Category: Meeting Minutes

SDHGPA Meeting Minutes 10-18-18

10/18/2018

Dave’s Unabridged Meeting Notes: 10-18-18

Site Updates:

Little Black Weather Station: Jeff Brown - weather station for LB is in hand, next need to finalize location - suggest we put station on top or on cow hill. Ask Ranger Ed. Prefer top. Otherwise maybe in shrubbery near the top (between towers and switchback launch, etc). Somebody suggested better lower, on north side (ie cow hill) so it represents launch better.

Steve R and Jeff to give Dave coordinates to run by Ranger Ed for approval
See New WX Station post for more details

Blossom Site Update: Asking for everyone’s support to help counter the proposed sand mining project in the valley. Nik is leading the current efforts and has written a October Update post about what is needed to Help Counter the Sand Mining Project.

Event Planning:
10/27 Halloween fly in: Need help with stuff for fly-in
Bill has some stuff but needs pickups to transport - Joseph, Luke, etc...
Steve to put up sign up sheet – See Sign-up Genius link on Halloween Fly-in info page

USHPA Film Fest 2018 at UCSD 11/17? Or at Palomar with a fly in 11/17/18

Kim is working details to get co-sponsorship with a UCSD sports club to bring the costs down to a reasonable level.
Default / Back-up location will be Palomar
For more info see and follow the Film Festival Event page

A few days after the meeting, the Board determined that Palomar would be the best Event location from the proposed locations.

Other Club Business:
Memberships:
Dues the same for next year, approved by board unanimously

Lots of people not renewing but still flying:
Ask em to join if u see em. Best tactic in my experience - present it as an essentially voluntary and supportive action, of little cost - a way of protecting and maintaining our sites and doing right by your fellow pilots.

SDHGPA 2019 Elections
SDHGPA Board Nominations & appointed committee positions for 2019 will open at the next scheduled meeting in November. Please think about how you would like to be support your flying community in this next year. Elections will be in Dec - Jan via mail in ballots.

LiveTrack24 SDHGPA Group
Steve R- everybody should use LiveTrack24 and sign up for the SDHGPA tracking group, so we can find em. Any tacking device dealio from satellite Spot or Garmin inReach type to cell phone app can be linked and combined in LiveTrack24. Our Livetrack24 Group is a good way for us to merge all of the different tracking devices and methods into one location for our SDHGPA group to quickly and easy access pilot locations for retrieve or emergency purposes.

A good practice is to use both Satellite and phone app for tracking for redundancy and that the cell apps can fill in more data points between the 5 or 10 min satellite tracker data send intervals. (If using phone for tracking, it is a good idea to also use a back-up battery supply)

Bill D. - everybody that doesn’t have a dedicated SOS-sending satellite tracking dealio is basically committing suicide. But if they want to go with wimpy-ass LiveTrack, whatever. Maybe we’ll come find em, maybe not. And off we go into the abyss . . .

Topic Discussion: Weather Tools
Great talk by Chris Cote on weather-casting tools and how he uses them to crush the rest of us in XC-land. If you missed it, it’s your loss. Or gain - if you or I tried to fly in some of the crazy conditions he calls “awesome”, we would just be scared out of our minds and likely give up paragliding for golf.

Cheers,
Dave Metzgar

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SDHGPA 2018 ELECTION, SURVEY RESULTS, & JAN MINUTES

1/20/2018

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2018 Election Results

Election Ballots were sent out to the 2017 and 2018 Members as of Jan SDHGPA Full Member Voting Body Roster on Jan 2nd following the Nov meeting & Dec open nominations period. 32 Ballots were received by the Jan 15th response deadline. All non submitted ballots are determined to be abstentions.

