Flyfunston

NOTE: The following comments were made in response to the August 2012 Meeting Minutes posted by our club secretary. The official club minutes area is intended to be a documentation archive and are not to be used to host a discussion thread. Discussion topics should be posted in the General Discussion area, thank you.

I have relocated the replies from the minutes area to this new thread. Please feel free to carry on here!

Thanks for observing our website protocol.

Regards,
Steve R.

Re: Meeting Minutes 8-9-2012
by crvalley » Mon Aug 20, 2012 11:06 am

Thanks for the meeting minutes / report Tom.

I could not make this meeting due to family obligations, but have a comment or two about the Fellow Feathers (as a Club) joining or becoming a "member" of US Hawks Hang Gliding Association.

Personally, I don't wish to be a member of the US Hawks Hang Gliding Association.

I, however, do very much wish to continue to be a member of the Fellow Feathers Hang Gliding Club.

I feel joining the US Hawks Hang Gliding Association is a decision that should be made by the individual pilot, not by the Fellow Feathers as a whole.

Chris Valley
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Posts: 151
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Re: Meeting Minutes 8-9-2012
by tom white » Mon Aug 20, 2012 4:02 pm

Duly noted Chris.

Tom White
tom white

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Location: San Francisco

Re: Meeting Minutes 8-9-2012
by bobk » Sun Sep 09, 2012 6:02 am

I believe the greatest threat to hang gliding at Fort Funston (and many other sites) is USHPA's monopoly on insurance.

There are only two ways to break that monopoly - a large chunk of money or a large number of people joining an alternate organization (like the US Hawks).

With regard to crvalley's comments, there is no requirement that individual pilots be US Hawks members in order for the Fellow Feathers to be a US Hawks Chapter. That's somewhat true of USHPA as well, except that USHPA does require that it's Chapters consist of 70% USHPA members. The US Hawks has no such requirement, and the Fellow Feathers could be a US Hawks chapter without any Fellow Feathers members being US Hawks members. I hope that's clear to everyone.

Chris, the big issue here is choice. Right now none of us has a choice because USHPA has a monopoly. If you feel confident that USHPA's monopoly will continue to support hang gliding (as paragliding continues to grow), then let the record reflect your opinion. Time will be the judge of who was right.

For everyone else, we've already seen what USHPA has tried to do. They took two steps toward demanding that all sites be biwingual ... but they only took one step back. They will continue to push to turn Fort Funston into another Torrey Pines. If your club has no other option for insurance, then they will eventually succeed. If we want to stop that inevitability, then we need to start building an alternate association for hang gliding right now. Time is ticking.

Thanks,
Bob Kuczewski
Founder - US Hawks Hang Gliding Association

Re: Meeting Minutes 8-9-2012
by bobk » Sun Sep 09, 2012 6:09 am

tom white wrote:
August Fellow Feathers Meeting Minutes
:
Bob Kuczewski requested that Fellow Feathers consider becoming a member of US Hawks Hang Gliding Association. Several attendees requested that Bob return with specific proposal for HG insurance, prior to being considered. Steve R pointed out that Bob was quoting outdated rules which have since been revised. No action was taken by Club to join US Hawks at this time.


I won't be able to attend the September meeting, but I would like to respectfully ask that this issue be placed on the agenda for the October meeting for a vote by either the members or the board (whichever is appropriate according to your club's bylaws).

Tom, is that OK?

Thanks,
Bob Kuczewski