US Hawks Hang Gliding Association

Hello Fellow U.S. Hawks,

The "Torrey Trial" (California Superior Court, San Diego Case 37-2015-00015685-CU-DF-CTL) will begin on the week of Thanksgiving, 2021 June 27th, 2022 (Trial Call on June 24th, 2022). This trial will determine the outcome of both a defamation law suit and a false arrest counter suit.

Very briefly ...



Both lawsuits were filed in 2015 and have been working their way through the court system for the past 6 years. The outcomes of these law suits will weigh heavily on our ability to speak out about the Gliderport, and also on our ability to use our public park land without constant fear of unfounded arrest.

If you would like to testify in this case please contact me directly at 858-204-7499. We have a number of witnesses already, but we would welcome more testimony showing:



If you have witnessed any such evidence (or know of others who have), please call me as soon as possible.

Also, this case has been very expensive, and legal help has been in short supply. If you can help in that department please contact me as well.

The defamation lawsuit is yet another attempt to keep the public from knowing the truth about the long history of accidents, deaths, and other abuses at Torrey Pines Gliderport. This is an important time for the hang gliding community to step forward to obtain justice in our sport. Please spread this message as widely as possible.

Thank you.

Bob Kuczewski
858-204-7499

Update February 1, 2022: Added PDF versions of Complaint, Cross Complaint, and Answers
Update April 29, 2022: Changed date of trial to June 27, 2022 (with Trial Call on June 24, 2022)

I will be updating this post with information as the trial approaches and progresses.

The pretrial conference is scheduled for November 9th, 2021.
The official start of the trial is Friday, November 19th, 2021.
Actual testimony by witnesses will begin on Monday, November 22nd, 2021.

The pretrial conference was actually scheduled for November 5th, 2021.
The official start of the trial is Friday, November 19th, 2021.
The Court will be closed during the week of Thanksgiving.
Actual testimony by witnesses will begin at some point (TBD) after Thanksgiving.

The official start of the trial is now Friday, April 22nd, 2022.
Actual testimony by witnesses will begin on Monday April 25th, 2022.

The "Trial Call" will be on Friday April 29nd, 2022.

The actual trial will begin on Tuesday May 3rd, 2022.

The "Trial Call" will be on Friday June 24th, 2022.

The actual trial will begin on Monday June 27th, 2022.

I was in court this morning for the trial call, and we ended up postponing the trial date. It will most likely be in January. Thanks to everyone who's stepped up to testify.

JoeF wrote:https://birdsinslowmotion.com/

Great web site Joe!!

I watched a few of them. I particularly liked "WHITE TAILED EAGLE CATCHES FISH BACKLIT". An eagle swoops down a grabs a fish that is partially above the water. The fish drops from the eagle's claws at the edge of the frame, so you can't really see the fish fall back into the water. But if you watch carefully, you can see the water splashed from the falling fish enter from the left.

Thanks for the gift of that site!!

One of the pleasures of living at the edge of the water in Newport Beach's bay is the ample amount of sea bird life we get to watch, real time.

Yesterday a huge pelican glided past our picture window like a big RC model glider (where's my transmitter?) and then went into a fully controlled high angle stall. It "parachuted" down into the water from about 50 feet creating a monster splash. It then labored back up into the air and repeated the whole thing over again. What a show!

Frank

The Torrey Trail case is really against all recreational pilots
~ The trail is Proving Public Extortion by City Contract.

Our Hang Glider Leaders
have stolen your freedom to fly.

Todd Gloria, Joe LaCava, and the City Council is not only Liable but is currently bid peddling Our freedom to Fly.
Let See who the members of the David Jebb police crime family are and their associates that have allowed this to happen.

Public Notice: The Torrey Trail Exposes the Truth whether criminals like it or not,...
Line them up like little beavers Bob K.

Go Beaver Go, Go Bob Go


Sign The Petition and stand up for your rights or lose them:
The Petition live's on as more people become aware they are being exploited

This comment by Me may just be a little off topic, but what the Heck? I just got to thinking is it at all the same down South where You Pilots come against the same type of resistance to your using "YOUR PARK Lands" I mean that is what as a Tax paying Citizen, Park Lands are our Property, correct. Park Rangers work For Us, wqe are their employers.

At our local Mountain here in the East Bay I have had a couple of run-ins with a couple of our employees, Our servents. They just refuse to acknowledge their place. They work for us. Get this; They act like They are protecting Our Park from Us. I even asked a Park Ranger a very simple basic Question once; "I asked Said Ranger; "Who do You work for? His Reply; "I work for the XYX XZXZXZ Park. I said to this Ranger; "No You do not. You work for US. You work fo MYself and many. many, many other Tax Paying citizens."

I mean they really do have this baseless founding understanding of the reality of who they are and who are the rightful owners od the Park. talk about: "the tail wagging the dog?"

Chris McKeon wrote:Park Lands are our Property, correct. Park Rangers work For Us
   :
I mean they really do have this baseless founding understanding of the reality of who they are and who are the rightful owners

Yes they do work for "us", but who is "us"? Some people think public land should have no humans allowed. Other people think public land should be a free-for-all.

So there is a bit of an inherent conflict between a park ranger's duty to preserve the land and their duty to allow citizens to enjoy the land. This is mentioned as their "motto" (from the national forest service video at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land):


Caring for the land and serving people are sometimes in conflict with each other. I am sure that some park rangers go too far in one direction or the other between preserving the land and allowing citizens to enjoy the land. But you can be thankful that those are their only 2 priorities. Contrast that with a situation like Torrey Pines Gliderport where there's a third interest ... making money. Every day the Torrey business faces these two questions:

      Should we care for the land or ... make more money?
      Should we serve the people or ... make more money?

Guess which motivation wins (by a mile) every time?

Yes, park rangers can go too far in caring for the land and they can also go too far in serving the people. That's why we elect leaders to guide them. But what can we do when a government abdicates both of those responsibilities and lets a business get away with whatever they want to make as much money as they want? All of a sudden, Park Rangers start looking like a much better alternative.

FYI, here's the full video from the National Forest Service: