[reluctantsparrow]

Other than you, Bob, reporting incidents and accidents to the USHPA, Which was your job as a regional director. (good job BTW) I am wondering if there were earlier incidents that could have sparked jeolous or revengeful motivation behind the weird actions taken by the ushpa board. Were there earlier head buttings?
If so, which board member did you butt heads with? Or which favorite nephew of a which board member? USHPA board members are humans just like the rest of us and prone to act irrationally in ways that seem unrelated to the actual source of irritation.
Or....since our world is heading into a new world order and control of the masses is a top priority, it is quite possible that pressure is being put on the ushpa board by the FAA, who is under orders from our commander in chief, who gets his orders elsewhere. (dont ask)
These are changing times and a single national hang gliding organization would be easier to control than multiple national hang gliding organizations if control of our nations airspace is a national priority (which it is).
Not releasing your statement of defense after they shared their side with the whole hg world is more than bad manners.
Are they really that tacky or is there something else at work here we are just not seeing as yet?
I dont really think there is pressure being put on Ushpa by the FAA to maintain an iron grip on hang gliding, but if there was that would explain the actions of Oz and hg.org if the pressure trickled down.....
but if that was the case you should be expecting a knock on your door any minute now from four men in black suits and sunglasses.....nope...not likely.
I think oz and hg.org are lemmings being told what to think by that nasty report ushpa sent out and most other pilots are in that lemming category as well espicially since ushpa refused to broadcast your rebuttal.....a total abuse of authority...agreed...I am just fishing for alternate motivations for their action and in-action (not broadcasting your rebuttal as well)
My girlfriend has been following all this along with me and is convinced someone, somewhere is making some money.

[Rick Masters]

See #5.
https://www.rrr.com/_files/pdfs/michael-rogers-ceo-of-month.pdf

[Bill Cummings]

Other than you, Bob, reporting incidents and accidents to the USHPA, Which was your job as a regional director. (good job BTW) I am wondering if there were earlier incidents that could have sparked jeolous or revengeful motivation behind the weird actions taken by the ushpa board. Were there earlier head buttings?
If so, which board member did you butt heads with? Or which favorite nephew of a which board member? USHPA board members are humans just like the rest of us and prone to act irrationally in ways that seem unrelated to the actual source of irritation.
Or....since our world is heading into a new world order and control of the masses is a top priority, it is quite possible that pressure is being put on the ushpa board by the FAA, who is under orders from our commander in chief, who gets his orders elsewhere. (dont ask)
These are changing times and a single national hang gliding organization would be easier to control than multiple national hang gliding organizations if control of our nations airspace is a national priority (which it is).
Not releasing your statement of defense after they shared their side with the whole hg world is more than bad manners.
Are they really that tacky or is there something else at work here we are just not seeing as yet?
I dont really think there is pressure being put on Ushpa by the FAA to maintain an iron grip on hang gliding, but if there was that would explain the actions of Oz and hg.org if the pressure trickled down.....
but if that was the case you should be expecting a knock on your door any minute now from four men in black suits and sunglasses.....nope...not likely.
I think oz and hg.org are lemmings being told what to think by that nasty report ushpa sent out and most other pilots are in that lemming category as well espicially since ushpa refused to broadcast your rebuttal.....a total abuse of authority...agreed...I am just fishing for alternate motivations for their action and in-action (not broadcasting your rebuttal as well)
My girlfriend has been following all this along with me and is convinced someone, somewhere is making some money.

Jim.JPG (42.02 KiB) Viewed 7036 times

Thanks Eagle

[Rick Masters]

But money is usually the motivating factor for such weirdness so I am going to stay with that hypothesis until it dead ends..
... if there is indeed money involved in this whole thing sherlock holmes would take his time machine back to the merger of HG with PG to find it and look for answers to questions like:
Who needed who the most in that merger?
Who has benefitted the most from that merger?
Who initiated the idea of that merger? Was it a PG or a HG? Was the idea initiated by regular pilots, companies, organizatiions, and was it suggested to organizations or individuals to initiate that idea by companies?
who planted that seed?
If it was initiated by a company, was it a pg company or a hg company and has their profit margin improved since the merger?

