How USHPA CAN work for you

A discussion restricted to the topic of hang gliding.
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Steve Pearson
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Re: Even More

Post by Steve Pearson »

AlanC wrote:There is good reason to think it can.- Alan
Alan, with all due respect, that comment seems like a naive and unsubstantiated platitude. HG has been in decline for 40 years but there has been a precipitous change in the rate of decline since the additional rules and bureaucratic burdens associated with the insurance crisis which effectively decimated the number of small schools and added a monstrous burden to those who remained. There has been no substantive progress or initiatives to prioritize growth or provide relieve for schools and instructors despite innumerable meetings, calls and emails over the last few years. We are on the threshold no recovery RIGHT NOW.

You wrote, "There is a group of awfully smart people trying to figure things out that invited me along this year. They know the market better, they have more experience in the sport and they spend virtually every waking hour thinking about the sport we love." -- Am I the only one who finds it disturbing that the president of our association isn't even aware and experienced enough to address the most important issue facing our community? Who exactly are the people you refer to, and who is the USHPA leadership making these decisions?
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Davis
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Post by Davis »

Alan writes:

"The PG numbers are in this thread because I don't think most folks know that PG growth has resumed; that there are more PG instructors now than before the insurance crisis; that our brothers and sisters (and many HG pilots who fly both wingtypes) are making things work. Isn't that cause for hope?"

Wow.

This is not exactly an embrace of failure, but rather a denial of it.

No, this is actually a cause for despair. That a thoughtful person like Alan would see this as a ray of hope continues the misguided direction of the USHPA.

Until the USHPA BOD and leadership realize and embrace the fact that they have completely failed in their mission to make HANG GLIDING a strong and vibrant sport, then we are doomed to continued failure to do so.

Was my previous message not clear enough or is there cotton in someone's ears?
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Davis
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Post by Davis »

I'm reminded of Joe Biden's non-apology to Anita Hill. He is constitutionally unable to accept responsibility for his own mistakes.

Speaking of which: "Cohn also showed Trump how to exploit power and instill fear through a simple formula: attack, counterattack and never apologize."
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Ben Reese
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Post by Ben Reese »

"Quoting Alan C. from page 2 of this thread, answers to Christopher"

""I think the initial quote could be seen as USHPA being the sole problem.
We have two aspects to our sport, PG and HG; both working under the same
set of solutions. Yet, one is growing and one is declining. USHPA may well be a
drag on both, but it seems unlikely to be the key factor in the decline of HG.
I do not believe USHPA alone can kill or save HG but I hope we can be helpful
and not harmful in that effort.""

"Quoting" in sections for Clarity:

"I think the initial quote could be seen as USHPA being the sole problem."

Alan, I don't see USHPA as being the sole problem. I see the way it's
being managed as a really big problem. There are other problems you
are going to help us identify with your very quotes below…


"We have two aspects to our sport, PG and HG; both working under the same
set of solutions."

Yes we have two modes of flight that are advisarial to each other concerning
growth and safety factors. It's called sales and sales are competitive by nature.
HG sales people are hog-tied by not exposing the negative safety factors of PG.
We are supposed to get along and pretend both sports are equal in safety and
capabilities.. They are not! "Under the same set of solutions." They require
a different set of solutions and the freedom to express their seperate natures.
The fact that we use the same sites is not enough of a similarity to excell both.


"Yet, one is growing and one is declining."

Have you been to Torrey Pines and seen the masses of PG's making a net in the
sky to snag a HG with? The flight profiles of HG and PG are not compatible
is these places. If PG was allowed at the Funston launch site it would ground HG!
PG needs a seperate launch and landing site from HG. Airports have both helicopters
and airplanes. They do not use the same landing or takeoff spot for both aircraft.
Funston pilots have seen what has happened at Torrey Pines and have fought endlessly
to keep the bags south of us… But the PG's are always petitioning the US Park Service
to allow them knowing it will ruin HG access for pilots!! This is adversarial to HG.


"USHPA may well be a drag on both, but it seems unlikely to be the key factor
in the decline of HG."

