Voting Stats: 36 submitted  +1100 sent

The 2017 LSF Election Committee has collected nominations for officers to serve the 2018 – 2020 terms. There was only one nominee for the positions of President and Treasurer and those individuals have accepted the nomination for that position. Per the LSF By-Laws, the Election Board declares the following winners for President and Treasurer without further voting by ballot:

President: Walter Adasczik LSF# 8198 [LSF4/eLSF4]

Treasurer: Jim McCarthy LSF# 5225 [LSF5]

They will assume the duties of their offices on January 1, 2018.

For the positions of Vice President and Secretary there were two nominations for each position. The identified individuals have accepted their respective nominations. Electronic Ballots will be emailed shortly or your vote may be cast via the email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Vice President:

- Peter Goldsmith LSF# 5518 [LSF1]

- Thomas Broeski LSF# 8168 [LSF5]

Secretary:

- Skye Malcolm LSF# 8070 [LSF4]

- John Marien LSF# 8005 [LSF4]

Per the LSF By-Laws elections for these positions will remain open Until December 9, 2017. The Executive Board will be notified on December 10, 2017. The winner of each position will be notified by December 20, 2017. A report of the election results will be presented to the membership by January 15, 2018. The respective winner will assume the duties of their offices on January 1, 2018.

Campaign Statements for Misters Goldsmith, Broeski, Malcolm, and Marien are provided below:

FOR THE POSITION OF LSF VICE PRSIDENT----

PETER GOLDSMITH:
From the age of nine I started designing and flying sailplanes. Our family had very limited resources therefore it was essential to develop models from scratch. At the age of 11 I purchased my first 2ch RC system and launched into RC Soaring.

 I flew in my first competition in 1976 flying a craft air Windrifter at the age of 13. I became completely absorbed in Soaring over the next few years flying on the slope and many flat field events. I joined the LSF in 1985 in Australia and flew in the Australian LSF championships every year until moving to the US in 2000. Soaring was in my soul from a young age and still to this day I get excited about flying RC sailplanes. I've been active in all forms of Soaring from F3J, F3B, F3-RES, scale, 2m, RES, NOS, and ALES, I basically live and breath sailplanes. 

 My working career has always been close or within the industry. I've represented many organizations in official positions in the RC community such as, IMAC, F3A pattern, Pylon, scale and of course Soaring. I've always, even from a young age, enjoyed being part of the infrastructure of any hobby I've been involved in. I've also worked inside the industry at Horizon Hobby as Field Marketing Manager from 2000 to 2017. In this period I was responsible for designing many of the sailplanes Horizon has sold. Such models as the Mystique, Allusive, Blanik, and ASW20.

 One of my life passions is to to teach and give back what I have learned in my 45 plus years as a RC pilot and designer. This hobby has given me so much, so it's time for me to give back. In January 2017 I retired from the workforce and are looking forward to spending even more time to help grow our Soaring community grow.

 As LSF Vice President I am committed to making Soaring fun and engaging for all the members, either through competition, fun social events, or the development of new Soaring segments and classes. I see my role to promote and develop all forms of Soaring under the LSF umbrella. 

 --Peter Goldsmith, LSF Vice President, LSF I

 THOMAS BROESKI:
I am very familiar with the duties of the position and have done much of the work in the past. I set up the LSF store and did a lot of work to make the logos useable for both divisions. I have worked closely with others to keep the LSF days (XC) going for several years. I’ve made many landing tapes for the NATS TD. 

 --Tom Broeski, LSF V

 FOR THE POSITION OF LSF SECRETARY----

 SKYE MALCOLM:

 As a member of the LSF and my local club I know the benefits that come from learning this craft of flying model sailplanes from those that have come before me. Although I started building and flying these machines back in the 1980's, my progress was fraught with failure. I was a kid who was as much self taught and did not have access to the wisdom that experienced club members could have provided. 

