[Bob Kuczewski]

I applaud this move on your part Bob, it's a good one.

The issue needs to be kept alive and should be reexamined periodically by the org.

When I notified them (several years ago) that all of the stated reasons for your expulsion had evaporated with none left still standing, the reply was essentially (in my words) - SO WHAT, HE'S STILL EXPELLED!

That is the attitude that needs to be overcome.

May you prevail,

Frank C.

This expulsion has been one of the most damaging things that USHPA has done to itself - second only to backing the grossly negligent paragliding business at Torrey Pines Gliderport.

[Craig Muhonen]

Those good ol' boys at the 'top' must be sitting around smoking their fat cigars, sipping a drink and congratulating themselves on saving the sport from you!!!! They are, in my view, that clueless.
So, Bob, you know you're doing something right when when you have the 'top guns' gunning for you .
What's your next move?

======================================================================================================================================
In my humble opinion Bob, after the extensive reading I've done, and seeing your military experience, you should become part of a "covert", "Fire Team", as it were, to use Lawsuits to best advantage, to expose the "underbelly" of an organization that is just power hungry. I've always known that this organization is very afraid of the people it has "Banned and Censored", and they are chuckling to themselves, that you keep "broadcasting", and not suing.
Their organization is in financial disarray and vulnerable, especially with the massive increases in insurance, which they refuse to pay, and loss of Ski Areas as launch sites.
It's time to FIGHT,...look them square in the eyes and say, "How are YOU going to act".
=================================================================================================================================

Recreational Hang Gliding is in the fight of it's life, and needs a "Team", Behind the scenes, to codify an organization of loosely fitting members.

H:o)

[Bob Kuczewski]

Earlier today I sent an email message to all of the 10 current USHPA Directors (director01@ushpa.org, director02@ushpa.org, director03@ushpa.org, director04@ushpa.org, director05@ushpa.org, director06@ushpa.org, director07@ushpa.org, director08@ushpa.org, director09@ushpa.org, director10@ushpa.org). I blind copied some of you via email. Here's the text of my message:

Members of the USHPA Board (cc/bcc others),

I am writing to request a reversal of USHPA's unjust 2015 Expulsion action against me (see attached) or to confirm that it is an ongoing action of USHPA under your Directorship.

I am also writing to request a reversal of USHPA's unjust 2016 refusal to renew the Torrey Hawks Chapter status or again to confirm that the refusal is an ongoing action of USHPA under your own Directorship.

As I look at the list of current Directors (Nellie Milfield, Steven Pearson, Julia Knowles, Pamela Kinnaird, Nicholas Greece, Charles W. Allen, Stephan Mentler, Tiki Mashy, Bill Hughes, Jon Faiz Kayyem), I see very few names who were a party to these unjust actions taken in 2015 and 2016. I do not blame any of you for what your predecessors might have done. But every day is a new day, and today you begin to write your own legacy in the matter. I hope you will see this message as an opportunity to right some of the wrongs done by those who came before you. If you choose not to investigate and correct the matter, then you will no longer be blameless. I sincerely hope that you will make the effort to investigate this matter and reverse this long-standing injustice for the betterment of the entire hang gliding and paragliding community.

With regard to the facts, I will try to be brief, but there is a lot to cover. If you have any inclination toward correcting this injustice, I can provide many more details at your request. Please don't hesitate to ask. Please call or write any time. Don't believe what you might have heard. Contact me yourself.

The four core issues in my expulsion involved USHPA's retaliation for my actions in:

   A. Creating the U.S. Hawks Hang Gliding Association
   B. "Disrupting"/"Endangering" operations at Torrey Pines
   C. Testifying to the City Council about Torrey Pines
   D. Testifying in court regarding a paragliding injury

Those four summarize the roughly two dozen individually numbered and lettered "charges" in my 2015 USHPA expulsion notice (see attached termination letter as well as my written response to each charge and each charge category).

I stand behind my actions listed above as A, C, and D. I did create the U.S. Hawks Hang Gliding Association to be an association representing hang gliding pilots. I have testified honestly to both the San Diego City Council and in a Court of Law about the ongoing problems and abuses at the Torrey Pines Gliderport. I have continued to do so since my expulsion, and I will continue to do so whether my expulsion is reversed or not. But none of those should have ever been grounds for expulsion. I do, however, deny all of the accusations summarized as "Disrupting"/"Endangering" operations at Torrey Pines Gliderport. Those are false claims and there was no evidence ever provided that I had done any of those things. I believe they were added to give at least some appearance of something related to flight for which I was being expelled, and they are simply not true. Please review the attached documents for more details.

