Press Release

The experimental aircraft builders of Switzerland agreed at their annual assembly in Bern / Switzerland to give themselves a new name. The association has at present 550 members. 220 aircraft projects are officially accounted for and at the moment some 120 experimental aircraft are flying in Switzerland. 

At the annual general assembly of March 3 2001 in Bern, Switzerland, the members of RSA – Réseau du Sport de l’Air Suisse have agreed to change their name into EAS – Experimental Aviation of Switzerland. At the same time a new logo was chosen that shows on a marine blue background the “Matterhorn”, one of the most famous mountains of Switzerland with an aircraft circling around it’s peak. 

EAS is associated with the Swiss Aero Club based in Lucerne and has currently 550 active members. Their common goal is to build experimental aircraft. At the moment the official count has 220 projects in various stages of completion of which 120 experimental aircraft are currently flying in Switzerland. Often those aircraft are faster, fly longer or further than commercially built aircraft. In the past year a member of EAS has circumnavigated the world twice with his experimental Long-Ez aircraft and has established over 160 world records.

In Switzerland EAS is basically open for everybody. The association is there to help during and after the construction of an experimental aircraft and EAS is the direct link between the builder and the authorities. Today it is possible to build a relatively simple aircraft or a helicopter in just a few hundred hours with relatively little money in a two car garage. Of course upwards there are almost no limits: This year an experimental replica of the famous World War II fighter P-51 Mustang is planned to have its maiden flight after its builder invested more than 12’000 hours for it’s immaculate construction. 

The members of EAS meet annually for their fly in. This year it will be at Grenchen airport between 17 and 19 August 2001. Weather permitting there are often foreign aircraft visiting as well and EAS is expecting this year to have more than 100 aircraft participating in this popular event. 

EAS presents itself and explains how to start to build an aircraft in Switzerland on its own website www.experimental.ch .