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In 2007 Scott wrote:I came on this idea a while ago. It has to do with creating greater exposure for hang gliding - thereby helping to grow the sport - maybe.
Certain pilots have developed XC skills. They often, or at least now and then, fly to places some distance from their usual take off point.
Often, both our regular LZs and XC LZs are remote and typically not very obvious to the public.
What I've given some thought to is this:
What if someone, or some group, promoted HG pilots, who are skilled at and capable of XC flights, to fly to a (safe) very public spot (in their local area) which also makes for a good XC landing zone?
Large open public park fields, or (at time of landing) inactive athletic fields are what I'm thinking about. Either way, places where some number of people could be encountered (but not hit, coming in to land).
Imagine the impact of putting a REAL LIVE Hang Glider AND it's Pilot, right in front of the public! And I'm not talking about just one glider landing in some High School soccer field. I'm talking about 1, then 2, then 3 or more gliders all coming in to land, one after the other, at the same public site. (always with safety in mind, thank you!)
What if the local paper, or even TV station was alerted to such an event as, or better yet - before, it took place?
Real bold and good landing skill pilots could even land in some large Shopping Mall parking lot - on a light shopping day like Sunday (when there's enough room to find a landing/parking spot
).
Imagine the attention and thrill the public might get from seeing and "participating" in a public HG FLY-IN. I can think of a number of places where this could be done within a short XC distance of many of my local sites. I would expect that this may also be the case at many other sites around the country.
What if a specific day (or week) was dedicated to accomplishing such local, public, HG FLY-INs? All with the goal (pardon the pun) of doing a short or moderate distance XC to a (safe) public place/LZ where the public can experience/see, and maybe even touch, real live hang gliders and their pilots.
Is this a wacky idea
, or a good/great idea
? Is there some input you can give and/or are there any modifications or additions to this thought that could make it an even better concept? Or does it just suck?
Think about it a little before responding - the idea could grow on you.
I would like to suggest calling this the "Spread Your Wings" campaign. It could/would include printing out business cards for ANY pilot to hand out to at least 10 people (per year?) with, oh maybe, HangGliding.Org printed on them.
Now, go discuss this amongst yourselves.
The irony, of course, is that Scott himself can't even post to the topic he started because Jack Axaopoulos banned him in 2010 because Scott was standing up for fairness on the HGAA.
And for a little more irony, it was Joe Faust who practically bootstrapped the entire sport of hang gliding and now he's banned as well. And everyone else just goes about their business as if there's nothing wrong there. All it takes for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.
