Not the first paraglider found to be hogging airspace.
Environmentalists ask to punish a school that allowed a pig to go paragliding Environmental groups, accompanied by Councilman Alvaro Munera Medellin, denounce this week to police a case of animal cruelty in which a pig was released into the air in a paraglider. The fact became known through social networks, but so far has not been able to identify those responsible. Juan Guillermo Páramo, director of AnimaNaturalis organization, said that this is an act of animal cruelty because it subjects an animal to events for which is not genetically prepared. "We are going to investigate what was the paragliding school that threatened the pig and even the person who flew with him, so that they can enforce the subpoenas legally established," he said. Alvaro Munera, city councilor, also questioned the origin of the animal: "We must find out whether it's a pig from a neighboring farm, or if they were going to sacrifice a dirty trick. Then it would be double the infringement because the slaughter of animals on public roads or private land is prohibited by law. " Munera said that in the coming weeks, when the new law against animal abuse, Pig Tales as both acts of cruelty to animals are punished will be penalized with fines up to 32 million pesos. According to initial investigations, the fact would have happened at the beginning of last week, in the village of San Felix. http://www.elcolombiano.com/ambientalistas-piden-sancionar-a-escuela-por-lanzamiento-de-un-cerdo-en-parapente-KX3275840
RickMasters wrote:...this is an act of animal cruelty because it subjects an animal to events for which is not genetically prepared.
I'm sorry, this is too funny. Since when are most animals, including humans, genetically prepared to go flying? Where were these animal rights groups when HG pilots were flying with their dogs at Torry Pines? or on gas tanks on motorcycles? or bicycle baskets on the front of a kid's bike? and yes, you can find scuba diving dogs with their owners underwater.
GLIDER DAMAGE: Elaine Saunders, of the Dirawong Trust Committee, points out where trees have been knocked down to make a clearing for para-gliders.
The down side of para-gliding Samantha Elley
PARA-GLIDER pilots have caused serious damage to bushland in South Evans Head to clear an area to enjoy their sport, according to Dirawong Reserve committee secretary Elaine Saunders.
The Dirawong Reserve stretches from the outskirts of Evans Head in the north to New Zealand Beach in the south, an area of 300ha, and is home to a diverse range of flora and fauna.
A letter from concerned residents who witnessed para-glider pilots destroying bushland has prompted the Dirawong Reserve committee to speak out against the wilful damage.
"It was late last year I saw the damage para-gliders had done while clearing a base from which to take off at Red Hill (north of Chinaman's Beach)," Ms Saunders said.
"I was shocked and mortified as we put so much effort into maintaining the Dirawong for the community to enjoy.
"To see that someone could be so arrogant that they can come in and strip out a huge area of native bush to indulge their own private passion is disgusting."
Ms Saunders said the damage included sawing out and pulling down mature banksias and other native trees.
"Because the trees are in such exposed areas, it will take decades for them to grow back," she said.
"They would have been about 40 to 50 years old."
After the damage was discovered, the committee got in touch with the Northern Rivers Hang Gliding and Paragliding club who were equally shocked and arranged to set up joint warning signs and barriers to warn their members not to use the area.
"There's a fine of $200 per tree that is damaged."
Correction: A previous version of this story said it was hang glider pilots responsible for the clearing of vegetation. We have since been informed the culprits were para-gliders (who use specialised parachutes rather than semi-rigid kite-like structures to fly). The story has been changed to reflect this.
Lismore Northern Star -------------------- "It wasn't me." What it's like for hang gliders to be tied to paragliders:
Article 86 and Article 46 now enforce the regulation by imposing a fine of up to 3 million yen (US$2,400).
"It doesn't really bother us much, even though we've been flying here for 40 years without any problems," said one Korean hang glider pilot. "The important thing is that we stand in solidarity with our paragliding brothers. I'm sure we'll have just as much fun playing tiddly-winks or watching television with them. Maybe more!"
"F*** 'em," added a nearby Korean paraglider pilot. "How they gonna know I got a para in my trunk?"
