[Bob Kuczewski]

There seems to be a semi-secret USHPA forum at:

http://ushpa.vizigy.com/forum

The topic listed as: "USHPA eLearning Forum » News » News » USHPA Education Forum Now Open" says this:

The USHPA Education Forum is now available to all BOD members and Chapter Safety Officers.

The topic listed as: "USHPA eLearning Forum » News » News » Risk Mitigation Resources Now Available" says this:

This Chapter Privileged email is being sent to a select portion of the Committee Chairs and ALL Board Members. Please maintain this as confidential correspondence.

Dear Chapter Safety Coordinators and Chapter Presidents,

As many of you already know, we are implementing new requirements for chapters to address risk management which is a mandatory requirement from the insurance company to renew our policy. Policy renewal negations are still underway and demonstrating national progress in risk management is essential in securing the renewal.

You will shortly receive an email from info@vizigy.com with a subject of "An account has been created for you at USHPA eLearning", providing you access to a secure website where information and educational materials will be provided to successfully complete your risk assessments and mitigation plans. If you do not receive the email from info@vizigy within the next 2 days, please check your spam filter and call the office and speak with Jeff Mosher.

The information on the secure website will be provided by our counsel as Attorney-Client Privileged Communications. The first material immediately available is an intro video/power point presentation regarding our current status and the proposed action plan. We encourage you to watch this at your next chapter meeting in the next month so all chapter members collectively understand the current state of affairs. Do NOT share your log-in with anyone. Log-in access is limited to the Safety Coordinator and President only. Once we've completed the additional materials, we will be uploading those for your reference.

Items that will be available on the secure website:
An intro video/power point that introduces our current status and action plan (Available Now)
A Risk Assessment and Mitigation Plan Template - This is a starting point for your process. If you identify additional risk, feel free to add those.
5 Sample Risk Assessment and Mitigation Plans completed for your reference
Approximately 21 short videos (3-5 minutes in length) addressing various topics that will be essential in addressing your Risk Assessments and Mitigation Plans.
Forum to discuss your questions during the assessment and mitigation process with our counsel. Discussion surrounding the risk assessment and mitigation plans must only be conducted on this forum to retain the Attorney-Client Privilege.

Important Deadlines:
June 1st - First set of videos available on secure website
June 1st - Sample Assessments & Plans available on secure website
June 15th - Second set of videos available on secure website
July 15th - Risk Assessments and Mitigation Plans completed by chapters and affidavits confirming completion returned to USHPA

I thank you in advance for your time and assistance in helping complete these crucial steps to secure USHPA's insurance programs.

------------------

Martin Palmaz, Executive Director
United States Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association, Inc.
This is flying. This is freedom.

It's funny that it starts out with this warning: "This Chapter Privileged email is being sent to a select portion of the Committee Chairs and ALL Board Members. Please maintain this as confidential correspondence.", and yet, there it is on the web for anyone who wants to read it.



It goes on to state: "The first material immediately available is an intro video/power point presentation regarding our current status and the proposed action plan. We encourage you to watch this at your next chapter meeting in the next month so all chapter members collectively understand the current state of affairs. Do NOT share your log-in with anyone. Log-in access is limited to the Safety Coordinator and President only."

I just called USHPA to verify that this is one of their sites. The office person answering the phone wasn't aware of it, but she said she'd get back to me ...

[Bill Cummings]

I think they got the idea from the US Hawks (US Hawks Tactical Discussions)
Only they didn’t set it up secure like you did. Maybe you should offer to assist?

I just hope the insurance company demands don’t kill the sport. Much the same way that FAA-610 requirements forced me out of finishing up my quest for a Sport Pilot license. I even passed the CFI test at Douglas AZ but with each new deadline came more restriction and me only being middle class (according to the US tax code) couldn’t come up with the money to stick it out.

This is the way hang gliding will end up. 610 (for Sport Pilot) is the handwriting on the wall for the future of hang gliding.

610’s short history will be the road map for us if anyone is interested in finding out how we will be grounded.

And we will be!

The date is the only thing we might be able to delay.

I’ll Date this as 02/27/2012 so that someone within the next 15 to 20 years or less can dredge this up and post it when the end of hang gliding comes to the middle class as a result of government for the government and by the government.
The dredger can also say that Bill Cummings saw this coming but even then it was too late to do anything about it.

Student of history,
Bill C.

[Rick Masters]

Nice sleuthing, Bob.

This crap makes my skin crawl.

HG pilots should abandon paraglider liability and start their own association.

Read the first post here:
http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17986



Does anyone really think they have anything to gain by sinking with the Paragliding Titanic?

If so, they are deluded. One of these days, speedflyers will outnumber hang gliders.

The USPA isn't in a panic because of hang gliding.