When the United States Hang Gliding Association decided to merge with the American Paragliding Association in 1992, there had only been around 50 paragliding fatalities globally, with three in the US that year. Today that figure hovers near 1500.
    The USHGA had made a similar decision in the late 1970s when they invited powered ultralights into their hang gliding association. There had been concerns that a free-for-all ultralight craze ignorant of the FARs could threaten hang gliding by inviting over-regulation or airspace closure by government agencies, so many in the USHGA felt it necessary to lend a guiding hand to keep things from getting farther out of control. A lot of us were surprised by the rapid growth of the ultralights, which quickly exceeded the numbers of hang gliders. As glossy color ads for ultralights and articles on ultralight flying and maintenance began filling Hang Gliding magazine, the big money in ultralights began influencing the decision-making within the USHGA and the association narrowly escaped, by the skin of its teeth, from being absorbed by ultralights only when the hang gliding purists began vociferous protests in Hang Gliding magazine's "Ultralight Conversation" section and forced a spin-off in the direction of the Experimental Aircraft Association.

I am really tired of people trying to be considerate about this whole powered thing and I want to come right out and say what real hang glider pilots think of power people. We consider you power people to be a crass collection of of scum-suck rat-bags – a conglomerate of weak, lazy, fat and ignorant leach heads whose only brain functions are uncontrollable muscle spasms. Your type is easy to spot; all you have to do is start one of those noisy, rude and smelly little chain saw motors in a crowd and look for the guy who is salivating uncontrollably as visions of buzzing sporting events and spoiling hang gliding sites pass before his gin-glazed eyes. Well look, damn it, we've had enough. The last three surveys taken of the hang gliding community have all agreed. We don't want you. Get out. Take your nasty, loud and obtrusive machines to Nebraska and crop dust the sugar beets, consider voluntary euthanasia, but get out. -- "Skyman," Hang Gliding, May 1981

It is now obvious that the honorable task which the USHGA took on several years ago, that of shepherding the ultralight powered aircraft craze through its infancy, has been successfully accomplished. The time is overdue for the representative organization of those who practice the art of hang gliding, the USHGA, to regain its focus and return exclusively to the pursuit of its original purpose.
    Two powerful factors are working to estrange the USHGA from its defined path. The first is economic. The market potential for small powered aircraft is much greater than for hang gliders. Predictably, the hang gliding industry is rushing to fill this need. Caught up in this rush are a great many of those who are responsible for guiding hang gliding through the years to its present astounding level of accomplishment. Now blind with enthusiasm, they tend to pressure the USHGA down a different road.
    The second factor has to do with the desires that motivate people to fly. Powered ultralight aircraft provide the pilot with unlimited airtime and unlimited mileage. The majority of pilots have no desire for engineless flight. Even hang glider pilots are turning to powered flight in droves. Screaming through the sky, motors snarling scant inches from their heads, they choose their destinations at will and claim they are hang gliding with engines. Blind with enthusiasm, they would take the USHGA with them.
    It is indeed a sorry day that I must remind the members and officers of the USHGA, and the staff of its publication, Hang Gliding Magazine, what hang gliding is.
    Hang gliding is the simplest form of flight. Our wings are light and maneuverable. Micrometeorology holds great meaning to us. We challenge the wind to games of skill. When we win, our rewards are airtime, distance and tremendous exhilaration. We desire the serenity of the sky. We are a breed apart.
    Get power out of the USHGA or get the USHGA out of hang gliding! -- Rick Masters, Hang Gliding, May 1981

    The big difference between the ultralight and paragliding episodes was the failure of the USHGA to spin off paragliding. Despite similar protests in the magazine, the parachuting sport was instead permanently absorbed into the USHGA (with a name change) as the United States Paragliding and Hang Gliding Association.
    Similar actions were taken throughout the world's national hang gliding organizations. In retrospect, it was a huge mistake because it caused hang gliding to lose its focus, identity, accomplishments and history. The entire safety gestalt of the USHGA was compromised to allow for dangerous aircraft (without structurally-defined airfoils) that could collapse in turbulence. Hang gliding gradually became a lesser component of amorphous "free-flight" as the influence of paragliding grew. For US hang gliding to save itself, paragliding should have been spun off towards the United States Parachuting Association. Instead, the USHGA was consumed by paragliding.

[Bob Kuczewski]

Good points all around.



Great application of Eagle's picture, Bill.     
Great insight into the history of the current mess, Rick.     


To RS,

First, thanks for caring enough to give some thought to the situation. Your enthusiasm for all aspects of hang gliding (from safe splat to politics) is really super. You've asked a lot of questions, and the answers would be too long for one post. So let me apologize in advance for any I've missed, and I'll just give you what I see as the "30,000 foot" view ...

I think the problems (for hang gliding) inside USHPA come from 3 sources:

• Paragliding
• Money
• Cronyism

Paragliding - As Rick points out, there are some serious safety concerns with soft wings. But even if paragliding was as safe as playing golf, there's a problem with an association that attempts to serve two masters. Given the popularity of golf, the "US Hang Gliding and Golf Association" would be completely dominated by golfers. The huge golf constituency would out-vote the tiny hang gliding constituency on any issue where they differed. That's what we're seeing as paragliding is eclipsing hang gliding within USHPA. USHPA's top leadership (President and Executive Director) have been primarily PG pilots for years now. Hang gliding is becoming a second class citizen in the organization that it started.

