Dave Pendzick - 2019/01/05 15:53:39 UTC
For me it’s just easier to pay them off than to deal with the problems that result.
Should have been "exist", Logan. Anyhow, thanks to you both for the gems.LoganR - 2019/01/07 03:38:38 UTC
That is what allows most criminal enterprises to exits.
Some folks have been active in trying to get USHPA's bullshit turned around and you have not offered any support to those efforts as far as I can tell.Steven Pearson - 2019/04/12 12:56:17 UTC
We didn't have a local admin to run an instructor clinic here at Andy Jackson Flight Park in San Bernardino, California so a group of local pilots paid Paul Voight to fly out. Despite Paul's experience and credentials (let's us just say that they are vast), he wasn't allowed to conduct the clinic at Crestline. Same story for Zac, who until recently was the only west coast tandem administrator, but wasn't allowed to give clinics at any USHPA sites. The USHPA should have paid all these expenses, and clinic administrators should have blanket coverage at all sites.
The USHPA is being managed by Martin, Tim and the leadership from a narrow perspective of minimizing liability at all cost, and the practical and effective result of that policy is reducing the number of instructors, schools and pilots. No pilots, no exposure. I would also note that this policy is distinct and not entirely consistent with advancing safe practice. So many opportunities for improving safety are ignored while bureaucratic initiatives are advanced. I don't even understand why Martin and Tim have any authority to advance their agenda when they are neither elected nor have any significant experience with the programs and policies they are administering. A smaller and less experienced board is only going to compound the problems as they will increasingly defer these decisions to administration.
Mike Meier
You are correct, in this sense:
To effect change in USHPA policies you need to get down to the details.
You need to pull up the entire library of documents - Bylaws, SOPs, etc. etc. and then propose detailed, word-specific changes to those documents that will effect the changes you want. Absent that level of detailed work, nothing can change. And since the advent of the RRG and the involvement of PASA, this is even more complicated, because what you can do may be limited by laws governing such enterprises, and PASA is somewhat independent of USHPA. And so all of this will be a tremendous amount of work for anyone to take on.
However, none of that work will be worth anything if there is not an atmosphere of receptiveness within the USHPA bureaucracy. Despite paying lip service to the existence of such an atmosphere, in truth it does not yet exist. The USHPA Board, Executive Committee, Officers and Staff are all bright, capable people with the best intentions. Despite that, all the evidence is that they are screwing this up, and it seems that this is happening because they just don't get it.
So talk, like what Steve has written, and like the confirmations by others of the validity of what he has written, has real value, if it has the capacity to get a conversation going and get those who are in a position to actually change things to take another look at what they're doing.
The trajectory of decline in hang gliding probably dates back as far as 1976. Pat Denevan identified it before the USHPA Board as early as 1978, and I wrote about it in 1985. There may be nothing that any of us can do about it. On the other hand, there are stories of other similar sports, like Sky Diving, that have come back from similar declines. From what I have heard, their national association has a totally different approach than we do to how they interact with their members and instructors.
I've not been more than very peripherally involved in USHPA matters for 20 years, and although I have in the past spent many hundreds of hours on the kind of detail specific work that is required to make real change, I am not willing to do that at this time, and consequently I hesitate to comment. But speaking out has value. I write to my representatives in congress, even though I am not willing to draft the bills that would effect the change I want them to make.
Thank you for giving a forum to those who wish to speak.
Idiot.Christopher LeFay - 2019/05/16 17:41:01 UTC
Joe, you don't care for or support the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association; this thread is about support for that organization.
It is now, Davis.Davis Straub - 2003/03/04
I encourage quality posts, posts that actually help the reader and would be of interest to the readers. I discourage drivel, nonsense and lazy, just hanging around, here-I-am-with-nothing-really-much-to say posts. There are other sites that encourage such behavior, this is not one of them.