The Following 2018 Voting (Board) positions were ratified by each receiving 100% of votes cast:

President: Steve Rohrbaugh
VP: Jeff Brown
Secretary: Dave M
Treasurer/Sites Director: Bill Helliwell
Safety Officer: Bill Davis
Co-Safety Officer: Philip Wessinger

Appointed Non-voting positions for 2018:

TPSC rep: Kim Mccoy
Black Mountain CAC: Dave Metzgar, Antonella Zampolli (Incumbents)
Website: Steve Rohrbaugh, Nik Hawks, Philip Wessinger, Christopher Smith
Social Committee: Angela Albota, Bill Davis, Christopher Smith, Heather DeCourcy, Josh Gelb
XC Competition: Bill Helliwell / Jeff Brown / Eric Kolberg

Survey Results

Thank you to all that responded to the Survey!

It helps to direct what we as Club Members want the Club to be and set some direction. If you have any comments, questions, or concerns about the SDHGPA & its direction, please let us know. by talking with one of the Bard Members or come to the meetings. If you offered to help or are willing to help, please reach out and we will try to get you involved. Help is always appreciated.

We will try to incorporate the higher requested meeting topics into this calendar year meetings

Willing to Help with:

Happy to geek out on website stuff a little more, cleaning up the email list & making the emails a little more user friendly. Happy to help with site maintenance, especially at Blossom where I fly the most.
Work party
Site improvement/cleanup and anything else that's needed.
I'm only around January and February and available most days. Call if I can help in anyway.
Producing club collateral or content
Tasks as they come up, site flag replacement and maintenance etc.
I've enjoyed doing site maintenance.
site maintenance
Site maintenance/opening, fly-in organization, web site design
Working on committees, event planning and other volunteer opportunities.

Comments:

Thank you!
It would be great to have site briefing videos available for members as a supplement to the online information.
I need to get myself more involved and will work on that.

SDHGPA General Meeting Notes 1/18/18

Quorum of Directors present

Site Brief - Bill Helliwell
Laguna - all new State Park folks, Bill talked to a temporary ranger about existing permit, sent to Heidi, got form letter on how to apply for a permit instead of info on existing permit, tried to clarify. We have heard nothing. Assuming permit is still valid. Chief Ranger position appears to be open.

SDHGPA Calendar & Upcoming Events:
Activities & Calendar was discussed and set for the Next 3 months:

SDHGPA New Year Fly-in & Awards @ Palomar - Saturday, February 3:

SDHGPA XC Clinic - The old Triple XC - Will be back in action this year

4-part Clinic Series with the final part being a Laguna intro Flying Day:

Feb 15th - Clinic Talk - XC Basics & Thermaling - How to start getting your feet wet.
Feb TBD - An Intro to XC Fly Day for P2+ & P3 at Palomar Will be scheduled at the Feb15th meeting.
March 15th - Clinic Talk - XC Advanced Skills & Convergence & Laguna Routes
April 7th - XC Fly Day and Intro Fly Day @ Laguna ***

Laguna Upper Launch

April 19: SDHGPA Club Meeting & BBQ Mixer - Topic: TBD

Spring Fly-in : Tentative Dates: May 5th or June 2nd

Other items in planning to be added soon:

HG – PG 1st Responder class in the planning stages (no date set)
LB Trail Work Party will be scheduled in the next few months.
Palomar Launch Work Party will be scheduled in the next few months.
4th WX station is slated to be installed at LB post proper approvals.

*** SDHGPA XC Clinic Fly Day @ Laguna - WX dependent Date.

The Laguna flying day will be a good intro to Laguna for P3+ pilots.
All P3 pilots wanting to fly must be signed up and pre-cleared to fly. Also, All Pilots wanting to fly must attend the prerequisite SDHGPA XC Clinic talks at the Feb and March Meetings.
P2 & new P3 pilots or others not feeling up to Laguna may Join the Clinic however will not be Flying on the Laguna Fly-day, but rather observing at the site and driving to learn the routes and logistics required. (Will still be a great and impressive learning experience.)

