RGSA CLUB NEWS

[MattHayes]

RGSA~
From what I gather, all club members should be available for a meeting Saturday the 25th of January. With that being said, I would like to officially set the RGSA's annual meeting and elections for 1-25-2014. I will get a hold of members who aren't online to confirm this date will work. Any comments, issues or conflicts, speak now or forever hold your tongue! Hahaha

[Bill Cummings]

Club meeting on the 25th of January----I’LL BE THERE FOR SURE!
(Baring any interference from fate, Murphy, Mother Nature, or miscommunications by the better half.)
I could possibly have some issues with the meeting place and the time so let me know at the earliest so that I can work this appointment into my retirement calendar.

If it looks like there may be a conflict I’ll have my people contact your people Matt.
Let me know where and when. Until then put me down as a definite, for sure, gung-ho, maybe.

[Bill Cummings]

RGSA and Hawks,
I got the word from the Queen Bee that she will not be here at the hive (house) on the 25th. (Club Meeting.)

She said I can have all my little friends over for a sleep over that weekend.

If the forecast is good for Magdalena Rim we could do a meeting at my place. Mike E, and Bob K. have first dibs on the two empty bedrooms if they show up.

I also could plug in Lee’s trailer in the driveway. Someone could put an air mattress on the floor or couch. The back yard has a privacy fence so camping would work too. Maybe a plug in heater would help in tents.
We could do a BBQ out back as well.

We also could meet at Alamogordo if the forecast is for over in that area.

We could camp at Mag. Rim by the fence too. (might be cold. Who knows?)

Anyway just some suggestions
Edit: I closed my yahoo email account so all emails to me should bounce. use my q(dot)com email address.

[Bob Kuczewski]

Mike E, and Bob K. have first dibs on the two empty bedrooms if they show up.

If the US Hawks topic is on the agenda, I will make every effort to be there.

[Bill Cummings]

Bob when our secretary gets home on the 16th I'll ask him to put several things on the agenda. Hawks being one of the things.
We also need to decide what to do with the windsock pole in the LZ. It has to come out for a golf course.

RGSA,
Matt Hayes emailed to me the City Of Alamogordo Parks and Recreation planning of a very nice golf course going in west of the LZ and in the southern quarter of the LZ.
15 trees/bushes/or other growth displacing just under 1/4 of the southern end of the LZ (up wind.)

To the west of the LZ has 9 growth obstructions planned. (up wind.)

In the recent past I’ve noticed 9 fully matured and robust light poles that have sprung up along both sides of Fairgrounds Road.

Further back in history a wire fence was erected along the north and east border of the landing zone.

Folks the hand writing is on the wall. If we don’t lose this LZ completely we will have to consider changing the hang rating required to land. We may even have to leave on our own due to safety issues.

Once we had a clear flight path up to the back of either side of the old shade structure in which to over shoot the landing field. Next the new road with nine power lighting poles went in shortening the over shooting safety margin.

With the new golf course (?) going in with the planned vegetation (obstructions) up wind of the diminished landing zone the turbulence created by trees and vegetation may effectively shorten the safe landing area by as much as half of the present day diminished landing area.

Things are getting crowded as time goes on.
I find myself reconsidering my stance on the death penalty and abortion. Maybe even to go as far as retroactive abortion.

I’ve had my eye on an alternate landing area north of the landing zone that Mike Ellsworth once used. The City has a well pump house there.

It used to be open to vehicles but since 9/11 Al-Qaea now has a lock on the gate on Florida Street so that they can contaminate our drinking water unmolested.

Maybe we should offer air surveillance of that area and the City could give us a key to the gate. I’m sure we would have to pass all background and drug tests to receive a level three security authorization.

[Bob Kuczewski]

Matt Hayes emailed to me the City Of Alamogordo Parks and Recreation planning of a very nice golf course going in west of the LZ and in the southern quarter of the LZ. 15 trees/bushes/or other growth displacing just under 1/4 of the southern end of the LZ (up wind.)

If the City of Alamogordo has a City Council, it might be good for your members to attend some of their meetings to see what can be done.

If it turns out that the golf course is inevitable, I would suggest getting involved in the planning process to see if you can have certain fairways designed (and designated) as "hang glider landing obstacle" holes. I think it would be a novelty for the golf course and honor the historic use of the land as a hang gliding landing area. It might even be something the golf course (and the City of Alamogordo) could advertise as a unique feature of the course.

Maybe we should offer air surveillance of that area and the City could give us a key to the gate.

That's actually a very very good idea. If you can convince them that you'd provide an aerial "neighborhood watch" program, then you might have some traction.

As landing areas become more and more scarce, we're going to have to be as creative as possible to integrate our land use with other alternative uses.

[Bill Cummings]

Good advice Bob,
Attending the council meeting may be a bit difficult for the club as all of the current officers in the RGSA do not live in Alamogordo, NM but in different cities 60 to 70 miles away.

I wonder if Alamogordo has a local tv broadcast of their city council meetings?
It would be great to find it on-line.

[Bob Kuczewski]

Good advice Bob,
Attending the council meeting may be a bit difficult for the club as all of the current officers in the RGSA do not live in Alamogordo, NM but in different cities 60 to 70 miles away.

I wonder if Alamogordo has a local tv broadcast of their city council meetings?
It would be great to find it on-line.

I think their city web site is http://ci.alamogordo.nm.us .

I found this district map there. If I recall your earlier map, it looks like you're interested in District 1 ... which is also Mayor Pro-Tem Jason Baldwin's district.

See if you can give him a free hang gliding flight with photos for the local paper. He may find that's more fun than golf!!

[MattHayes]

~RGSA~
Just to be clear, this is a frisbee golf course and the trees to be planted will take many years to become large enough to produce a hazard for us. This project is a go and I have been in contact with Reid Griggs in relation to moving our wind sock. We need to decide where the best spot for it is and give him some feedback so we can try to have the Parks/Rec move it for us at little or no charge. Reid tells me the trees won't be planted for at least six months from now and they will be quite small to begin with. Robin brought up a good point in which once this project has gone through the LZ will be a large park, meaning it probably won't be messed with for many years to come. Since we don't actually have a lease or any written agreements with the City or Parks department we are kind of at their mercy when it comes to developments of this sort. Bill and Robin, you both know much more than me when it comes to any agreements and or permissions we've been granted in the past and if you both feel it necessary to relocate than maybe it is time to start searching. At least we will have a little more shade in the summer months!

[Bob Kuczewski]

Just to be clear, this is a frisbee golf course...

Oooohhhhh. That's a horse of a different color!!

Frisbee folks already like flying things, and they spend more time looking up (at their disk) rather than down (at their ball). So that makes it an even better fit.

I really think it would be worth pitching the idea that some section of the course remain unplanted with trees and use removable or flexible "holes" instead so that the park can remain "dual use". I think the park users might enjoy having a frisbee golf course where real hang gliders drop in every once in a while. Some of them might even take to the air themselves!!

Regarding the trees taking a long time to grow, that's part of the problem we've had in our sport out here in California. Many years ago there were many launch and landing sites that could have been secured forever with very little cost or expense. But the pilots at that time figured they'd be long gone by the time any competing uses came along and so they didn't take the steps needed to secure a future for flight at so many sites ... that are now gone. This sounds like one of those opportunities where future pilots will look back thankfully at the choices you make now to preserve your flying sites.