[SamKellner]

You'll notice that Mark Forbes couldn't stand up to any of my questions or comments,

Yes

[Rick Masters]

I ran across Mark Forbes posting a reply to Joe Faust.
In it, he told Joe to shut up and go form his own national hang gliding organization.
He said the USHPA would leave him alone if he did.

I was amazed because in the points published by the USHPA for burning BobK at the stake was a line stating specifically that BobK was being executed for forming a competing hang gliding association.
There is no question at all.
The thing that bothers me is not that some sleazebag is a liar - liars are everywhere.
It is that today's hang glider pilots are okay with this.

[dhmartens]

How many paying members of USHPA fly hang gliders and are California residents?
Also how many paragliders too?

[Bob Kuczewski]

I'm sorry, but I don't know those numbers Doug.

Rick, your observations about Forbes are spot.on. It is a sad commentary that there isn't a major uproar about USHPA's duplicity, but that seems to be a common symptom in today's society. In the 60's culture the mantra was "question everything". Today it's more like "question nothing".

The good news is that the US Hawks is becoming a gathering place for independent thinkers. If we can keep our momentum building ... I see good things ahead.

[reluctantsparrow]

hey, I have some fond memories of flying with Davis before OZ was created. Mind if I share? Its a little off topic but might provide some comic relief.
I was a total XC newbie at 6 grand flying frailey mtn. and decided to head out.....just do it....I told myself....This was my first XC attempt.
Had no idea what I was doing, which way to head out, or how to find lift...I just headed out...
Put about a mile behind me and steadily sinking when I noticed someone following me...about a half mile behind...yep, sure enough, someone was following me....but I just kept on flying straight until i finally hit the deck....
the guy following me landed in the same field I did, only three miles from the frailey LZ (my first XC!) but on the wrong side of a river where the only bridge across that river was another ten miles in the wrong direction as the LZ.....only three miles of flight but a miserably long retrieve with no driver or radio.
the guy that followed me was Davis....he followed me because he said it looked like I knew what I was doing!
He did not have a driver or radio either, so we broke down the gliders and started walking back towards the LZ not knowing how we were going to cross the river but knowing full well there was no way we were going to walk another ten miles in the wrong direction to a bridge and then BACK 13 miles to the LZ....so we headed to the river.....found a crossable section....stripped down to our skivies and held our clothes over our heads as we crossed.....
Davis never followed me again after that

[reluctantsparrow]

I also have fond memories of Davis first launch with a paraglider from Dog mountain...
About ten hangs were there watching as he made several attempts in strong conditions that he had to abort.
I remember it took a long time for him to get airborne and it was really holding up the rest of us from launching and everyone was getting pissed.
Davis finally made it into the air but could not penetrate. Davis ended up blown back into the trees on the south side of Dog and no one ventured down into the woods to see if he was okay....not a single soul seemed concerned for his safety at that point....they all launched.
I headed down the hill by myself to see if this guy was okay and found Davis dangling from a tree unable to reach the ground or any branches....totally stuck but safe....
I stayed and helped Davis out of the tree.....Davis owes me one

[Rick Masters]

That may haunt you for the rest of your life...

Principles of Chaos

The Butterfly Effect: This effect grants the power to cause a hurricane in China to a butterfly flapping its wings in New Mexico. It may take a very long time, but the connection is real. If the butterfly had not flapped its wings at just the right point in space/time, the hurricane would not have happened. A more rigorous way to express this is that small changes in the initial conditions lead to drastic changes in the results.
http://fractalfoundation.org/resources/what-is-chaos-theory/


In an alternate universe, reluctantsparrow would have more airtime and there would be no OZ Report.

[eagle]

Confession
Out of All the Years of Flying
I've Never LOOKED at the OZ report
At this Point ~ Does it Matter ~ Would it Even Help

~ Is the OZ Report part of the Problem Or Part of the Solution ~

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[Bob Kuczewski]

Jim, thanks for sharing those stories about Davis.

One thing I've learned is that no one is all bad or all good. But I've also learned that you can't judge people by the best things they've done because everyone can do a good thing (for example, the mob boss who orders torture and death can still thrown a nice wedding for his neighbor's daughter). To really know a person, you have to look at the worst things they have been willing to do. Those will be much more revealing of their character. I'm sure you already know that, so I'm just throwing in my two cents.

Rick, your comments on the butterfly effect are right on target. For better or worse, we never know when our wings (or our words) will produce the "tipping effect" that changes the course of history. That's why I don't believe in giving up. One more topic, one more post, even one more word ... might make all the difference in the world. Your own tenacity on the PDMC reflects that same spirit.

Confession
Out of All the Years of Flying
I've Never LOOKED at the OZ report
At this Point ~ Does it Matter ~ Would it Even Help

~ Is the OZ Report part of the Problem Or Part of the Solution ~

The OZ Report is definitely part of the problem. During the recall election, I asked some very reasonable questions of Bill Helliwell (open voting by the USHPA Board, support for a balanced Soaring Council at Torrey, support of pilots over businesses). They were questions that Bill should have been willing to answer. But Davis removed those questions from the topic (and eventually from the forum), and very few people know what he did.

Having said that, it's still a good place to let people know about the US Hawks. Unlike Jack Axaopoulos on hanggliding.org, Davis does not ban the mention of the US Hawks. So it's a good place to spread the word about what we're trying to accomplish.   

[Bill Cummings]

On the 7 & 8th I received a, "topic reply notification," in my email from the Oz Report.
When I clicked the email link both were no longer in existence.
Did anyone read a topic, "We can and should ---" that remembers what was posted and now is missing?

Doesn't exist..JPG (15.44 KiB) Viewed 6536 times

We can and should ---.JPG (30.66 KiB) Viewed 6536 times