RC Glider Aerobatics

RC Glider Aerobatics

This championship was held at the Winterthur Model Flying Club’s airfield, located at René Koblet’s in Ricketwil. It’s a very beautiful airfield, nestled right in the middle of farmland, with food and drinks available at the cozy restaurant.

Let me say right off the bat: it was a wonderful, exciting, and successful championship event to cap off a challenging season-long tour.

Despite the absence of a few experienced pilots for various reasons, the field of participants—with a total of twelve pilots—was quite impressive.

René really went all out and proved his flexibility several times that morning. With his generator, René had quite a

trouble getting the good old tractor—with its PTO-driven generator—to supply the desired and necessary power. This effort lasted exactly as long as the rain that had started to fall; then the sky slowly began to clear, becoming more and more beautiful. Together with volunteers from MG Winterthur, René put together a competent team of helpers who participated in the Swiss Championship events with great enthusiasm. The food service, organized by Erika with the help of many volunteers, ran smoothly, and everyone in attendance enjoyed the excellent meals.

Under ideal conditions, five rounds—including a freestyle routine—were flown. The spectators enjoyed the performances. There were some familiar faces among those in attendance, who were there for the first time

saw a show of this kind. Impressive, very beautiful, graceful, and demanding—that’s what the spectators we spoke with said. The airfield posed significant challenges for the pilots, but thanks to the great skill of the participating pilots, no treetops were touched by the wingtips. It was often a close call, but everything turned out fine. The pilots battled for every point; a glance at the standings clearly shows how close the individual participants

in the points standings. For example, the difference between the first-place pilot and the pilot in fourth place is just 323.9 points. And between third and fourth place, it’s only 1.2 points! This demonstrates a significant improvement thanks to intensive training.

The judges did a good job, because the discrepancies among the five judges are very

small. That makes the whole thing even more interesting and bodes well for the future. The announcement of the rankings revealed that the top three competitors had decided the 2011 championship among themselves, and we were all able to warmly congratulate the beaming reigning and new Swiss champion, Tim Schaerer. This marks his fourth Swiss championship title in this category! With a score of -40.7 points, Andi Schaerer took second place, and with a margin of 322.7 points behind the winner, Silvio Meier was declared the third-place finisher. Heartfelt congratulations to the winners, but also to the participants who finished further down the rankings.

To wrap things up, the entire SAC family gathered closely together in a friendly and lively atmosphere at René’s garden house. We enjoyed the hearty raclette with its many toppings. What a great atmosphere! No doubt some of those present had one or two servings too many and went to bed with bloated bellies. A heartfelt thank you to Erika and René, as well as to the helpers, for this wonderful end to the 2011 season. We’ll always remember your hospitality. To everyone involved—both in front of and behind the scenes—who contributed in any way to the successful event—

To everyone who helped organize this event, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks on behalf of the members of the SAC (Swiss Akro Connection). Special thanks go to Josef Aregger, president of MG-Winterthur, as well as to the

members of MG-Winterthur for their hospitality. I wish everyone continued enjoyment and, until we meet again, I’ll simply say: Bye.

*Werni Erismann*