Well by your evidence USHPA is more a drag on HG than it is on PG. USHPA would
not allow real competition between these seperate modes of flight since it would
naturally expose the horrible safety record of PG in para-collapse. Reasons so many
HG only pilots do not want the play the lottery for a helicopter ride! That is because
they know from just being at sites where PG's are so numorous how many medivac
calls are made. So yes USHPA is now a drag on HG and so is PG..


"I do not believe USHPA alone can kill or save HG but I hope we can be helpful
and not harmful in that effort."

Alan, ever since PG as merged with HG we have see this decline accelerate and
spread to flying sites. One positive aspect of this competition for launch and landing
sites is the growth of HG aero towing. Without that HG would already be dead.

PG is easier to learn but it is not easier to master than HG. One can argue that PG
can never be truley mastered since the random air can always swat you out of it.
It is a lottery and real pilots don't like gambling with their life. Modern HG can
handle the randomness of the air much better than PG can. It's a matter of life
and death. PG and HG are not equal in this gamble. This experiment has failed!


These are seperate sports and need to be independent of each other if HG is to prosper.
This is the focus I am making here but there are others, like this reform vote that
is a real dissapointment coming from our leaders. It only proves you are incapable
of the leadership needed to solve these problems killing HG..

When Steve Pearson, Davis Straub, Tiki Mashy and many others keep repeating
themselves, in international public forums (you can ignore me, everyone else does)
about meetings and more meetings they have had with you and the BOD it's bad.
It is really, really BAD!

Stop writing these feel good memos. It is embarrassing to watch..

Make a bold move and have the reform vote canceled before you destroy any hope
of an USHPA! Really start with that, Recall this lunacy Governance Proposal!!

Be the man we all know you are not!
Surprise us…


B R
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Davis
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Post by Davis »

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyl ... e75f8fb0cc

Joe Biden is becoming the master of not getting it. Of almost getting it, but not quite, and then explaining that he had gotten it, actually, but he did it when you blinked. He’s the master of being affable enough that some folks are willing to capitulate — you’re right, Uncle Joe, we’re being too sensitive — because the alternative might be to hamper an “electable” candidate right out of the gate.

On Thursday, the same day Biden formally announced his candidacy, news broke that he had telephoned Anita Hill — the woman whose 1992 allegations against Clarence Thomas made “sexual harassment” a water-cooler term — to apologize for his role in her ordeal. Only, it wasn’t an apology, exactly. By his campaign’s own language, he called to express “his regret for what she endured.”

Biden was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1992. He presided over the Thomas confirmation hearings. He controlled the flow of questioning; he decided who would or would not be permitted to testify. So when Biden expresses regret for what Hill endured, he’s leaving out a few crucial words: What she endured partly because of him.
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Davis
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Post by Davis »

https://smile.amazon.com/Sometimes-You- ... way&sr=8-6

1. Humility - The Spirit of Learning
2. Reality - The Foundation of Learning
3. Responsibility - The First Step of Learning
4. Improvement - The Focus of Learning
5. Hope - The Motivation of Learning
6. Teachability - The Pathway of Learning
7. Adversity - The Catalyst of Learning
8. Problems - The Opportunities of Learning
9. Bad Experiences - The Perspective for Learning
10. Change - The Price of Learning
11. Maturity - The Value of Learning
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Ben Reese
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Post by Ben Reese »

Alan C. answers Doug M. before the 1st Reform Vote.

https://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... c&start=10

"Quote" from Alan C.
""It is possible that you dislike the concept of a diversity matrix, but it will not allow the board
to change the outcome of elections.""


Same post "Steve R." Responds to Doug M. after Alan C.

""Quoting"" Steve R.

Hi Doug,

""In regard to my most recent vote to put this before the membership: I am against the proposal
and when the BOD was first given the opportunity to vote, I thought it was such a bad idea that I
voted to not even put it before the membership!

I believe that was also the intent of the directors who voted to not put it before the membership
this last time around.

While I am still opposed to the proposal, this last time I voted to let the membership decide because
it's too big a decision to be made by just the BOD. I'm trusting that our members will shoot it down,
but if not, at least it will be a truly democratic process. As opposed to the proposals un- democratic
"diversity" matrix, where for all intents and purposes our votes will be thrown out and the person
who best fits the artificial construct of the matrix will be put in office.""


