Category: Flying Site News And Updates

SDHGPA Meeting Notes - June 2017

6/22/2017

June 15th 2017 Meeting Agenda & Notes:

Was a small meeting mostly attended by Board Members.

Site Information and Updates - Reminder for all on Site Protocols:

Bill Helliwell noted that essentially the entire San Felipe Valley, including the usual Banner landing area, is closed for the summer to all use, including foot traffic, and is being actively monitored. The Laguna Site Guide was updated and Notice Published regarding San Felipe Valley Summer Month Closure on June 21st.
Reminder that Use of Palomar Launched or LZs and other listed Sites as Instruction sites that includes Tandem Flight (by definition) by any commercial operator, even from Robin's or other alternate launches, is only permitted by instructors that have registered with SDHGPA and meet all SOPs. http://www.sdhgpa.com/instruction-policies---protocol.html. A reminder and Notice was sent to Air California Adventure and its instructors on 5-2-2017 after violations of site protocols. As an USHPA Chapter, SDHGPA Flight SOPs are based on and include all USHPA SOPs, and are considered USHPA SOPs by extension. Noncompliance with those SOPs could put ratings and appointments at risk.
In the April meeting, the Board voted and passed a motion to add Blossom back in as an additional insured site covering the Landowners and Chapter. Primary reasons are for site preservation and to cover the % of pilots the are USHPA members. This brings the Chapter to covering 6 Additional Insured Sites in addition to 62 specific managed Launch and LZ locations.

Palomar Main LZ Gate Update:
Main LZ access on Sunday is now available to SDHGPA Club Members along with all other days.

Lock with SDHGPA Gate Code has been added the Main LZ Gate
Use is to be treated as we do with all other gates: open and close behind on Sundays.
If Gate is open when we arrive any other day of the week, we may leave the gate open and unlocked.
Last person out should lock the gate on all days.

Call for SDHGPA Weather Station Proposals: - Approved

Elsinore and several in AZ sites have installed "Holfuy" Weather Stations that look to be a fairly good Weather Station turn key solution. Holfuy includes web data hosting backbone, website modules, and phone Apps with their stations that are autonomous running on 3G / GSM network and solar power. http://holfuy.com/en/shop.php Station Specs: http://holfuy.com/en/about.php
Jeff Brown volunteered to work on Proposal investigations and System Designs

Proposal to include:

Weather Station Design Alternatives
Initial costs and reoccurring costs per station and other alternatives to Holfuy stations. http://holfuy.com/en/

- Holfuy Standard 450€ ~ $500 (Controls Hub & Solar Power box)
- Davis 6410 sensor. 110€ ~$125 (Wind anemometer & vane)
- or Ultrasonic sensor 490€ ~ $500
- Humidity sensor 110€ ~ $125 (if want cloud base predictions)
- Camera 300€ ~ $340
System Sub total for Simple Anemometer Wind only: $768.34
System Sub total for All up with higher end options ~ $1564.72 per station
Other costs:

1. Pole & Installation costs
2. SIM card & Data Plan

Finalize Station Designs

The Board voted unanimously to spend up to $2K per weather station and associated data plans and installation for two initial trail stations. The first trial stations are proposed to be at the Palomar Main Launch and Little Black.

Dave M will ask LB Rangers if we can put one up behind launch or below the 500 on LB, otherwise we'll investigate other alternatives for a true site ind reading.
For Palomar, we will scout placement locations at or before the July fly-in.
Steve will seek permission for installation from the Pala Tribal Council .

Aug Update: After initial proof of concept install at Palomar, the Board decided to approve a 3rd station for installation this year under the 2017 budget and the first 3 Stations would be installed at Palomar, Horse, & Laguna as being sites that are undeserved by current weather stations and being lease susceptible to being vandalized.

Example Holfuy stations and web module samples:

Elsinore Holfuy anemometer style station

Holfuy Ultrasonic style with web cam station

Accident Awareness & Prime Season is here.
Reminder to follow USHPA Pilot Proficiency SOPs for flight condition parameters per rating level. - Midday flying should be reserved for advanced pilots only at all Mt sites off of the coast.

