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Linda was well organized with packets prepared for everyone who had registered, including their tickets to special events. Carol Sue Wheeler worked with her and took over for a few days when Linda returned to Nashville to supervise another convention. They had the pleasant task of giving out the cowboy hats to the pilots!

Two of the Polish team members were in the motel pool and swam into the shallow bottom edge of the pool, scraping their noses and requiring a trip to emergency and sev eral [[several]] stitches for one. By coincidence, a large group of men, women and children in costume from the Orland Polish-American Club were in the lobby to greet the Polish team. As Linda went one way with Kryzstof and his friend, I went the other way with Kath Berryman from New Zealand who had injured her back at Oshkosh. Almost chaos!

The United States Team arrived on Sunday, August 4 with Coach Gerald Shreve. Jerry is a native Californian, Professor of Aeronautics at San Jose State University and is a former Air Force and Air National Guard Pilot. He coached three Championship NIFA teams and served as Chief Judge at the two USPFT National Rallyes [[Rallies]]. He is a Helicopter Pilot as well as Commercial, Multi-Engine, CFII. The team members are: Carolyn Pilaar, Greenville, South Carolina; Ray Heyde, Bowling Green, Ohio; Marvin Ellis, Burlingame, California ( near San Francisco); Brooks Cone, Michigan; and Joe Poerschke from Miami, Florida. Chris Kurianowicz was the alternate.

Jerry had been sending "homework" to the team since their selection in June. They embarked on an intensive week of flying navigation courses, hours of spot landing practice with evenings filled with map study and preparation. I flew twice to take photographs for them to use in practice. Once with Ray Heyde, taking photos from the left seat looking down through his special "windows", the second time with Brooks, looking back from the right seat so they might fly the course going the opposite direction.

The FAA set up a temporary tower at Kissimmee Airport. Teams practiced at times of their choice August 4 - 11. By August 12 I had a practice schedule posted. Another challenge for someone who had not done it before! 65 pilots,many sharing airplanes and sharing time slots - trying for no more than 6 in the pattern - giving everyone a fair chance for an early AM, a Mid-Day and a PM time slot - not knowing for sure who was flying what ahead of time - trying to meet special requests such as putting the English and Polish together, as their tecniques [[techniques]] made allowance for the slow-flying Wilga's.

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