... it can get loud, if it has to

Dear Reader

Noise from model aircraft is like politics: there are the quieter ones, and there are the louder ones. It’s the latter that people talk about. A local council member once asked me, when he was having problems with “his” model aircraft club, what could be done to reduce the noise. Among other things, I mentioned the use of electric motors. “Those are even louder!” he replied, “that’s what the model aircraft enthusiasts told me.” In fact, there are said to have been some opponents of electric model aircraft who tried to hinder the development of electric flight by arguing that it produces more noise. Well, the newer and lighter energy storage systems have

swept these critics aside. But it’s true that, if necessary, even an electric model can produce very unpleasant noises—these are, so to speak, inversely proportional to the user’s expertise. Any rapidly spinning object can vibrate so much that the ground shakes—and so can a propeller, to the point where the entire flying machine wobbles. Model aviation enthusiasts who still haven’t grasped that we aren’t alone in many densely populated regions of our beautiful country need to change their mindset very quickly. It doesn’t matter whether they use electric or other types of propulsion—this wouldn’t be solely a question

of our technical competence, but also of our social competence. By which I do not mean to suggest that the vocal politicians are any less competent...

Best regards
, Emil Ch. Giezendanner