[Bob Kuczewski]

The US Hawks Hang Gliding Association is being founded to give pilots yet another choice in national organizations.

This topic was started on Friday August 13th, 2010, and it's intended to be a topic where new members can say "Hi" to introduce themselves.

So if you're a new member of the US Hawks, please make a post to this topic telling us about yourself. And if you have any problems, please feel free to send me a "personal message" (PM) or give me a call at 858-204-7499.

Thanks,
Bob Kuczewski

[wingspan33]

Nice Job Bob! Can you customize things at all once we get started? Things look nice, but a little spartan.

[Bob Kuczewski]

I think I can customize it quite a bit just by loading different "styles".

You can go here to check out a bunch of ready-made styles...

http://www.phpbb.com/styles/demo/3.0/?style_id=1039

That's a particularly dark one (like the HGAA), but you can click the "Previous" and "Next" buttons in the upper right corner to browse through dozens (if not hundreds) of different styles.

Let me know if you see anything you particularly like.

By the way, what happened to Wingspan34? Did you scrape your wingtips somewhere?

[wingspan33]

. . . By the way, what happened to Wingspan34? Did you scrape your wingtips somewhere?

Well the glider before the one I currently own had a 34 foot wingspan. I joined hanggliding.org just before I got my new (to me) WW 141 Fusion SP, so I came up with the user name wingspan34, based on the width of my old glider.

Since my old glider is now "old news", I am going with the wingspan of my 141 Fusion. That happens to be 32.7 feet. Rounding up, you get 33 feet. Hence the new user name of wingspan33. To be very precise, I suppose I should call myself wingspan32.7, but that seems odd.

[JoeF]

.... nice niche, BobK!,
I feel like I am USHawk005 or USHawks005

TCF on hang glider in 1908, at least

USHawk005
Joe Faust
Testing program:

USHawk5.jpg (40.33 KiB) Viewed 34603 times

[Free]

The US Hawks Hang Gliding Association is being founded to give pilots yet another choice in national organizations.

Good job, Bob!
You ushered Paul Monteville's departure.
The EC is so arrogant they had to sacrifice a scapegoat but pilots should not expect anything different.

You can consider this organization a success if you give pilots another 'voice' in national organizations.
Secrecy and censorship by those plying that trade has to be challenged at every level.
This can be a place for everyones' voice to be heard.

The internet.. use it or lose it... before "google (CIA/NSA) kills the web".
Google it..

Warren

[Free]

You can consider this organization a success if you give pilots another 'voice' in national organizations.

It's full success on Bob's part that upstart HGAA is causing USHPA to react with a new 'branding' /executive director.
Everything will be the same but it will have a new face. Hope and change, anyone?

Anyway, the "win" is that anyone/HGAA has launched an assault on the good ol' boy hierarchy.
USHPA is now in reaction mode. They may be feeling heat now for the first time.
Only Bob K. can be credited for that. Without Bob's relentless sacrifice, this battle would never have happened.
The idea may have been purloined for whatever reasons but the "win" is that the project is now in motion.
It's a battlefield victory and the cold war begins.

Under chemtrail skies,
Free.. at least I try to be..

[Bob Kuczewski]

It's full success on Bob's part that upstart HGAA is causing USHPA to react ...

Thanks for that recognition. But I also want to give credit to everyone who's supported these efforts - whether at Torrey or nationally. For a long time, I was just one lone voice. It wasn't until others joined the effort that things began to change. I give credit to every single member of the Torrey Hawks and every single person who's ever posted ... anywhere ... for the changes that we're seeing. Thanks, thanks, and more thanks to each of you.

With regard to the national organization situation, it's not clear what's going to happen. USHPA had become an entrenched "old boys (and girls)" club with little tolerance for dissenting views. The HGAA came along and shook them up, but then the HGAA itself became even more intolerant of dissent (a very unfortunate decision on their part).

But in the end, nature abhors a vacuum, so each of the "molecules" in our little universe will rearrange itself to fill the largest gaps. It may be that USHPA will end up being the "open door" organization to counteract the heavy handed HGAA approach. It may be that the HGAA will reverse course and become what I wanted it to be. If neither happens, then the USHawks will step in to be the open door HG organization.

The great thing about competition is that the market will eventually arrange all of these organizations so everyone's needs are met to a greater degree than they were before. In the end, I think that's what we really started. Amen.

[rregal]

Nice Job Bob. You continue to amaze us.

[Bob Kuczewski]

Nice Job Bob. You continue to amaze us.

Thanks Rich, and welcome aboard!!!

I like the avatar. I'll bet we could start a whole topic on launch grips from that photo.

Where was it taken?