It was such a joy to see how motivated and focused the guys were as they got to work

Together with young people aged 11 to 15 and volunteers from MG Uster, we built the “Der kleine Uhu” model from Graupner. This model, designed specifically for workshops, is ideal for the task. The participants also took home some theoretical knowledge. It was a real joy to watch how motivated and focused the boys were as they got to work—all during summer vacation in a school building... The atmosphere was cheerful and lively. Construction progressed quickly—a bit too quickly for some. We had actually planned to

have flown the models on the third afternoon. However, the dire weather forecast for Friday afternoon prompted us to hold the teacher-student flight session as early as Thursday. This turned out to be the right decision.

On the second afternoon, all participants were driven to our site, and the models for the teacher-student flight session were prepared for flight. Divided into groups, a brief instruction—and off into the air. Everyone was able to fly to their heart’s content for an entire afternoon

to their hearts’ content, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. Some remarked that they had imagined the whole thing to be a bit easier. There was a stunned silence when they were then told that these models were actually the easiest to fly. But we reassured them each time that everyone had eventually learned how to fly them. Without further ado, we had to come up with a bad-weather plan for the third day, which had actually been set aside for teacher-student flying. Thanks to the flight simulator, movies, and more, we were still able to put together an engaging afternoon. Satisfied and with many new experiences, the young people were “dismissed” from the course. One or two of them remarked that this certainly wouldn’t be their last visit to our grounds.

The MG Uster held a construction course for the fifth time as part of the Uster district’s summer recreation program. Over 100 young people have attended these courses so far. Once again, the course was a complete success. Twenty participants seem to be the ideal number. They could be easily divided into four groups of five. When we held the course for the first time four years ago, there was a great deal of skepticism about whether the whole thing would actually work. Its success proves us right and motivates us to continue building a strong base of active junior members. Four years ago, we had practically no juniors. Today, we have about 12! Some can even be found on the field regularly. Thanks to these activities, we’ve also been able to make a name for ourselves in the city. This is particularly important to us, since we’ll have to find a different location in the coming years due to a new connecting road. Our course takes place pa-

It takes place in parallel with “Young SilentWings” in Dübendorf—2 km away as the crow flies. We certainly don’t see ourselves as competition; on the contrary, we see ourselves more as paving the way for this program. We specifically target the group of young people who have never had any exposure to model aircraft flying.

Running courses like this requires a substantial number of volunteers. A big thank you! Special thanks to Stefan Rüeger, who led the course this year.

We’d also like to thank the Nänikon High School Board and the school custodian, Mr. Castrischer, for allowing us to use the shop during the school break—something that’s not to be taken for granted. Thanks to eflight GmbH, which generously supported us in procuring the model kits and donated 20 “caps,” which were very well received by the participants. ■

Gregor Hochstrasser,
MG Uster