Other SDHGPA News & General Board Business Minutes:

Motions and Club Business discussions:

1. Annual Windsock Flag Replacements per usual plan and two Masts to be placed on order in the next few weeks for windsocks at Palomar, Little Black and Horse. (motion Passed)

2. Increase Temp Membership Dues to at least cover costs of Fly-ins and keep the no excuses low Annual Membership of $40. Proposed Membership structure: Week $10, Month $20, Annual $40. After review of other clubs in CA and surrounding states. SDHGPA remains one of the least expensive while including the most sites. (Motion Passed)
Dues adjustment discussion: We’re low for clubs with actively maintained sites. Maintained sites with outhouses, groomed launches, etc, are usually much more. Suggestions to have daily fees for visiting pilots floated, but detractors pointed out that daily fees are unlikely to be paid daily without site monitors to collect. Noted that primary purpose should be compliance rather than income, to decrease risk of uninsured accidents. Steve R proposed week should be $10, month $20, year $40.

Round-up of other Club Dues for comparison:

Crestline/ AJ (single site): $100 annual, $10 / day,
Symar/ Kagle (single site): $75 Annual, $40 month, $10 /Day,
Saboba (single site): $65 Annual
Santa Barbara: $30 Flat Annual but is also structured that all need to fly with a site guide/ instructors for + $/day (locals included even at the training hill for kitting there) and the club has very little overhead as they only carry insurance for the training hill.
Central Cal Dunlap/Tollhouse: $100 Y, $10 / Day
Bay Area PA: $30 Annual + $20-40 per site sticker (fly more sites, pay more and some sites have higher overhead costs)
Marina (one site): 30Y flat (little to no Maint) + need to pay a State Park fee to use the site. $195 annual pass
Rogue Valley HGPA: $60 Annual local, visiting pilot annual $30, visiting pilot 7-day $20
Arizona: $50 Annual, $25 M, $10 W, $5 D
Utah HGPA: $50 Annual, $25 week, $5 day

3. One additional WX station this year after Proper Approvals at Little Black. (Motion Passed)
Discussion Notes: Weather stations - 3 up and running. Blossom proposed as next target but iffy because we have no permission on appropriate sites. So, Little Black was selected as next target. Dave and Anto will ask Ed and CAC at next meeting if we can put one somewhere well off-trail and out of sight from the parking lot, etc. Maybe on the ridge below and slightly south of launch. Station for Little Black would be another Ultrasonic wind sensor like Palomar & Laguna. Initial cost would be about 1.3K including installation costs.

Ultrasonic WX Station at Palomar

4. Improve Palomar Launch surface to minimize line snags from exposed sharp rocks and weed snags. Motion was modified to put together a proposal looking at several alternatives from Heavy Erosion Control Matting typically used in Road Bed construction, Road Base Aggregate infill, Native GD infill. Anything installed will need to blend in with natural surroundings the majority of the year. (Motion Passed)

Discussion Notes: Palomar needs a DG fill on launch, to cover stubs and rocks. AstroTurf from worn football field was suggested (However, would need to be a natural color and blend in with the surroundings so recycled field turf wold likely not meet the pre approved criteria) Or Landscape Fabric (in beige/ light brown color) Or 3/4 in gravel. No carpet. All options have good examples of effective use at launches here or elsewhere, but must be acceptable to the tribe. In our Palomar Use Agreement , Artificial turf is pre-approved in concept, but would need to be in a “natural color.” James Goodpasture (Pala Tribe Program Manager that worked on the original launch improvement project) might have leftover DG or gravel from a nearby site. Steve R will call to check on cost and delivery options/cost. Seems like using a tribal source and DG/gravel rather than artificial material like AstroTurf, carpet, or landscape fabric would decrease potential rejection by the tribe? Note: Additional Improvement project proposals beyond Site Maintenance need to be cleared through the Tribal Council.

