President Heinrich Geiger and organizer Heimo Stadlbauer warmly welcomed the participants and wished them nice flights.
The spacious facility with 100 meters of asphalt runway also invited pilots who flew larger models. The motto of the electric flight meeting, which has been taking place since 2001, is “from slow to speed, from propeller to rotor to impeller”. According to this motto, everything was covered at the meeting.
A total of around 60 model aircraft and helicopters were presented and most of them were flown. The wingspans were between 400 mm and 4,200 mm and the flying weights were between 80 g and 67,000 g. Bernhard Klauscher once again made the opening flight with a scale replica of a WW I fighter aircraft from the Austro-Hungarian period around 1916, the Aviatic Berg D I.
Then it happened in quick succession. Helicopters, civil and military aircraft and sailors populated the airspace. The only pilots Flora Hecht and pilot Werner Kohlberger showed the finest aerobatic programs. Werner is the reigning European aerobatic champion in the Acro-IMAC class. This association is dedicated to realistic aerobatics, of course with replicas of man-carrying aerobatic machines. When Franz Buchgraber’s Boeing 737 MAX 8 took off from the runway, you could feel like you had been transported straight to Vienna-Schwechat. Heimo Rainer’s demonstrations with the Transall C-160 and Douglas DC 6 also created an airline feeling. If you want to see an original Transall C-160, you can do so at the Austrian Aviation Museum Graz-Thalerhof (www.luftfahrtmuseum.at).
Andreas Geistberger impressed with a glider aerobatic program including smoke cartridges. But Andreas was also able to travel faster, with a Messerschmitt Me 163 “Komet”, the world’s first rocket-powered aircraft in WW II. An original of this can be viewed in the German Museum in Munich. Bernhard Klauscher continued the series of WW II aircraft with a large Supermarine Spitfire. The period after that was represented, for example, by the North American T 28 Trojan, De Havilland Venom, Grumman F-14 Tomcat, Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, etc. Many other interesting model aircraft and helicopters populated the storage rooms.
As always, organizer Heimo Stadlbauer was the speaker. If an aircraft flew true to the original, the corresponding technical data of the original were provided. Thanks to all the pilots for coming and especially to the President of the UMFC Gnas Heinrich Geiger and his good spirits. Heinrich Geiger and Heimo Stadlbauer are looking forward to the 24th Styria electric flight meeting in 2025.
Photos:
–1: There are almost exactly 90 years between the entry into service of the Aviatic Berg DI (1916) and the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor (2005). Behind it, pilot and builder Bernhard Klauscher (right) and organizer Heimo Stadlbauer
–2: Heimo Rainer’s Transall C-160 in a low flyby (picture Rolf Konrader), wingspan 4,200 mm, LiPo 2x 12s,
–3: Werner Kohlberger showed perfect aerobatics with the “Extra”, 2,600 mm wingspan, LiPo 12s, weight 13,000 g (picture Rolf Konrader)
–4: The only female pilot Flora Hecht also flew an excellent aerobatic program with the “Christal Evo”, wingspan 2,000 mm, LiPo 10s, weight 5,300 g (picture Rolf Konrader)
–5: Organizer and speaker Heimo Stadlbauer at work (picture Rolf Konrader)
–6: Martin Grabher’s weighty “Pitts Special” had to be carried “laboriously” to the starting point, wingspan 430 mm, LiPo 2s, weight 130 g (picture Rolf Konrader)
–7: Martin Grabher at “Huberln” with Ecureuil AS 350, rotor diameter 1,500 mm, LiPo 12s, weight 5,000 g (picture Rolf Konrader)
–8: Beautiful to look at the sightseeing flights with Willi Resch’s Bell 429, rotor diameter 1,560 mm, LiPo 8s, weight 10,000 g (picture Rolf Konrader)
–9: In a wonderful cloud atmosphere, Franz Buchgraber’s Boeing 787 MAX 8 flew into Dietersdorf Airport, wingspan 1,800 mm, LiPo 6s, weight 4,000 g (picture Rolf Konrader)
–10: Volker Schreiegg’s North American T 28 “Trojan” during a low overflight, wingspan 2,000 mm, LiPo 8s, weight 8,000 g (picture Rolf Konrader)
–11: Smoke cartridges, flares and pan flute music accompanied the glider aerobatic program, flown by Andreas Geistberger with the 5,300 mm exciting glider SH-2H, LiPo 12s, weight 18,500 g (picture Rolf Konrader)
–12: Flora Hecht with the aerobatic machine “Christal Evo”, wingspan 2,000 mm, LiPo 10s, weight 5,300 g (picture Heimo Stadlbauer)
–13: Replica of the Red Bull Douglas DC 6, flown by Heimo Rainer, wingspan 3,000 mm, weight 10,000 g (picture Heimo Stadlbauer)
–14: The 4,200 mm exciting Transall C-160 from Heimo Rainer (picture Heimo Stadlbauer)
–15: The airliner Boeing 787 MAX 8 and the Grumman F-14 “Tomcat” fighter jet by Franz Buchgraber peacefully side by side (picture Heimo Stadlbauer)
–16: Andreas Geistberger with the Messerschmitt Me 163 B “Komet” rocket plane, Jetfan engine with a diameter of 120 mm, the original had a Walter HWK rocket engine, wingspan 2,400 mm, LiPo 14s, weight 11,300 g (picture Heimo Stadlbauer)
–17: Heimo Rainer proudly shows the excellently flying Douglas DC 6 (picture Heimo Stadlbauer)
–18: A classic fighter aircraft from the Second World War, a Supermarine Spitfire, presented by Bernhard Klauscher, wingspan 2,600 mm, LiPo 12s, weight 18,000 g (picture Heimo Stadlbauer)
–19: Bernhard Klauscher’s huge Aviatic Berg DI fighter plane flying over, wingspan 4,000 mm, LiPo 15s, weight 67,000 g (picture Heimo Stadlbauer)
–20: Franz Loidl with the impeller jet “Zeus” just before takeoff, wingspan 1,250 mm, LiPo 8s, weight 3,800 g (picture Heimo Stadlbauer)
–21: The “Amigoerians” Rupert Metz (left) with Heimo Stadlbauer (picture Heimo Stadlbauer)
–22: Erwin Wurm with the electric impeller-driven Aero L-39 “Albatros”, wingspan 1,450 mm, LiPo 8s, weight 4,900 g (picture Heimo Stadlbauer)
