For now, I just want to document the facts ...

The day started out nice enough. It was our regular Second Sunday, and I set up both my Falcon 195 and the "Little Hawk" 65.

The winds weren't great for hang gliding, but we had a handful of members show up, and I believe that Mike (flying my Falcon) was the only person to fly a hang glider all day. In other words, 100% of the hang gliding flights were by members of the Torrey Hawks.




But the day was marred by yet another abuse by the concessionaire (Robin Marien). A few of our members brought guests to enjoy the day with us, and we offered them our customary "hands-on" experience with Little Hawk. You'll find the history of "Little Hawk" well documented throughout this forum, but in short, Little Hawk was specifically designed to be a safely-sized model hang glider for ground use by people with no hang gliding experience in situations where it might be difficult (or dangerous) for them to handle a full-sized glider. Little Hawk has been successfully used by members of the public at flying sites like Torrey Pines, Wallaby Ranch, Crestline, Fort Funston, as well as non-flying sites like parks and beaches from coast to coast.



So as we have done at almost all of our fly-ins, we invited our guests to hold the Little Hawk glider in the setup area for photos and to take a few running steps to get a feel for how a hang glider flys with a little wind. We required all of our guests to wear helmets, and we had multiple experienced pilots on hand as well. These animated GIF images show two typical runs by two of our guests on Sunday, August 11th, 2013:





I don't have an exact record of how many runs were made by our guests, but I would guess somewhere between 3 and 5 (total number for both guests). All of these runs were cearly visible to the Torrey Pines staff, and yet we were not interrupted, and we were not asked to alter our activities in any way. After these few runs, the Little Hawk glider was tied down so we could walk to launch with Mike who was going to fly my Falcon (as mentioned above).

Ernie and I (both waivered pilots) assisted Mike with his wires as we walked down to the launch area. Our two guests followed us under our supervision. Mike's launch was excellent (as usual), and we all began walking back to the setup area. At some point, Gabe Jebb began telling us that we could not have pilots on the field who had not signed the waivers.

First of all, the lease clearly states that the public shall not be excluded from any portion of the premesis. Second, the lease does not require anyone to sign any waivers (especially the lengthy and legally abusive Torrey Pines waivers) to be on the property. Third, it's common practice for people to be on that field without signing the waivers. It's common for guests. It's common for spectators. And it's common for people who happen to be cutting across the field going from one place to another.

So we went up to Gabe to ask about what the rules are for bringing guests down to launch. During that interaction, Gabe claimed that we were "harassing" him, and he said he was calling 911 to summon the police. He walked around with his phone for some time (apparently on hold for 911?) while I recorded the conversation and his response. At one point he approached me menacingly in what can only be viewed as some form of attempted intimidation:



You'll notice from that footage, that Gabriel Jebb was clearly coming toward me while I remained stationary. I pointed out that the evidence would clearly show that we were NOT harassing him and that his actions would be more likely interpreted as harassment or intimidation. Somehow the police never arrived at the Gliderport in response to Gabe Jebb's supposed "911" call.

But during the incident, Gabe Jebb called out to Robin that we were harassing him and that he was calling 911. Robin responded by approaching us. Here's a transcript of that discussion (Blue for Bob, Red for Robin):


Here's what part of that conversation looked like from my perspective:


Of course, this wasn't the first time that a Torrey Pines Concessionaire used their power to bully pilots. I'd been through it all with Gabe's father David Jebb in years gone by. The pattern was all too familiar. So I asked several times (on camera) for a written reason as to why I was being suspended. I was doing just that during what ended up being one of the most revealing conversations of the day.

In this last video, I was recording a conversation with one of Robin's instructors who had approached me with a "GoPro" video camera pointed at me. So I turned on my camera as well and ended up capturing this bit of footage with Robin and another member of his "team" both smoking right in front of the San Diego City sign that prohibits smoking:



What's truly remarkable about this last video is that Robin actually calls out to me "I'm smoking Bob" and begins laughing as he turns and points to the San Diego City's "No Smoking" sign with a cigarette sticking out of his mouth. And yet this is the person who's supposed to be in charge of enforcing the rules? Robin is a living mockery of the San Diego City Government.

These last few pictures are still photos from the video showing Robin turning to point a mocking finger at the San Diego City's No Smoking sign:





And here's a better picture of the sign that Robin is pointing at:



Since San Diego is in a perpetual budget crunch, $1000 per day from Robin (and more from some members of his staff) might be a welcome contribution.

Ooops. I almost forgot. No day at Torrey would be complete without Robin's traditional salute to hang gliding:



Such a class act to represent the City of San Diego.    

More documentation of facts ...

On the evening of the suspension (August 11th, 2013) I wrote and sent the following email message to Robin and others:



Just today (August 14th, 2013), I sent the following message to USHPA President Rich Hass and my 3 Regional Directors:

I just got a reasonable reply from our USHPA President Rich Hass:



I replied almost immediately:



I followed up with this:

Bob, If I were you I would not trust my ears as to what any staff member at Torrey Pines said to me. I would notify them of my hearing concerns and inform them that I will continue to follow the all rules and statutes that appear in written form concerning my use of the City Park. I would further inform them that any communication that any staff member directs to me will be in written form registered and post marked by the USPS. My signed returned receipt by myself or my personal attorney (so and so esquire) will be the staffs evidence that I have been notified of any alleged communication or directive. Then I would set up and launch. The ball would then be in their court. Their actions would also be recorded for court. Unless this group fear$ the legitimate court cost$ you will find it hard to get their attention. I will assist you with your filing fee$.

