[Bob Kuczewski]

More memorable words by Mike Jefferson (SlopeSkimmer) in the "Re: USHPA: Governance Proposal" topic on hanggliding.org :

Also,
When the board decided to remove a good HG pilot for testifying in court.

You can't kick someone out of the sport of hang gliding!

IMO, the USHPA has become a monopoly by design. This organization which started with good intentions, under the guise of safety and self preservation has morphed into a self righteous group of common street thugs. The USHPA has no governing authority. The Federal Aviation Administration is the only national authority with powers to regulate all aspects of civil aviation.

We have challenged the legal authority of the USHPA at our largest flying site in Northern California and won. Ed Levin Park is now a non-discriminatory, non-exclusionary hang gliding site open to all hang glider pilots regardless of their affiliation with any local or national organizations.

I beg you, please stand up for your right to free flight and the rights of all human beings to enjoy the sport of hang gliding.

Mike Jefferson
USHPA #76175 H-3 (this week)
AUA #1005 Master Pilot, Advanced Instructor, Tandem Instructor, Regional Director
US Hawks #63 (all previous ratings recognized)
I'll join any organization that promotes hang gliding!

Mikes words are right on target. The only (slight) disagreement I'd have is that Joe didn't say that USHPA kicked anyone out of hang gliding. When Joe wrote "the board decided to remove a good HG pilot for testifying in court" - he meant remove from USHPA and not from the sport of hang gliding. I believe Joe felt that was wrong. And Joe - being USHPA member #5 - is in a perfect position to state what USHPA (USHGA) was originally intended to be.

But Mike's words are still right on target. His work at Ed Levin is a beacon for us to follow.

[Frank Colver]

I agree totally as USHPA #7 with USHPA #5.

Frank

[Bob Kuczewski]

Since Mike Jefferson is in the news on another topic (Good Job Mike!!) I thought I'd finally share the "insider" secret that many of us knew almost 2 years ago.

When the U.S. Hawks Association was founded back in 2010, Jack Axaopoulos
(operator of hanggliding.org) desperately wanted to keep us from succeeding. So he modified the software on hanggliding.org so that any posts that linked to ushawks.org would automatically be changed to "loserville.org". Jack did this to intentionally fool search engines (like Google) into rating the U.S. Hawks lower because there were no links (zero) from a popular site like hanggliding.org.

So Mike Jefferson had the very clever idea to purchase "loserville.org" and direct it to ushawks.org.



So for all that time, Jack the Ax thought he was cleverly poking his finger in the eye of the U.S. Hawks, but he was actually providing links to our site instead.

It was a brilliant idea by Mike, and he showed tremendous initiative in carrying it out on his own. Mike has done many other things for hang gliding (like teaching thousands of students and opening Ed Levin park), but this one will always stand out in my mind.

Thanks Mike. You are a hero to me.  

[Bob Kuczewski]

Thanks Guys!

I did what I thought was right. I fought to open Ed Levin Park to all hang gliding pilots regardless of their organization or club affiliation. I am now working on our other publicly owned site to release the USHPA death grip there. It won't be long before these USHPA bullies will be ghosts of the past.

We have challenged the legal authority of the USHPA at our largest flying site in Northern California and won. Ed Levin Park is now a non-discriminatory, non-exclusionary hang gliding site open to all hang glider pilots regardless of their affiliation with any local or national organizations.

I beg you, please stand up for your right to free flight and the rights of all human beings to enjoy the sport of hang gliding.

Mike Jefferson
USHPA #76175 H-3 (this week)
AUA #1005 Master Pilot, Advanced Instructor, Tandem Instructor, Regional Director
US Hawks #63 (all previous ratings recognized)
I'll join any organization that promotes hang gliding!

Mike has done many other things for hang gliding (like teaching thousands of students and opening Ed Levin park) ...

Thanks Mike. You are a hero to me.  

As far as I know, Ed Levin park still does not require USHPA membership. Here are some videos featuring Ed Levin Park:

https://youtu.be/pKieic5YHEE Ed Levin flight


https://youtu.be/5hrYVxwMrEQ Driving glider up Ed Levin


https://youtu.be/r_bOmviGii8 Driving glider up Ed Levin


Can anyone confirm that USHPA membership is still not needed to fly at Ed Levin?

[Frank Colver]

I had emailed Logan about it a couple of days ago, as you knew when i sent you a copy, thinking he would know more, but I haven't had a reply. He was the only contact I had that had been involved in opening up sites to non-ushpa members.

The current site rules published by the local club (WOR) still says ushpa is required but they may have just left it that way even though it is no longer required. Controlling organizations tend not to reduce restrictions even if no longer valid.

If ushpa hang ratings are still the only ratings recognized then there is still an access problem because all the Ed Levin launches require ratings.

Frank