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Meeting Minutes, News, & Articles

Horse & LB Site Work & Fly Party

1/22/2016

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The 1st 2 Work Party days were a huge success!  
For pictures of those days, see:  A Big Thank You for Making  Horse and Little Black look great!

The Follow-on Work Party for Little Black is scheduled for:
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:​
Go to 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​

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​The LZ has become greatly overgrown and the Launch has eroded leaving many exposed rock snags and Windsock poles have been vandalized.

Horse Draft Work Plan:
  • Restoring Postage Stamp LZ - Repair off road ruts damage and remove large regrowth obstacles from original sized landing field
  • Repairing erosion ruts and removing rock snags on Launch (If road is open post storms)
  • Rebuilding LZ & Launch Wind Sock Poles. (If re fabrication is required install will happen another weekend)
  • Post Work Party Flying - weather conditions allowing (4x4 access up road only to minimize road impact if open due to heavy rain)

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
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​​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 
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We have come a long way from the initial Glider Point Trail building in 2014 - Black Mountain Open Space
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Glider Point Trail & Face Native Re-vegetation Scope & Trail Closure Sign -# Placement.
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Palomar New Year Fly-in Report

1/21/2016

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What a great way to start off the 2016 new year with yet another great fly-in at Palomar!
A BIG THANK YOU!!!  to ALL of the  FLY-IN VOLUNTEERS!
First off, I would like to extend a big thanks to all those that pitched in to make the SDHGPA New-Year Fly-in an enjoyable event and a huge success. There were too many to name, but your contributions were noticed. We were very appreciative of even visiting pilots pitching in to help with what ever was needed.

We would like to especially thank Bill Davis, Angela A, Anto Z, Dave Metzgar, and Bob Barry  for tacking a lion share of the Prep and execution of the work event with other conflicting events on the day.
A Big thank you also goes out to The Pala Tribe and Roberts Ranch for letting use the LZ for our Fly-in BBQ for the extended hours and all those that helped to make this such a great event.

Bill Helliwell's account of the Fly-in
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

 John Gallagher's Fly-in Perspective
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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. 

SDHGPA 2016 Fly-In and BBQ from John Gallagher on Vimeo.


The Rich Matros Memorial X-C Contest 2015:
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
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SDHGPA Rich Matros Memorial X-C Contest 2015 Champions
2015 Final XC Score Sheet Page: 
2015 XC Contest Final Standings
Milestone Shirt Awards:
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
For the XC Contest Rules and How to Join:
SDHGPA XC Contest Info

Martin Palmaz on State of USHPA Insurance
Martin Palmaz (USHPA Executive Director) spoke with us and answered many questions regarding USHPA's insurance issues and what USHPA is working towards.

​Some of his key points in his address are outlined in this video:

Free Flight Forever!-HD 1080p from Eric Blum on Vimeo.

Please consider increasing your donation, or If you have not already done so, Please Donate to The Free Flight Forever Fund. ​
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Donation Link
When Making your Donation, add SDHGPA as your Chapter Affiliation!
If you have questions and want more information on the Insurance Issues See:
freeflightforever.org

SDHGPA on State of USHPA Insurance
Yes, this is a big deal. If we do not reach the , Free Flight Forever self insurance fund raising goals, and if USHPA is not able to reestablish insurance policies. We , SDHGPA members, will likely lose our ability to fly as we do today at all but two of our San Diego Mountain sites.
Without Site Insurance Palomar, Big Black, Little Black, Laguna Upper Launch, Laguna Earthquake Valley LZ, Horse Anderson Field LZ will all likely be closed starting March 1st of this year.
If you need More convincing on why this is such a big deal to us as local San Diego pilots, see Bill Helliwell's article on our SDHGPA Donation Matching fundraising page. 
SDHGPA Free Flight Forever Donation Matching?  ​
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:
SDHGPA Free Flight Forever Matching
When Making your Donation, add SDHGPA as your Chapter Affiliation!

