Pat Johnston of Boise became the first flier from Idaho to capture the prestigious Competitor of the Year Award, which recognizes the control-line flier who scored the most points in Northwest competition standings as compiled by Flying Lines.
Johnston scored 96.5 points, breaking the two-year streak of "Dirty" Dan Rutherford, the points champ in 2003 and 2004.
Johnston just edged out Scott Riese of Portland, Ore. The two tied with 93.5 points in stunt events, but Pat scored three points in racing to capture the title. Johnston's points were scored in Precision Aerobatics, Classic Stunt, P-40 Stunt and Northwest Sport Race.
Riese scored all his points in stunt events. Third place went to Bruce Hunt of Salem, Ore., who scored 70.5 in stunt events.
The number of people scoring points in competition in 2005 was up from 2004, with 75 people or teams scoring, compared with 67 the previous year. Note that this is not the total number of competitors, only the number of people placing first through fourth place in sanctioned competition.
As usual, stunt had the greatest distribution of people scoring points, with 39 people, up from the the 32 in 2004. Combat came in next with 14, down from 16 in 2004. Racing had 13 scoring points, up from 10 the previous year. There were 11 speed fliers, up from eight in 2004. Eight scored carrier points, down from the previous year's 12. Three scored scale points up from 2 in 2004.
Again, these totals reflect only placement, not actual number of competitors. The presence of out-of-region fliers in a contest can result in no points, or fewer points, being scored toward Northwest standings.
The Competitor of the Year recognition has been given since 1980, the second year of Flying Lines publication. Here is the history, giving the top three finishers each year:
Competitor of the Year, 1980-2005
1980: 1, John Thompson 2, Bill Varner 3, Jim Cameron
1981: Dick Salter, Thompson, Dave Green
1982: Dick Salter, Thompson, Mike Hazel
1983: Green, Thompson, Glenn Salter
1984: Green, Dick Salter, Gary Byerly
1985: Glenn Salter, Green, John Hall
1986: Not available
1987: Dick Salter, Glenn Salter, Green
1988: Not available
1989-90: Flying Lines not published
1991: Joe Rice, Rich McConnell, Tom Strom
1992: Rice, Todd Ryan, Hall
1993: Ryan, Rice, McConnell
1994: Ryan, Chris Cox, Nitroholics Racing Team
1995: Ryan, Jeff Rein, Don McClave
1996: Ryan, Stephen Cox, Rick Meadows
1997: Ryan, Paul Gibeault, Stephen Cox
1998: Ryan, Mel Lyne, Dan Rutherford
1999: Ryan, Shawn Parker, Mike Conner
2000: Ryan, Lyne, Scott Riese
2001: Chris Cox, Ryan, Lyne
2002: Jeff Rein, Bruce Hunt, Nils Norling
2003: Dan Rutherford, Keith Varley, Lyne
2004: Rutherford, Paul Walker, Chris Cox
2005: Pat Johnston, Riese, Hunt
Anyone who would like a printout of the complete 2005 Competitor of the Year standings can get one by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to the standings coordinator. The address is at the bottom of the column.
Final standings in each 2005 event are on the standings page.
Below are the final 2005 Competitor of the Year rankings. Initials after the names indicate the events in which points were scored.
C=Combat.
NC=Navy Carrier.
R=Racing.
Sp=Speed.
Sc=Scale.
