Sat, Jan 30th 2016

Little Black Site Preservation Work Party & Fly - Part 2
Meet in LZ 9:00
Where: 14811 Black Mountain Rd San Diego, CA 92127

Jan 9th & 10th 2016 : Double Site Work Party & Flying - Two Days - Two Sites

Both Little Black and Horse are in need of some much needed TLC.  

Please come out to help make "your" sites shine to their former glory for all of us to enjoy.  Lots of hands make for quicker work allowing for better flights today and Tomorrow!

We will be leveraging the predicted rains to help with our efforts. So Rain is good and what we are looking for!  Work Parties will be held regardless of weather conditions and post work flying will be weather dependent.

1-8-16 Update

Still a Go for this weekends work parties, Sat then Sunday.

Per NOAA Horse looks clear till after 4pm on Sat with 40% chance till 70% @ night
Then on Sun @ LB is showing 40% in the am and clearing to the afternoon and night. Other WX sites also show rain on Sunday.

Priority is to get the Horse LZ cleaned up. Not sure about how soupy the road up to Horse is going to be . . . and we may want to stay off it and or minimize traffic on it. Traffic us should be limited to 4x4 vehicles only. Greg is available this weekend with his tractor and not the other weekends. If too much rain on Sunday, we will reschedule the LB work party till two weeks out with Pref on Fly-in for the 16th vs WX alternate of the 23rd. Work Party scope of work See below. 

Martin Palmaz (USHPA Executive Director) will likely be flying in to join us for our Fly-In on the 16th. He would like to talk with us, answer any questions, and get our feedback regarding USHPA & Insurance issues. 

Fly-in Page:​

Horse LZ & Launch Work Party & Fly
Sat, Jan 9th 2016
Meet in LZ 9:00 
Where: 4598 Buckman Springs Rd,  
​Pine Valley, CA 91962​

Little Black Site Preservation Work Party & Fly - Part 1
Sun, Jan 10th 2016
Meet in LZ 9:00
Where: 14811 Black Mountain Rd San Diego, CA 92127

Little Black Site Preservation Work Party & Fly - Part 2
Sat, Jan 30th 2016
Meet in LZ 9:00
Where: 14811 Black Mountain Rd San Diego, CA 92127

​​Glider Point Trail & Face Native Re-vegetation Planting Draft Work Plan:

• Work to repair trail erosion and ~ 21 switchback trail cuts (red lines on below map)
• ​Improve 7 closed trail blocks and install signs (green lines on below map)
• Plant Natives in switchback trail cuts and closed old face 4x4 trails re-vegetating the areas.
• SDHGPA will be donating 100 Native Plants for this effort from our Site Maintenance and Preservation funds.
• SDHGPA will be donating and installing metal trail closure signs and refreshing Kiosk pilot info signs. (Sign installs will happen at 2nd work party)
• Post Work Party Flying - weather conditions allowing 

Weekend Mountain Flying Report

Palomar is an amazing site. On Saturday, the day of the fly-in and BBQ, the forecast was poor. But Palomar ignored the forecast. Wind indeed was light, around 5 mph, and coming from all directions, occasionally puffing down. The launch thermal was sometimes right at launch, sometimes a hundred yards out. Where it was determined which way the breeze was blowing.

Several PG pilots took off around 12:30 and climbed a few hundred feet. All together I think 40 PG pilots took off, as late as 4:00. It looked like all but the later launchers got above launch and had good flights in the super smooth air. A few of them were able to get 2,000' higher than take off altitude.

Five HG pilots from Sylmar and Greg F flew hang gliders. The first HG pilot took off and went straight out for a hundred yards or more, circled in light lift, and climbed a few hundred feet higher than launch. The second pilot allowed his nose to rise a bit, he could not get sufficient air speed, and mushed into the brush. He was ok, but chose to pack up and not fly. The other three Sylamr pilots and Greg had good strong take-offs. Two of the Sylmar pilots made it at least 1,000' above take off level. All of them had plenty of air time.

​A forecast is just that, a forecast. It is not necessarily reality.

Bill H.

Member Photos Posted on FB

My wife and I had a great time at the fly-in and BBQ!
​
Here's a short video of yesterday's flying and landings. 

HG Division:
1st Place & Grand Champion:     Bill Helliwell
2nd Place:                                       Jeff Brown
3rd Place:                                        Mike Branger​

PG Division:
1st Place & Grand Champion:     Russ Detwiler
2nd Place:                                       Dmitri Soloviev
3rd Place:                                        Jason Kinch

2015 Final XC Score Sheet Page: 

One shirt is awarded to each pilot for his/her longest straight line XC distance passing the following Mile Marks:
A pilot's first flight over 10 miles (1st year achieving).
Flight over 25 miles.
Flight over 50 miles.
Flight over 75 miles
Flight over 100 miles, miles listed

Please consider increasing your donation, or If you have not already done so, Please Donate to The Free Flight Forever Fund. ​

If you have questions and want more information on the Insurance Issues See:

Yes - Martin had just come from a Meeting with the CSS. They were feeling their oats pledging 7K as a club and challenged us as SDHGPA to raise 5K as a club. The SDHGPA Board has since met and and we think we can do better that that by raising at least $20K in total as a Club in whole with SDHGPA kicking in $10K from our reserves. 

