Colorado Soaring Association

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CSA Awards

Charles Taylor

The Charles Taylor Award is the most prestigious award presented by CSA. It is awarded to the member who has quietly made a significant contribution to the club during the last year. Charles Taylor was actually a cat at CSA's previous home (Black Forrest Gliderport). This award was inspired by the actions of Hodd Taylor. Hodd was a "crusty ol' " CSA member who lived in a trailer at the gliderport. His flying exploits are a four beer story, if you can get George or Curt started. Anyway, Charles was mostly a stray who took up residence at Black Forrest. No one really knew how he survived until Hodd was spotted one evening at the grocery store, quietly examining cat food to figure out which was the most nutritious. The recipient for this award is determined by the current holder.

Owl Canyon Special Award

The Owl Canyon Special Award is presented to an individual who has been an ongoing, significant, contributor to the club. The recipient of this award is determined by the CSA Board of Directors.

President's Award

The President's award is presented to one or more individuals who have made a significant contribution to the club during the previous year. The recipient of this award is determined by the CSA President.

Duck Head

The Duck Head Award is presented to the member showing the most tenacity to just "duck their head" and go cross country. Originally, the award was presented to the individual who accumulated the most "official" miles soaring cross-country. ("Official" being validated badge attempts, records, contest soaring, etc.) But, after repetitively awarding it to Aland Adams and Jerry Kaufman, the scope was broadened to recognize the pilot best demonstrating the spirit of the Duck Head by ignoring all practical considerations and committing the folly of just doing it. The recipient of this award is determined by the CSA Board of Directors.

Mike Adams Winch Award

The Mike Adams Winch Award is presented to the member having the best flight off the winch. Originally, it was given to the person with the longest cross-country flight from a winch launch. But other achievements have also become notable, such as diamond altitudes and actually getting a 2-32 "up the wire". This award moved to CSA from the Northern Colorado Soaring Society as it disbanded in favor of supporting CSA's move to OCGP. It was named after the good samaritan who helped get it ready for the road trip to Coloraodo from California, while in the process of moving himself (something like it needed an axle...). The recipient of this award is determined by the CSA Board of Directors.

Rich Roberts Ballast, Bailing Wire and Bubble Gum Award

The RRBB&BG Award is presented to the member who has most successfully intimidated club equipment into a functioning state. It is awarded by the current holder and significant measurements are rumored to include the number of squawks squelched and sheer volume of cursing. The recipient of this award is determined by the CSA Board of Directors.

Lead "A"

The Lead "A" is awarded to the member who in a moment of ineptness, demonstrates poor judgement that is exceeded only by his or her luck in keeping the resulting damage to club equipment to a minimum. Lest yee be smug, remember the variants to the old saw: "There are those who have, and there are those who will...." The current holder of this award has the fun of "selecting" and presenting this award to the new recipient.

White Knuckle

The White Knuckle award is presented to the student who, in spite of all obstacles placed before him by the club, et al, actually managed to achieved some goals. The award is comprised of a stick from the Scout which, legend suggests, was pried from the grip of a towpilot after a rather adventurous tow with a student glider pilot. This is awarded by the CSA instructors (who have shown they consider everyone students, even themselves).

 

