US Hawks Hang Gliding Association

At this point in time the forecast looks like NE (down slope) light wind on Sunday the 17th.

I have an event conflict with the annual lunch and meeting of the antique motorcycle club I'm a member of so, I will not be at Dockweiler this January 3rd Sunday Funday.

Frank C.

Hi Frank,

Have fun at your antique motorcycle event!!   

I'll keep an eye on the wind myself and if it changes, I may make the drive.   

Also, if you check out the "Owners Not Donors Campaign" topic, it appears from Mark Forbes comments that the US Hawks might eventually be able to participate in the RRG as an owner. There will be some hoops to jump through (forming an official non-profit, etc), but I don't see anything that acts as a true roadblock.

If we can turn the RRG into a truly neutral insurance pool, then people can participate in that pool through the association of their choice. That would introduce an element of competition among national associations and eliminate the monopolistic control that USHPA has exercised recently. It won't happen overnight, but I am optimistic that it might happen. That would also open the possibility of clubs like the Friends of Dockweiler purchasing their own insurance through the RRG to keep their site open. So 2016 might be the year of great changes in our sport!!!

I like to think that my e-conversations with Mark may have helped a little in this regard. This is good news as well as the information Mark sent me, that no one who takes money for hire, no commercial operations of any kind, would be a part of the RRG covering recreational pilots. That solves a big problem with the past insurance.

I look at the RRG as the only game in town, at this time, and we all need to try and make it work for all of us and not be under the total control of a few people, which can result in people being banned from coverage for reasons other than gross safety violations.

It sounds great to say; lets talk to land owners about how we shouldn't need liability insurance coverage to fly their land. That's a very good approach to take while we still fly sites with the RRG and maybe in 10 or 20 years there will be some more open flying sites that won't require insurance. I don't think nature will let me wait that long.

Frank C.

fcolver wrote:I look at the RRG as the only game in town, at this time, and we all need to try and make it work for all of us and not be under the total control of a few people, which can result in people being banned from coverage for reasons other than gross safety violations.

A shared insurance pool - shared by multiple organizations - is very beneficial since it lets us pool our resources while still being able to live in separate "houses". The metric for assigning costs should be claims - and nothing else. That would be great.

Unfortunately, I don't think USHPA will go that route. I anticipate that they will do everything they can to ensure that they maintain their monopoly over free flight pilots and clubs. How they treat the Hawks request to join the RRG will tell us whether they've adopted a "live and let live" philosophy or if they're still trying to play "king of the hill" and push everyone else off.

Grace and I had a fun day at Dockweiler today with Greg's helpful guidance. We shared a Wills Wing Condor 330 and each got about all the flights that we could physically manage. In fact I'm so tired as I type this, that pictures will have to wait until tomorrow.

Greg was a super host and we pitched in with a few site maintenence chores.

Great Day!!! Thanks to Greg and Windsports! Also thanks to Frank, Joe, and the Friends of Dockweiler club for your Sunday Fundays!!   

Did the wind get to 10 mph West?
Were there any students?
TIA
Glad you had a good time and many flights!

Hi Joe,

I don't think it ever got to 10mph, and there weren't too many students ... but we had fun anyway. It was mostly Grace and I sharing the Condor 330. We would mostly fly either straight out to Greg or do a 45 degree dog leg to the north and land. It was good exercise!!   

We made a lot of flights (more than I'd want to post), but these are representative of the day:






















Another Sunday Funday at Dockweiler!!!

Thanks for images of day!

I realize that the forecast can change a lot as the week progresses, but right now (Tuesday) it shows Dockweiler blowing W @ 13 mph for all afternoon next Sunday, Jan 24. If it continues to look that good I'll strongly consider going out, even though it won't be "Sunday Funday". Anybody else want to consider that?

Frank