F3J 4th Fribourg Trophy 2022

Under the proven leadership of Markus Schneuwly’s organizing committee, the fourth edition of this competition took place on the weekend of May 21–22, 2022. As the largest event on the Euro Tour—and, for many participants, their first international competition following the long COVID-19 hiatus—the temporary airfield showed itself at its best; for the second time, attendees were able to enjoy the hospitality of this farm near Düdingen for this event. With 49 pilots from six countries and—thanks to a report published earlier in the local newspaper

—it was a successful small community festival and excellent publicity for the sport and model aviation in general—all topped off with perfect weather and a Swiss victory. The foreign pilots, in particular, had been able to participate in only limited training sessions or competitions during this period due to varying COVID-19 measures in their respective countries. According to Roland Kurtz (D) of the MFG Dettingen-Treck, he personally knew of only a single competition in the Czech Republic—but that one was not part of the Eurotour series.

The organizer of this year's F3J World Championship, taking place August 1–6, Slovakian Jan Littva (junior), had at one point even lost all motivation for the sport. The cancellation of the competitions in the middle of the pre-

The preparations had been a major setback (the first competition would have been the Fribourg Trophy), and the fully prepared plane had been mothballed. In 2021, it was the same story all over again, although by then it was, of course, fairly clear that this season, too, would—

would fall victim to the pandemic. Jan Littva therefore started with F3L, a new class similar to F3J but with a 2-meter wingspan. This new class is rapidly gaining popularity and showing strong growth—in contrast to F3J, where the Fribourg Trophy is now the largest competition with only 48 pilots (compared to 100 pilots 10 years ago).

Technically, according to both pilots interviewed, there were no major advancements during the pandemic—however, the prestige of the manufacturer Samba represented a huge step forward, though it had already been on the market shortly before the pandemic.

The competitions lasted all day Saturday through Sunday at noon, followed by a playoff among the eight best pilots. The long COVID-19 hiatus did not detract from the high level of competition, and a single botched landing determined whether a pilot advanced to the finals—or not—with the cutoff for advancing to the finals set at 99.8 percentage points!

Because a pair of red kites felt disturbed by the many model airplanes flying over their nest site, where their young were present—as indicated by their warning calls and aggressive maneuvers —the organizing committee introduced a no-fly zone and a ban on low-altitude overflights of this forested area during the ongoing competition. In addition to the organizing committee, the pilots also deserve great respect for their thoroughly professional conduct and their ability to implement this rule change without any issues. The birds of prey once again became “the best friends” of our gliders, and they led each other to the best air currents. Working together rather than against each other—just like in real life. The victory went to the internationally active Swiss pilot Andreas Böhlen, but pilots—some of whom compete only in Switzerland—also managed to place high on the leaderboard: Tobias Lämm-

lein in 6th, Daniel Purbrick in 13th, Marc Summermatter in 16th, Richard Gadan in 20th, Ruedi Schaub, Felix Strässler, Hanspeter Iff, Jean Thévenaz, Hugo Pauli, and organizer Markus Schneuwly in the remaining spots—all of which demonstrate an active F3J scene in Switzerland.

There is certainly still potential for more Swiss podium finishes both at home and abroad. Unfortunately, the subsequent competition in Italy was canceled due to low participation.

After being postponed twice due to the coronavirus, this year’s World Championship will still take place in Slovakia, and one of the participants in the high-caliber field at the Fribourg Trophy—including five national teams—will likely win the world championship title. Switzerland will be represented by pilots Marc Summermatter and Daniel Purbrick.

Sven Zimmermann,
Photos: Linn Bürki
and Sven Zimmermann