5. Laguna Site Intro as we have done in years past in conjunction with an XC clinic. (Motion Passed) and added to the Calendar

6. Approved Schools for SDHGPA sites will be given a certificate/ Vehicle ID / Parking Pass to indicate the sites they are allowed to launch or land at commercially as outlined in the SDHGPA School Requirement protocols. Includes any form of instruction for money or consideration. Observation of uncertified / non verified instruction (ie, instruction of groups of students, tandems for hire, and traveling guided groups) in the absence of displayed certificates should be communicated to SDHGPA and in turn USHPA RDs. This includes visiting instructor travel guide/ XC Clinic tours/ Comp & League events. Those tours and events need to provide event insurance to cover our Landowners for those activities. If They do not, they are not following site protocols and putting our sites at risk.

7. Chapter Renewal and related application & activities need to be completed by the end of Jan to assure no gap in coverage: Risk Management / Risk Assessment for club insurance renewal. New forms required to streamline USHPA processing. Bill and Phil are going to do it. Giant cut n paste adventure, with some new items to cover. Mar 1st Insurance renewal Date, but there is a potentially long processing time upstream and Chapters are proceed on a 1st in 1st out queue so trying to complete by end of January so that we do not have a laps in coverage.

2017 SDHGPA Annual Income & Expense Report:

In 2017 largest reoccurring expense increase and expense overall was adding in the 2nd Portable and maintaining the 2 at Palomar. This year we also invested in 3 weather stations that are non reoccurring cost. There are about $500-$600 outstanding expenses incurred in 2017 that not hit the books and will be rolled into 2018. As a result the Chapter ended out the year with a net negative cash flow of -$138.62. Reserves remain at ~ 12k approximately 12 months of annual operating budget and appropriate for a 501 (c) (7) non profit organization of our size.

SDHGPA Memberships Past 3 Years

2018 Budget: Expect 2018 to be similar with larger improvement projects slated (less being allocated to weather station expenses, and more for Palomar launch upgrade). Although, may need to do a fundraiser or apply for a Foundation for Free Flight grant to cover part of the Palomar project depending on project scope defined in the discovery process/ proposal.

Note that expenses and improvement projects at Palomar, Horse, Little Black, Laguna, and Big Black are scaled to balance the budget each year. Annual and Temporary Memberships overall have been declining over the past 3 years.

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SDHGPA Meeting Notes - Nov 2017

11/16/2017

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Nov 16, 2017 Meeting Agenda & Notes:

Was a small meeting with 12 Club members + 4 Board Members.

Nominations for 2018 Board Members opened and the following nominations were slated:

President: Steve Rohrbaugh
VP: Jeff Brown
Secretary: Dave M
Treasurer/Sites Director: Bill Helliwell
Safety Officer: Bill Davis
Co-safety Officer: Phil W

Nominations will remain open until voting closes

SDHGPA Board Election Voting opens on Jan 2nd and closes Jan 14th.

Member votes will be collected by mailer e-mail Ballot Form responses to nominations slated during the Nov 16th General Meeting. Write in nominations will be accepted. Election Ballot Forms will be sent to SDHGPA 2017 Full Members and 2018 Full Members as of Jan 2nd. Each current Full Member may make one Ballot submission. All Ballot Forms must be submitted before 12 midnight Jan 14th to be counted.

Need to find a new Meeting Location. Greg will be moving and we will need to find a new meeting location. A big thank you goes out to Greg for Hosting our Club Meeting Location for the past several years!

Some good ideas for new locations include newish breweries in Mira Mesa with meeting rooms, veterans support orgs (VFW, AL, etc), Elks, Masons, etc. Ideal Location would be central to majority of members with trying to keep travel time in rush hour in mind.
Actions:

Phil W and Steve S and others volunteered to do some scouting
All Members: we need your help. If you have any suggestions or ideas, Please investigate & send your ideas to SDHGPA@gmail.com

Revising XC rules for 2018: - in 2017, we eliminated Otay unofficially for a variety of safety, permission, and other reasons. A motion was made and the Club voted unanimously to make this official. Otay will not be part of our XC contests in 2018 and going forward unless the environment changes significantly.

