Devin kicked out of junior worlds.

Rec.aviation.soaring favorite, Devin was kicked out of the Junior
Worlds for being up until 4:00 AM drinking on flying days, and general
disrespect for the coaching staff. It is unfortunate that such a
potentially talented young pilot was unable to meet his duties to the
U.S. team due to his drinking problem. For those of you who wondered
why he got a "Zero" on the last day, this is why.

Good on the U.S. team for making a tough decision to pull him from the
contest before he became a safety factor for any of the other pilots
there.

EX

On Aug 24, 6:45*pm, Mitch Hudson wrote:
Rec.aviation.soaring favorite, Devin was kicked out of the Junior
Worlds for being up until 4:00 AM drinking on flying days, and general
disrespect for the coaching staff. *It is unfortunate that such a
potentially talented young pilot was unable to meet his duties to the
U.S. team due to his drinking problem. *For those of you who wondered
why he got a "Zero" on the last day, this is why.

Good on the U.S. team for making a tough decision to pull him from the
contest before he became a safety factor for any of the other pilots
there.

EX

Good on the U.S. Team management.

GKemp

Originally Posted by Mitch Hudson

Rec.aviation.soaring favorite, Devin was kicked out of the Junior
Worlds for being up until 4:00 AM drinking on flying days, and general
disrespect for the coaching staff. It is unfortunate that such a
potentially talented young pilot was unable to meet his duties to the
U.S. team due to his drinking problem. For those of you who wondered
why he got a "Zero" on the last day, this is why.

Good on the U.S. team for making a tough decision to pull him from the
contest before he became a safety factor for any of the other pilots
there.

EX

This is very sad to hear. I would be curious as to the ages of the pilots in the junior worlds. Drinking until 4:00 AM on flying days indicates a real lack of discipline at the very least, at the most a budding alcoholic if not one already. Fortunately in my misspent youth, I got very drunk, very sick and very much over alcohol in about a 72 hour period. One of the best things that ever happened to me.

Walt

On Aug 24, 6:45*pm, Mitch Hudson wrote:
Rec.aviation.soaring favorite, Devin was kicked out of the Junior
Worlds for being up until 4:00 AM drinking on flying days, and general
disrespect for the coaching staff. *It is unfortunate that such a
potentially talented young pilot was unable to meet his duties to the
U.S. team due to his drinking problem. *For those of you who wondered
why he got a "Zero" on the last day, this is why.

Good on the U.S. team for making a tough decision to pull him from the
contest before he became a safety factor for any of the other pilots
there.

EX

And a ****ty decision on your part to post it too the world! If
someone wanted to know, they could of found out on there own. But to
expose a youth to this type of embarrasment is totally uncalled for.
I'm sure the parents of Devin will take care of this issue, cause as
the father of 3 kids I know I would!!!!

Justin,

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you here. It's not like
Devin is 10 years old or something. He's 24, and a CFI. He's also
representing all of us (or at least those of us in the USA). All these
things mean he's expected to exercise better judgment than he did
(apparently, according to the report, which as far as I am concerned is
still a "rumor" at this point) and since he's representing soaring in the
USA, I think we're entitled to know why he got kicked out (again, assuming
the report is true).

As a practical matter, your suggestion that his parents will discipline
him seems kind of unlikely for a 24 year old. He's old enough to be a
fully responsible member of the soaring community, with all that entails.

Like Devin, I've been flying gliders since I was 12, and flew gliders and
power all through my teens, 20's and 30's. I've also been known to have a
few drinks from time to time, and occasionally even more than "a few".
Before I had kids, I also partied 'til the sun came out from time to
time. However, in all that time, the one thing I've been absolutely
meticulous about is making sure that drinking and flying don't mix.
Particularly in competition. I'd expect someone at as high a level as
Devin has achieved to exercise judgment at least as good as this.

Note that I am not implying that he was flying drunk. But drinking 'til
4AM the day before a competition is irresponsible even if he would have
somehow been sober (but tired and hungover) by launch time.

