erlinsbach was declared the winner of this program. Christian Oppliger from Ellg and Daniel Sembinelli from Erlinsbach took the remaining places.

The Swiss champion was crowned in the more difficult “A” program. Here, 14 participants competed for the win. In this program, the 13 flight maneuvers had to be performed during a flight time of about 2 minutes. Noldi Peyer from

The 2nd Swiss F3P Championship will take place on March 29, 2009, at the Wetzikon Vocational School. The event is organized by MV Pfäffikon. The Swiss Championship will be held in the F3P class (using the new A program). In addition, competitions will be held in the simpler B program as well as in freestyle. For more information: www.modellflug.ch

Schlieren was honored. He prevailed in the competition thanks to his precise execution of the maneuvers and his consistency. He also demonstrated his skill as a talented model builder by flying in the winning model—the one ultimately used in the competition—the day before and successfully putting it to use. Close behind him was Nico Strelbel from Bäretswil, who, at 11 years old, was the youngest participant in the entire competition. In third place was Stefan Kaiser from Gamprin, who also showcased his skill in this event.

In the “Aero-Musical” program, the pilots flew a self-designed freestyle routine for 2 minutes to a selected piece of music. The judges evaluated, among other things, difficulty, execution, use of space, and synchronization with the music. Additional points could be earned with special show effects, such as ribbons attached to the aircraft. This challenging task

Six pilots competed. Junior pilot Stefan Kaiser from Gamprin, Liechtenstein, performed the task best. He impressed the judges with his perfect interpretation and clean execution of the aerobatic maneuvers. Raphael Tinguely from Schmitten, FR, and Christoph Hardegger from Gams, SG, took second and third place, respectively. The aircraft used have improved once again, though not in a revolutionary way. For the most part, in addition to the

few biplanes, most pilots flew monoplanes. The dominant model in the F3P figure programs was the Clik!, which delivers optimal performance with a weight of 125 to 140 g. Once again, AXI and Strecker motors dominated; they all weigh around 18 g and are flown with 2 LiPo cells. When it comes to the model itself, weight is certainly one of the most important factors alongside the model’s geometry. This helps with speed

to take it out and demonstrate its agility. Christoph Hardegger’s AM model has proven that even somewhat exotic designs can fly superbly. As for the motors, no excessive power is required. A certain “smoothness” in the motorization contributes to a calm flying style, which has a positive effect on the score. Combined with the intensive training that is—unfortunately—still indispensable,

results in the flights impressively demonstrated to us by the top pilots. Meanwhile, CIAM has officially adopted the F3P class and confirmed two new programs (preliminary round and final). It will now be necessary to evaluate whether the new program should be flown as early as this year. The programs have become significantly more difficult and require much more space. This raises the question of whether the pilots

will be joining the new program, and we’ll take care of the infrastructure.

For this young discipline to survive in the future, we need not only active pilots but also urgently need judges trained in F3P. Please contact your regional chief judges. They will inform you about the next steps.

*Felix Zünd*