Friendly Flying: 1st Swiss Indoor Coaxial Helicopter Cup 2008

On Saturday, May 10, 2008, the Rapperswil-Jona Model Aircraft Club organized the first Swiss Indoor Coax Helicopter Cup 2008 at the Grünfeld Sports Hall. A total of twelve pilots gathered for this event. The hall and its facilities were ideal for this event.

The competition began at 9:30 a.m. with a briefing. Beautiful models representing a wide range of real-world prototypes were on the starting line: Lamas, Ecureuil, EC135, Agusta Koala, and so on. The course consisted of three landing areas (23×20 cm), arranged in the shape of a triangle with 50-centimeter sides on a table (in our case, made of gymnastics mats). The two turn markers were set up 4 meters from the table and 4 meters apart from each other. The three external loads were placed on the right-hand landing area. The time limit for the entire course was a maximum of 3 minutes; the sequence of a run was as follows: The helicopter took off from the left landing area

and rose to a minimum height of 50 cm, where a pirouette to the left or right was performed, followed by a landing in the same field. If the extension of the rotor shaft was within the circle, the pilot received 100 points. Landing outside the circle was worth 50 points. These rules applied to all subsequent landings. The pilot then had to fly to the right landing area. There, the pilot had to pick up a load and place it on the third landing area. Setting the load down on the field earned 100 points. Then back to the first—and thus left—landing field. Immediately afterward, the pilot flew to the two turning markers. There, two complete figure-eights had to be flown, and then

Back to the left landing area. This landing marked the end of the run. The pilots had to get used to this course, since they hadn’t been able to practice it beforehand. From run to run, the pilots improved in both precision and speed. All three rounds were completed without any significant crashes. The youngest participant in the field was Jan Ribak (age 11). He managed to place eighth overall with his Lama! Congratulations! Thanks to the participation of Torsten Steinau from Germany, this competition took on an international flavor. Everyone had a great time at this event. Around 3:00 p.m., we were able to begin the awards ceremony. The companies Graupner and Hope provided us with some wonderful prizes. These were

With the raffle, everyone had another chance to win a great prize. A big thank you to the sponsors and participants. We look forward to another event with many participants, likely during the winter months of 2009.

Eric Ribak