SCUM (Soaring Crew Union Members) SCATS (Scattered Comments and Thoughts of Scum) The following comments and thoughts of Scum were collected via the Scum Journal written during the 15 Meter Nationals, held in Livingston, Montana, where instead of playing basketball or baseball in their yards, the children set up sawhorses with carved heads of buffalo, horses, or cattle attached and practice lassoing--witnessed by several Scum as we carried laundry to town during this contest.

During our long drive of over 2,000 miles from Upstate NY to Montana, trailering R6, Tim happened to be rereading parts of Helmet Reichmann's CROSS-COUNTRY SOARING (1978) when he decided to entertain me (on driver duty at the time) by reading aloud Reichmann's ideas about "the crew." According to HR (God rest his soul.), "The ideal crewperson should be easily satisfied, free from personal demands, perspicacious and diligent, performing all duties without having to be asked by the pilot, always cheerful and always satisfied with the pilot's performance. The crewperson should never mention any error of the pilot, but should always console and sympathize with the pilot, and always work hard to assure that the pilot will have success. The crewperson should never offer suggestions, but should be polite and supportive."

By this point we were both "hooting" with laughter and then comes the line, "The ideal crew should be female and is likely to be the pilot's Better-half--assuming that he has

one who really deserves the name." (This contest defied the female/wife part of this as there were some outstanding male /nonwife SCUM; also some daughters, sons, siblings and two papa's who were excellent supportive crew.)

My good-humored laughter became a bit less vigorous, and I felt my stomach tighten a bit. Then he continued, "Like so much in life, the dream crew is likely to remain a dream."

We both agreed with this! Then Reichmann ends his treatise on this fantasy unperson person with "Not only is the crew responsible for the daily preparation of the sailplane and all that goes with it, but should be an intelligence service for all important questions that can mean the difference in winning or losing a contest."

I found my mood shifting as my thoughts began a serious questioning of my "worthiness" as crew/wife, but I tried to dismiss/deny my ambivalence, and opted to "be cheerful." However, during the practice days and first few contest days, I found myself thinking that HR's words did carry a certain "ring of truth," and the sooner I realized it, the smoother things would run--regardless of the years I'd worked to overcome co-dependency, people-pleasing, etc.

Then the rebel in me decided there had to be a way to be my honest, sometimes frustrated, imperfect self while still being a worthy, competent crew.

I felt greatly relieved when Lynn Gossfeld (PC Crew) suggested that we keep a Scum Journal during this meet for Scum to write thoughts, reactions, feelings, frustrations, and suggestions that could be shared as it was passed through the Scum. Writing is a great way to reduce stress, especially when we aren't supposed to express it otherwise, according to Reichmann. Lynn wrote about the first day of the contest during which there was a cooperative Scum effort to get Bill Watson (4I) relaunched due to a faulty gear door. Hurrah for the Scum! Days quickly became known as: the day 4I got repaired, the days (numbers 4 and 8) when most landed out (Great retrieve stories!), or the day I ran the wing just right, or the day I didn't, etc.

By the third day when I received the journal, several of us Scum were planning to escape to a cool (hard to find when the temperature is above 95F) place by the river after the pilots were in the air. As soon as everyone arrived, the first crew (Joan, RJ Crew) to get into her swimsuit was radioed that her pilot had landed! Within minutes each of us had received similar calls. E9's crew (and now wife!) reported that E9 was "in mourning due to two landouts," and she feared that the end was near if he landed out again. We weren't sure whether she meant of the man or the marriage, but he rallied and began staying in the sky, so we rejoice that they left the contest in good shape. The most interesting aspect of this failed outing was that not one single crew complained. We all had our priorities straight!

Late that evening as I was writing in our journal, I realized that there were many ways we crew could (and were!) making our missions enjoyable. Mostly by laughing and crying together, by showing support for each other and for our pilots, and important friendships were forming among us, an invaluable gift. By this time I'd also begun to practice some of the tension and frustration relief techniques that I've spent years encouraging clients to use. Breathing out slowly and deeply, taking a few minutes to get some exercise, to have some fun, to exchange a story, or frustration. Then, strange as it may sound, it also helps to beat on a pillow or go scream in the woods...We all hold in little hurts and stresses that mount up to cause big tensions when we don't express them in healthy ways. The way Charlie slams those plastic bags on the ground is a good example! It helps to know that we always hurt the most the people we love the most because we are more vulnerable to each other. Those hurts are signs that there is love, not that there is not! Understanding this and trusting that we can talk things through because we do care will help. Take a bit of time at the end of the day to talk, which means one talks while one listens, and then the roles are exchanged!!

