The Harold Neumann Barnstormer Contest at Ottawa Recap!

Chapter 24 had a good contingent at the Harold Neumann Barnstormer Contest in Ottawa, Kansas last weekend!  Those who didn’t attend really missed out!

It was the first time back to Ottawa for this contest in many years and the airport put out the red carpet for us!  We thank Kevin McCurdy, the airport manager, for taking such good care of us, from fueling us all day, to making sure we had everything we needed!

The box was laid out on the east of the airport, and was easy to see!  We thank Mike the landowner for allowing the markers in his field!   The whole setup made the contest just “fun” and “easy”!  The Hangar was right next to the FBO, which was right next to the fuel pump, which was next to the starter’s line which was next to the judge’s line!  Yes, sounds hard to believe, but it was just the perfect place for a contest! And, the weather was even perfect!

Johnny O, the CD, ran a smooth and efficient contest!  Ben Bagby, Grant and Michelle Wittenborn and many others were his Assistant CD’s!  They made a great team of scoring, volunteer coordinating, registering..!  It was fun to watch!  The Aviation Explorers Troop 8000 provided a great lunch everyday at the hangar!  It was nice to have a relaxing meal at the airport!  Friday night we had all the pizza we could eat and Saturday night we had a fun BBQ Banquet at the hangar!

It was also very interesting in that most of the mounts were…Biplanes!! After the contest was over…the flying wasn’t! We all enjoyed a great 4-minute free and several pilots shared the joy of aerobatics by giving rides to the volunteers and the Aviation Explorers Troop! We look forward to watching new pilots coming up in the next several years!

Don’t miss out next year!!  We’ll be back! Here’s the results:

Highest Scoring Biplane Award:  Dave Lutes
Grassroots Medal: Doug Jenkins
First Time Highest Sportsman Award: Emerson Beinhauer
Hooker Harness Certificate Winner: Emerson Beinhauer

Primary:
1-Marlin Fullerton
2-John Wittenborn

Sportsman:
1-Mike Hoy
2-Dave Lutes
3-Phillip Gragg

Intermediate:
1-Tom Rhodes
2-Doug Jenkins
3-Craig Fitzgerald

Advanced:
1-Tom Rybarczyk
2-Julia Wood
3-Klayton Kirkland

Unlimited:
1-Aaron McCartan
2-Craig Gifford