Finally, the issue with his reported disdain for the coaching staff is
also relevant to all of us and certainly is at least as worthy of public
ridicule as many of the other topics reported on RAS.

--Stefan


On Thu, 25 Aug 2011 14:59:20 -0500, Justin Rizor
wrote:

On Aug 24, 6:45 pm, Mitch Hudson wrote:
Rec.aviation.soaring favorite, Devin was kicked out of the Junior
Worlds for being up until 4:00 AM drinking on flying days, and general
disrespect for the coaching staff. It is unfortunate that such a
potentially talented young pilot was unable to meet his duties to the
U.S. team due to his drinking problem. For those of you who wondered
why he got a "Zero" on the last day, this is why.

Good on the U.S. team for making a tough decision to pull him from the
contest before he became a safety factor for any of the other pilots
there.

EX

And a ****ty decision on your part to post it too the world! If
someone wanted to know, they could of found out on there own. But to
expose a youth to this type of embarrasment is totally uncalled for.
I'm sure the parents of Devin will take care of this issue, cause as
the father of 3 kids I know I would!!!!
y

On Aug 25, 7:16*am, "
wrote:
On Aug 24, 6:45*pm, Mitch Hudson wrote:

Rec.aviation.soaring favorite, Devin was kicked out of the Junior
Worlds for being up until 4:00 AM drinking on flying days, and general
disrespect for the coaching staff. *It is unfortunate that such a
potentially talented young pilot was unable to meet his duties to the
U.S. team due to his drinking problem. *For those of you who wondered
why he got a "Zero" on the last day, this is why.

Good on the U.S. team for making a tough decision to pull him from the
contest before he became a safety factor for any of the other pilots
there.

EX

Good on the U.S. Team management.

GKemp

Shame on you Mitch Hudson,

I was not aware that this discussion group could be used to embarrass,
slander, and humiliate another member. First of all Mitch you were not
there. I can only assume that you got your information from your
friend who had a major disagreement with Devin at the Junior Worlds.
The facts are unimportant for this discussion.
I am not one of Devin's drinking buddies, I am his 71 year old friend
and co-worker.
Mitch, the only thing you have accomplished with your post is hurting
Devin, his family and his friends.

Gabe Bourbeau
Minden NV

On Aug 25, 4:10*pm, "S. Murry" wrote:
Justin,

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you here. *
And a ****ty decision on your part to post it too the world! If
someone wanted to know, they could of found out on there own. But to
expose a youth to this type of embarrasment is totally uncalled for.
I'm sure the parents of Devin will take care of this issue, cause as
the father of 3 kids I know I would!!!!


I agree this perhaps shouldn't be on r.a.s. Because it absolutely
should have been on the U.S. team website.

When you fly on the U.S. team you are representing U.S. soaring.
You're not just flying for yourself, You benefit from large financial
contributions from many supporters, and most of all from the dedicated
work of many volunteers. You are accountable to all those people.

Sorry, but with that you lose a certain amount of privacy. Your
actions at the world contest are public. If a US team pilot does not
fly, the many supporters deserve to know what happened. Same for
landing out on the first day, losing the keys to the car, or any of
the other stupid things pilots might do. If that's embarrassing,
tough. If you want privacy for your screwups, don't fly on the US
team.

John Cochrane

Originally Posted by GB[_5_]

On Aug 25, 7:16*am, "
wrote:
On Aug 24, 6:45*pm, Mitch Hudson wrote:

Rec.aviation.soaring favorite, Devin was kicked out of the Junior
Worlds for being up until 4:00 AM drinking on flying days, and general
disrespect for the coaching staff. *It is unfortunate that such a
potentially talented young pilot was unable to meet his duties to the
U.S. team due to his drinking problem. *For those of you who wondered
why he got a "Zero" on the last day, this is why.

Good on the U.S. team for making a tough decision to pull him from the
contest before he became a safety factor for any of the other pilots
there.

EX

Good on the U.S. Team management.

