I had a great flight at Torrey yesterday. I flew 4 hours and 7 minutes. I made multiple trips from the pier to bathtub rock (aka flat rock). But, as with so many things at Torrey, my fabulous flight was marred by the corrupt management at that site. Here's the story...

As I mentioned, I had made several trips from the pier (at the south) to bathtub rock (at the north). And in every case, I turned at the proper location and did not progress beyond those boundaries. Of the two endpoints, bathtub rock was the most challenging due to the strong northwest wind, a lower cliff, and a cliff direction which produces very little lift from a northwest wind.

During one of those trips, I was joined by another hang glider pilot who I didn't recognize (later known to me as "Blossom Bill") who appeared to be trying to play "chicken" with me on the ridge. He refused to yield the ridge when I was progressing north, and he attempted to cut me off several times. It was clear that he was taking aggressive action toward me, and I found myself forced to turn away from him and fly out toward the ocean to escape. I shouted repeatedly for him to "Get Away!!" from me. He yelled back and pointed south indicating his demand that I fly in that direction.

To make matters worse, Bill had chosen to play his game of "aerial chicken" on the part of the ridge where the lift is the weakest (up near bathtub rock). So in my attempts to avoid his glider I found myself flying pretty far out of the lift band. At one point, Bill had pushed me so far from the ridge that I feared being forced into a downwind landing situation with 15-20mph tail winds (very likely to end up in either injury or property damage or both). The other alternative would have been to try a tight low altitude turn over the narrow beach risking hitting the cliff on one side or landing in the water on the other (both with high likelihoods of injury or fatality). Fortunately, Bill was flying a large glider (possibly a tandem glider), and I was eventually able to outrun him to the south and return to the broad area of lift further down the ridge. At that point I was able to successfully evade him with my faster glider and he eventually flew away. I continued my flight and landed safey just before sunset.

I approached Bill in the LZ, and asked what in the world he was doing. He said he was trying to "herd" me, and that he'd been instructed to do so by "Torrey" because I was flying north of bathtub rock. First of all, "Torrey" is either a flying site or a pine tree, and neither of them can speak. So Bill's use of the term "Torrey" was misleading at best, and more likely intended to protect whoever had sent him on that fool's errand. That's part of the "code" at Torrey - they never use anyone's names and instead they attempt to confuse a flying site with the corrupt management of that site. They operate more like a gang than a flight park. But more importantly than Bill's use of "Torrey" was his use of the term "herding". Bill is a tandem pilot and that means he's supposed to know better than to try to use aerial bullying to force a pilot to obey him. We're supposed to operate by flight rules, and the term "herding" is not among them. Effectively, "herding" means creating a threshold of danger that will cause the "herded" pilot to comply with the "herder's" wishes due to fear of collision. That's more properly called "playing chicken" and it has no place in aviation (outside of the military or law enforcement).

I also spoke with Robin Marien (concessionaire) about the incident, and he claimed that someone had photographed me flying north of bathtub rock. He said it was a Will's Wing glider with an orange leading edge just like mine. I told him that it was not me, and that I did not violate the boundaries. He insisted that they had photographs of me, but he has not produced them at this time.

Of course, this story isn't quite complete. It turns out there was a pilot who flew north of bathtub rock, but it wasn't me. It was another pilot who had the decency to come forward after he found that I was being falsely accused. He went to Robin and explained that he was the one who flew north, and he had seen me turn back at least once without crossing that line. He was not flying a Will's Wing glider. Suddenly the matter was dropped.

This incident brings up several points about the management at Torrey. First of all, there was no apology issued for the false accusation. There was also no apology issued for the game of "chicken" played against an innocent pilot. More importantly, someone lied about it being a Will's Wing glider. I doubt that any park spectators would have said it was a "Will's Wing" glider ... especially when it wasn't. So where did that lie originate? Did Robin just make it up on the spot? Regardless of its origin, it again highlights the serious credibility problem with the gliderport's management.

As for Blossom Bill's behavior, pilots should never use coercive flying (playing "chicken") to control another pilot unless there is imminent danger to human life (even then it's questionable since a mid-air collision is rarely the better outcome). I haven't investigated Bill's ratings yet, but if he is an instructor, then his willingness to engage in this dangerous behaviour should be examined in the context of his ability to impart good judgement to his students.

Finally, Bill's willingness to fly off to obey the whims of the management points to a serious flaw in the structure of that site. Gary Fogel once said that flying at Torrey was like a drug. The implication is that pilots become so addicted that they will do whatever is needed to get their "fix". Using Gary's analogy, the concessionaire is like the pusher for that drug because the concessionaire controls who can fly and who can't. He also controls who can fly tandem, and flying tandem is essentially the "crack cocaine" of the Torrey drug analogy. So pilots like Bill - who loves to fly tandem - will distort their own ethical standards and even their own safety standards so that they can continue to get their "fix" of tandem flying by licking the boots of the concessionaire. This is one of the biggest reasons that it's been so difficult to make progress at Torrey. Any time the "flight pusher" is threatened, he is able to rally support from all of his addicted "users". Pilots who support the concession (like Blossom Bill, Dave Metzgar, and others) are often rewarded with tandem privileges (often with pay) while those who speak out (like David Beardslee) are charged $100 to even fly his own passengers at Torrey or banned altogether. This is a corrupt use of our city park and our national treasure to benefit the concession. It must be stopped.

Oh boy, the crap never ends. And to endanger another pilot's life, that is simply absurd. I STILL can not comprehend as to WHY this kind of thing continues at Torrey.

I found the pilot's name - Bill (William) Kimball. He's an H4 pilot (1980) with a Tandem Instructor rating.

I'd like to know where in his training he was taught that "herding" pilots in mid-air is an approved USHPA practice.