Year	Charles Taylor	OC Special Award	President's Award	Duck  Head	MA Winch	RRBB&BG	Lead "A"	White Knuckle
2023	Bob Herman	Dave Kinsell	Aland Adams	Jacek Ziebinski	N/A	Curt Cole	Scott Pastor	Justin Lundberg-Neff
2022	Dave Kinsell	Howie Stetser	Merl Raisbeck	Dave Kinsell	Neil Van Lieu	Bob Herman	2016 Board of Directors	Stan Howe
2021	Curt Cole	Curt Cole	Bob Lynn	Aland Adams	Justin Lundberg-Neff	Todd Harvey	Gary Odehnal	N/A
2020	Dave Slinger	Bob Herman	Bill Corbin	Neil Van-Lieu	Charlie Slinger	Ofer Fisher	John Ciricione	Dave Slinger
2019	Merl Raisbeck	Merl Raisbeck	Dave Kinsell	Bill Corbin	Howie Stetser	Justin Lundberg-Neff	Dan Hemphill	Derek Kruger
2018	Bill Corbin	Justin Lundberg-Neff	Dan Hemphill	Derek Kruger	N/A	Kelly Fox	David Slinger	Derek Kruger
2017	Bob Herman	Derek Kruger	Curt Cole	Alex Piliptchak	Alex Piliptchak	Justin Lundberg-Neff	Derek Kruger	Justin Lundberg-Neff
2016	Alex Piliptchak	Rick Mason	Dan Hemphill	Lee Slinger	Gary Odehnal	Merl Raisbeck	N/A	N/A
2015	Dan Hemphill	George Davies	Dave Kinsell	Bill Corbin	N/A	Lee Slinger	Tom Stanek	Alex Piliptchak
2014	Curt Cole	Merl Raisbeck	N/A	Tyler Bragg	Steamboat Crew	Dave Warrender	Nate Bolles	Lee Slinger
2013	Bill Corbin	Charlie, Dave and Lee Slinger	Curt Cole	Brandon McDowell	Tom MacDonald	Rick Mason	Tyler Bragg	N/A
2012	Carl Ellison	Merl Raisbeck	Rick Mason	Neil Van Lieu	Bill Bentley	Dave Slinger	Joel Zacharich	Brandon McDowell
2011	Rick Mason	Bill Corbin	George Davies	Dave Kinsell	N/A	Rob Palmer	Rob Palmer	N/A
2010	Howie Stetser	Dave O'Brien & Dave Slinger	Bill Corbin	Dave Houlton	Fred Herr	Rick Mason & Carl Ellison	Fred Herr	Racine Estep
2009	Joel Zacharich	Ken Rouselle	N/A	Dave Houlton	N/A	Rich Roberts	Fred Herr	Carl Keil & Rob Zacharich
2008
2007		Amelia & Aland Adams
2006	Stan Scott	Scott Hearne			Bob Faris			Melody Charlton, Dennis Moss
2005	Bob Faris	Ken Rouselle	Dave O'Brien		Dennis Wright		Fred Herr	Amanda Schaeffer
2004	Frank Whitely	George Davies	Curt Cole		Bob Ussery		Dave Houlton	None
2003	Dillon Krapes	Jim Haneberg	Stan Scott	Bob Faris	N/A	Ken Rousselle	Jer/ Eberhard, Mark Curtis, and Bill Cotton	Mark Jackson
2002	George Davies	Ken Rousselle	Kathy Fosha	Bob Faris	Gary Odehnal	Rich Roberts	CAP	Mike Russo
2001	Dave O'Farrell	Dillon Krapes	Francisco Aravena	Stan Scott	Frank Whiteley	Bill Daniels	N/A	Carl Ellison
2000	Dave Kinsell	Francisco Aravena	George Davies	Jim Bunch	Bill Daniels	Curt Cole	Chris Mannion	Gordon Richards
1999	Stan Scott	Ray Middleton	Aland Adams	Bernie Lewis	Dillon Krapes	Rich Carr	CAP	Ken Paar
1998	Curt Cole	Rich Carr	Frank Whiteley	Stan Scott	CAP	Dave Kinsell	Dave Kinsell	Melody Charlton
1997	Seymour Family	Stan Scott		Dave Kinsell		Rich Roberts	Eric Liddell	John Campbell
1996	Alison Grimsdel	Dave O'Farrell		Tim McAllister		Curt Cole	Tim McAllister	Frank Willis
1995	Gary Odehnal	Sean Geiger		Frank Willis	Murray Holland	Rich Carr	Murray Holland	Mathew Demerath
1994	Rich Carr	Dave O'Farrell		Scott Hathcock			Gary Odehnal	Jim Haneberg
1993	Gary Odehnal	Dave Kinsell		Gerald Kaufman			George "Dead Stick" Davies	Sean Geiger
1992	Rich Carr	Bill Nesse		Gerald Kaufman			J. J. Rose	Jamil Husain
1991	Larry Rose			Aland Adams			Dave Richardson	David Danforth
1990	Jerry Kaufman			Aland Adams			John Kleespies
1989	"Handelbar" Johnson			Aland Adams			Dave Kinsell
1988	Rich Carr			Bill St. Clair			Rich Carr
1987	Bill Patterson			n/a			Aland Adams
1986	Richard Gray			Bill St. Clair			Doug Houston
1985	All of CSA			Gerald Kaufman			Jean Stoker
1984	Dick Grey & Fred Lidinski			Norma Faulkner			Harry Blout
1983	Norma Faulkner			Lee Kuhlke			Darryl Hickey
1982	George Davies						Bob Maddalena
1981	Tom Devareux						Richard Gray
1980							Mike Moore
1979							?
1978							Jim Forman
1977							?
1976							Fred Lidinsky
1975							John Brittingham
1974							?
1973							Jim Munn
1972							Donn Calder

