2010 Swiss Scale Helicopter Championships (F4)

The Swiss Championship title in the F4 Heli Scale class is awarded annually alongside the F4C fixed-wing pilots and the jet pilots according to IJMC rules. This time, the event was held at the military airfield in Emmen and organized by the Lucerne Model Flying Club. On the weekend of October 16–17, participants from all classes gathered in Emmen along with the judges.

In accordance with the current rules, the models were first evaluated for construction quality. During this process, three construction judges assess the model in front of them within 20 minutes based on the construction documentation, which must be provided by the pilot. The model’s contours are checked against original photos and side views of the blueprints. If an antenna is missing or a turbine inlet is not in the same location as shown in the documentation, points are deducted without mercy. Furthermore, the accuracy of the color, fidelity to the original surface, complexity, attention to detail, and the precision of the construction itself are evaluated.

Even before the competition began, the judges had formed an overall impression of the competition models on display in the park. So it came as no surprise that Werner Maurer’s perfectly built EC135 topped the rankings after the construction evaluation. In second place was the beautiful EC 145 from the Swiss Air Rescue Service (Rega) built by Eric Ribak. Close behind, Reto Marbach placed his impressive Big Lama in the Air Zermatt livery. The neatly assembled model, featuring meticulous details, was built from a Vario kit but did not quite convince with its “scale-like” proportions.

The weather gods were not on our side all weekend. After it rained continuously on Saturday, making a regular flight competition out of the question, the field of participants tried on Sunday to fly at least one round in order to complete the construction competition from the previous day. However, after only the third pilot had flown, the increasing Bise wind—with wind speeds exceeding 13 meters per second (over 30 km/h; the regulations allow a maximum of 3 m/s), the competition organizers and the pilots decided to call off the event and reschedule it for two weeks later. At Reto Marbach’s private model airfield (many thanks for the spontaneous organization), the field of competitors was then able to complete a total of three scoring flights on Sunday, October 31, 2010, under ideal conditions, thereby determining the Swiss championship title. Under the watchful eyes of Chief—

In front of judges Michael Bucher and his colleagues Freddie Eidenberg and Hans-Ueli Tschiemer, the pilots performed their individual competition routines at an exceptionally high level. Werner Maurer flew his civilian EC 135

From Jürgen Schwing’s workshop, equipped with a Jakadofsky engine, it glided gracefully and with wide turns across the field and, with the highest flight score (following its lead in the construction category), deservedly secured the Swiss championship title. Reto Marbach also flew his large Lama well and, thanks to his strong flight performance, finished second by a narrow margin, thereby becoming the runner-up. Eric Ribak flew his EC 145 with a JetCat PHT3 engine with both precision and flair, but was unable to fully capitalize on his strong position in the build category. With very steady flights, the young Michael Tschiemer (last year’s champion) pushed the Rega-Modell pilot down to the unfortunate fourth place.

All in all, it was a wonderful competition, and the performances on display were a real boost for the scale modeling scene, which has been a bit “lean” lately. However, several prominent absentees have already confirmed their return for the 2011 event (late September), and I hope to assemble an even stronger field of participants, including new pilots. With the newly launched “Semi-Scale” beginner class, ambitious helicopter pilots are also given the opportunity to measure their flying skills against those of the “full-scale” pilots and thus prepare themselves for participation in the Swiss Heli-Scale Championship.

Over the course of the upcoming flying season, three to four training sessions with judges will be held, and it would be great if, after the winter building season, many pilots with fuselage helicopters could join our community. The meetings will be announced in a timely manner (*www.modellflug.ch*), and we can already reveal that, in addition to a first event in early May 2011 in Marbach, there will be a flight day in French-speaking Switzerland and a weekend in Stabio—hopefully with guests from neighboring countries—dedicated to scale helicopters. So head down to your hobby rooms and start flight training in time for spring—we want to see those meticulously built, true-to-life scale and semiscale helicopters!