St= Precision, OTS or Classic Stunt
1. Pat Johnston -- St, R -- 96.5
2. Scott Riese -- St -- 93.5
3. Bruce Hunt -- St -- 70.5
4. Todd Ryan -- R, St -- 65 *R
5. Bob Smiley -- St -- 55.5
6. ChrisCox -- St -- 47
7. Dan Rutherford -- St -- 38.5
8. S&S Racing Team -- R -- 38
Howard Rush -- St, C -- 38
10. Mel Lyne -- C -- 36
11. Kenny Johansen -- C, R -- 33
12. Paul Walker -- St -- 30
13. Mike Haverly -- St -- 28
Robert Smith -- C -- 28
15. Randy Powell -- St -- 25
16. Mark Conner -- St, R -- 24
17. Leo Mehl -- St -- 23
John Thompson, C, St 2 -- *16R
19. Jeff Rein -- C -- 22
20. Gary Nelson -- St -- 19
Dick Salter -- Sp, NC -- 19 *38R
Loren Howard -- Sp -- 19
23. Greg Hart -- St -- 17
24. Nitroholics Racing Team -- R -- 16
25. Milissa Huber -- C -- 15
Ken Burdick -- C -- 15
Mike Holmack -- R, St -- 15
28. Don McClave -- St -- 14
Mike Foley -- St -- 14
30. Mike Potter -- NC, Sc -- 13
31. Mark Conner -- R, St -- 10
32. Tom Strom -- St -- 12
33. Mike Conner -- NC -- 10
Ted Gritzmacher -- Sp -- 10
35. David Miller -- NC, St -- 9
Jack Pitcher -- St -- 9
37. Rich Salter -- NC, Sp 9 -- *38R
Mac Ryan -- R -- 9
James Cox -- R -- 9
40. Gary Harris -- C -- 8
Dave Shrum -- NC, R -- 8
42. Rich McConnell -- St -- 7
John Morrow -- C -- 7
Ron Salo -- Sp -- 7
45. Bob Huber -- ST -- 6
Rod Claus -- St -- 6
47. Joe Just -- R, St -- 6
48. Jerry Eichten -- St -- 5.5
49. Bill Veselik -- St -- 5
50. Paul Vallins -- C -- 4
James Cox -- NC -- 4
Mike Hazel -- Sp 4 -- *R
Remy Dawson -- Sp -- 4
Ken Kortness -- Sp -- 4
Chuck Schuette -- Sp -- 4
Mark Hansen -- C, NC -- 4
57. Dave Gardner -- St -- 3
Art Zehner -- St -- 3
59. Ron Canaan -- Sc -- 2
Matthew Eichten -- St -- 2
Jim Holmack -- St -- 2
Quincy Whitfield -- St -- 2
Jim Green -- C -- 2
Austin Johansen -- R -- 2
Chris Gomez -- Sc -- 2
66. Doug Wood -- St -- 1
Logan Just -- St -- 1
Rick Cochran -- St -- 1
Alex Steele -- St -- 1
Gordie Jack -- St -- 1
Buzz Wilson -- C -- 1
William Allen -- Sp -- 1
Craig Bartlett -- Sp -- 1
Maria Huber -- R -- 1
Retreads Team -- NC -- 1
* Also scored with a team entry. Symbol after score indicates category and team's points.
Flying Lines keeps track of standings in all AMA rulebook and Northwest official events, in all Northwest sanctioned contests.
Your FL editors do their best to keep up with the results, but contest directors can help keep the standings up to date by making sure to send the results to FL immediately after the contest. If you spot errors, please let us know.
Results must include the placing in each event through fourth place and the report also must list the number of contestants in the event, in order for the point standings to be counted accurately.
Please include in your report the hometown of the contestants. Only Northwest residents are counted in the standings (AMA Dist. XI and British Columbia). The score of each contestant also should be listed for general reporting purposes and for checking against the Northwest records.
If you flew in a contest that doesn't appear to be counted, contact the contest director or FL.
Special notes: Precision aerobatics expert fliers' scores are multiplied by a factor of 1.5. When an individual is allowed more than one entry in a single event, only the highest-placing score shall be counted.
Send contest results, corrections and other correspondence regarding Northwest Competition Standings to John Thompson, standings coordinator. For a printed copy of complete standings for any event, or for a copy of the rules for any Northwest event, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Flying Lines, 2456 Quince St., Eugene, OR 97404.
This page was upated Sept. 16, 2006