The Bern Aero Club Honors Aviation Achievements

The Bern Aero Club, with its 600 members, is presenting two new awards to recognize outstanding achievements in aviation: one to the Bern Model Flying Club and the other to motor glider pilot Urs Bläsi.

The Bern Model Flying Group is receiving the BAeC’s new recognition award “in recognition of its many years of commendable work in promoting aviation, and model flying in particular,” according to club president Peter Dürig. The Bern Model Flying Group was founded in 1935. It has 180 members in the disciplines of free flight, gliding, powered flight, and helicopters, and has operated a well-maintained model airfield in the Gürbetal valley for many years. Model aviation is an interesting recreational activity for young and old alike, which can be enjoyed both outdoors and in the clubhouse, individually or as part of a team. The new BAeC Pilot’s Cup goes to pilot Urs Bläsi, who has been taking off from Bern-Belp Airport for years. His flying record is impressive. Bläsi’s flight log shows 6,400 flight hours and 5,500 landings, with 46 years of flying experience, primarily on the ASK 16 motor glider. Since his retirement seven years ago, Urs Bläsi has flown an average of 1.6 hours per day—or 581 hours per year—in his motor glider.

Many pilots have learned to fly at Bern-Belp Airport. Today—after their first few flights on the concrete and grass runways—they sit in the cockpits of commercial aircraft, pilot military jets, rescue helicopters, business jets, and air taxis, and are responsible for the rapid and safe air transport of people and goods. Or they have dedicated their free time to the third dimension. What they all have in common is that aviation—or, more specifically, the Bern Aero Club—has enabled them to pursue interesting and challenging careers.