Nats ED's and volunteers

[bob whitney]

  after being the controlline ED at the nats for at least 6 years i can tell u it takes a while to figure things out ,then add some rain, wind ,and it is an all new ball game

  in my opinion Allen and his crew worked very hard and put in a lot of time to put on a good event but tried to do the impossible  even without the weather ( OJT )  they had about 40 flyers flying 5 events on two circles and keep a time schedule ,as they and we found out ,it just ain't going to happen , too many twosomes helping each other and having to fly on both circles ,being called to both circles at the same time ,except for the weather it would have worked itself out in the end and i believe everyone would have gotten their flights in. .maybe we need another day of flying .

  one thing we learned racing is that if you give a flyer extra time on the clock at 8 AM to be FAIR you have the give the flyer at 11AM ,1PM .so on and so on and then it is dark. and u cant please everyone so u just do what u feel is right. the ED cant take anything personally  but it still is not fun when you have to DQ your best friend for something he did or didn't do.but it is part of your high paying job, and he needs to accept that u are just doing your job.i have had to DQ my flying partner

there needs to be some time set aside to make sure everyone is using the correct lines as there was a problem with someone not realizing that his lines were too long and it didn't come to light until after the flight. there is no way you can take all the fragile ships the one spot to check lines but two lines painted the length of the pits 70 ft apart would do the job the line puller could just observe that are ok or long with very little trouble

as a newbie to scale the Friday nite meeting was a big help as there was things that i still didn't know  so keep up the good work and see u at Brodaks

[john e. holliday]

Thanks Bob a lot of people don't realize what goes on at the NATS.  I started out by helping time and count laps in racing events.   Then volunteered to be an assistant ED.  Then put in my bid to become the event director for carrier that first year after doing the volunteering of timing for scores.   Was told by Leroy Cordes when he found out that a person has no friends when it comes to being an event director.  If not for all the great help I got through the years of doing racing and carrier I could not have pulled it off.   There are so many I would probably for get a name or two.   At times it was a lot of fun, but like you said when it came time to tell a person that they could not do what they wanted to do during an event it was hard.   Several instances come to mind but I am lucky in that they still talk to me and call me friend.   Has been too many years now since the last event I helped in.  But, people need to think about circumstances on different events.   Some times Mother Nature just does not cooperate, like when we have to shut down for static storms or when there is a funeral at the cemetery.

[Paul Smith]

If the event director had returned to the venue and discussed his decision with contestants at 2:30 PM, his appointed time, I might have agreed with his position.

But I will NEVER concede that there is anything remotely proper about a Nats event director simply going home in the middle of the day due to a mere forecast.  Those of us who returned at the appointed time were ready, willing, and able to fly.

Thirteen people won prizes under the mini-fly format, so I guess "it worked of me" is the prevailing opinion.  But for the reader who wasn't there, I suggest logging into AMA's Nats News on line.  You will see A LOT of people flying model airplanes of Saturday and Sunday in weather that the CL scale ED deamed unacceptable.  Not the most pleasant, but better than not flying at all.

[bob whitney]

Paul, i agree that not returning at the stated time was not the proper thing to do ,but that is another lesson learned but if i remember right we were told by 2:30 that there would be no flying the rest of the day

i didnt remember seeing u on site sunday when we were flying the 1/2 A's??

last year i volunteered to CD a FF contest or as we call it an AMA get together so all the guys could fly,  it was another windy weekend and not much flying was going on. we normally shut down at 3PM on sunday as stated on the flyer .by noon everyone had gone home . it seems as someone showed up at 1 pm to fly ,and put in a complaint that we had shut down early .technically he was Right but who shows up at 1 expecting to get 6 flights of anything in two hr's will i do the same thing next time ,probably

[Will Hinton]

This will be my final post on this subject.  While Paul is trying to crucify Allen Goff over this he needs to remember there were 5 others in the decision making process who also must be nailed to that same cross.  One of them was the CO-ED and the others were the 4 flight judges, one of which was me.  We had another flight judge AT THE SCENE armed with a cell phone just in case.  He was trying to keep his tent from blowing away.
Three of us were at Allen's monitoring the weather map continuously, as well as the tree tops, and by 2:30 it was evident that for all to get to the site, assemble their planes, and PULL TEST again, there would be no way we could get another full round in.
If a full round was not completed, the scores wouldn't count any way.  So...this is it, I'm done, do with me as you wish.

[Paul Smith]

The the question of who was in charge is an open issue.  I have asked Joyce Hager for an authoritative answer.  In general, AMA needs to give all contestants written notice of who is in charge.  This is done at local contests but not The Nats.  It's clear enough that Brenda Schutte was the everall CD, but all I witnessed in scale was Alan Goff single-handedly giving all the orders.  Sure, the were lots of good workers, but I distinctly remember Alan saying something like, "Don't talk to my workers, I'm in charge.  Just deal with me."  It's too late to spread the blame.

from the AMA Rule Book online:

A CD must at all times remember that he is a representative of AMA and will conduct himself in a professional manner.
He must be present at all times when the event he is responsible for is taking place. It is his responsibility to find a suitable replacement if he is unable to fulfill his responsibilities.

[john e. holliday]

As I have just stated on another post, have you contact Alan personally about this by PM or E-Mail?