2009 Swiss Championships: Successful Electric Aircraft Pilots

The Swiss electric aviation community can look back on a successful year. After several years of declining participation in competitions, the highly specialized classes appear to be stabilizing in this regard as well.

As early as the beginning of summer, during the Militky Cup, the great potential of our pilots became apparent. In the F5B World Championship class, with a globally impressive field of 27 competitors, all three medals went to Switzerland. Remo Frattini, MG Sulzer, won ahead of Patrick Häusler, MG Buttikon, and Thomas Wackerlin, MG Rapperswil-Jona. The fact that Remo competes internationally for Italy does not detract from his achievements. Remo is not only the reigning European champion but also the winner of the prestigious 2009 FAI World Cup. Thomas Wackerlin also won the F5F competition against a field of 18 pilots.

The MG Buttikon hosted an F5B/F competition for the second time as part of the Eurotour organized by Germany. This time, the top spots were reversed (12 participants in total). Thomas Wackerlin won, ahead of Patrick Häusler and Remo Frattini. Thomas also achieved a one-two finish by winning the F5F class—which had nine participants—ahead of Patrick Häusler and Rudolf Freudenthaler of Austria.

The SMV Electric Flight Commission decided to hold this year’s Swiss Championships at a venue that would also accommodate pylon racing (F5D). Ultimately, thanks to the support of our colleagues from Ticino, we were able to use the San Vittore airfield. Since we had no volunteers available there, the commission organized the two-day event itself. Competitors from the various classes helped one another out. For example, the pylon racers served as F5B timekeepers, and the glider pilots manned the pylon sights. This was a wonderful example of cooperation and camaraderie among the classes. Nevertheless, the event had to be run with minimal effort, and there were hardly any spectators—aside from the pilots’ fan clubs. After 2002, no more electric pylon (F5D) competitions could be held in Switzerland. Since last year’s Swiss Championship was held as part of the German Aero Club’s championship, the “Wild Men” were once again able to compete in Switzerland. On Sunday, the

This year’s F5B European Championships were held at the beautiful airfield in Cisnadia, located a few kilometers from Sibiu. Under the technical direction of Emil Giezendanner, the FAI medalists were determined over seven rounds in ideal weather conditions. As previously reported, Remo Frattini (ITA) took first place, followed by Johannes Starzinger (AUT) and Thomas Wackerlin (SUI). This European Championship will remain a fond memory for many electric model airplane pilots. Incidentally, the European Helicopter Championships (F3C) will be held at this venue next year. Hopefully, the good luck that has been with us Swiss so far won’t let our helicopter aces down either.

Text: E. Giezendanner,
Photos: Patrick Häusler and
Pierre Bühler