When the ground subsides

Due to the geological conditions, heavy rainfall sometimes causes parts of our airfield to flood and remain underwater for a while.

The Buttikon Model Aircraft Club’s airfield is located in the heart of the Linth Plain. Long ago, the Linth Plain was covered with water, meaning that Lake Walen was connected to Lake Zurich. Over time, the area silted up, leaving behind a relatively large marshland. Attempts were made to drain the area—first through the Linth Correction project from 1807 to 1822 under Hans Conrad Escher and later through the Linth Land Improvement project beginning in 1937—in order to create arable land for agriculture. However, the results were rather modest. Lowering the water table caused the soil to compact and, in some places, sink by up to 2 meters. It cannot be ruled out that the Linth Plain could sink below the level of Lake Zurich. This serves as a brief overview of the situation in our region.

The heavy rainfall around July 10 did not spare our airfield and caused significant flooding. For obvious reasons, flying with standard models was out of the question under these circumstances. Parts of the taxiway and runway were submerged under up to one meter of water

But as the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. Our airfield manager was quite simply reassigned to serve as harbor master. A significant number of our members have acquired seaplanes. This branch offers a welcome expansion of our shared hobby and is a lot of fun. We consider it a privilege that the weather gods and the geology have created this “puddle” right next to our existing infrastructure, directly on our airfield grounds.

Water. The water depth depends not only on rainfall over the airfield but is also largely determined by the water table. The water level of the Linth River also has a major influence on how high the water rises at our airfield.