Swiss F5J Championship, in Nods

Nods is located at the foot of the Chasseral in the Neuchâtel region. The Swiss F5J Championships took place on May 22, 2022, at the AirCChasseral club’s field.

It’s always a surprise to discover a new competition site, but our first impression was: we’re in for a great competition! A superb, wide-open flying area over fields with a few trees creating contrasts that fostered thermals. The mild weather—with fairly light winds on Sunday and pleasant temperatures—made us forget the heat wave that was sweeping the lowlands.

This marked the debut of new equipment and provided a simple way to collect the information needed to generate rankings in Glidersore, a computer program widely used internationally. The expected benefits are numerous: reducing the timing burden on organizing clubs, which now only have to manage the airfield infrastructure; increasing the number of rounds and having enough to allow for the elimination of the worst qualifying round; and finally, generating flight statistics that competitors appreciate to gauge their room for improvement.

The result is six stress-free qualifying rounds and three fly-offs to determine the final rankings of the top pilots: in just one day, that’s quite an achievement!

Tactically, the AirCChasseral field is very interesting, set in a (magnificent) and varied environment conducive to thermals. The field is oriented in such a way that it allows for ample space when about ten models need to land at the same time. Often, a model-airfield does not allow for varying approach angles depending on the wind, and all too often, competitors had to land with a tailwind or crosswind in previous competitions.

Statistically speaking, few pilots take the risk of shutting off their engines at low altitude. This approach may work at the Swiss level, but internationally, among foreign pilots, we realize that it doesn’t make us very competitive. This has to change! →

Aside from the winner, the internationally renowned Cédric Duss, we’re seeing new faces on the podium (Alois Kurmann, Urs Roduner) stepping into the spotlight. This is no coincidence, as they are among the few Swiss pilots who regularly participate in international competitions.

I’ve never heard a participant say they regretted making the often-long trip to experience such wonderful facilities. The AirCChasseral club truly helped make these championships a success thanks to a dynamic and friendly team that boosted morale by serving fondue and pizza, among other things.

Thank you to the organizers for this great success.

Thierry Ruef