"You can get into trouble real quick . . . (and) get yourself killed," said Rob Kells, an instructor in the fledgling sport. A paraglider training manual, published by a manufacturer of the gliders, warns: "Injuries and death can and do occur, even to trained pilots." Always on the lookout for new places to fly, a few pilots have been taking off from Rancho Palos Verdes city parks and privately owned bluffs overlooking the ocean, prompting officials to ask who would be liable if a flier or bystander is injured or killed. Fearing lawsuits, the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council recently passed a law banning all "manned flight" from city parks. The law--which goes into effect this month--is one of the first passed by a Southern California city that is aimed specifically at the new para-gliding sport. City Parks and Recreation Director Mary Thomas said paraglider pilots have been flying off of Del Cerro and Abalone Cove parks. They have caused no problems, she said, but the city had to be prudent and ban the flights "before somebody got killed or injured," leaving the city open to litigation. In neighboring Palos Verdes Estates, there are no laws against paragliding, but Police Chief Gary Johansen said: "We discourage the activity. It is extremely hazardous. . . . We don't want them (flying off the bluffs) because if they get in trouble, the rescue would cost the taxpayers money."
• Paragliding According to Section 12.16.045 of the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code (RPVMC): No person shall land, release, take off in, or fly in any balloon designed to carry passengers, helicopter, parasail, hang glider, or other aircraft from any city-owned land except in areas specifically set aside therefore or with the express written permission from the city. The City's approved NCCP states that paragliding can be allowed in the Preserve provided that impacts to habitat can be minimized. With that in mind, City Staff contacted representatives from the Rancho Palos Verdes Paragliding Society (RPVPGS) to give a presentation on their proposed use and operation within the Preserve to the PUMP Committee. On June 4,2008, the RPV-PGS gave a presentation to the PUMP Committee on paragliding within the Preserve (see attached minutes). According to the presentation (see attachment), paragliding has been occurring on the southern slopes of the Palos Verdes Peninsula for many years. All pilots are certified and insured for $1,000,000 by the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (USHGPA). All visiting pilots must be members of the USHGPA and are given a site briefing on the rules and regulations. The RPV-PGS is requesting permission for individual paragliders to launch from one location in the Preserve, off the Burma Road Trail near the entry gate to the Portuguese Bend Reserve (see attached presentation map). The launch site coincides with the location of a City Council approved donor overlook which has been recently constructed. This location is approximately 500-feet south of Del Cerro Park and would encompass approximately 400 square feet of area. In regards to landing, the RPV-PGS is not proposing to designate an official landing zone within the Preserve. Rather, there are two proposed landing zones located outside the Preserve at the beach area adjacent to the Trump National Golf Course and at the area along the dirt fire road in the Gateway Park. Only in cases of emergencies may a landing occur in an open area of the Preserve.
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CITY COUNCIL MEMO - APRIL 7, 2009 PALOS VERDES NATURE PRESERVE PAGE 4 Based on the paragliding presentation, the Committee recommends that the City Council allow the launching of paragliders at the Portuguese Bend Reserve within the designated area off the Burma Road Trail with landings to occur outside the Preserve and to amend the Preserve Trails Plan to include a pedestrian trail to the launch area. The Committee stressed that they do not support landing in the Preserve. This Motion passed 6-1-3 with Member Shaw dissenting and Members Bell, Cicoria, and Wessel abstaining. It should be noted that the City has received comments from the adjacent neighbors that are in opposition of allowing paragliding in the Preserve. The neighbor's opposition primarily focuses on privacy and safety concerns. Attached are the neighbor's comment letters including a neighborhood petition and photographs.
------------ City Council Minutes April 7, 2009
Council member Long moved, seconded by Mayor Clark, to overturn the PUMP Committee's recommendation regarding paragliding and to not permit paragliding in the Preserve, noting that the matter could be brought back to the Council at a later time, if issues including licensing, enforcement, and problems regarding illegal take-offs and landings were addressed. Without objection, Mayor Clark so ordered.
