10 Days of Sailplane Bliss
by Len Buffinton
When I was in high school, (Let’s hear it for the Class of `82!) I remember sitting in study hall reading every page of RC Modeler magazine like it was some a sacred text. Not a page went by that I didn’t completely read, regardless of subject. Opening the magazine one month, I quickly became fascinated with a feature article detailing flying sailplanes in the Swiss Alps. I can relive the moment like it was yesterday, sitting there eyes wide open, looking at the stunning photos. At that moment I made a commitment to myself, someday, I’m going to do that.
Although it took 30 years to realize that dream, during the Summer of 2010, a small group of us had the opportunity to travel to Europe for the thrill of a lifetime, flying R/C sailplanes in the Swiss Alps.
The trip began with an early morning flight out of New York’s JFK airport. Since this was the first time I had ever transported a large container packed full of sailplanes, to say I was nervous would have been an understatement. To my surprise, the process was smooth and uneventful, as was the flight over.
Arriving at the airport in Zurich Switzerland, the excitement starts to build, along with a little anxiety. Thoughts raced through my mind, “did the sailplanes make it here without damage? Did they get lost?” I was pleased to find the cargo sitting there like a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Like the ticketing agent promised, the containers were handled with care and were in perfect condition. Thanks Swiss Air!
Onward to the car rental counter, we made certain to get a station wagon so the luggage would fit inside while our treasured containers were strapped to the roof. Pre-planning and bringing along some blow up air filled roof pads and cargo straps proved to be a key to success.
Packed to the gills
All strapped down, loaded up with a GPS stuck to the windshield, off we went. Leaving the airport, we made a short detour to visit a well known master modeler, Hans Graff, who lives about an hour from the airport. Visiting with Hans was a treat. Hans opened his doors and allowed we “Americans” to wander freely around his shop, asking questions about everything we saw. Patiently, Hans would answer each questions in perfect English. Being a accomplished builder and pilot, he had some beautiful scale models on the shelves as well as one on the bench being built. The metal work alone on these models is worth drooling over. Below is a slide show from our visit with Hans.
A full day would not be enough time to share with Hans, and sadly we only had 2 short hours before it was time to move on to Interlaken. Because we had traveled and hour in the opposite direction to visit with Hans, we now had a 2 + hour drive to get to the aerotow. Driving in Switzerland sure is different than the US, people actually move out of the passing lane when they’re not passing. That’s strange!
Beautiful Interlaken
As we approached Interlaken, traveling alongside the gorgeous blue lake, the car starts to slow down. THAT’S NOT GOOD. We were about 5 miles from the aerotow, so there was no stopping now!! I figured I’d rather be stuck at the event than on the side of the highway. Limping into town, we located the aerotow and called for service. Help was only 6 hours away. Without getting into a long story on this, the bottom line was, the turbo hose blew, reducing power to the motor. Nobody could fix it, so they had to bring in another car from GERMANY as the replacement. A man arrived with the car and we then dropped him off at the train station for his ride back home.
Onto more interesting topics.
The hardened and hidden hangar in the background
The Interlaken Aerotow event takes place on an old Swiss air base, surrounded by spectacular mountains and breathtaking scenery. The local club puts on the event every year and it has turned into quite a spectacle. 2010 was the last year for the annual aerotow, it will now become a biannual event. Next up in 2012, the aerotow takes over two hardened aircraft hangers, which are camouflaged with grass growing up and over the top of them. All of the participants set up their aircraft in the hangers and leave them there all week, whether or not they’ll be there everyday or not. It’s a real photo opportunity to wander the hangers snapping pictures of all the latest sailplane you’ve heard or read about. Lining one wall of a hanger was at least fifteen tow planes, all of various shapes and sizes, waiting to be of service.
Inside a small corner of the hangar
Walking out to the flight line, one can see and hear the tow planes as they launch sailplane after sailplane into the sky. Since the airbase is such a large facility, the flight line is about a 5 minute walk from the hangers. Most guys have dollies set up to tow their ships to the line, using a bicycle as the motor of choice.
Typical means of transporting our sailplane to the flightline
Hooking up the trailer to the buss for the journey up the mountain
Later in the week a group of us lead, by Ueli Nyffenegger, one of the owners of TUN Modellbau, headed up to a nearby slope site in the area of Grindelwald for some Alp soaring. The system in place lets you take a vehicle up to a certain point where there is a parking lot. At this location, a bus will come by, stop, hook up your trailer to its hitch and take you the rest of the way to the top of the mountain. Once there, you have to lug yourself and your planes to the slope site. Now it’s clear why everyone in Switzerland is in great shape.
About 1/2 way to the main slope, I couldn’t take it anymore, I had to FLY. I dropped the carrying case, pealed off my backpack and slapped together my Parkzone Radian. Tossing the little foamie into the valley below was a first for me, I have never flown a plane looking DOWN at it. I was in heaven, what a beautiful place. Within minutes, a small group of hikers started to gather, and I notice some children taking particular interest in watching as I was flying the Radian out over the valley. Since one of the things I enjoy most is watching others fly for the first time, I invited the kids to fly the plane, and although a little reluctant at first, they soon warmed up and really enjoyed the experience. Its pretty amazing how quickly kids pick up something new because within minutes, the young kids were flying it better than I was.
One of the many charming children we met along the way, posing for the paparazzi
The slope trip was a blast and the bus trip was as exciting as the flying. Returning down the mountain, the driver would wheel that big bus with a big trailer through tight switchbacks with another bus coming the other direction from time to time. Not me.
The MAN himself, Paul Dufek (center) with Steve and me at the Interlaken Aerotow
Back at the aerotow, it was nice to meet new friends, and believe it or not, meet someone who I had communicated with on RC Groups. Paul Dufek and his son were in Switzerland and stopped by the aerotow because he heard we were going to be there, and he is from WASHINGTON STATE. Seems funny to travel to another country, only to meed someone from your own. Meeting Paul and his son was one of the many highlights on the trip.
Even though the day started out damp, there was plenty of flying activity all day long
The week passed by in a flash, now its time to head over to Germany, where we are attending the first national all SLS (self launch system) sailplane event in Herrieden Germany. This was also the point to meet up with Steve Pasierb, who flew in and spent the day with his wife indulging another hobby at the Porsche factory in Stuttgart. We attended the SLS event the next morning in somewhat dreary weather, but that didn’t stop us or them.
The SLS event was a two day event aimed at gathering all the SLS manufactures together in one arena to display their wares and demo their aircraft. Based on the may tents and tables set up, I would have to think this was a very success full show. Every major SLS manufacturer was there, along with the latest units being flown by some of the best scale sailplane pilots in the business. Since the event was strictly SLS event, there were some big names missing. That’s supposed to change next year with the rumored addition of non SLS entries being allowed to display.
We spent the entire day at the the gathering, had a wonderful dinner at a German restaurant in Ansbach, and got a good night’s sleep before heading back to Switzerland and the soaring mecca of Hahnenmoos.
This slide show contains all the pictures from this SLS event.
End of part 1
See “Flying the Alps……Hahnenmoos Style”
