Once again: Germany is leading by example!

Germany has become a leading nation in air sports today. Its achievements in gliding and glider construction are truly unparalleled. But our northern neighbor also holds its own in other air sports. For example, in model aircraft flying: At the F3B World Championship (RC gliding) in Sacramento, USA, the German team won the team competition. At the F3A World Championship (RC aerobatics) in Acapulco, the German team took second place in the team standings.

This is no coincidence. Such achievements can only be made when the public—and especially the authorities—stand behind and support aviation sports.

While here in Germany the Federal Office of Civil Aviation, under political pressure, wants to remove model aircraft from aviation legislation—and there is an incredibly “profound” expert opinion from the Ministry of Justice on this matter—the Federal Aviation Office in Braunschweig is doing exactly the opposite: Together with representatives of the German model aviation community (the German Aero Club and the Model Aviation Association), guidelines are being developed to assist model aviators. The latest bulletin on “Remote-Controlled Model Aircraft” demonstrates that such efforts do not necessarily have to be presented in stiff bureaucratic language or in the usual dry format.

No more support—just a whole host of regulations and bans!

It’s not as if our Federal Office of Civil Aviation in Bern can make cuts—such as to staff—based on the definition of aviation: “Aviation serves the transport of people.” With this new definition, the Office is effectively targeting hang gliders, which require considerably more effort than the modest model aircraft enthusiasts.

Furthermore, officials in Bern can’t bring themselves to do away with model aviation entirely: a large number of regulations, provisions, and bans remain, and in the vast majority of cases, only the Federal Office will have the technical expertise to make a practical assessment. Safety regulations related to other aspects of aviation, large-scale models, events, accidents, insurance issues, etc. Either way, the Civil Aviation Authority retains a certain degree of supervisory responsibility; it must process applications and submissions from model aircraft enthusiasts, airfield regulatory bodies, etc., make decisions, and issue rulings. Where are the cost savings here? Do model aircraft pilots pay less in taxes than skydivers?

Is Bern simply trying to get rid of the politically inconvenient aspects of model aircraft flying—namely, the pollution problems?

This suspicion seems plausible. There are still politicians in Switzerland who fail to recognize the value of a recreational activity such as model flying. Take, for example, the Oetwil authorities in the Limmat Valley. The municipality wasn’t even willing to allow model aircraft with four-stroke engines. This clearly proves that it wasn’t about aircraft noise, but quite simply a matter of principle—the notorious “who’s in charge” issue at the municipal level. Using the best lawyers and costly lawsuits, they drove the model airplane enthusiasts away: Let them fly wherever they want, just not here. – Those in the know are aware that the drug problem in the Limmat Valley has become quite serious. But since one can’t expect the same “success” in this area with lawyers and lawsuits, they’re trying to relocate the Limmat Valley’s drug addicts to the Zurich Oberland without further ado. Instead of investing in lawyers, they invested in real estate in this case—and once again, they’ve gotten rid of an inconvenient segment of the population in the Limmat Valley. I wonder when the people of Oetwil will take action against people wearing green hats, or decide to “relocate” all VW drivers—and later, the blondes—depending on whatever doesn’t quite fit into the local councilors’ plans.

Does our Civil Aviation Authority in Bern no longer want to deal with such agencies and individual municipalities in the future? This would be understandable if one were to take the path of least resistance. Dangerous paths for our constitutional state: Delegating everything that is politically ungrateful and sensitive, but ultimately retaining control through regulations and bans! Like all federal offices, the Aviation Office is subject to oversight by the parliaments and thus by the people. We are all called upon to use all our resources and means to ensure that our aviation legislation does not take a direction that is unique in the world and completely contrary to international practices and scientific findings.

The example of the German Federal Aviation Authority shows clearly enough that there are other ways. Or do we Swiss, in our well-fed complacency, once again think we know it all better? In that case, I know of an effective solution: All 12,000 or so model airplane enthusiasts should switch to playing the alphorn and keep blowing and blowing until they beg us on their knees to let us fly model airplanes again.

Emil Ch. Giezendanner