Hang gliding was doing fine until the USHGA let the PG Trojan Horse in.

They are in a panic because of paragliding.

It's like sharing your health insurance with a leper colony.

Are hang glider pilots planning to share the future bad press? That will be a mistake.

A BIG mistake.

[terryJm]

I'm in complete agreement with you all, however; unsure how to withdraw from the union without a civil war. Is a declaration of independence where we start, or are we now a confederacy of independent local organizations, each with our own regulations/insurance. Wanting to, seems to be ahead of our can-do. Is it possible to save the sport simply by reorganizing? How about if we each satisfy part 103 on our own? The ultra-lights seem to be going on without any threat, should we take a clue from them? At a loss of direction for now, later Terry

[Rick Masters]

Don't commercial tandem operators buy their own insurance? I wonder how much it is. Er, ...was.

HG Apr 28 2012 tandem passenger, F Agassiz, Fraser Valley, Vancouver, B.C. CANADA
Fell into forest at 300m from Vancouver Hang Gliding's tandem hang glider as her family was watching.
The search for her body has ceased for the night. VIDEO http://deathby1000papercuts.com/2012/04/search-in-british-columbia-for-woman-who-fell-1000-feet-from-paraglider-video/

[miguel]

Thanks for the link. I scoured the site but was unable to find it.

[Free]

The USPA isn't in a panic because of hang gliding.

Hang gliding was doing fine until the USHGA let the PG Trojan Horse in.

My recollection is that USHGA was nearly broke/defunct from poor management/ misspent funds before pg came along. There were around 10,000 hg pilots previously at some points before paragliding membership was considered into the CORPORATION. And money was leaking like a sieve..

Jayne D. was hired as ED to plug the leaks and save the CORPORATION.. with the help of added income from paragliding memberships.

Jayne turned the books around and built the cash up. After that, Jayne was booted by the same good ol' boys that had run the CORPORATION into the ground and they raided the till put the cash in another CORPORATION, (foundation) where the good ol' boys could spend it as they liked with no accountability to the membership.

The same people that almost broke the association are still in control and Jayne clammed up and run off to Oklahoma with Regional Director/promoter David Glover. Ironically, David Glover, was forced to step down as President of USHGA because of the possibility of "percieved' impropriety.

[Free]

HG Apr 28 2012 tandem passenger, F Agassiz, Fraser Valley, Vancouver, B.C. CANADA
Fell into forest at 300m from Vancouver Hang Gliding's tandem hang glider as her family was watching.
The search for her body has ceased for the night. VIDEO http://deathby1000papercuts.com/2012/04/search-in-british-columbia-for-woman-who-fell-1000-feet-from-paraglider-video/

Re: You are NEVER hooked in.
Posted by Tad Eareckson on Mon Apr 30, 2012 11:45 am

Times Colonist - 2012/04/30 15:48
Kelly Sinoski and Tiffany Crawford, Vancouver

Jason Warner, safety officer for the Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association of Canada, said the pilot knew almost immediately something was wrong after the pair launched off the popular Mount Woodside just before noon. He tried to grab the 27-year-old woman, identified as Lenami Godinez, and sought to hold on to the straps of her harness but she slid out of his grasp, grabbing his feet in a last-ditch attempt to hang on.
===========================

If she was trying to hold on to the straps of HER harness then this one was leg loops. Period
http://www.kitestrings.org/topic9-190.html

Horrible

[Rick Masters]

This should help.

PPG-SKYDIVER Apr 28 2012 Matthew A. Gold, 34 Tillamook Airport, Tillamook OR-USA
"...Gold and pilot Justin Boer of Warren, were flying in a lightweight powered paraglider aircraft known as a paramotor, that took off from the Tillamook Airport. They were flying at a height of between 1,500 and 1,700 feet at the time Gold jumped from the craft." "...killed immediately when his chute didn’t deploy in time."
Skydiver falls to his death at Tillamook Airport
http://www.seasidesignal.com/regional/a ... 459b4.html

WOODSIDE TANDEM
Police said pilot 50-year-old Burnaby man [with] at least 10 years of experience, but after the accident, he made the move of hiding important evidence "and disrupted the investigation, and therefore control obstruction of justice charges.
http://www.iask.ca/news/canada/2012/0501/132668.html

Paragliding will destroy hang gliding. Commercial tandem operators of both disciplines will assist.

Real pilots who love free flight on robust, airframed aircraft will never find a better time than now to abandon the sinking ship of the USPA and form a new, alternative organization with NO PARAGLIDERS and NO FLIGHTS OFFERED FOR MONEY.

[Merlin]

NO FLIGHTS OFFERED FOR MONEY.

Yeah, I have to agree. Well, training is one thing, but joy rides definitely are a BAD idea. Such accidents as above, however rare, are inevitable - with huge consequences.