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Feb 24, 2010 ---------------------- Sylmar Hang Gliding Association Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 10:20 am Post subject: Paraglider killed in PV http://shga.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2252&view=next&sid=2c987350b8b188b9ceda9a5b002ca2f3 A paraglider plunged to his death after a gust of wind lifted his chute 100 feet into the air over a rocky Rancho Palos Verdes beach and he lost his grip, authorities said Monday. Seoung Man Lee, 44, of Torrance was pronounced dead at the scene of the 6:25 p.m. accident Saturday on the beach below the Trump National Golf Club at 1 Ocean Trails Drive, witnesses and the coroner's officials said. "It was pretty stressful as far as just witnessing it," said Joyce West, who was walking along the beach with her husband. "We were all standing around, `What can we do? What can we do?"' West said she and her husband walked past some paragliders packing their parachutes shortly before the accident occurred. When the couple turned around, they looked up and saw the man hanging from the sail as it lifted into the air. "He was going up so fast," West said. Coroner's Department Lt. Cheryl MacWillie said witnesses told investigators that Lee was not wearing the harness or his safety helmet as he was inspecting or preparing to store his paragliding apparatus near the shoreline. He was grasping both steering handles that were secured by lanyards when a gust of wind inflated the canopy, MacWillie said. "He was lifted from the beach and quickly gained altitude," she said. "After reaching about 100 feet, he lost hold of his grasp and fell to a rocky patch on the ground." West said Lee lost his grip with his left hand first and then the other hand came free. "I guess he panicked," she said. "Instead of letting go, he just rode up with it. It took seconds to get up. It was really, really fast." Authorities said Lee was married. His wife was not with him at the beach.
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RANCHO PALOS VERDES CITY DOUG WILLMORE, CITY MANAGER~~ MAY 20, 2015 ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT NO. 15-20 http://www.rpvca.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/1461 RPVMC Section 12.16.045 prohibits aircraft (including hang gliders) from taking off from or landing on City property.
I would like some of the old timers to comment on the hang gliding history of Rancho Palos Verdes. My point is not that hang gliding hasn't had its own problems. The loss of Point Fermin in the 1970s, following Jack Schroeder's Icarus V crash on the rocks and his subsequent successful lawsuit against the city for allowing him to fly is one of the most glaring examples in the history of our sport. But what the USHGA hang glider pilots did when they embraced paragliding was an even bigger mistake. It doubled, then tripled hang gliding's problems. There was no benefit at all and hang gliding has been crippled because of it - and it's far from over. They threw away hang gliding's hard-earned struggle to improve its image and worse, they threw away our deniability. The United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association could hardly recognize any aspect of paragliding as a problem. Not bad behavior. Not illegal flying or site destruction. Not joyriding. Not FAR violations. Not even the dangerous and inherent design problem that has killed over a thousand people in collapse and loss of control accidents - which has yet to be addressed beyond the lies of "active flying" and "pilot error." All blame suddenly became shared by the hang gliding community whether they deserved it or not. And then, of course, paragliding influence grew beyond 50% member representation and all was lost but the Cheshire Cat's smile. They threw it away. Everything we worked for, they threw it away. The USHPA lost our insurance. They lost our sites. They became representatives for the business interests and lucrative growth of paragliding. They depleted the Foundation for Free Flight. Any dissenters were told to shut up. Now they're telling the hang gliding members to fork over more money to cover losses incurred from paragliding and the dummies do it. They've become a wrecking ball. (Not that much of anybody seems to notice...) We need to return to recreational hang gliding.
- Form a national hang gliding association that does not wreck everything it touches -
Early 1970s: 1. We had a large early formative meeting in the RPV. 2. My imperfect recall at the moment: it seemed we were having the meeting in RPV because one or more of our enthusiastic technical members were living in RPV. 3. At Malaga Cove, I crashed and broke my left arm in surf boulders. Report and photo in Hang Glider Weekly. 4. Just north at border: our slope on sand cliff was used; the site was closed by owner because of sand erosion of the slope; the going up and down the slope did erode the slope. Some classic photos show the bluff. It was Torrance or RPV property, never sure; I have not researched the lines. 5. There are points on the peninsula that world-class views begging to be used for HG launching.
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by Rick Masters » Sat Dec 12, 2015 8:29 am 
Since when are most animals, including humans, genetically prepared to go flying?
