QQ had Ryan Smith and Jason had his always present Dave Stodart.<BR><BR><B><I>Mark Atwood <atwoodm@paragon-inc.com></I></B> wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"><FONT face="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12px">While I want to congratulate Quique, Jason and Andrew over and over and over again...I feel remiss that there’s been little mention of their callers. I don’t know who called for Quique or Jason, But I know the Verne Koester was Andrew’s caller and he put in such an incredible amount of time helping him prepare that it seems negligent not to include him in the hoopla. <BR><BR>I knew Verne would be the first to defer all of the glory for Andrew, but for those that know how hard these two have worked for this opportunity.... Twice daily practice routine, Verne creating new Unknowns every day, hours and hours of critique, all in a very selfless effort
to take a gifted set of thumbs to the next level...well, you have to step back and give a few claps for Verne as well.<BR><BR>I’m extremely proud of Andrew...someone that I’ve had the privilege of helping through the pattern ranks. But I also have huge respect and congrats to Verne for the effort he made (along with a myriad of other supporters) to help him get there. <BR><BR>I KNOW that Jason and Quique have their own “Verne” to thank and I hope someone jumps on here and lets us all know who they are, so that we can show them equal appreciation for their efforts.<BR><BR>-Mark<BR><BR><BR>On 11/19/07 1:19 PM, "Earl Haury" <ejhaury@comcast.net> wrote:<BR><BR></SPAN></FONT> <BLOCKQUOTE><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><FONT face=Arial>Made it home from Argentina this morning, a bit tired from a long drive yesterday, a long wait at the airport, and a long nite on the airplane. The WC was completely worth the effort. The posts so far do not begin to describe the huge
amount of work, the superb flying, and awesome accomplishment of Team USA!<BR></FONT><FONT face="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><BR></FONT><FONT face=Arial>The Team spent huge amounts of time at the practice field flying in conditions (wind, sun, dark, cold) most wouldn't even try. Each flight was generally critiqued by a number of Team members & supporters as these guys worked together to eliminate every possible flaw. There was total focus and commitment within and for the Team. Team Manager Al Glenn took care of administrative details - including leaving the hotel around 5:00am to ensure transmitters were impounded on time, handling "information just in time" logistics and essentially doing everything but sleeping. (Don't give him too much grief when the photos of him sleeping at the banquet publish.)<BR></FONT><FONT face="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><BR></FONT><FONT face=Arial>The conditions during the prelims were extremely difficult. Cross winds in or out each day
that approached 30mph at times. It was amazing how many "unknown" folks flew exceptionally well and that all of the "know" folks flew even better. Not only were these guys flying in strong wind - but it was usually quite cold in the morning sessions as well. The semi's and finals were also windy - but not as bad and it got warmer, downright hot for the finals. <BR></FONT><FONT face="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><BR></FONT><FONT face=Arial>Bad luck and a great performance by BPLR prevented Team USA from winning the Team Championship - BPLR flew one flight during the only calm period (maybe half an hour) of the prelims and did a very good job of capitalizing upon the opportunity. Jason was up next - but a delay to allow for an airliner departure was long enough for the wind to return before Jason flew. This was enough to swing the advantage to the French and give them a well fought win - Team USA can be proud of second, it was a hard fought battle with great flying on each
side, with the Japanese team always in the mix.<BR></FONT><FONT face="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><BR></FONT><FONT face=Arial>All of the flying in the finals was exceptional. Quique was consistently solid, Jason likewise (and winning his first WC round), and Andrew flying superbly. In hindsight - it may be that the "in-close" style Andrew flew to good advantage in the prelims / semi's that may not have scored as well in the finals without the strong crosswind. <BR></FONT><FONT face="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><BR></FONT><FONT face=Arial>There were a lot of electrics (mostly Hacker) as well as glow (mostly YS) and neither had an advantage / disadvantage in the strong winds. Either propulsion is totally viable, Sebastiano even flew a Hacker with contra-rotating props in the finals - good power and excellent braking.<BR></FONT><FONT face="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><BR></FONT><FONT face=Arial>The highlight of the experience occurred while standing next to Quique when he was
announced as the winner (he didn't know he'd won). I'll remember his emotion forever - he really wanted this! <BR></FONT><FONT face="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><BR></FONT><FONT face=Arial>So - second WC Team placing is good, every Team member making the Finals is outstanding, everyone in the top 8 is exceptional, and a USA Team member winning the World Championship is more than great! The accomplishments of 2007 Team USA are HUGE!! Congratulations to Quique, Jason, and Andrew - we couldn't be more proud or appreciative of your accomplishments!! Thanks to the callers who worked as hard as the pilots, the TM's that handled logistics, and everyone who contribute to an exceptional performance by Team USA.<BR></FONT><FONT face="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><BR></FONT><FONT face=Arial>Earl<BR></FONT><FONT face="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><BR> <HR align=center width="95%" SIZE=3> </FONT></SPAN><FONT size=2><FONT face="Monaco, Courier New"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE:
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