For more information see:

When Making your Donation, add SDHGPA as your Chapter Affiliation!

For the Best flying in SoCal on Sat and a great BBQ, Come out to Palomar!

Although the WX does not look perfect, Palomar looks like the only flyable site in So Cal this Sat Jan 16th. The long term forecasts for the following alt weekend does not look good.  Believe it or not, this is exactly the weather forecast and conditions that we had Last Year and the flying turned out to be off the chart good for the time of year. So we are a go for this weekend!

Also; Martin Palmaz (USHPA Executive Director) has just flown in to join us for our Fly-In on the 16th. He would like to talk with us, answer any questions, and get our feedback regarding USHPA & Insurance issues.

WX for the day: (1-16-16)

Not great depending on what models you are looking at, but probably the best and only  flying in the San Diego Mts.

The Global model is fairly optimistic to 5.4K, but NAM & RAP show only to 4. But that is still 500 over the main launch. Surface winds look good, however upper level winds starting at 6K are strong out of the North. There will likely be a mixing layer of interesting air.  
​
​Expect it to be flyable and the BBQ will be a great time. 

Site: Palomar
Date: Jan 16th 2016
Where: Palomar Main LZ - Robert’s Ranch (Pala) 
​15450 California 76,  Pauma Valley CA 92061

Please review and read Full Palomar Site Gide: 

Key Points for the Fly-in

• All Vehicles must display Current 2016 SDHGPA Vehicle ID/ Gate Pass
• Carpool to launch to minimized Cars on launch
• Main Launch is preferred for this event
• Keep all access gates locked and closed behind
• Active Launch Windows: Use mountain etiquette - Only enter the Launch Windows with your gear if and when you are ready and intending to launch. Be mindful that there will be a lot of pilots on launch. Do not wait for the perfect Cycle, but rather take the 1st good safe cycle. ​
• If in Launch Windows or Top landing Approach areas, be cautious and aware of flight activities in all directions.

BBQ Starts ~ @ 4pm
Main Course will be provided by the club however it is primarily a potluck; so plan to bring an appetizer,  side dish, salad, or dessert to share.  Please also bring any drinks you might want. BYOB

Bill Davis, Angela A., & Doug Poirier the Social committee would like some help from some volunteers to help coordinate food pickup, set up and break down. Also, if you have a charcoal grill that you would be willing to bring, that would be great. Ideally, we can get these things coordinated by mid day on the Friday before the event so that everything runs as smooth as possible on Saturday. 

Please Comment below and or contact  Angela or Doug to help and coordinate on the event planning side.

Please consider increasing your donation, or If you have not already done so, Please Donate to The Free Flight Forever Fund.

A little over 25 Pilots showed up for the work party and made quick work of what looked to be a daunting task of of restoring the 2.25 acre Horse Postage Stamp LZ that had become over run with LZ Tribbles.

Once the LZ was largely complete, we moved our efforts to launch. The main launch windsock was rebuilt and replaced. Erosion ruts and rock snags on Launch were removed or filled in then smoothed out and compacted to minimize future erosion. 

Post detailing the Launch, GH headed down to remove the big erosion ruts and 4x4 damage in the LZ along with putting on a Zamboni finish to the LZ. 

Those out at Horse were rewarded with great but cold flying conditions on Saturday that lasted and actually improved into a great glass off into sunset!

We also had a good turnout on Sunday, with about 20 pilots working from 9 am to 2 pm at the Black Mountain Open Space. With these efforts, the Glider Point Trail has been greatly restored and has a much better route visibility than it had before.  

The San Diego Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association has donated not only their time and effort, but over 100 Native plants and some Habitat restoration area signs to the Open Space Native habitat restoration efforts. (A few of the Native plants to be planted were started by seed and donated by Beth Mather).

To prepare and allow for native plant re-growth, over 30 trail cuts were blocked and the trail was delineated in areas where there was not an obvious path to follow. Trail erosion and wash-outs were also repaired. Water diverts were then added to discourage future washouts.

​The Follow-on Little Black Work Party is scheduled for:
Sat, Jan 30th 2016

Election Ballots were sent out to the 2015 SDHGPA Full Member Voting Body Roster on Dec 18th following the Nov & Dec open nomination meetings. 33 Ballots were submitted by the Jan 1st response deadline. All non submitted ballots are determined to be abstentions.