Many of us discovered that on " nonflyable" days, it really helped to get totally away from "it." Some did Yellowstone Park, others hiked and/or climbed and/or rafted down Yellowstone River. Tim and I had one great afternoon battling white water river rapids and another hiking up in the Beartooths (Absarokas).

It has also helped me to begin flying and soaring lessons. Learning and practicing these feats has certainly developed a more sincere interest in all aspects of Tim's flying and given me a keener appreciation of his talents, as a pilot and as an instructor, for he has been my primary flight instructor in power planes and gliders. Plus this allows me to indulge in great fantasies of his possibly crewing for me! (There is another forthcoming article on Grandpa's teaching Grandma, me, to fly!)

Throughout the contest, the journal continued to circulate, and many varied thoughts and feelings about crewing emerged-from "I'd rather have a root canal than do this," (Although this person was also managing young children, which does make the job much more stressful. My hat is off to all those who had babies and young children at this contest. She (AA Crew) and Denise (4 Crew) are certainly to be admired for the ways they planned for their children to stay entertained and nurtured, while also looking after their pilots.) to "I love to crew," (name withheld to keep her from being lynched by some who don't share her enthusiasm!), to ambivalence about the whole position, shared by most, who admitted there were positives and negatives, like everything else in life, when we are honest. Suzanne Moffat (XX Crew) who writes that after over 30 years of crewing she's learned to look at it as "a microcosm of life, with its ups and downs, which are all learning experiences...lessons about relationships to ourselves and others. We grow through conflicts." (One of the basic truths, but one it is easy for us to forget in the heat of the conflict.)

Denise(4Crew) and Kathy (BV Crew) agree that their children have expanded their horizons via the travel, new people, new experiences involved with crewing. Kathy writes that it has certainly helped cement their family into a more supportive unit, where each understands sportsmanship, cooperation, and competition at a deeper level.

On a particularly good day, i.e., when no one lands out, Alicia (4I crew) and Bill Watson (4I) had a wine and cheese party by their trailer, which gave many of us a chance to laugh together as we shared stories.

Finally , the last day comes, and as Joan (RJ crew) writes "Thank God, it is the last day," for she'd had several long and difficult retrieves, but she decided to make her last retrieve more fun. Since RJ and R6 had taken relights and got late starts, the weather ran out on them, and they landed together at an airport (White Sulfur Springs) which is only 80 miles down the road (They also had other company there, and other company scattered throughout the fields from Livingston to WSW) we decided we'd go for an aero tow. Actually this was jokingly suggested by "Scratch," one of our favorite tow pilots, who, along with Doug, another Tow pilot, had already added much pleasure to crewing by taking several Scum up for flights over the impressive peaks of the area. It shifted from a fun idea to reality when Ray Gimmey (UW) (Ray won the contest and we highly valued his advice.) advised us "Go for it, girls. You could ride in the tow planes and get a last view of the area." So, we went! I'm not sure our pilots were as pleased with our idea as we were by the looks of abject amazement on their faces as we landed. Probably due to the expense, but this is not a cheap sport, as we are all aware! Tim asked me to re-tape R6 (I think as a penalty for having so much fun with his landout!) to get ready for this aero tow, which took us through the daily late afternoon thundershower and certainly tested each pilot's ability to stay on tow. They released about 25 miles out from Livingston, after the storm had subsided, to take advantage of the day's (and the contest's) last soarable hour.

Then many of us met at the Sports Bar Cafe for a late dinner, where we turned the sometimes painful retrieves into hilarious stories. The grand prize probably should go to Tom Serkoski (5Z) who had his knee nuzzled and then bitten by a pig on a retrieve. He even had the snout marks to prove it! His crew/wife, Karen, added a pick-up to many of our down moments by distributing her delicious homemade glider candies.

All in all being a part of a Soaring Nationals is an experience of a lifetime--even for Scum. Most of us agreed that crewing is a massive effort requiring skill, intelligence, competence, a strong back and arms, keen eyesight (especially for squashed bugs!), cooperation, and a lot of love and respect for our pilot....and for ourselves. A soaring contest is a place where each of us stretches to become more and better. It's a place where friendships are formed and relationships strengthened as we become a large family, or "tribe," of very special people. Til' we meet again!!