A beautiful fall day, a romantic boat ride below the Rhine Falls, a stylish lunch, and two presentations by Dr. Matthias Ackeret made for a successful fall outing for the AeCS’s veteran powered-flight pilots.
On September 18, MFV President Bruno Dobler welcomed more than 90 veteran pilots to the courtyard of Laufen Castle at the Rhine Falls. They then boarded two boats in the Rhine Falls basin for a ride on the «Swiss Amazon,» as one of the boat captains put it.
In fact, between the Rhine Falls and the Eglisau Power Plant, the Rhine flows as a wide river between banks that remain largely undeveloped for long stretches, interrupted only by the houses in Nohl, which stand directly on—and in some cases straddle—the border with Germany. Among other things, the boat captains provided information about plans to reintroduce salmon, which were once native to the Rhine. The boat tour ended with a few laps in the Rhine Falls basin.
After getting off the boat and visiting the two viewing platforms built right next to the roaring falls, the veterans took their seats at the elegantly set tables in the Knights’ Hall, enjoyed the fine meal, caught up with old friends, and made new connections. As the guest speaker, Dr. Matthias Ackeret concluded the meal with an interesting presentation on the history and present-day state of the Rhine Falls, the natural wonder located on the border between the cantons of Schaffhausen and Zurich.
To conclude the event, a group from the MFV gathered outside the castle near the chapel and the adjacent parsonage to listen to Dr. Matthias Ackeret—the creator of Teleblocher—speak about Christoph Blocher, who had spent his youth there as the son of a pastor. Many participants then headed home, so Bruno Dobler was only able to bid farewell to some of the motor flight veterans.