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Meeting Minutes, News, & Articles

Understanding USA Airspace for Paraglider, Hang Glider pilots

11/20/2018

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This is a great overview of how Airspace effects us as HG & PG pilots:

Understanding USA Airspace for Paraglider, Hang Glider and Ultralight pilots
A big thank you to Ty Gunnlaugsson out of Colorado for putting this together!

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USHPA Film Festival - San Diego

11/16/2018

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SDHGPA will be hosting the
​USHPA 2018 Film Festival November 17th!
Location: Palomar Main LZ
Please RSVP
Film Fest & Fly-in RSVP
The San Diego Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association presents the 2018 USHPA Free Flight Film Festival, featuring five new films showcasing hang gliding, paragliding, and adventure travel in the US. The two-hour showing will be held at on November 17th at The Palomar Main LZ starting at 5:30pm with Fly-in & BBQ before. The amazing visuals and compelling stories are sure to appeal to all audiences – pilots and non-pilots alike.
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​“The USHPA Free Flight Film Festival showcases the best hang gliding and paragliding has to offer, from imagery captured utilizing a Cineflex camera stabilization system mounted to a helicopter, to a first-person GoPro masterpiece shot by professional pilots,” said Martin Palmaz, Executive Director of USHPA. “This festival highlights the heart of hang gliding and paragliding, from projects working with communities, to flying and camping over vast mountain ranges, to aerobatics, to a lone falconer and his pursuit of the perfect flight. There is something for everyone.”
 
Films included in the 2018 Film Festival showing:
  1. Building Dreams
  2. Inspired
  3. Maters, Misfits of Moab
  4. The Perfect Flight
  5. North Of Known
Hang gliding and paragliding are a combination of adventure sport and aviation. Pilots fly light and non-motorized foot-launch aircraft both recreationally and competitively. Hang gliding pilots hang prone in a harness, suspended from the airframe, and exercise control by shifting their body weight. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminum alloy frame covered with synthetic sailcloth to form a wing. Paragliding pilots fly lightweight aircraft that have no rigid primary structure and resemble elliptical parachutes. The pilot sits in a harness suspended below a fabric wing that is comprised of a large number of interconnected baffled cells. Hang gliders and paragliders can travel hundreds of miles on rising columns of air, called thermals, soar for hours in the wind pushed upward by coastal terrain, or simply fly down from a mountain in calm, still, air.
​


Event & Site Location :  Palomar Main LZ
(SDHGPA Palomar Main LZ - Roberts Ranch, 15482 CA-76, Pauma Valley, CA 92061)  (map)

​When: Rough Schedule
9:00am - Start Meeting in Main LZ  for BBQ set-up and dropping off supplies.
10:30 - 3pm Carpooling to launch: Many will be coming out later in the day. Please try to wait for others and carpool up to launch from the LZ to minimize number of cars on launch.
We expect it to be flyable until dusk. See forecast to be updated below.
11:30 - Peak Heating
BBQ will start as people start to land.
4:46 - Sunset
~5:00 November General Club Meeting 
5:30 ~ Film Festival Start 
  • SDHGPA Membership is Required to fly Palomar.
  • This event is Free to SDHGPA Annual Members, & SDHGPA Visiting Pilot Members
  • + side dish Potluck item & BYOB: so plan to bring an appetizer,  side dish, salad, or dessert to share.
  • Non Flying Guests: $5 Donation for the BBQ main course.
  • Remember to bring a beach chair for the film
For detailed Site info, see the Palomar Site Guide
​If you haven't flown Palomar before or checked out the site guide this month for updates, please read the site guide prior to arrival.  It may save you from landing in a burial ground or from wandering into rotor, or it may even help make your flight epic!
Cost: 
Free to SDHGPA Members & $5/ non flying guest BBQ donation is appreciated
SDHGPA Membership is required to participate in the Fly-in at Palomar and covers the BBQ.

Any new (late) Annual Memberships joining for the Fly-in will be rolled over into a 2019 Annual Membership as an added bonus.  
(Full Annual Membership, or Visiting Pilot membership is valid for this event. For non flying guests, a $5/ person BBQ donation is appreciated)

Note that all Cars must have a parking pass in the LZ & Launch (& no parking out on the road).
Please take care of Memberships and print parking passes before driving out if not current.
All memberships are on line and easier with a strong connection. . . ​
To Check Current Membership Status

Weekend Mountain Flying Forecast

The forecast looks pretty good. It will be mostly sunny and comfortably warm, at least until the sun goes down. Wind will be out of the West at 7 mph. That is fine for PG pilots, but a little light for HG pilots to take off. I like at least 10 mph at the Palomar launch. However the thermal forecast is good, 450 fpm. Thermals will add to the general wind and will make for good take off cycles. Just be patient. Wind will be Westerly all over the county, so the wind aloft will be light Westerly. It should be possible to get to 5,000' around launch, and to 7,000' back at the towers.

On Sunday the wind goes East again. At Laguna wind will be moderate, 12 mph gusting to 18. The upper launch may be ok. Lift at 500 fpm will get to 7,000'. At Horse wind will be East all day. At the Palomar launch wind will be 6 mph from the WestSouthWest. But watch out, at ridge top the wind will be from the East, at least 10 mph.

Bill H.

from NOAA: 

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 72. Light west wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.​
Current Conditions on Launch

Please RSVP

RSVP Responses

​ABOUT USHPA
The United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (USHPA) is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to support sport flying in foot-launchable, unpowered soaring aircraft. USHPA develops, standardizes, and administers programs that foster and promote practices for safe flying. USHPA maintains a working relationship with the FAA and other regulatory organizations to ensure continued access to airspace. The organization also maintains relationships with public and private entities to promote the procurement and maintenance of flying sites.
 
USHPA is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado. For more information on hang gliding and paragliding, go to www.ushpa.org.
​

ABOUT SDHGPA
​The San Diego Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (SDHGPA) is a hang gliding and paragliding club dedicated to the promotion and preservation of foot launched soaring (non motorized "free flight") in San Diego County. SDHGPA is a local chapter of the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, USHPA. We work collaboratively with land owners and governing agencies at the local level to keep our primary flying sites open by maintaining, insuring, purchasing, regulating, and monitoring our launch sites and landing zones. Our guiding principle is that all foot launched pilots of hang gliders and paragliders alike share common goals and interests best served by a united effort to promote flying safety, education, and good community relations in San Diego County. We support hang gliding and paragliding at the national level through the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (USHPA) and concurrent membership in that organization is the one and only club membership requirement.
History: The SDHGPA is the Oldest and Longest Running Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club and Organization in San Diego and Southern California originally organized in 1973.

For detailed Club History and History of motor-less Free Flight in San Diego that goes back to the 1930's, See: SDHGPA and San Diego Free Flight History. 
 


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Palomar Site Guide Update

11/8/2018

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​The Palomar Site Guide has been updated to highlight some Protocols that are being overlooked. 
Specifically to: Check in with the Ranch Office Manager (Clarissa) Monday - Friday (& Saturday if ranch hands are present) and introduce your self.  ​
Also, Please pack up before dark: SDHGPA access has been granted for Day Use only. Do not linger in the LZ past dark unless we have specific permission to do so for an event. If the security flood lights trigger on, that is the time to be heading out. (after dusk, head over to El Rey for post flight socializing)
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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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