Contest Highlights

It Takes Volunteers to Make a Contest Work

By Peggy, Riedinger, IAC 433547

     What happens when you show up for a contest and there are only three nonflying volunteers and seven pilots? You thank your lucky stars that most of the pilots are also judges, do a little volunteer coordinator magic, and field three judge/assistant teams without recorders. Is it best practice? No. Is it doable? Yes — if you have the right people. 

     This was the situation at the 2023 Can-Am Contest in Cut Bank, Montana, sponsored by IAC Chapter 137 from Alberta, Canada. The contest is typically small, though this was the smallest so far in terms of total people attending. Normally well attended by our friends from Alberta who make the trek to Cut Bank International Airport (sounds big, but it’s not) as well as pilots and volunteers from the Pacific Northwest (sometimes even from Wyoming, Colorado, and California), the Can-Am Contest has been going on since 2010 when it was co-sponsored by AC7 from Alberta and IAC 77 from Oregon. 

     There were 14 pilots at the first contest. There have always been at least three judges, and we have been able to have an assistant and recorder for each judge, and a chief with an assistant. Easy to do when you have an abundance of nonflying volunteers. 

     This is also the first time the chief has had to do double duty as a grading judge (and runner). Other grading judges and assistants helped out with the typical chief duties by monitoring the common traffic advisory frequency, which was incredibly helpful. Not optimal, but luckily there wasn’t a lot of other traffic, so it all worked out.

     Things that helped make this short-staffed contest work: 
• No boundary judges — which has been the norm for this contest as long as it has been held. 
• Using R/L forms for some flights rather than A/B/C forms — extremely helpful when there are no recorders. Managing one sheet of paper rather than two is much easier in the Montana wind!
• Experienced volunteers — no first-time pilots or volunteers here, though it would have been nice to have some. 
• Almost everyone did more than one job — the starter was the only one without two jobs. 
• Everyone cheerfully volunteered — what would we do without volunteers? 

     By necessity, we had to bend some rules. There were Advanced pilots assisting grading judges during the Advanced flight. One of the Advanced judges was the spouse of an Advanced pilot — who graded under duress — but the remainder of the Advanced pilots requested her service. Both of these were addressed and approved by the jury. 

     Take-aways:
• Contests don’t happen unless everyone pitches in. 
• If you haven’t been to judges school yet, you should go. Whether you are a pilot, or a friend of a pilot who likes to hang out watching airplanes, judges school is worthwhile. We would not have been able to do this contest without pilot/judges. 
• Invite your buddies/GA pilot friends/spouses/significant others to come out to contests. Even if they haven’t been to judges school (yet!), they can help out as recorders or runners.

     Contest Overview
The contest was held July 21-22, 2023, in Cut Bank, Montana (KCTB) hosted by Chapter 137 from Alberta. Lenora Crane was the contest director, and Peggy Riedinger was chief judge and grading judge for Advanced.

     The Seven Pilots
2 Unlimited: Peter Gelinas and Aaron McCartan 
4 Advanced: Neil Harris, Miles Crane, Dave Barbet, and Jerry Riedinger
1 Sportsman: Sam Potterf

Online scores: https://iaccdb.iac.org/contests/863