Recent Accident reports were also reviewed. Without getting into details for two recent accidents at our San Diego and other US sites, some things all pilots should be reminded of when flying home sites or abroad in another country:

Flying mid-day during peak heating should be reserved for advanced pilots at inland sites.
Fly within recommended operating parameters in Site Guides/ Protocols and USHPA Pilot Proficiency System Pilot Proficiency Ratings.
Always fly with local pilots. If they are not flying, there might be a reason.
Seek the advice of local pilots for weather and site introductions for each day based on weather conditions.
Seek out and join Local Clubs and utilize those clubs resources for site guides and other information available regarding sites.
When traveling as well as at your home sites, make sure you have insurance that covers you when and where you are.

Fly-in Planning:

Summer fly-in 2017:

Summer SDHGPA Fly-in will be July 8th at Palomar, targeting evening glass-off.
Midday flying not recommended!
Alternate WX fall back date of July 22nd
Steve will work on Pala Tribal Council Approval

Fall Halloween fly-in at Horse Canyon is Tentatively scheduled for October 28th

Summer Fly-in & Palomar 2015

Traditionally there is no scheduled SDHGPA Meeting in July. The Aug Meeting time slot has too many conflicts for Board Members and will be canceled. The Next Scheduled SDHGPA meeting will be in September on the 21st. Follow the SDHGPA Calendar for updates.

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Laguna - San Felipe Valley Summer CLOSURE

6/21/2017

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The entire San Felipe Valley, including the usual Banner Emergency landing areas, are closed for the summer to all use, including foot traffic, and is being actively monitored effective June 1st 2017 through Aug 31st.

Almost all of the San Felipe Valley comprises the “ San Felipe Valley Wildlife Area”, which is controlled by the California Department of Fish and Game. Some of the Area is closed to public entry all of the time. During the summer months, June, July, August, the entire Area is closed to all public entry. See the map at this website: https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=87881&inline

Clearly there is an exception for the highways. But the Area is on both sides of the highways. If you land on BLM property at the San Felipe Hills you are not allowed to walk to the highway. The North end of the San Felipe Valley has some privately owned property. Some quite level and almost like a meadow. The North end is also where the Sheriff station is located. It is at the small gray triangle next to highway S2.

If you are forced or choose to land in the San Felipe Valley you risk getting a trespassing ticket from the Sheriff, or some kind of ticket from a Fish and Game Ranger.

For more information on the Wildlife area: https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Lands/Places-to-Visit/San-Felipe-Valley-WA

Note that Laguna is listed as a Sensitive Site. For this and all the Latest Laguna Site Protocols, Be sure to check the Laguna Site Guide for updates each and every time you fly.

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Time to Review Updated Site Guides

4/29/2017

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What to do on a windy Blown out Day?

And before heading out to fly any other day?

Please take the time to review All the SDHGPA Site Guides. This year most Site Guides were updated based on our Annual Risk Assessment Review. Many of the sites have had their Site Ratings changed in addition to site safe flight operating perimeters being updated.

For instance, Palomar is now listed as: Minimum Ratings: H3 / P3 - (M1 to Bail out LZ; M2 to Main LZ); or H2 / P2 with other higher rated pilots present, site briefing for the day, and instructor sign off.

Also as a Reminder:

If you are an Instructor or School, please also review all Site and Instruction Protocols that include all Tandem Flight at all SDHGPA Sites. Note that any and all Instruction or Tandem Flights from or to any SDHGPA Launch or Landing Zones / LZs must comply with our Site Protocols. By not doing so puts the Site, Land Owners, SDHGPA, Students, and yourself at risk and violates SDHGPA flight SOPs.

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Palomar Launch Maintenance Update - 2

1/18/2017

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The Palomar Launch Maintenance and Purple Star-Thistle round up work party on 1-8-17 and Portable Prep on 1-15-17 to installation were a huge success!!!

The 1st weekend, we were able to effectively pull out and remove a large portion of the Star-Thistle seed heads that developed late last season before they were able to break off to germinate and spread on launch and set-up areas. This was another big step in getting the Star-Thistle invasion under control.

Other Work accomplished:

Replaced Gate Lock & Chain that was vandalized last week
Mowed and Groomed all launch areas and HG Launch keys
Main Launch window choke points and launch window keys were widened out by ~ 15 ft to increase launch safety for both PGs and HGs
Filled larger erosion runts in the launch access road from gate
Removal of recent vandal trash and shooting cartridges

A big thank you goes out to All the Pilots that came out to help!

After the hard work, all that came out were justly rewarded with nice gentle lift with many getting to 6K on this amazing 100+ mile visibility day ! From launch the view reached down and beyond the Coronado Islands off of Mexico, out to San Clemente Island, and up to Catalina Island.

