SMV at Suisse Toy 2006 in Bern

With approximately 62,000 visitors—7,000 more than last year—the seventh annual Games and Hobbies Fair, held in the halls of BEA Bern, set a new attendance record. The AeCS, with its exhibition featuring the helicopter and balloon associations, and the SMV, with its separately located exhibition, certainly benefited from this as well. This year, the two exhibition areas were better coordinated with one another.

In the rearmost hall, right next to the Allmend where the traditional flight demonstrations took place, the SMV once again exhibited a wide range of model aircraft. A few additional models were also on display in the Aero-Club area. Visitors received further information about model flying from the SMV’s informational banners and flyers, as well as firsthand from the instructors present.

Under the proven guidance of Heiner Borer and his assistants, around 700 children built and flew an SMV glider. Their first experience with balsa—

Working with wood and Uhu Hart and then flying the models is a hands-on experience that will hopefully inspire some of the girls and boys to pursue further model flying activities. Concrete ideas for this came not only from the beautiful exhibits but also from the manufacturers’ booths

manufacturers. And as always, visitors were able to see for themselves at the well-staffed flight simulator that anyone can learn to fly model airplanes. The interest in the video “Scenes from Model Flying” shown on the big screen proved that model flying can captivate young and old alike even in a hall

and without bratwurst. The SMV thanks Stefan Keller for organizing this now-established yet still labor-intensive event, as well as the countless volunteers who supported the exhibition with their exhibits and/or their presence—often over several days of the fair

. A heartfelt thank you also goes to the AeCS Central Secretariat for its support and, last but not least, to the organizers of Suisse Toy for their once again smooth collaboration.

SMV/rs