[Neil Larson]

I have not been inclined to post often or much here on US Hawks , mostly due to my inactive "status" within the actual community & culture of Hang Gliding. I have been mostly relegated to being a virtual pilot by allowing others to upload their activity on the Internet then I take the easy way out & just "surf" the net.

Over the past 10 years I have attempted to contact the original organization that I helped establish ...what is now known as the United States Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association. My inquiry to the USHPA , focused on a desire to bring recognition to the handful of original members that made up the nexus core of the founding SCHGA. This was not a request for any "free-bees" or to avoid paying the annual "fee" of the current organization. I wanted this group of current sky pilots to acknowledge the importance of who indeed did a great deal of ground work in all sorts of areas in order for these young floaters to enjoy the freedom of the air.

To my disappointment, my endeavor fell on deaf ears in Colorado. I was told to just shut up & pay my yearly fee to obtain 12 months of membership. My heart felt plea to set aside a USHPA membership wide project to seek out these few remaining founding charter members was rejected by the treasurer of the USHPA sitting in a position of control. Since those repeated phone calls were ignored & rejected summarily I began seeking to find anyone in the hang gliding community who would take some interest in my idea.
*** Thus the title for the thread here LOST at P ... p for "paragliders"*****

"The Go To Guy" Joe Faust*
I did have a well established friendship with HG pioneer Joe Faust who for the past 42 plus years has deliberately continued to share knowledge of all kinds of lightweight flying machines. Back in 1971 Joe published Low & Slow magazine, as sort of a Benjamin Franklin of print, Joe established himself as "The Go-To Guy" of hang gliding. Editing his home spun monthly newsletter Low & Slow, Joe received daily sacks of mail from all over the world from interested Hang Glider enthusiasts. Faust now edits an on-line Internet magazine or "E-zine" titled LIFT offered through a more expansive network of information known as Energy kite Systems. LIFT showcasing many forms of hang gliding & other unique man-flight systems in a monthly blog format that is updated as readers & subscribers submit information to the editors of LIFT.
I contacted Joe about my concern that the over bloated self consumed executives at USHPA were missing a real gold mine of latent unexplored sources for their monthly club Hang Gliding and Paragliding Magazine. I told Joe the Bean Counters at USHPA
had no desire to find, interview & celebrate their few remaining founding charter members. Joe understands the importance of elevating those who have a great storehouse of memories about first hand details of the beginnings of the sport of HG.

Enter Bob Kuczewsk*
So Joe immediately put me in touch with Torry Hawks Hang Glider Club founder Bob "K" about 2 years ago. Then Bob was busy with a full array of projects including this web site US HAWKS. Bob gave me a welcome to express myself here in this forum and explain my feelings for the real history of the sport of modern hang gliding. It is my desire to focus attention on the exporation and the history of hang gliding as it happened in the Southern California area in the very early 1970's. When you study the list of original 100 or 150 or 200 first founding "charter" core members of the SCHGA, you see a remarkable core center of activity based in Southern California. This network of original HG people shared a dynamic amout of information long before i-pods, personal computers, email or cell phones. OH pardon me ...some $3,000.oo "Brick" cell phones existed.

It would be my dream to once again focus an intense research project on finding these SCHGA charter founding members. The source of information these people have about personal experiences regarding "all things hang glider" and giving them a chance to express their personal memories and share stories of what they actually saw first hand would lend a wonderful depth to our sport. It should concern those who fly almost without thinking about it now-a-days, but what is more a monthly USHPA club Hang Gliding and Paragliding Magazine editor should have the wisdom to set aside a regular feature column in his rag for the purpose of interviewing the remaining living charter members of the SCHGA (a.k.a. USHGA).

To paraphrase Wilbur Wright in his speach before the Smithsonian... For some years I have been afflicted with the belief that flight is possible to man. My disease has increased in severity and I feel that it will soon cost me an increased amount of money if not my life. I have been trying to arrange my affairs in such a way that I can devote my entire time for a few months to experiment in this field.
Well in my case I have become afflicted with the belief that the world community of hang gliding enthusiasts should set aside a purposeful project to gain the wisdom of those who gave their own lives to establish the modern sport of hang gliding as we know it!

I will attempt to form a list of these original members , "With or Without the Help" of the USHPA !
Then an investigation of where these few Early Birds are now is in proper order. At least a current listing of those who have gone on to a higher place will allow precious respect to them.

Thank You
Neil Larson
aka ...FromDayOne

[SamKellner]

That's great Neil,

Hopefully you can get more of the "Early Birds" posting here.

Heck, with help like that, growing a US HG Assn. should be a lot easier.

It's a shame that USHPA didn't want to hear your suggestion to salute the pioneers.

I think BobK is very capable and doing a lot of the right stuff to promote our sport of Hang Gliding.

This forum . Fairness . Transparency.

,
Sam,
SWTHG
US Hawks Chapter #4

[Neil Larson]

Hi Sam

Thanks for your comments -
I began a new thread / acrticle / column / post here on US HAWKS
HG Early Birds Project - Phase 1
to better organize a possible effort ...
http://ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=893&sid=143bb21028e0322df4604cec43413727

It has afflicted me to some minor degree that those who run the present worldwide USHPA
have such little regard for any interest in showcasing historic origins of the beginnings of
their own association. The USHPA is not only a social & cultural community of Human Flight
but more importantly it's core articles of incorporation were painstakingly authored to insure
the very freedom of man-flight that each current member literally seems to take for granted.
Most contemporary HG & PG pilots, who now enjoy the rare freedom to simply run off a cliff
they simply have no idea of the awesome liberty they assume is their inherent entitlement.

To this now simple freedom that the flying multitude of micro-flight glider pilots now do not even
spend time contemplating was a very specific historic effort of organized intelligence & infrmation.
The individual liberty of Modern Hang Glider Flight in the USA was originally composed & formulated
to avoid BIG BROTHER's control by the United States Federal Government -Federal Aviation Administration.

USHPA administration in Colorado Springs toss aside & ignore their heritage, they simply ignore those
pioneers who put "feet on the ground" to work out all the problems of instruction, license, permit
& self-control, which make possible every daily hang glider flight, free of micro-management by Federal Authorities.

Those bean counters of USHPA in Colorado have no inspiration of creativity to comprehend the wonderful
resource available through written stories by those early bird pioneers of first hand witnessed experiences
that could be shared via a regular feature in the USHPA magazine. Such resource material is priceless.

If I can anything to shed light on our early history it is worth my effort.
Once again I thank Bob Kuczewski for his cooperation on understanding these important issues.