Alpine Model Aircraft Camp at Hahnenmoos Pass 2007

“Did you see that cloud?!?” or: “Wow, what an amazing atmosphere over the horizon!” – Teenagers are standing or sitting on the Schalmigrat. The flying conditions aren’t exactly easy: Should I try a flight on the Adelboden side? But the wall of fog is really close and getting thicker—it’s building up fast! Should I look for a thermal on the Lenker side? Will I even find one? Is the thermal strong enough for my model? Observing nature is key; decisions must be made. Test flights reveal whether the decision was the right one. On the next attempt, you can do better—you can learn from your experiences.

Unpredictable flying conditions call for well-thought-out flying! Even though most participants at the youth camp might have wished for “perfect weather,” you usually learn more in conditions like these. Especially when the youth camp leaders use simple glider models to show what’s possible even under these conditions: “Did you see how high Antony is?!?” The boys watch in amazement as the experienced pilots take to the skies!

When observing the camp as an outsider—as the father of a teenage participant—whether at the airfield or at the lodging, you can’t help but notice the leadership team; supervision is very important in this hobby: As the situations described above show, there’s a lot to learn from gliding in the Alps. But it’s also possible that frustration sets in when failures pile up. It’s not always easy to find the golden

middle ground between “letting them gain experience” and “preventing too much frustration.” This difficulty is further compounded by developments in the field of model aviation: I myself greatly appreciate the ever-improving radio-control components and chargers. But to use them correctly, one needs a fairly solid understanding of technology. Whereas 35 years ago, when I was a junior, a basic understanding of electrical circuits was sufficient, today it’s not uncommon to have to read and understand complex instruction manuals!

All these processes often require assistance from knowledgeable modelers. This assistance was provided at the Hahnenmoos Pass: The support given to the young model aviators was once again excellent! Very valuable groundwork is being laid this week! The likelihood that a significant number of these young people will

“model flying” or aviation in general is very high, thanks to the wonderful experiences they’ve had both in model flying and in terms of camaraderie. And when I think of the page-filling reports about dwindling interest in active participation in aviation, this event should be supported wholeheartedly by the association. Supporting youth is just as important as promoting top-level model flying!

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks—certainly on behalf of all the parents of the camp participants—for the valuable work of the entire team of leaders. “I hope

that you can view your efforts just as positively as I do as an observer.”

Thanks are also due to the team at the Berghotel Hahnenmoos: The young people can feel that they are welcome here—unfortunately, that’s not always the case elsewhere...!

I hope that many more young people will have the chance to enjoy a week at Hahnenmoos—our son Florian is certainly already looking forward to the next youth camp in the summer of 2008...!

Text: Res Dauwalder
Photos: Martin Rieder and
Ruedi Steinle