There is no historical doubt that many of the charges were "window dressing" to cover USHPA's retaliation against me for my testimony in the Shannon Hamby lawsuit which was settled in her favor for an undisclosed amount of money. It is likely that the Hamby settlement along with other potential litigation at that time (Jean Lake, for example) was behind USHPA's loss of insurance. There is little doubt that this was the primary motivation behind my expulsion. After all, I started the U.S. Hawks in 2010, and USHPA knew about it from the very beginning. Yet USHPA never said a word or issued a warning that starting a national hang gliding association was grounds for expulsion. I had similarly been speaking to the San Diego City Council since at least 2008 about the problems at Torrey Pines. Again, USHPA never said a word or issued any warnings. It wasn't until I testified in the Hamby case in the fall of 2014 (and the subsequent settlement), that USHPA suddenly decided to expel me including those "reasons" in early 2015. The attached expulsion letter is dripping with USHPA's resentment in settling the Hamby case at a loss.

So the decision for you today is whether **YOUR** USHPA should continue to act out of retaliation or not. Do you want to inherit the sins of your predecessors or not? Please think for yourself. That's why you were elected.

I will say that my expulsion has had a number of important benefits in freeing both pilots and sites from USHPA's grip.

The clearest example has been Dockweiler Beach. For many years the County of Los Angeles required USHPA membership as a condition to fly at that site. In the spring of 2017 we brought the injustice of USHPA's expulsion to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. They looked into the matter and decided very quickly that there was a clear need to provide some mechanism for non-USHPA members to fly at the site based on USHPA's own expulsion documents. By July of 2017 (just a few months later), the Los Angeles County legal department had drafted and approved a simple one sheet waiver that we have been able to use to fly at Dockweiler WITHOUT USHPA membership ever since (see the attached Dockweiler waiver).

Similarly, several other sites have since withdrawn their requirement for USHPA membership. It's my understanding that the entire state of Utah has removed their USHPA requirement from all of their sites. In fact I flew at Point of the Mountain shortly after that change. I believe that many more sites could be opened up to non-USHPA flying by exposing this injustice to the appropriate land owners. It's just a matter of finding the appropriate land owner and making the case. USHPA's own expulsion letter reads like USHPA's confession that they will retaliate for even simple things like creating an alternative hang gliding association. Go ahead and read it again. Such retaliation is seen by any good governments and any good land owners as entirely inappropriate and even repugnant.

In addition to loss of USHPA monopolized sites, the unjust expulsion has also cost USHPA both members and money. I personally know a number of pilots who explicitly terminated their membership because of USHPA's unjust retaliation in my case. I know of others who explicitly withheld donations that they intended to make based on USHPA's unjust retaliation in my case. I know of many many others who remain USHPA members so they can fly, but are otherwise disgusted with USHPA's actions in this matter and would happily go elsewhere.

In closing, I'd like to paraphrase what I recall from Director Tiki Mashy when she spoke at my expulsion hearing. She pointed out that I was not being expelled for any flight violations at all. In fact, there has been no claim that my flying has been unsafe in any way (see Joe Greblo's attached 2017 endorsement as an example of my flying history). Tiki pointed out that the things that USHPA didn't like (testifying in court, speaking to the San Diego City Council, and operating the U.S. Hawks) were all things that I would keep doing whether expelled or not. She was similarly pointing out that the ONLY thing USHPA's expulsion was doing was keeping me from flying ... and I had never even been accused of any flight violations in the first place. Unfortunately, Mark Forbes stepped in and quickly shut down Tiki's line of reasoning. Sadly, she gave in to the lynch mob mentality ("The sky is falling because we lost our insurance"), and she voted to expel me along with the rest. That is a stain on Tiki's otherwise sterling record that I hope she will consider reversing while she is still in office and able to do so.

As I said, the sins of the past are only on your shoulders as long as you continue to allow them. I am sure that you will be pressured to ignore this request, but your decision is your own. Please be advised that I will be using your response - or lack of response - to establish USHPA's ongoing retaliation against both individuals and clubs at flying sites throughout the United States. It is my first desire that USHPA reverse both of these actions, and I request that the matters be brought before the entire USHPA Board for reversal at the next available meeting. I will be happy to attend as needed.

Sincerely,
Bob Kuczewski
Club Secretary - Torrey Hawks Hang Gliding Club
Board Member - US Hawks Hang Gliding Association
Former USHPA Member #81898

cc/bcc: Observers

[JoeF]

I sent a follow-on reply to the directors of that org:
--

Present holders of a legacy org of an org for which I was a first pro-temp president .. USHGA,
I urge you to move on Mr. Kuczewski's request firmly. I have studied the matter deeply and
hold that hang gliding was injured by an unjust and unneeded expulsion act. Cure the matter soon!

