The Decline and Resurrection of the LSF
The LSF started out as a local group in the San Francisco bay area and expanded into a world wide origination. The LSF also sponsored an annual soaring contest that became one of the largest in the world in the early 70's, however entry was restricted to LSF members and was always held in California. There was a general consensus among the founders that LSF officers should be in reasonably close proximity to one another to facilitate communication and interaction so it was preferable to find groups of fliers willing to commit to voluntarily serving as officers. When the original LSF officers burned out, in 1974, control moved from California to the Midwest with Dan Pruss as President.
In 1978, the LSF Tournament was split into 10 regional contests. Contestants finishing high enough in any of the regional contests were eligible to enter the 1979 LSF Tournament held at Lockport, Illinois. The 1979 LSF Tournament was held at the Lewis College Airport, site of the last four SOAR Nats and was the first Tournament attended by a large number of members from east of the Rocky Mountains. Tasks flown were Duration, Speed, and Distance as flown in earlier Tournaments in California. The Tournaments died out in the 1980's, primarily because of difficulty in finding anyone to run them.
By 1985, the LSF was in decline for the same reasons that killed the NSS, money and worker burnout. Things came to a head after the death of Dan Pruss in 1986 and, for a while, it appeared that the LSF was doomed. Then Bob Steel took it upon himself to rescue the records and recruited workers to resume processing of LSF vouchers.
Bob became president of LSF in 1988, however the problem of financing remained. LSF did not charge annual dues so the only source of income was contributions from manufacturers, sale of merchandise, and the LSF Tournament. Mike Stump became LSF president in 1991 and was determined to resume the LSF tournament.
In 1990, AMA held the Nats at the Lawrenceville Illinois airport with the Soaring events being flown at the Vincennes High School. The Nats returned to Lawrenceville in 1991, however it moved to Springfield Mass. in 1992 leaving Vincennes open for the LSF tournament. The 1992 Tournament was so successful that the LSF decided to return to the Vincennes area for another Tournament in 1993 even though the Nats were back in Lawrenceville that year. AMA Nats Soaring had about 35 entries while the LSF Tournament held two weeks later drew almost 100 entries. In 1994, the LSF tournament was moved to the new AMA site at Muncie while the AMA Nats were in Texas. Again the LSF Tournament outdrew the Nats soaring event by a considerable amount showing that the LSF was capable of running a Nats level contest without AMA.
1995 was a turning point in the way the AMA ran the Nats. AMA had always intended to run at least some of the Nats at Muncie but facilities to run a complete Nats were not yet finished. LSF had reserved Muncie for the Tournament again in 1995 while the Nats were scheduled to be held in Washington state. There were no clubs available to run the sailplane events so Steve Kaluf, AMA's new Competition Director, approached Mike Stump about combining the LSF Tournament and the Nats Soaring event. After some discussion and the writing up of a formal agreement, they agreed that the LSF, and AMA Nats soaring events would be combined for 1995, and would be flown on the dates that LSF had already had set for the Tournament. Mike and Steve worked out a revenue sharing agreement that allowed the LSF to receive some of the Nats entry fees to cover their expenses. The agreement was so successful that it became the pattern for all AMA/SIG Nats operations when the entire Nats were moved to Muncie in 1996.
In 1996, AMA appointed the LSF as the Soaring SIG replacing the NSS. In 1974, LSF had declined an invitation to become the Soaring SIG. Things changed a lot in 22 years.
The NSS lasted 20 years and the LSF almost died after 17 years. It has been 15 years since Bob Steel rescued the LSF and 12 years since Mike Stump and Cal Posthuma put the LSF back on a secure financial base so what does the next few years hold for the LSF? The agreement with AMA to share revenue from the Nats has solved the financial problems while the Internet has made communication between officers and members easy. That leaves worker burnout as the major obstacle facing LSF in the near future. I have seen some indications at recent Nats that this could become a problem again. The current Nats soaring format is very labor intensive and I know a few people who are reluctant to attend the Nats because they do not want to be pressured into working again. I also noticed that there are fewer helpers in the transmitter impound every year and who will replace Myrna when she decides to give up running the transmitter impound? Something to think about.
Chuck Anderson AMA 371 NSS 72-361 LSF 583 AMA Soaring Advisory Committee 1973-1975 NSS District V VP 1974-1977 NSS Treasurer 1978 AMA District V Soaring Contest Board member 1987-present
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