3. Graupner Heli-Cup: Aerobatics with a Remote Control

A large crowd gathered early on, including onlookers and aviation enthusiasts, locals and visitors, as well as young and old, all eagerly watching the spectacle. Not even the sky, which later became somewhat cloudy, could dampen the mood. Food and drinks were provided by the family members and friends of the pilots from the Marbach Model Flying Club, who were kept busy all day long demonstrating their skills. So they competed not only against members of their own club but also against members of other clubs and hobby pilots, including Austrians and even a German. The competition itself was based on achieving the highest score across three rounds, with the two best rounds counting toward the final score. The challenges included precision landing, pylon transport, flying through a maze, and picking up rings—tasks that were mastered with varying degrees of success. Yet despite the fierce competition, it never even felt like a contest was taking place; on the contrary, the event was more like a friendly gathering of aviation enthusiasts who shared the same hobby.

This view was also shared by Wolfgang Simon, the product manager at Graupner—the company that sponsored the prizes and the entire course—who saw the competition as a great opportunity to get people excited about model flying. The air show, which took place in the

The break took place before the announcement of the results. This gave the pilots an opportunity to showcase their special flying skills as well as their gliders and powered aircraft. The youngest among them—and indeed at the entire event—was Ilan Dutler (age 11), who won over the audience with a small but fast plane.

Shortly thereafter, the announcement of the rankings and the prize drawing began, signaling that the event was drawing to a close. Unfortunately, a slight cloud did cast a shadow over the event at the very end when it was announced that the Heli Cup would not be held next year due to

I wouldn't be holding the anniversary celebration for the Marbach Model Aircraft Club—at least not in Marbach. Nevertheless, people eventually made their way home with happy, if slightly exhausted, expressions on their faces, and they all agreed: It had been a wonderful Sunday.

*Antonio Galluccio,
Rheintalische Volkszeitung*

They stood on the podium at the third Graupner Heli-Cup:

• 1st place: Sepp Gisler,**
• 2nd place: Eric Ribak and**
• 3rd place: Thomas Baumann.**