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SDHGPA ANNUAL NEW-YEAR FLY-IN 2016

1/16/2016

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Annual New-Year Fly-in and Awards Ceremony @ Palomar
Saturday January 16th 2016

Check this page for info updates up to day of fly-in.
Last Update: 1-16-16

Palomar Fly-in for this weekend Jan 16th is a Go!
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. 
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Global Model & point forecast for the day

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

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SDHGPA 2016 Membership is required to fly this event & BBQ.
(Full Annual Membership or Visiting Pilot membership is valid for this event. However Visiting Pilots will not receive gate codes & must fly with Full Annual Members for access)

This will be a great event!!!
Rough Time Table:
11:00 - General Meeting Time & Set-up in LZ:  
12:00 - Drive to launch
12:30 - Site intros on Main Launch
1 - 4:00 - Launching 
​
~3:30 BBQ Set-up & Start Cooking
~ 4pm - BBQ starts          
~5:30 - Guest Speaker Martin Palmaz (USHPA Executive Director) on state of USHPA Insurance
~6:00 - Awards Ceremony

Please review and read Full Palomar Site Gide: 
Palomar Site Guide
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.
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Post Flying BBQ:
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.
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Fly-in Special Guest: Martin Palmaz on State of USHPA Insurance
Martin Palmaz (USHPA Executive Director) will 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. ​
Yes, this is a big deal. If we do not reach the , Free Flight Forever self insurance fund raising goals, and if USHPA is not able to reestablish insurance policies. We will likely lose our ability to fly all but one of our San Diego Mountain sites.
Please consider increasing your donation, or If you have not already done so, Please Donate to The Free Flight Forever Fund.
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http://www.ushpa.aero/freeflightforever.asp

Annual Awards Ceremony:
Stay Tuned to hear all the Big Flight Stories of the Year

Photos from Last Year's SDHGPA Annual New Year Fly-in 2015 @ Palomar

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Work Party & Fly - Thank You

1/11/2016

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Here is a Big Thank You ! ! !
to all those that showed up for the Double Work Party's this past weekend.

With all of your efforts The Horse LZ, Horse Launch and Glider Point Trail Up Little Black have never looked better!

Horse Work Party & Flying - Saturday Jan 9th
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!

Back Mountain Open Space Glider Port - (Little Black)
​- Glider Point Trail
SDHGPA Work Party - Sunday January 10th
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.
In addition to all the trail work on this past Sunday; over 40 native plants were planted and hand watered (buckwheat, artemisia, black sage, a couple of sumacs and a few baccharis). An additional 50-60 planting basins were also dug in preparation for larger growing natives ordered but that have not yet arrived (sumac, lemonade berry, and mission manzanita).  All of the plants and planting basins were marked by flags color coded to final growing size. 

The SDHGPA will be scheduling a second round of planting in a couple of weeks along with checking on the trail for some post rain follow up work.
Some flew After all the work,  but conditions were fairly light on Sunday

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

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SDHGPA 2016 Board Election Results

1/5/2016

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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.
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The Following 2016 Voting (Board) positions were ratified by receiving 100% of the votes cast:
  • President: Steve Rohrbaugh
  • VP: Jeff Brown
  • Secretary: Dave M
  • Treasurer/Sites Director: Bill Helliwell
The Safety Officer Board position was split down the middle.  48.5% of the votes went to each candidate with one abstention (16/16/1).
The Safety Officer will be a split shared position for 2016.
  • Safety Officers: Peter Hill & Bill Davis
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Non-voting positions:
  • TPSC rep: Peter Hill (Elected, current)
  • Black Mountain CAC: Dave Metzgar, Antonella Zampolli (Elected, current)
  • Website: Peter Hill, Steve Rohrbaugh (Appointed)
  • Social Committee: Angela Albota, Bill Davis, Doug Poirier, Dale Keehan (Appointed)
  • XC Competition:      Bill Helliwell / Eric Kolberg

Pilots in Command/ Site Representatives for SD County sites (Appointed)
Sites Director: Bill Helliwell
Palomar                   Bob Barry
Big Black                  Bill Helliwell
Horse Canyon         Bill Helliwell
Laguna                     Bill Helliwell
Anza-Borrego SP    Bill Helliwell
Little Black               Dave Metzgar
Blossom Valley       Wild Bill Davis
Otay                          Bill Helliwell
Tecate Peak            Dave Metzgar

Torrey Pines           Robin Marion



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SDHGPA is a local chapter of 
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USHPA 
(United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association)
SDHGPA, PO Box 720895, SAN DIEGO, CA 92172
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