GKemp

Shame on you Mitch Hudson,

I was not aware that this discussion group could be used to embarrass,
slander, and humiliate another member. First of all Mitch you were not
there. I can only assume that you got your information from your
friend who had a major disagreement with Devin at the Junior Worlds.
The facts are unimportant for this discussion.
I am not one of Devin's drinking buddies, I am his 71 year old friend
and co-worker.
Mitch, the only thing you have accomplished with your post is hurting
Devin, his family and his friends.

Gabe Bourbeau
Minden NV

Gabe,

Respectfully, while this post may well embarrass and humiliate Devin, it would only be slander if it was untrue. We are all assuming a lot, it would be good if there was some sort of official word from the US team as to the reason for his dismissal. If it is true, I would hope that he would be embarrassed and humiliated, that might go a long way towards improving his decision making abilities. Drinking 'till 4 AM the day of an event is not a smart thing to do.

As a 71 year old friend and co worker I hope you will try to give him the benefit of your lifetime of experience. Unfortunately it has been my experience that youth fails to listen to the older, more experienced crowd until it's too late. We have had a number of fatalities in the last few weeks in the soaring community from various causes, most of which are to some degree associated with poor decision making.

What Mitch has done might be the best thing that could happen to Devin. It appears to me that someone needs to get his attention. Don't be an enabler by dismissing his actions. An old Air Force Colonel gave me a good kick in the ass once, I learned a lot from his guidance.

Walt

On Aug 26, 6:29*am, Walt Connelly Walt.Connelly.
wrote:
'GB[_5_ Wrote:









;781455']On Aug 25, 7:16*am, "

wrote:-
On Aug 24, 6:45*pm, Mitch Hudson wrote:
-
Rec.aviation.soaring favorite, Devin was kicked out of the Junior
Worlds for being up until 4:00 AM drinking on flying days, and
general
disrespect for the coaching staff. *It is unfortunate that such a
potentially talented young pilot was unable to meet his duties to the
U.S. team due to his drinking problem. *For those of you who wondered
why he got a "Zero" on the last day, this is why.-
-
Good on the U.S. team for making a tough decision to pull him from
the
contest before he became a safety factor for any of the other pilots
there.-
-
EX-

Good on the U.S. Team management.

GKemp-

Shame on you Mitch Hudson,

I was not aware that this discussion group could be used to embarrass,
slander, and humiliate another member. First of all Mitch you were not
there. I can only assume that you got your information from your
friend who had a major disagreement with Devin at the Junior Worlds.
The facts are unimportant for this discussion.
I am not one of Devin's drinking buddies, I am his 71 year old friend
and co-worker.
Mitch, the only thing you have accomplished with your post is hurting
Devin, his family and his friends.

Gabe Bourbeau
Minden NV

Gabe,

Respectfully, while this post may well embarrass and humiliate
Devin, it would only be slander if it was untrue. *We are all assuming a
lot, it would be good if there was some sort of official word from the
US team as to the reason for his dismissal. *If it is true, I would hope
that he would be embarrassed and humiliated, that might go a long way
towards improving his decision making abilities. *Drinking 'till 4 AM
the day of an event is not a smart thing to do.

As a 71 year old friend and co worker I hope you will try to give
him the benefit of your lifetime of experience. *Unfortunately it has
been my experience that youth fails to listen to the older, more
experienced crowd until it's too late. *We have had a number of
fatalities in the last few weeks in the soaring community from various
causes, most of which are to some degree associated with poor decision
making. *

What Mitch has done might be the best thing that could happen to
Devin. It appears to me that someone needs to get his attention. * Don't
be an enabler by dismissing his actions. An old Air Force Colonel gave
me a good kick in the ass once, I learned a lot from his guidance.

Walt

--
Walt Connelly

Walt,

There is a big difference between being an enabler and standing by
your friends.
The purpose of Mictch's post was not to help Devin.
This is not the proper venue to deal with this.
Gabe

SNIP
I agree this perhaps shouldn't be on *r.a.s. Because it absolutely
should have been on the U.S. team website.
SNIP
John Cochrane

Has any official report of this situation been reported, in fact, by
the US Team?

I checked when this post first came out, but was able to find nothing.

Tim EY