Jim Kostecky....is gone but his memory lives in the hearts of every stunt grunt who had the pleasure to enjoy Jim Kostecy's company on the flying field.
SUCH A GIFTED TREASURE TO OUR WORLD. HE MADE THIS WORLD AND OUR WORLD OF STUNT...A BETTER PLACE! As a teacher, mentor, friend...he touched the minds, hearts..and lives of so many people from all walks of life.  He never met a stranger...instantly he made you feel like a long time caring friend.
The first time I met  and flew with Jim was at the 1968 nats during the judging of appearence points the night before....under the lights of the hanger tables.
Those lights were perfect for reflecting the beautiful hand rubbed and detailed finishes.
By chance...Jim walked in....SAT HIS BEAUTIFUL RED-FORMULA S right next to my model on the viewing table. Dave Gierke, who was standing next to me...introduced me to Jim. (In truth...can U imagine just what a humbling experience that was to me, to have not ONE, BUT TWO outstandingly beautiful pieces of sky-art...sitting next to my Sting Ray, that by this time had become pretty war air-rashed n' pretty weary looking, in comparison to both these beautiful examples of stunt model perfection.
Bottom Line:
A book could be written about Jim and speaking of books. I have included a page from Flying Models Dec. 1966 issue, with his beautifully written article about not only his TALON stunter...but more importantly his ideas and thoughts about stunt competititon is a GOLD MINE WEALTH OF IDEAS.
Do yourself a favor...and find a copy. Mine is so musty and smelly from being stored for too long a time in an attic above the garage.

The last photos are of Jim at the 1969 nats where he flew his new
CAPTAIN AMERICA--as you can guess...it wasn't long that day, when all of us were calling him. "Captain America!:)

The Talon is my all time favorite... I liked everything Mr. Kostecky did

Thankfully Jim took the time to share so many of his beautiful projects by illustrating and publishing his articles in Flying models.
His beautiful Formula S from the December 1968 Flying Models magazine is truly a collector issue.
Long live his memory...
Don Shultz
Gig Harbor, Wa.

Thanks Bob!
That photo of yours showing perhaps the most beautiful made parts that I have ever seen. Truly beautiful contruction...a work of pure artistry as this photo shows amazingly beautiful technique.......
Again thanks for sharing about Jim. It would be great if you could add some additional memories of our beloved  Artist brotha in balsa.
U never cease to amaze me with your gifts that U have brought to our masses of stuntgrunts.
Color me as your one of your greatest fans...

Bob, Have a great new year...and be well and happy.

I am having a horrifical' time getting my sketch-mind back in the  drawing & modeling mode, especially after all those years of building-n'-sketchin' for the Boeing bunch. I have been retired almost 3 years and still haven't recovered my moooooojoe' yet?  
Exiled don in Gig haaaaba

Its been said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. 

If Jim can see us poor mortals from the great beyond, he will no doubt get a big laugh from this photo!  I believe it was taken in ‘69 or ’70.  I met Jim in ’68 at the Nats and was so inspired by his Formula S, his craftsmanship, his artistry and his sense of humor that I immediately began building and painting a series of very poor imitations (there must have been at least 10 airplanes!).

My impressions were so positive that I actually posed, albeit subliminally, like Jim while remaining consistent with my pattern of poor imitations of his work. 

I don’t remember who took this picture but evidently they were stuck in conventional “stunt plane tail moment mode” and decided the tail should have been a lot shorter!  Rest assured there is an elevator and stab attached and yes I painted yet another poor imitation of the Kosteky stripes! 

Shultzie, thanks for the memories.  Happy You Near to you and Carol.

Phil

Don,

It was an honor to fly the "Spirit of America". Thankfully I was was well practiced at the time, and it was a good flight. That airplane was one of those airplanes that you just felt comfortable with instantly.. even his handle setting was right on the money for me.

I would love to have copies of your pictures. And, as I said above, I wish we had enough details to recreate the airplane. Jim never told me what happened to it. I am relatively sure it was a developement from the "Talon", but I don't have the slightest idea how different it was.

Jim was also quite an artist, and I could never reproduce the graphic on the outboard wing. Again, Jim is missed, and perhaps the greatest tribute is that we are still talking about him.

The Formula S has been a favorite of mine for a while.  My wife is from the St. Louis area and I've been able to look at the original hanging on the wall at Shaffer's Hobby Shop.  Allen Brickhaus gave me the plans several years back (thanks my friend).  I have most of the plane built and hope to have it ready by next season.  I'm planning to copy the original paint scheme and power with a VF 40/muffled.  It's definitely one of the top 10 as far as I'm concerned.

James

A few years ago, Dennis Piwowarski brought a rare treasure to me in Arlington, VA.  It was a somewhat ratty Jim Kostecky stunt ship.  What Dennis had was Jim's 1968 Patriot.  A one of kind CLPA ship that only Jim could make and finish.  Dennis had been flying up in New Jersey at a park and Jim came by and asked to fly Dennis' Smoothie.  Dennis let him and was absolutely amazed at the skill of Jim as he put the Smoothie through its paces.  Jim thanked Dennis, left and came back later with his Patriot.  He put in one flight, removed the engine and gave the ship to Dennis.  That  was in 1982.  In 2003 Dennis brought the Patriot to me and asked me if I could repair it and make it flyable again.  I did and we flew it again. 

I still have the Patriot and Dennis has asked me to reverse  engineer it, write a short article on it, publish the plans for this Classic era ship for Stunt News, and fly it at the VSC in 2007 to honor Jim.  I will.

Here are some pictures of it today:

I first met Jim at the Oathe Kansas Nat's in 68.  He had come by the USAF Model Teams Area in the hanger.  He had his blue Talon with him and it was after all the stunt flying was over.  He was cracking jokes and we all talked and laughingly swapped modeling stories.  I admired his blue Talon and he quickly pointed out that it was too heavy and that he felt he had gone overboard on the finish.  While telling stories and enjoying the conversations he was taking the engine and tank out of the Talon.  About midnight he turned  to me and asked if I would like a stunt ship and handed it to me. 

I took it and who wouldn't?  It was heavy and I had enough heavy stunt ships, so I never flew it. 

It hung on the wall at my Mom's house in Marietta, Ga for over 10 years.  The finish was still sharp in 1978 when I took off Mom's wall and hung it in my Hobby Shop.  It got damaged badly in 1980 while moving to San Antonio, so I reluctantly discarded it.

Jim was a devout optimist, keen competitor, and a rare wit.

He was a good friend from day one.  I am glad that I knew him.

Hawk