The 2nd weekend 1-15-17, we focused in on creating a level pad and access trails to a new long term portable head to be placed on Launch. The Location is just off the Access Road but sub grade and out of line site from the gate. All that came out did a great job and even threw in some fine details like stone steps.

The West and SW HG Keys were also detailed out and widened a bit more to minimize tip strikes.

Flying Sunday was great and most all that came out had fun flights taking thermals from sun patches to cloud base at ~ 5k. By the end of the day, CB drooped to Launch level.

Then Tuesday, a crew meet out at Palomar to take delivery of the outhouse. Delivery when smooth other then Driver showing up early from announced time forcing driving up without carpooling to launch enough. We ended up not needing to carry in. The delivery guy drooped it down the embankment himself as it only had a few gallons in it. The Delivery Guy advised that we will need to make the longer access trail brush clearance a bit wider to 4ft for service access. (another day)
Bill H & Steve R then spent most of the morning getting first base coats of Plasti-dip Camouflaging onto the unit.

Palomar Launch Use Areas update post Jan 2017 Work Partys

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All GATE CODES Now Updated - 2016

5/17/2016

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Notice: Laguna Gate Codes Changed to the 2016 Combo

All Gate Codes are available in the Member Only Section

2016 Gate code for Laguna and Palomar gates is: XXXX

For Site & Gate access: Join or Renew SDHGPA Membership if you have not already done so.

Site Gate Codes are only provided to Annual Members after Membership Verification and may take several weeks to process. If you desire immediate site gate access, Please Fly with current local active Annual Member Pilots for site access and site briefings. Visiting pilots can only gain gate access with a Full Member guide present.
Annual Members will receive a separate email after verification on how to access the Member Only section of the website and receive current gate codes.

You can check Current Membership Status under the Membership menu.

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Purple Star-Thistle Round up in the clouds

5/14/2016

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The Palomar Purple Star-Thistle round up work party on 5-14-16 was a huge success!

We were able to dig out and clear or able to effectively cut and remove a large portion of the seed heads before they were able to germinate and spread on launch. This was a big step in getting the Star-Thistle invasion under control.

A big thank you goes out to the 15 pilots that came out to help today!

After filling Wild Bill's truck with Star-Thistle till it could take no more, all that came out were able to get into the air to play with the low cloud base & mixing air.

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Palomar Purple Star-thistle Control

5/7/2016

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Purple Star-Thistle has taken over the Palomar launch and we will be working to eradicate this non native invasive plant. This will likely be a several year project and take diligence to stay on top of until we get it in control.

Next Palomar Work Party: Sat 5-14-16 9am-noon

Purple Star-Thistle (Centaurea calcitrapa L.) is a noxious, invasive weed that severely competes with our native grasses and wild flowers. It also has a nasty spiked seed pod head. Simpy mowing this weed will actually help spread it and is not an option. For more information, see the following Technical Bulletin from the Marin County Department of Agriculture:

Purple Star-thistle Control Info

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SDHGPA "Free Flight Forever" Donation Matching

2/29/2016

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3-29-2016 Update

THANKS TO ALL PILOTS:
The USHPA RRG initial minimum funding Goal Has Been Reached!

We Also Made Our full SDHGPA matching donation goal of 100 pilots and $10,000.00!

Thank you to all our members that donated so generously, to put SDHGPA into the Free Flight Forever Founders Circle.

If you have not already donated, it is not too late to add your name to the list of donors!

The money we raise above this initial minimum goal will be used to increase the RRG's initial capital, offset startup costs, and make it easier to gain approval from the insurance commission. This will make the RRG stronger and better able to protect our sites, schools, and members.

Add SDHGPA as your Chapter Affiliation
and SDHGPA will add $100 per new Donor!

Donate Now

If you have already made a donation and did not name SDHGPA as an Affiliation -
You can update your Chapter Affiliation , or privacy settings using this form:

Update Chapter Affiliation

1-27-2016

USHPA is getting close, But Let's drive this over the top!
The USHPA fundraising goal was set as a minimum. The more we raise, the lower our premiums will be.

Add SDHGPA as your Chapter Affiliation
and SDHGPA will match $100 of your tax deductible donation!

Free Flight as we know it it today is at risk and we will likely lose most of our Flying Sites in San Diego on March 1st if we do not rally to support USHPA's Free Flight Forever campaign.

