[Stayfly]

Hello my name is Spencer I’m H4 love the sport and don’t want to see it go away

[Bob Kuczewski]

Hello my name is Spencer ...

Hello Spencer!
Welcome to the U.S. Hawks!!

... I’m H4 love the sport and don’t want to see it go away

You've come to the right place. Our mission statement is in our logo on every page:

    To Promote, Protect, and Serve Recreational Hang Gliding.

Thanks for joining us in that ongoing effort!!   

[JoeF]

Thanks, Bob. Good description.
================================
Joshua,
1. Sites controlled by USHPA insurance will not recognize a rating that is generated by USHGRS. So, if you choose to shake hands with an USHPA-insurance-controlled launch/landing site, then an USHPA rating would be your ticket along with paid-up dues as might be needed at some particular launch-landing site.

2. The air space is not at all controlled by USHPA, only by FAA. Once in the air, no badges are needed, no insurance is needed, no membership is needed, no medical certificate is needed, no training is required, and no membership is required. However, landing safely will often mean that one is well informed and trained for landing a hang glider! How one gets well informed and trained is a matter of choice. I wish you top information and good training; may all your landings be safe! No rating from any source will make one safe in a landing. Each landing is unique and is the responsibility of the pilot.

3. USHGRS ratings do not sour, expire, need fees to maintain. Once rated by USHGRS, that rating is for all time. USHGRS rating for you right now is "H?" and there is a page for such rating for you:
http://www.ushgrs.org/HGpilots/M.html

4. USHGRS rating is not tied to USHPA and is not tied to US Hawks. US Hawks has its own rating system. One may be rated potentially by a thousand rating agents, pending the appearance of such rating agents!

5. One need never mention one's USHGRS rating to anyone. But some treasure their USHGRS rating. Some hate their USHGRS rating, "Jack" and "Marley" are such haters! No problem. USHGRS ratings cannot be voted away. USHGRS ratings are serious matters. Never use any rating as the basis for a launch approval; the highest rated pilot with sterling credentials and experience must launch in a moment only if he or she is ready at that new moment for the launch, flight, and landing, not founded on any rating system.

6. The millions of launch sites that are not controlled by USHPA insurance and do not require memberships and ratings will also not need your USHGRS rating. You are invited to be 100% responsible for your readiness for any launch, flight, and landing. Avoid letting any rating bring undue confidence. Let readiness be your ticket for flight.

7. Have fun, Joshua.

[Felixx68]

Thank you Bob and Joe! Very thorough. I am much less worried about the rating system than I am of being a safe and competent pilot. After only 6 or so days on a hill with good weather, I don’t think I’m there yet, lol. But will continue to try to figure out ways to become moreso. Thank you guys again!

[Bob Kuczewski]

Thank you Bob and Joe! Very thorough. I am much less worried about the rating system than I am of being a safe and competent pilot.

That's the right attitude!!

Please post your progress and feel free to contact any of us by Personal Message (PM) if you have any questions. Many things about hang gliding seem obvious, but there are some things that can bite you if you're not careful. It's always better to ask a question than to bend a down tube (or worse).

Thanks again for joining us!!

[Adamrt]

Hi all!

I recently found this association after looking for information about Robin Hastings. Robin was my childhood gymnastics coach, he was an honorable man with an impressive life - I just wished I could have appreciated that more as a 10 year-old. I am very sorry to hear of his passing.

He continues to influence those around him even today as this has piqued my interest in hang gliding. I am a master's student in mechanical engineering at New Mexico State University and a private pilot. After briefly chatting with Bob, hang gliding sounds like an exciting new venture and an awesome community, please let me know how I can get started!

Best,
Adam Takeshita

[Bob Kuczewski]

Thanks Adam.

I attended Robin's services over the weekend, and I was also impressed with the breadth and depth of his life. His brother listed what he called "Robin's Three H's" for living a good life:

• Honesty
• Humility
• Honor

Robin was a good example of all 3, and we will all miss him.

There is a topic on the forum titled "Robin Hastings Memorial" here:

      https://ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=3790

If you have any nice memories or pictures of Robin, that would be a very nice place to share them. Thanks.

With regard to hang gliding, I can see that your background has all the symptoms of a future hang glider pilot.  There was a time when it was very easy to find people to help you into the sport, but it's getting harder every year. The RGSA forum here on the U.S. Hawks is a good place to ask for help, and I know there are at least a few good hang glider pilots there who can mentor you. Please start a topic in their club forum, and hopefully you will find yourself on a training hill in short order.

Mostly, thanks for your kind post and ...

Welcome to the U.S. Hawks!!!

 

 

 

 

[Chris McKeon]

Bob would You please call Me. My phone for some reason, a reason that I do not know why will not call You. Thank You Bob.

[Chris McKeon]

Well this is my totally wide open message to Bob. For not only Bob will be able to read this Message but everyone else will be able to read it. so be it. Bob, I feel like I just finished my first ever Bull Ride. Where I rode Bodacious. I feel aqs if I rode that Bull as a rank newbee for say 9 seconds but that big old Brahma Bull then proceeded to throw me into the dirt. Yes, then He proceeded to stomp with oh about fifteen hundred pounds of weight directly on my left shoulder. well there is no question. right now it is: "My Turn To Be in The Barrel"

[Bob Kuczewski]

Bob, I feel like I just finished my first ever Bull Ride. Where I rode Bodacious. I feel aqs if I rode that Bull as a rank newbee for say 9 seconds but that big old Brahma Bull then proceeded to throw me into the dirt.

Tim McGraw put out a great song a few years back:

He said, "I was in my early 40s,
With a lot of life before me,
And a moment came that stopped me on a dime.
I spent most of the next days
Lookin' at the X-rays,
Talkin' 'bout the options
And talkin' 'bout sweet time."

I asked him, "When it sank in that this might really be the real end,
How's it hit you, when you get that kind of news?"
Man what'd you do?"
And he said,

"I went sky divin',
I went rocky mountain climbin',
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fumanchu.
And I loved deeper,
And I spoke sweeter,
And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."

And he said, "Someday I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dying."

He said, "I was finally the husband
That most the time I wasn't,
And I became a friend a friend would like to have.
And all of a sudden goin' fishing
Wasn't such an imposition.
And I went three times that year I lost my dad.
Well I finally read the good book,
And I took a good long hard look
At what I'd do if I could do it all again.
And then...

I went sky divin',
I went rocky mountain climbin',
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fumanchu.
And I loved deeper,
And I spoke sweeter,
And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."

And he said, "Someday I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dying."

Like tomorrow was a gift
And you've got eternity
To think about what you'd do with it,
What did you do with it,
What can I do with it,
What would I do with it.

Sky divin',
I went rocky mountain climbin',
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fumanchu.
And I loved deeper,
And I spoke sweeter,
And I watched an eagle as it was flyin'.

And he said, "Someday I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dyin'."

To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'.
To live like you were dyin'.