Contests

The Rocky Mountain Soaring Contest is an annual CSA affair and is mostly a fun contest so folks can get together, have a good time and learn a bit about contest soaring, without having all those serious go-getter contest types breathing down the novice's neck. This contest has been held regularly since..... well a long time ago. In the relatively recent past, the contest was expanded to two classes so that tasks of two sizes could be set to accommodate the large range of competing ships. Current tradition is that the winner of the Open Class gets to be Competition Director at the next year's contest.

After CSA became established at OCGP, we decided we needed to have a reason for a downwind, straight-out dash. As a small group of ex-CSA members had relocated to Omaha, we decided to see who could get there the fastest to visit. Hence the Omaha Race. It is over 400 miles to Omaha from OCGP and someday someone will make it all the way and claim they got there the fastest. In the meantime, we give this to whoever goes the furthest on the day we set for the "race".

Year	RMSC Open Class	RMSC Club Class	Omaha Race
2003	Dave Leonard	N/A	Krapes/Houlton
2002	Dave Leonard	Bob Faris	N/A
2001	N/A	N/A	Aland Adams
2000	Dave Kinsell	N/A	Gary Odehnal
1999	Gary Odehnal	N/A	N/A
1998	Dave Leonard	AF5 (USAFA)	Dave Kinsell
1997	Bob Barber	Gates/Killington AF4	n/a
1996	Tom Serkowski	No Finishers	Tim McAllister - 36.3 mi
1995	Rich Carr	CSA Team Grob	Aland Adams - 91.0 mi
1994	Richard Hall	No Contest	n/a
1993	Aland Adams	Dave Kinsell/Curt Cole	Aland Adams - 106.4 mi
1992	Aland Adams	Dave Kinsell/Curt Cole	n/a
1991	Aland Adams	Jim Walker	n/a
1990	Jim Payne	Jim Walker	Dave Leonard - 73.9 mi
1989	Aland Adams	Jim Walker	n/a
1988	Richard Hall	Jim Walker	Aland Adams - 73.9 mi
1987	Steve Zimmerman	Bob Fischer	Bill Nesse - 132.9 mi
1986	Aland Adams	Jim Walker
1985	NC	No Contest
1984	William G. Hill III	Norm Austin
1983	William G. Hill III	Lew Nyland/Milt Johnson
1982	Aland Adams	Dieter Bibbig
1981	Dave Allen	Robert Collier
1980	NC	No Contest
1979	Dick Cofrin	Jim Walker
1978	Billy Hill	Carl Ekdahl
1977	R. L. Hall	Don Derry
1976

 

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