Money (aka: "The root of all evil") - This one is self-explanatory for anyone over the age of 12. The big schools (like Torrey) bring in a large part of USHPA's money. They have a strong interest in controlling USHPA. Because they charge money, they cannot rely on recreational land use statutes and they need insurance to cover their operations. USHPA has become their mechanism to get 10,000 pilots to chip in for the insurance that they need to run their businesses. Anyone who challenges any of these schools will get USHPA's wrath. USHPA's expulsion proceeding against me was the most visible example of that wrath.

Cronyism - Any of USHPA's problems that don't fall under the previous two categories are most likely a result of cronyism. For example, Brad Hall really didn't like Bill Bennett. So when David Jebb took over Torrey, Brad Hall saw Jebb as his hero. Brad Hall had close connections with Lisa Tate (then President of USHPA), and Brad used his influence with Lisa to suppress reforms at Torrey. Brad and Lisa were both hang gliding pilots, but the twisted history of their politics has kept hang gliding from having fair representation on the Torrey Pines Soaring Council for decades. Combine that cronyism with the money and paragliding dominance at Torrey and you can see what we've been up against.

When I was elected as Regional Director, I didn't play the "insider games". When the other Directors were holding their ritual poker-fest, I was in my hotel room reading through the piles of new regulations passed by the committees and scheduled for the Board's vote the next day. I was there to represent the interests of the members, and that didn't sit well with many of the other Directors. It was like oil and water.

Eventually, those problems contributed to USHPA's loss of insurance. USHPA's insurance had been earned with decades of pilot dollars, but it was squandered in a few short years under the failed leadership of Rich Hass and Mark Forbes. They needed someone to burn at the stake, and that's why they smeared me with that national letter sent to each and every USHPA member. I wrote a detailed reply to every point, and I asked that it be sent to every member as well. Rich Hass refused. They want to control what can be said and not said. That's why USHPA doesn't have a pilot's forum where pilots can speak their minds and ask fair questions of USHPA's leadership.

As for Jack (hanggliding.org) and Davis (ozreport.com), they each do what's in their interests. They are building their own personal empires, and they're not interested in building a representative organization as we are here at the US Hawks. They don't have a Board of Directors (trial or otherwise) and they don't have any intention of becoming member controlled organizations. They see the US Hawks as a threat to their dominance of discussions just as USHPA sees the US Hawks as a threat to their monopoly.

That's the short answer, and I'm sorry if it didn't get to all of your questions. I'll send you a PM with my phone number, and I'd enjoy a phone call to dive into any details you like. I'd also like to hear first-hand accounts of your safe splat adventures and discuss other aspects of this great sport.

Thanks very much to everyone who's working to build this new association.

Sincerely,
Bob Kuczewski

[reluctantsparrow]

Thanks for all the good replies. Really helps me see what is going on more clearly. And now for a bedtime story.
...The lift was Good the day that Dorothy awoke in OZ,
and quickly made some friends who gathered for a common Cause,
To go and see the Wizard some said ruled the countryside...
But never showed his face as if he had something to hide.
She liked the flying Monkeys up until they acted strange,
with their unprovoked hostility towards Dorothy and Gang.
For creatures that could fly, and rise above all Ozly care.
The flying Monkeys acted like theyd never learned to share.
They seemed so unconcerned about the passengers theyd dropped,
Into the limbs of trees that broke the falls and sudden stops,
But Dorothy and Crew in spite of all of this confusion,
Pettiness, greed, and other products of illusion,
Went off to see the Wizard, Pulled the curtain back,
And found behind the curtain what was false and what was fact.......RS

[Bob Kuczewski]

I didn't catch the poetry on first reading...

The lift was Good the day
that Dorothy awoke in OZ,
and quickly made some friends
who gathered for a common Cause,

To go and see the Wizard
some said ruled the countryside...
But never showed his face
as if he had something to hide.

She liked the flying Monkeys
up until they acted strange,
with their unprovoked hostility
towards Dorothy and Gang.

For creatures that could fly,
and rise above all Ozly care.
The flying Monkeys acted like
theyd never learned to share.

They seemed so unconcerned about
the passengers theyd dropped,
Into the limbs of trees that broke
the falls and sudden stops,

But Dorothy and Crew
in spite of all of this confusion,
Pettiness, greed, and other
products of illusion,

Went off to see the Wizard,
Pulled the curtain back,
And found behind the curtain
what was false and what was fact.