"Remmoore" Responds to Steve R. and others in same post.

"Quoting" Remmoore
""Thanks Steve - and Tiki, Russ, Dick, Paul - and all the others with inside knowledge of the Board's
workings who have spoken up in support of the membership. This proposal is clearly a stinker and
the membership will be the losers if it passes.

RM""


Alan, I can do this all weekend.
I can find examples of you willfully misleading and appearing to lie about this Reform vote.


Quoting you again..

Quote" from Alan C.
""It is possible that you dislike the concept of a diversity matrix, but it will not allow the board
to change the outcome of elections.""


Really, after all this you still beleive or rather want us to beleive that a diversity matrix
which allows the BOD to choose an RD with 50 votes or 5% of votes is not changing
the outcome of an election!!!

95% of votes could go to Steve R. but a 30 something Pilot with 5% of the votes wins
the seat because of his/her age!!!

Tell us all how this is not changing the outcome of an election…

Better yet, don't bother.

Just pack up your stuff and cancel your password access.

Show us 1st hand how you will give up your seat at the diversity matrix table..

Anyone of the names listed in this post could do your job better than you.

Including Doug M. That is what you are saying!! Your own words, is it not???

Why don't you take one for the team even though you were voted in by the BOD.
Show us how votes don't matter and the Matrix has our best interest taken care of.

Scan the RD's and BOD's now serving who disagree with you, pick one and step out.

Here is an explanation why you think this stealing votes and replacing with diversity
is such a good idea.

You know how unqualified you are and you think you are doing such a good job
that anyone else could also..ðÿ¤”

Yes this is really tough talk. It's not fun to read for some of you.

Alan, please get out of the way!

Your flight is over…


"Ben Reese…oh, never mind."
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Christopher
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Re: Even More

Post by Christopher »

Alan Crouse, thanks for your response. Like others, I've gravitated to a few words at the end, useful as a launching point, me thinks.
AlanC wrote:There is a group of awfully smart people trying to figure things out that invited me along this year. They know the market better, they have more experience in the sport and they spend virtually every waking hour thinking about the sport we love. I have to be optimistic that our flying community can and will figure out how to have a sport called Hang Gliding into the future, and I hope we can all contribute to that goal.
I appreciate the sentiment. Our community most definitely must be integral to the solution; to enable that condition, I suggest summations of current efforts and considerations be regularly published on-line, for discussions to be live-cast, and for the retention of regional directors for the purpose of receiving contributions from folks in their region. In this context, the present size of the BOD would be a necessary asset; with such a big job to do, it concerns me greatly that directors are being dispensed with rather than utilized.

I'd rather match action to optimism; I'm sure that's true for you, too, Alan- and for many, many others. For folks to help, they have to know what's-what- from insurance to promotion and education programs. A new level of insight into administrative processes would also go a long way toward keeping folks invested in the Association, build confidence, sympathy, and understanding. A sampling of sentiment here and in my community demonstrates the BOD reform proposition to be alienating, the contraction of representation further occulting administration and shrinking avenues of communication.

Frankly, the reform proposition expands trust as predicate for progress in a moment when transparency and inclusion would be far more useful. Running my mind over those words, I wonder how they would have been received had this alternative been put to the membership. The BOD size was only offered as a liability- not a strength -because it was only conceptualized that way. These are the sort of self-limits to consideration we might guard against by tapping the greater membership to tackle challenges faced by the association. Our sport wasn't birthed in isolation but was the product of many- why would our survival be any different?
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CloudHopper
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Log Your XContest Flights

Post by CloudHopper »

Reminder: Log Your XContest Flights by September 30
The USHPA sponsors a U.S. League on XContest that tracks flights and allows you to compete with fellow pilots. Register and upload your flights to participate until the end of this year's competition on September 30.

The next season starts on October 1. Consider registering early and uploading your flights whenever your local site turns on in the spring. It's a great way to test your cross country skills against other U.S. pilots and showcase our country's amazing distance flying opportunities to the rest of the world, since many pilots keep a close eye on XContest. There have been no flights submitted in the Single Surface and FAI-2 rigid wing categories, so if you fly one of those types of gliders you could have a great shot at being XC Champion.
https://www.xcontest.org/usa/
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Davis
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