Website SDHGPA Site Category Classifications
In the SDHGPA Site Guide and listing of SDHGPA managed sites, we have sites listed under the following categories:

SDHGPA Primary Sites: These are sites that SDHGPA actively manages and works with the Landowners / Agencies with agreements in place to maintain and works on active Site Preservation for the sites in addition to providing landowners with additional insured coverage through USHPA.
Secondary & Other San Diego Sites: These are sites that the SDHGPA does not have full control over or agreements in place to fly, but does annual Risk Assessments, Accident Investigations and is in communications with landowners / agencies. The SDHGPA works on Site Preservation for these sites and may carry additional insured coverage for Chapter activity and site preservation reasons.
Infrequently Flown: (not maintained or recommended) These sites are not maintained as active flying sites, but the SDHGPA does annual Risk Assessments, Accident Investigations for these sites.
Closed Private Sites: do Not Fly these sites that require specific “by invitation only” permission. The SDHGPA does not manage or maintain these sites but does provide information as requested by the land owners to indicate the sites are closed private sites, and perform annual Risk Assessments, Accident Investigations for these sites.

Blossom Status: Club voted to keep Blossom Valley in the “secondary” site category owing to lack of direct control over activities there. The Club will continue to do do site risk assessment, interface with landowner and agencies and carry Blossom as an insured site for the % of Club & USHPA members that Fly the site.

Accident Reporting & Safety Records
Club determined that we need a better way to retain our own safety records.

Both Chapter and USHPA Accident reporting and investigations are required per USHPA. The Chapter Accident reports and investigation information is used to update Site Guides and Chapter Site Risk Assessments required by chapters on an annual basis at a minimum. Since the inception of the USHPA ARS System, there has been confusion to what is required and our own paper accident reporting has not always been used and stored.

We should take the existing USHPA accident form and copy it to make our own, then have victims and witnesses fill it out.
The safety officer would then copy the info into the online USHPA form and AIRS, and keep a copy for ourselves.
Safe flying is dependent on easy access to others’ local experiences and knowledge, especially incident reports

Kiosk at LB - Update & Sign Repair Actions remain open

include note to effect that all use by motorized aircraft is prohibited.
Include requirements for SDHGPA membership
Include note that only appropriately insured and permitted instructional use is allowed
add large note that if park users see people doing probibited or disruptive things, they should call the ranger. With the number. Right under the note about powered aircraft.

Topic Discussion - Thermaling & Thermal Etiquette
The remainder of the meeting focused in on Thermaling & Thermal Etiquette. The topic loosely followed the slides available in the members only section
Section 1 – Thermals & Thermaling
Part 1 - 2. Flying Thermals & Thermaling Tips

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SDHGPA Meeting Notes - June 2017

6/22/2017

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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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Radio Etiquette

3/17/2017

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Radio Etiquette slide from last night's talk is a good reminder for XC and all pilots even when Site Flying:

XC & Site Flying 101 - The Basics -

General Radio Use Guidelines:

If site flying: Use low power settings
Realize that if you are chatting it up, you may be blocking other critical transmissions up to 50 miles away.
Do not use up airwave time by asking for someone by name only or broadcasting non information.
Realize that your broadcast was probably heard, but other pilots were probably busy thermaling or your broadcast did not warrant a response.

