Enjoyable Flights Despite Sudden Weather Changes

A total of 58 pilots had registered, of whom 56 were ultimately present and eligible for classification. Three participants from the MG Affoltern a. Albis and one from the MG Churfirsten also came to join us in the Emmental, which made us particularly happy. Likewise, our colleagues from the MG Basilisk, who have been participating in our competition for several years now, didn’t shy away from the long journey. We were also once again able to welcome two women as participants.

As is the case every year, our treasurer and scorekeeper had their hands full at the start collecting the outstanding entry fees and adjusting the starting list, and our “Beizli” was already bustling with activity. Nevertheless, our president was able to welcome everyone on time at 8:15 a.m. and brief them on the competition schedule, so we were able to start the competition at 8:55 a.m.

With a light Bise wind at the start and a Föhn later on, we were able to admire quite a few beautiful flights and landings. Around noon, when we were halfway through the second round, a cold westerly wind picked up, so we decided to skip the lunch break. The rain front was rapidly approaching the Emmental, so we had to decide to end the competition after the second round.

However, several pilots had already carried their models back up the mountain and didn’t want to walk their planes back down—they preferred to fly them down instead—which they managed to do successfully despite the strong wind and thanks to our support via radio. No sooner had the last models landed than the rain began to fall.

There was a surprise at the awards ceremony. For the first time in the 44-year history of the Zäziwiler, we had two participants tied for first place. Daniel Bögli from MG Frutigen and Markus Minger from MG Münchenbuchsee both scored 758 out of a possible 760 points. Sacha Daeppen, also from the MG Frutigen, took third place.

Since our amateur glass painter has retired due to his age, this year the top three finishers received a glass stand bearing the MG-GH emblem instead of the traditional coat-of-arms glass. Producing a new batch of coat-of-arms glasses would have been too expensive. The awards ceremony wrapped up quickly. All participants received a ranking card and a glass bearing the MG-GH emblem. Each participant was also able to take a prize from our gift table. Packing up and loading the equipment, as well as taking down the tents, went faster than in previous years because everyone wanted to get to dry ground as quickly as possible.

Finally, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all the sponsors who made it possible for us to present such a wonderful prize table. Thanks also to all the volunteers and members of the MG-GH who, despite the rain, actively helped out until the very end. This year we had 12 more participants than in 2011, which gives us good reason to believe that our Zäziwiler event will not die out. ■ Results and photos at: www.mg-gh.ch

Werner Hörler