Hey Keith....
DIDN'T JIM KOSTECKY FINALLY END UP IN SECOND PLACE? Remember the hassell that so many flyers decided to not fly due to the high winds...and many tried in vain to have that first round scores...THROWN OUT?
Don,
Thanks for posting that picture.
At that 68 Olathe Nats, Bob Gieseke was 1st, Jim Kostecky was 2nd, Jerry Worth was 3rd and Lew McFarland was 4th.
The "hassel" at that Nats was due to the scheduling and poor administration more than anything. The qualifications and finals were all scheduled to be completed in one day. There were two qualification circles where 5 fnalists would be taken from each circle based on the single best of two flights. There was not much control or no planning on how people would be assigned to circles. From my file, one circle had 21 flyers, the other had 17. Some people completed their second flights before some people even had their models processed. The posted scores were changing throughout the day as errors were continuously being found in the tabulation area.
Because of the tabulation errors, the Event Director at least did one thing right by insisting all of the scores be checked before the finals rounds started. Some people who had fairly high scores during the day ended up not even qualifying after everything was checked. The first found of flights during that finals started at about 5:00 PM and finished at around 7:00 at which time the Navy judges had had enough and walked off the field saying they were through. Besides, it was going to be dark soon. Then to compound the problem, the ED left the field stating something like he no longer had anything to do with the Open Stunt Finals.
This was the time that Art Adamisin volunteered to put a finals round together. I do not know what Art did with the AMA, but he organized the finals round for the next day. I believe he was able to get some new Navy judges. Anyway, scores from that first round of the finals that evening were discarded and the two finals rounds were flown the next day. The placings were determined by the single best flight of those two finals flights. Scoreing seemed eratic as some second flights that day which were noticeably better than the first were scored much worse. Anyway, the event was completed with the feeling that the contest left much to be desired.
I have often mentioned that had it not been for the initiative of Art Adamisin, what happened at that Olathe Nats could well have been the beginning of the end of the CLPA event as we knew it then and as it has since evolved. We all owe Art a great amount of gratitude for his contributions to CLPA and particularly for what he did that Summer in Olathe, Kansas.
Don, from my letter that I sent to a friend immediately after that Nats, I wrote:
"Don Shultz flew and almost made the finals. People were talking about his flying which was reported to be very good." I do not know if you realize that you were on the circle with the most pilots and four of the finalists from that circle were in the top six after the finals were completed. With different judges and with a bit more organization, it might have been a lot more satisfying contest for you.
Sorry to be using Jerry McMillin's thread for this, but a question was asked and this seemed to be the logical place to post my response.
Keith Trostle