Good suggestion Bill!!!

I think at this time, I'm going to go through all the proper channels to make it clear that USHPA is NOT willing to help pilots. Instead, USHPA always sides with the money-makers ... like the concessionaire at Torrey.

It's time that all pilots recognize that USHPA is a "Regional Director's club" and does not care about the pilots any further than to collect their money.

This morning I heard back from Dan DeWeese (one of our three USHPA Directors in Region 3):



So that's the assistance I get when Rich Hass (USHPA President) said I should "work with the RD's in your region"?

Here's my reply to Dan DeWeese, Rich Hass, Rob Sporrer, Corey Caffrey and other observers:



I followed up with a message to USHPA's Soaring Council representative Ken Baier:



Let's see what we're paying for at USHPA.

Note for TPG personnel and to users of Little Hawk:
Since Little Hawk does not have anyone hanging from it and gliding from it, but only running with it, then it is not a hang glider, but simply a wing intended for wing running, as when one runs with an umbrella. The WWRA clearly holds that Little Hawk's intended purpose, size, and arrangement does not qualify it as used as a "hang glider." Park users carry hats, umbrellas, newspapers, Little Hawks, etc. as part of their play, dreaming, running practice, walking practice.
It seems silly for TPG or anyone else to pretend that Little Hawk is a hang glider; Little Hawk is a symbol of a hang glider, but not a hang glider itself. Little Hawk has been handled by school children in other states and by people in parks throughout much of the United States.

I’ll be darned if I can find my copy of Risk Mitigation information from USHPA.
I went to the USHPA site and found a button for members to click on but to do so I would be agreeing that I would not up load or repost any portion the PDF. (WTF)

So fine! I’ll just allude to the USHPA Risk Mitigation information by paraphrasing in terms of veiled innuendo (that is not a French word for a suppository.) and purposeful obfuscation in the hopes of preserving deniability of any liability directed toward the USHPA (SSSHHHHH!)

Allegedly being guilty of something requiring secrecy our official PDF information getting out would be tipping our hand it would seem.

So if you are not an authorized member of the USHPA and you feel that you have come upon this posting while not possessing a LEVEL #3 SECURITY CLEARANCE you are now being asked to do the honorable thing and close this post.
The following is for eyes of official members of the USHPA ONLY! (You also might wish to close this post rather than let me waste any of your time---but--

Bob K. was banned from Torrey Pines for thirty days allegedly for allowing guests to be drug around while not being hooked into the 60 some odd square feet of the model Little Hawk. If Bob was really smart he should have put a paper hawks head and tail feathers on Little Hawk and painted wing feathers on the wings.
Then tell people to come run with my hawk shaped, sun shade. Let Robin try and explain to the police why they should escort you off of the property for that.
Don’t forget to up load the entire alleged crime to Youtube.

Bob, Just remember when Robin shows you his middle finger that really means,
“Damn it!, you’re right Bob - I just can’t think up a snappy comeback.”

If you could sneak up on Robin and inject him with sodium pentothal you would hear him say, “Gee but you’re so fast with the logical responses Bob I can’t think of anything to do right now but throw you the finger and walk away.”
In a battle of wits Robin appears to be unarmed. Poor Robin. It must be excruciatingly aggravating for him.
We Hawks should take up a collection for poor Robin.

Sam K. and I were lamenting on the Risk Mitigation recommended procedures like not having any un-waivered (that does not appear to be a real word) pilots in the setup and launching area of our sites. However our site at Dry Canyon New Mexico is in the Lincoln National Forest and we as a club have no horsepower at all to require visitors to sign away their legal rights or even tell them where and where not they can stand.
The only leverage that Robin could possibly legitimately have over you is USHPA peer pressure. To keep you from bringing visitors that had not signed our USHPA waiver onto the designated hang gliding setup area at risk of our insurance company canceling our insurance. (Not site but third party.) You would not have violated any rule, statute or law but I’ve been through this personally with an insurance company based in Winter Haven Florida.
If I were to fly anywhere on Colby Lake in northern Minnesota during the days of the Hoyt Lakes Water Carnival, that was put on by the Hoyt Lakes Boat Club, and the American Water Ski Association found out about it the boat club would have their insurance canceled. (Peer pressure.)
That’s where I learned that even when I do everything by the book there are people with power over me that do not let the “Book” interfere with their point of view or let me put their bottom line at ri$k.
So could Robin get your rating card pulled for violating one of his directives whether he was being underhanded or not? With the staff at USHPA currently --I believe he could. In spite of you being totally within the law. Be careful.
Sadly being correct is no shield from being wronged.
Justice is imperfect.

Can I see a copy of the suspension? If he didn't issue a written copy then I imagine it was only a verbal warning and not a true suspension. I am also analyzing this treatment from the viewpoint of Veterans Affairs, which would have Federal Jurisdiction.

The viewpoint from students is they do not need their instructors distracted when they are in a dangerous lesson.