In the spirit of Chanute, Otto Lilienthal, and Richard Miller,

Joe Faust

[Bob Kuczewski]

I sent a follow-on reply to the directors of that org:
--

Present holders of a legacy org of an org for which I was a first pro-temp president .. USHGA,
I urge you to move on Mr. Kuczewski's request firmly. I have studied the matter deeply and
hold that hang gliding was injured by an unjust and unneeded expulsion act. Cure the matter soon!

In the spirit of Chanute, Otto Lilienthal, and Richard Miller,

Joe Faust

Thanks Joe!!   

Of course, as we now know (nearly a year later), not one single USHPA Director took any action or even acknowledged the communications. Disgusting.

[Chris McKeon]

I Know, I Know I am Posting these Messages that were born out of My TBI damaged Brain. But I do intend on Flying again. Bob, I told You numerous times that You are going to Love it up in the Sierra's. When I have Flown having launched from those great Launches. I experienced the JOY OF FREE FLIGHT like I never did when I launched from a site here in the Lowlands of California. Or at the Coast for that Matter. Bob, so shall You.

One aspect of gong up to say Cloud Buster and launching is that Bob You might not be used to Sites such as Wolf's Peak or Cloud Buster. Bob You might have a little trouble with the fact there is no One who operates a Concession. For there are no Concessions. No there will be no One there to Harras You. But Bob, you will adapt.

[Bob Kuczewski]

Bob, I told You numerous times that You are going to Love it up in the Sierra's.

That may be true, but it's foolish to walk away from sites that we have a right to fly.

Does anyone remember the plight of the American Indians? They gave up their best land in exchange for distant and less favorable land. They did it again and again until they ended up on some of the worst pieces of land in the continent. In most cases, they were forced and had no other choice. But we do have another choice. We should fight for ALL of our flying sites and not just walk away when the going gets tough.

Chris, rather than continually telling pilots to just go fly other sites, it would be appreciated if you would use that same energy to protest the takeover and control of sites that should be open to all pilots. Thanks.

[Chris McKeon]

OL call Me just a little bit ignorant regarding Flying sites. Cut if I were to show up at Torey pines and set up My Predator. Would while I was setting up My glider or about to launch, would I be confronted by someone who claimed to be an Authority of that strip of Coast, who would say to Me that in order to Launch My Glider. I would have to show some sort of verification as to show that I do not know what I would need in order to demonstrate that I would be qualified to launch from that strip of Publicly owned strip of Beach? Also, would I be informed by I do not know Who that before I could launch. That I would need to Pay, again I do not know Who. But would I be informed that first would need to pay Money to Whoever was in control of that Strip of Coastline? I mean really, who owns that strip of Coast Cliff-Line?

[Bob Kuczewski]

... call Me just a little bit ignorant regarding Flying sites ... would I be confronted by someone ... I would need to Pay ... Money to Whoever was in control of that Strip of Coastline ...

Hello Chris,

Sometimes I find that a picture is easier to remember than words. This is a picture of me being arrested at the Torrey Pines Gliderport in 2014.

handcuffs1s.jpg (85.18 KiB) Viewed 487 times

I hadn't broken any law or rule or done anything wrong. But the business running our public park didn't want me there, so they called the police and had me arrested. That happened 3 times. Eventually they realized that they could not keep arresting me just for being there, and that's been a small victory. But if you break any of their made up rules (including attempting to fly without paying or without being a member of USHPA), they will call the police, and you will find yourself in jail. I did take the matter to court, and so far I have been losing. I haven't been able to afford a lawyer, and that's been part of the problem. Our justice system is sadly broken at this time. I hope that helps you understand the situation.

It's true that we should NOT need to belong to USHPA to fly on public land. But as long as ANY public land is requiring USHPA membership, then USHPA should NOT be expelling people for asserting their rights such as testifying in court, or speaking to a City Council, or starting a competing national hang gliding association. That's probably the most important point of this topic.

[Chris McKeon]

OK Bob here are My thoughts. They may be TBI Born thoughts, but nevertheless They are {MY THOUGHTS}. Trust Me there was a time oh around twelve years ago now, that i had difficulty forming thoughts in My Head. But that was then, this is Now. I do not know anything about Torey Pines. But I believe that it might be effective to if a group of HG Pilots were to launch from a place other than Torey Pines. Then fly either North or South to Torey Pines, then all Land in Mass at Torey Pines. This might cause set up a scenario where the corrupt stranglehold that the proprietors just might have a hard time of preventing Pilots Who by the Way as tax paying Citizens, thus being pretty much being all being Tax Paying People. Heck they would all be partial Owners of the Cliff line. These Pilots could be Flying above Torrey Pines, and landing at Torrey Pines. I can see it now the local News reports that a group of Pilots were arrested Saturday for landing on Publicly owned land Today. If 15 Pilots or so all did this on the same Day. It might be a bigger Problem than the owners of Torey Pines Glider Park could deal with.