Martin Palmaz on State of USHPA Insurance

Yes, this is a big deal.
If we as USHPA members 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 Palomar, Big Black, Little Black, Laguna Upper Launch, Laguna Earthquake Valley LZ, Horse Anderson Field LZ. All of these sites will all likely be closed starting March 1st of this year if we do nothing.

What is SDHGPA doing about this big threat to our Flying Sites

The SDHGPA Board has met and we feel that this is as rainy day as it gets. The Board unanimously agreed to bleed down our SDHGPA reserve funds to help ensure that USHPA meets it's self insurance objectives. The following motion was passed unanimously:

SDHGPA will match $100 of each SDHGPA Member's "USHPA Free Flight Forever RRG Capitalization Fund" donations for those that donate naming SDHGPA as a Chapter Affiliation up $10K in total from SDHGPA reserve funds.

That would make a total of at least 20K from SDHGPA. This is about $80 per Annual Member that we had in 2015 if each member donated. It would be great if all members could donate, but unlikely; So we raised the SDHGPA Matching to $100 per member.

To Enable SDHGPA Free Flight Forever Donation Matching:

We need each and every SDHGPA Member to step up and help save our sites

Please consider increasing your donation to at least $100 to maximize SDHGPA Matching, or If you have not already done so, Please
Donate to The Free Flight Forever Fund.

Donation Link

When Making your Donation, add SDHGPA as your Chapter Affiliation

If you have already made a donation and did not name SDHGPA as an Affiliation -
You can update your Chapter Affiliation using this form:

Update Chapter Affiliation

FAQ: Yes the SDHGPA match is retroactive. However, you will need to add an Chapter Affiliation if you did not list it. Early donations did not get the option of adding a Chapter Affiliation or sign up for the Donation level Shirt or Jacket. If you need to update your Chapter Affiliation, public/anonymous status and sign up for a shirt/jacket from previous donations, you can do that on this page: https://fs30.formsite.com/officeushpaaero/form25/index.html

Need more convincing on why it is so important?

Think of it as a cheap insurance policy that is tax deductible!
Would you consider driving down the road without auto insurance? - Don't think so -

Open Letter from Bill Helliwell

Will you fly without USHPA insurance?

As you may know, First Flight Insurance Group will not renew the insurance policies that USHPA has with them when the policies expire at the end of February. Check out the USHPA web site and “Free Flight Forever” page for information.

You aren't an instructor, you don't to tandem flights. So you think you don't need insurance?

Some of our sites that we cover as additional insured will be gone; Big Black, Little Black, and quite likely Palomar. But you will still be able to fly at Otay, Blossom, Horse (without Anderson's field), Laguna (without the upper launch and the lz's at Butterfield and Earthquake Valley).

So what's the problem?
What if you cause injury to someone's property or, even worse, to someone's person?

That injured person may sue you. Are you prepared to cover the cost in money and time? That is what the USHPA pilot liability insurance takes care of. What if you are found liable? That could take a big chunk of what you have now and a chunk of whatever you make in the future. Your quality of life would be seriously reduced.

Such accidents are rare, but can be very costly. That is what insurance is for. Such accidents have happened. One example is from Washington. In the setup area a dust devil picked up a hang glider and slammed it into a spectator. The innocent bystander was paralyzed. USHPA insurance stepped in to defend the pilots and land owner. Without that insurance the spectator and family would come after every pilot at the site. Paragliders are not immune. A gust of wind at launch could haul the glider and pilot across the ground and into a spectator. The loaded lines could easily cause catastrophic cuts or worse. It could happen. Do you want to take the chance?

USHPA is working on a solution, essentially helping to form an insurance company to self-insure USHPA activities. The insurance company will provide the three types of insurance, pilot liability insurance, site insurance, and instructor insurance. Each of the three types will have its own premium schedule, requirements, and payouts. Governments require such companies, referred to as self insured or specifically a Risk Retention Group (RRG), to follow organizational laws. The one that matters to us is that the RRG must have two million dollars up front. That money is required to form the company, I guess just to be there in case there is a suit soon after the company is formed. In time each type of insurance the company offers will be self contained, no mingling of premiums between the three insurance policies.

To Make a Donation today: https://www.ushpa.aero/donation_form-RRG.asp

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

Free Flight Forever

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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

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

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

We have come a long way from the initial Glider Point Trail building in 2014 - Black Mountain Open Space

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

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

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.

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!