Yeah Davis? Can you cite a single example from anywhere in the course of your sordid sixteen plus year history of you having done either?Davis Straub - 2003/03/04 02:07:45 UTC
I encourage quality posts, posts that actually help the reader and would be of interest to the readers. I discourage drivel, nonsense and lazy, just hanging around, here-I-am-with-nothing-really-much-to say posts.
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27494Freedomspyder - 2009/02/14 17:43:30 UTC
Tad,
I've found your posts on both hook-in checks and releases very interesting and well thought out.
Best of luck dealing with the Oz Report forum cult and its leader.
Steve Davy - 2012/04/27 01:55:17 UTC
Why did you delete my post?
And, to be fair...Davis Straub - 2012/04/27 02:42:02 UTC
Tad's name.
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=47096Jim Rooney - 2013/02/15 06:48:18 UTC
Naw.
Davis has been at an around all this plenty long enough to understand what's what and who's who.
Jim Rooney - 2016/03/23 00:21:21 UTC
Oh dear lord... don't do that to him without warning him!
That dude is a serious nutcase.
I'm not kidding in the least.
Really? Care to name any? One?There are other sites that encourage such behavior...
...this is not one of them.
---http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=59835
Very close USHPA governance re-vote
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21943
USHPA Forum
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=58866
2 dead after midair collision at Torrey Pines Gliderport
Davis Straub - 2012/04/26 03:07:45 UTC
I reminded almost every pilot to stay in the cart until they were flying fast enough to not suffer if the weaklink broke as they came out of the cart.
Suffer - experience or be subjected to (something bad or unpleasant).
synonyms: hurt, ache, be in pain, feel pain, be racked with pain, endure agony, agonize, be distressed, be in distress, experience hardship, be upset, be miserable, be wretched.
David Botos - 2019/08/07 16:43:30 UTC
Not to get side-tracked from the hill discussion, but another solution that wouldn't require all the earth-moving or structure building is low-cost surface towing (scooter or winch towing). I've done the majority of my training at Blue Sky near Richmond and have really grown to appreciate the land economy, portability, and flexibility of that means of getting airborne. In the most basic sense, you need a clear "runway" facing in the right direction (for takeoff and landing) and a tow setup to pull you along. Granted there's lots of other considerations like tow bridles, releases, tow operator training, etc., but it's not rocket science. Steve even has one of his scooter tow rigs outfitted for remote operation with a mouth throttle so he can self-tow. Obviously you'd want someone with you as an observer for safety reasons (and maybe trained in emergency ground procedures for what to do if the rig goes haywire), but how cool would that be to just roll up to a piece of land you have permission to fly on, set up your tow rig, and fly?
Pat Halfhill - 2019/07/03 19:18:03 UTC
I've been landing poorly lately and started to read this thread from the beginning. It makes me miss Jim Rooney. A great pilot and teacher
http://www.kitestrings.org/viewtopic.php?p=10769#p10769Cragin Shelton - 2011/09/03 23:57:33 UTC
Nice Reference CitationDo you REALLY think that there has been no progress in knowledge about the practical applied physics and engineering of hang gliding in 37 years? OR that an early, 3+ decade old, information book written by a non-pilot is a solid reference when you have multiple high experience current instructors involved in the discussion?Manned Kiting
The Basic Handbook of Tow Launched Hang Gliding
Daniel F. Poynter
1974
"A bad flyer won't hurt a pin man but a bad pin man can kill a flyer." - Bill Bennett
"The greatest dangers are a rope break or a premature release." - Richard Johnson
http://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4693/24233545007_1d4d72d1c3_o.pngTad Eareckson - 2017/12/17 00:55:06 UTC
So when the Davis Link increases the safety of the towing operation the:
- port bridle end with its eye-splice has gotta burn through the guide through the Kaluzhin Release
- deadman switch gets ripped out of her teeth
- release disengages from the tow ring, plummets back to Earth, hopefully goes through a windshield or kills a dog to facilitate recovery