 Once I moved to Columbus, Ohio and began my career in the 90's I was able to find a wonderful group of folks in the Mid Ohio Soaring Society. This was when I really started to truly learn and progress my skillset involved in the LSF tasks. In the 2000's when I had a bit more time to devote to competition sailplanes my skills progressed again. 

 Whenever possible I encourage those folks sending in vouchers to seek out opportunities in their local clubs. That may be harder these days but like all good ideas there's always the potential for new, cheaper classes of planes like F3-RES to take root and regrow the hobby. We've certainly experienced that locally in Central Ohio with a rekindled interest in building these planes for the growing opportunity to compete with them and home our skills. Several new folks are building them and this is actually growing membership. 

 As LSF Secretary I pledge to faithfully encourage the folks involved with the hobby and the tasks and to maintain and publish their progress so that they can share their successes. 

 --Skye Malcolm, LSF Secretary, LSF #8070, Level IV

 JOHN MARIEN:

 And so it began . . . .

 “Say, is that your new competition sailplane?”

“Why yes, it is.”

“So tell me again, why this plane is better than your perfectly good 3.8 meter competition sailplane?”

“Did I mention it is red?”

 This was a simple statement I made a few years back while talking to a soaring buddy at the time who liked red sailplanes and flew Thermal Duration. The video, “The Truth About Thermal Duration Competition”, somehow was leaked to the RC soaring world and went viral. I received praise from all parts of the world for accurately describing TD soaring today. It still amazes me how much it has become a part of our soaring heritage. It was the first of a 4-part series on soaring (all available on Vimeo). But yet it is unfinished, there needs to be another one on DLGs and free flight and F3B, to name a few. Why? Because these are all part of our soaring world and culture.

  My first foray into RC Soaring occurred when I was 10. I bought an RC Magazine, fell in love with the sailplane on the cover and better yet: It was a construction article! I saved my money and bought the plans and materials to build my first RC Sailplane out of balsa sticks, plywood, silkspan, and dope. The day came when it was ready to fly. It was certainly pretty and well built, in my mind. With radio installed, I went out to the local flying field and proudly tossed my pride and joy into the air. But unlike the plane in the article, which flew gracefully around the pages, my pride and joy slammed ungracefully into the ground, breaking into many pieces. What did a 10-year old know about horizontal stabilizer incidences  “it looked right.” 

So began almost a half century of the study of flight and soaring was always my first love in model aviation. I’ve designed, and built, sailplanes with wingspans from 0.25 meters to 4.8 meters. I’ve started AMA clubs specifically for soaring enthusiasts, I visit high schools and talk to them about starting soaring clubs. When I can, I train new soaring pilots and infect them with my love of the hobby. There is something special, and rewarding, to watch a young student’s face as they catch their first thermal. 

 

Like many of you, I have a day job too. It is unfortunate that my day job gets in the way of soaring more often. But a life::work balance is a good thing. One of the advantages of my day job is that I get to travel a lot around our great country. At every location I find time to visit the local hobby shop and, if I can, the local flying site to exchange ideas and different ways of doing things. Soaring pilots around the country are always eager to talk about their passion and I often get a transmitter handed to me to get a few minutes’ soaring time on someone’s pride and joy, whom I only met 15 minutes earlier. What becomes clear, is that each part of the country and each segment of the soaring community has different issues and needs but there is a common bond between us that runs deep. While there are not enough leadership positions within the LSF to represent each segment and each voice, I feel I bring what I’ve learned from my travels with me. I can assure you that I am passionate about my beliefs and will defend them, but will also listen equally passionately to opposing views and will bring them equally before the LSF leadership for consideration, should you elect me as your LSF Secretary.

 Your new President-elect, Wally Adasczik, as well as Tom Broeski (LSF VP Candidate) and I have flown together for years and there is a strong trust and respect between us. I do not know the other candidates personally, but look at them as friends I have not met yet. Tom does have my endorsement and my vote, and I hope I have earned your vote as well. No matter which individuals get elected to the LSF board in this session, I know we’ll have a strong board representing all of us.

 --John Marien, LSF IV

 Regards,
The Election Board