......RS

Nicely done!!!!

[Bill Cummings]

103 viewers in last 60 min..JPG (62.86 KiB) Viewed 6898 times

ed

Oz views in last 60 min..JPG (45.44 KiB) Viewed 6898 times

This is the second largest separation of viewership numbers that I have seen.
I haven't done the math but I would estimate safely that Hawks viewership usually runs more than double the Oz viewership in the same 60 minute period.
However I expect that this post will skew my daily monitoring due to viewers checking for themselves which will give Oz a bump in viewership. If it does I have the daily record history stored for months past.
Bob K has been blocked from several websites where hang gliding pilots log into. My record keeping although not scientific is compiled each time I log onto the internet. My viewing habits (times logging in.) could vary widely from that of others. Every once in a long while I see the viewership at the Oz Report exceeding that of the US Hawks.
Below is just a randomly selected daily PM that I sent to Bob K so that he would be able to gauge his web site's success when compared to one of the websites that banned him.
43 Hawks/19 Oz @ 04:50 MDST 6-24-2016
44 Hawks/13 Oz @ 15:33 MDST 6-24-2016
44 Hawks/12 Oz @ 19:49 MDST 6-24-2016
30 Hawks/11 Oz @ 21:09 MDST 6-24-2016
36 Hawks/22 Oz @ 22:42 MDST 6-24-2016

[Rick Masters]

It's hard to get much action on a members-only forum that's closed to public view because search engines can't refer anyone to it.
They can, however, stroke each other in the dark with confidence.

[Bill Cummings]

http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=150060#150060
Ben R. quotes:

News flash Bill, I am not alone in feeling this way..

Your in a category of un-insured, non-waviored and self defeating ex-members of which there are few..

Ben I'm sure you are right when you say that you are not alone in feeling this way.
Maybe so when you say ---"of which there are few.."
But my many months of record keeping indicates to me that there is a big thirst for knowledge on the internet of pilots looking for answers.
The web page programs post, at the bottom of their home page, the activity over the previous sixty minutes.
Pilots seem to me to be gravitating to sites that are providing ideas and solutions that they feel comfortable with.
Maybe those automated programs indicate other trends and proclivities of viewers that I haven't considered.
But since Bob K was banned at the Oz Report I've noticed a trend that indicates to me that pilots are drifting towards the
US Hawks web site.
Below (the first three of 08-01-2016) is not the general trend but an unusually wide disparity of viewers recorded between the Hawk and the Oz Report.
Better than 90% of the time the US Hawks will only enjoy patronage slightly over twice that of which the Oz Report enjoys.
My records are not scientific and are only captured when I get on the internet.
My take on things, Ben, is that pilots that may once have held opinions similar to yours and in line with the status quo (USHPA)
are now checking out other ideas. Many haven't taken the leap as of yet to throw in with the US Hawks but they sure are watching. (Watching like a Hawk.)
(Mountain Daylight Saving Time = MDST)
98 Hawks/24 Oz @ 08:34 MDST 8-01-2016.
69 Hawks/17 Oz @ 11:30 MDST 8-01-2016.
77 Hawks/18 Oz @ 12:29 MDST 8-01-2016.
69 Hawks/10 Oz @ 07:13 MDST 7-30-2016.
48 Hawks/12 Oz @ 20:37 MDST 7-30-2016.
71 Hawks/18 Oz @ 23:24 MDST 7-30-2016.
56 Hawks/29 Oz @ 09:10 MDST 7-29-2016.
75 Hawks/21 Oz @ 23:52 MDST 7-29-2016.
21 Hawks/24 Oz @ 06:54 MDST 7-28-2016. (Oz takes the lead)<<<<<<
47 Hawks/27 Oz @ 07:39 MDST 7-28-2016. (Hawks wake up after 07:00?)
52 Hawks/27 Oz @ 07:42 MDST 7-28-2016.
55 Hawks/24 Oz @ 07:46 MDST 7-28-2016. (looks like 3 left Oz for Hawks website)
57 Hawks/21 Oz @ 07:50 MDST 7-28-2016. (two more came over. 1 went for coffee.)
61 Hawks/23 Oz @ 10:07 MDST 7-28-2016.
66 Hawks/37 Oz @ 11:22 MDST 7-28-2016. (Oz up. My bad. I kicked the bee hive.)
54 Hawks/29 Oz @ 17:54 MDST 7-28-2016. (No longer kicking the bee hive.)
74 Hawks/20 Oz @ 22:46 MDST 7-28-2016.
58 Hawks/15 Oz @ 23:48 MDST 7-28-2016.
Months more below here available.