Keep radio transitions short and useful to the point info:

Who: “This is “Pilot Name”
What: Who, what, where, other (conditions . . . that would be useful to others in route)
When: On transitions, getting low, back up, gaggle flying decision points, relaying/ rebroadcasting info from pilots that are low or that have landed out and may not have line of sight signal strength.
Where: “Location & Altitude” Learn and use common way-point names, and roads
WX & Other : (conditions . . . that would be useful to others in route) (short Gaggle coordination)

Examples of good radio transitions:

“This is “Pilot X”, 9K at Granite, Going on glide to Vulcan, Winds SE @ 10” “Pilot Z What's your 20”
“This is “Pilot Z”, Low, 1K over Earthquake Valley, may be landing, Winds East @ 10”
“This is “Pilot Z”, Back in game, Thermaling 7K over Scissors Crossing, Winds SE @ 2 in convergence line”
“This is “Pilot Y”, Setting up to land in Wash, Winds SE @ 10”
“This is “Pilot Y”, Landed Safe in Wash, Winds SE @ 5”
“This is “Pilot X”, 10K over Banner in convergence line, on glide to Vulcan; “Pilot Y Landed Safe in Wash, Wash winds SE @ 5 will need retrieve”

Slide for Printing:

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SDHGPA 2017 Board Election, Survey Results, & Jan Minutes

2/3/2017

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Election Ballots were sent out to the 2016 SDHGPA Full Member Voting Body Roster on Jan 4th following the Nov meeting & Dec open nominations period. 34 Ballots were received by the Jan 21st response deadline. All non submitted ballots are determined to be abstentions.

The Following 2017 Voting (Board) positions were ratified by receiving the following % of votes cast:

President: Steve Rohrbaugh 100%
VP: Jeff Brown 100%
Secretary: Dave M 97.1% (with 1 write in to Anto . . .)
Treasurer/Sites Director: Bill Helliwell 100%
Safety Officer: Peter Hill 94.1% (w/ write ins: 1 to Anto & 1 to Chris Cote)

Appointed Non-voting positions:

TPSC rep: Kim Mccoy (New Appointment)
Black Mountain CAC: Dave Metzgar, Antonella Zampolli (Incumbents)
Website: Steve Rohrbaugh, Peter Hill, Christopher Smith
Social Committee: Angela Albota, Bill Davis, Phil Weffinger, Christopher Smith
XC Competition: Bill Helliwell / Eric Kolberg

Survey Results

Willing to get more involved helping the Club in the following ways:

Any way necessary.
maybe next year with big black. ( PG pilot in ramona)
Helping water Little Black or anything else publicized
Site cleanup
Yoga for pilots
Site Work, Site search/opening, Fly-in, Web content
Site Task and other odd and end jobs as needed
horse canyon litter clean-up

Other Comments or suggestions for meetings or Club in general:

Great job of running the club. Others look to you as a model.
Thank you for your hard work!
Please send earlier notices. I seem to get them close to the day of the meeting.
club doing good
OPEN THE TOP OF LITTLE BLACK TO HANG GLIDERS FOR XC BY NEXT MONTH

Other SDHGPA News & Board Meeting Minutes:

Issue: There is a reduced # of instructors in So Cal capable of issuing USHPA 30 Day Memberships to visiting International Pilots. Solution: To fill this void in San Diego per USHPA SOPs; SDHGPA will start to issue USHPA 30-Day Affiliate Memberships to International Pilots holding IPPI Rating Cards. All Chapter Board Officers are authorized to issue USHPA 30-Day Affiliate Memberships to International Pilots holding IPPI Rating Cards. Non IPPI Rated pilots will need to get memberships and ratings signed off through a USHPA instructor/ PASA Certified School. Membership Forms will be available through 2 or 3 Primary authorized issuers. See About Us page for current primary contacts. See more details in Membership FAQ.
SDHGPA will start maintaining Portable Outhouse service at the Palomar Main Launch in addition to the Palomar Roberts Ranch LZ. Monthly cost is ~ $65 per unit.
Wind sock Flags are on order and will be replaced in the next few weeks at Palomar, Little Black and Horse.

2016 SDHGPA Annual Income & Expense Report:

In 2016 we planed on burning down the reserves with our Free Flight Forever donation matching campaign. As a result the Chapter ended out the year with a net negative cash flow of $6.2k.

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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