US Hawks Hang Gliding Association

The unattributed photo above was found at http://www.kitestrings.org/
This Dragonfly looks a lot like one that was stolen from me years ago. I think it is the same.
Would love to hear from anyone with details concerning this crash and also open up a dialogue on the state of hang gliding in the Kansas City area.

My name is Warren and I have pretty much been out of hang gliding since that Dragonfly was stolen.
I may like to return for some hang gliding but seem to be blocked from the KC hang glide message board.
Anyone that may have an interest in aero towing in KC should make contact here.
I've got an Airborne trike tug that needs a reseal job on a Rotax 582 to get ready.
If there is any interest to help, let me know.

No one wants to talk? Should I mention a sweet Millennium in the barn gathering dust?
Is anyone qualified to take a flight on that? Wow. What possibilities for the right person..

The subject of the stolen, Cub yellow, Dragonfly is what I'm really after. Blindrodie Gaar, is the guy that needs to come on here and tell his official story on that.
The photo above is not that Dragonfly. Tad Eareckson, corrected me on that Derbyville Ohio crash. There was a NTSB report on that one
and some commentary from that club, but not on my stolen aircraft, as far as I know.

Where are the reports Blindrodie? Where are the remains of that Dragonfly? How about repairing your transgressions and paying some restitution to me?
You post all over the Jack and Davis show. Like a boss, you mete out critique and advice. Thousands of posts. You even dropped the initial info of the Darbyville crash on the Jack show. Why haven't you posted the details and lessons learned from the demise of my stolen Dragonfly? What will it take to get you to talk?

Please speak up with your official version of the details..

Free wrote:No one wants to talk?

I sent you a PM but it looks like you haven't read it yet.

Free wrote:I've got an Airborne trike tug that needs a reseal job on a Rotax 582 to get ready.
If there is any interest to help, let me know.

Hello Warren, What help do you need with your trike? I would help get it back in the air. I have hangar space at no cost to you.

Thanks, but not much in your offer to help Kansas City hang gliding, Sam.
Not ready to move away from here quite yet. Maybe down the road. I'll put Texas on the list.

What you can help me with though, because you undoubtedly have more influence on Blindrodie than me, is to pressure him to come onto this message board and defend himself from the things I'm gonna start saying about him. I want to be fair to him even though I don't get the same courtesy from him or the other flying club partners that screwed me out of (away from) hang gliding. They are doing nothing for hang gliding now as far as I can see because I'm even shadow banned from the Kansas City message board. Gee, I wonder what they are afraid of?

Sam, did you happen to tell your friend Blindrodie, that the Millennium might be in play? I've been worried for years that he would try to steal it. He knows where I live so I hardly ever leave the farm for very long and I watch for signs of tampering around the place. He seems to be fascinated with getting his hands on it for some time. The Millennium subject has come up again on the Jack AX show where so many of us are censored/banned.



Here is what he wrote a while back: (He's waiting for me to die)

Blindrodie:
"I still know where a millennium is, just rotting in a barn.
He paid $5000 for it years ago. Never flew it. He does not fly anymore. We don't get along (former partner removed from an LLC) so he would never sell it to me...
I keep waiting to hear of his passing and the HUGE auction that will ensue."

Well, he lies about every sentence. I'm still worried that he may try to steal the Millennium because that is the kind of guy he is.

Good grief!!! I didn't know there was a character like Blindrodie lurking around the hang gliding world.

I guess there is more intrigue in this sport than I ever imagined. I hark back to the days when nobody locked their gliders on top of their vehicles. Well, even I do that now.

Frank

Frank Colver wrote:Good grief!!! I didn't know there was a character like Blindrodie lurking around the hang gliding world.

To be fair to Jim Gaar ("Blindrodie"), there are likely 2 sides to every story. However, he has been invited to participate in discussions to resolve the matter, but he has not opted to do so. That gives greater credibility to Warren's position.

Whether we like it or not, disputes are part of human nature. I think we could improve the hang gliding world by providing fair venues for mediation. But that requires all parties to participate.

Bob Kuczewski wrote: I think we could improve the hang gliding world by providing fair venues for mediation. But that requires all parties to participate.

Back when the u$hga Corporation was about to go belly up financially, (ask Jim Z and Mark G. Forbes how that happened) they spent quite a bit with a Corporate Crisis makeover outfit to figure out where they were going wrong.
One thing the crisis company recommended was a process or structure of peer to peer conflict resolution.
u$hga ignored that advise. There is still no conflict resolution process at u$hPa but Len Smith, one partner in the corporation that stole my Dragonfly went to a u$hga board meeting and asked for sanctions against me without sharing those concerns with me. It was reported that u$hpa wanted to accommodate but felt the conflict of interest was too obvious. I didn't get to defend against the charges. I was not informed of those charges. The u$hPa operates as a secret star chamber.

The US Hawks could do what u$hPa fails to do. Develop a venue for conflict resolution and make it open to all interested.
Subpoenas for testimony? Public shaming for those that won't respond?

Just a thought.

Free wrote:The US Hawks could do what u$hPa fails to do. Develop a venue for conflict resolution and make it open to all interested.
Subpoenas for testimony? Public shaming for those that won't respond?

Just a thought.

It's a good thought. Let me start with a story ...

About 7 years ago (more or less), I was contacted by one of our members about a problem he was having with an instructor. I didn't know who was right or wrong, but I contacted the instructor. I think just the fact that both parties knew someone else was watching caused them to behave much better toward one another. As far as I know everything was settled amicably enough.

I'd suggest that you think it through a bit and propose a procedure that you think would work. I would suggest that it involve volunteers to do the adjudication (a jury of peers). But you'll have to have some provision for how to ensure that you don't just get a bunch of one side's buddies being the volunteers. There are, after all, always two sides to every story.

Honestly, I think this kind of friendly mediation is one of the things that's mostly missing in our society. We tend to either do nothing (and let bad behavior flourish) or we go to court (where only the lawyers really win). I'd like to see the US Hawks take a crack at helping to resolve disputes in the flying community, and I welcome your suggestions Warren.

Thanks in advance, and feel free to call me any time if you'd like to kick some ideas around.