Category: News

2025 SDHGPA Election Results

1/15/2025

Thank you to all that accepted nominations and offered to serve on the SDHGPA Board and Volunteer positions. If you have a special skill or want to help out, we are always looking for ways to help spread the load.

The ballots have been counted up and we have a new board! 46 ballots were cast and all non submitted ballots were determined to be abstentions.

Here's the Board and Volunteer line up for 2025:

President: Steve Rohrbaugh (Incumbent) 100%
Vice President: Jeff Brown (Incumbent) 100%
Secretary: John Bartholomew 73.9%
Treasurer: Ana Krulec (Incumbent) 97.8%
Safety Officer: Alex Gray (Incumbent) 100%
Co-Safety Officer: Florian Schweiger 100%

Board Members at Large: (Top 3 % of votes collected)

Josef De Beer 78.3%
Robb Milley 76.1%
Ron Davis 73.9%

Appointed Volunteer Positions - Non-board voting positions:

Social Committee Chair: Jay Whiteaker, Josh Gelb (for Cost Co Run)
Black Mountain Citizens Advisory Committee: Jeff Brown, Dave Metzar, Antonella Zampolli
Website: Steve Rohrbaugh, + (Need Volunteers to step up to Help)

Site Pilots in Command

Palomar: HG: Jeff Brown; PG: Ron Davis, Robb Milley, John Bartholomew, Dan Jackson
Little Black: Jeff Brown, David Arnouk
Big Black: HG: Jeff Brown; PG: Jay Whiteaker
Horse Canyon: John Bartholomew, Rob Eschbach
Laguna: HG: Jeff Brown - Butch Peachy; PG: Rob Eschbach
Blossom: Jay Whiteaker, Josh Gelb
Whales V: Alex Gray
Otay TBD (Open)
Tecate Peak (Historic rarely flown) TBD (Open)

Survey Results:

Meeting Location Ideas:

David Hunt: https://www.scrippsranch.org/community-center/
Florian Schweiger: Any brewery
Scott Hatlen: Kate Sessions Park
Russ Gibfried: I like Little Black
Josh Gelb: My Clubhouse in Mission Valley is available
Alex Grey: Fiesta Island fire pits

If you have other ideas, Please let us know

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SDHGPA Special Election 2024

1/15/2024

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SDHGPA Special Election Voting opened on Wednesday Jan 10th and closed Sunday Jan 14th 2024.

Member votes were be collected by e-mail ballots. Special Election Nominations were collected and seconded by the SDHGPA Board to initially fill a position vacancy of Treasurer per our bylaws. Write-in nominations & votes were accepted. Election ballot forms were sent to Current SDHGPA 2024 Full Members as of Jan 12th. Each current Full Member were able to make one ballot submission.

Those Nominated for Treasurer:

Ana Krulec
Todd Wiersum
George Du (write-in)

53 SDHGPA Members participated in the Special Election and Ana Krulec was elected to the Position of SDHGPA Treasurer with 75.5% of the votes cast.

Congratulations to Ana and a big thank you to those that offered to serve as Treasurer in this Special Election to fill this position Vacancy. We will very likely tap into your offer to help in a support role.

Also, thank you to all that participated in the voting process!

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SDHGPA February 26th 2023 MEETING NOTES

2/21/2023

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1. Club Info and Updates

a) Laguna Permit Status is in process.

b) Laguna and Big Black Site Guides.
Looking for site reps. David Norgren to contact Paul Markham as possible site rep for Big Black.

c) Weather Station Updates (Joseph)
https://www.sdhgpa.com/weather-stations.html

Palomar station battery dead. Joseph working on fix.
El Cap station needs firmware flashed to be more efficient w/ battery usage.
Laguna Holfuy station should be considered unreliable and will be turned off. Anemometer started to fail in January giving unreliable wind speed readings. In the future this will be replaced by one of Joseph's stations.

d) Club USHPA renewal and safety review update (Steve/Rob)
Deadline to renewal our USHPA chapter was Feb. 15th. Rob updating incidents and assessments.

e) Palomar point series update
https://www.sdhgpa.com/palomar-point-series.html

Brad and Katherine won the Serial and Fledgling classes respectively in January - congratulations! The February tasks will remain the same as January -- no change.

f) Reminder is renew you 2023 Membership. Thank you to everyone that has renewed! Here's the link to renew:
https://www.sdhgpa.com/store/p6/SDHGPA_Annual_Full_Membership_dues.html

   h) Call for future meeting presenter. Looking for presenters on the following topics:
            Using Flyskyhy for Tasks (Palomar Point series)
            Using xctrack for Tasks(Palomar Point series)
            Using XC Soar for Tasks(Palomar Point series)
            Techniques to build your flying skills

2. New Items / Roundtable / Stories from Mexico/Columbia

Stan from Crestline Soaring said the Redlands Airport Advisory Board is meeting and considering banning launching and landing within Redlands city limits. This would impact Hanger 24
Fly-in still being targeted for March/April.

3. Rob talked about his recent trip to Columbia. Conditions were fantastic w/ flights almost 100K every day.

Getting to Columbia: Rob flew SAN-MIAMI-CALI. Two hour cab ride to Roldanillo for $70. Cheaper bus options available.
Where to Stay: Rob booked an air bnb in town. There were lots of taxis in the town square every morning competing for your business to take you up to launch for $10.
Where to Fly: Primary launch is Aguapanela that most use. We preferred to use the private Trevol launch which is a bit lower and out front. Aguapanela launches you a bit higher, but requires long glide to house thermal and you arrive only slightly higher than the Trevol launch. The Trevol launch puts you straight into the house thermal, has nice shade structure with tables and clean floors and bathrooms for setup. Costs $2 to use the launch. All launches in Roldanillo are behind high tension powerlines and I would probably recommend P4 skills for them. Conditions typically turned on between 930-1030 each morning. Run the ridge in the anabatic east flow in the morning. Once the sun gets high and clouds pop in the valley, push out and fly the flats. Expect the “Pacifico” to come in around 3pm each day, which is what they call the seabreeze. It will blow down hard on launch and everything on the east side of the valley will be in rotor. Land in Zarzal if the Pacifico is too strong to make it safely back to Roldanillo.
Retrieves: For retrieves, a $1 bus to get home from there. No matter where you land out, it is super easy to get retrieved. There are buses between every little town along the highways and they will stop in the middle of the route to pick up pilots. There are taxis in most towns. And if not, there are people on motos everywhere that want to give you a ride home for pesos. The people are very friendly and seem to like the pilots.

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SDHGPA January 19th 2023 Meeting Notes

1/30/2023

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Club Info and Updates
1. 2023 Membership Renewal is now open to not have a gap in your membership if you have not already renewed for the 2023 annual year. Current status: https://www.sdhgpa.com/current-membership-status.html
2. USHPA is rolling out new Chapter Renewal & Insurance rate changes. Details coming

   2.   Site info Updates:
           Reminder that 2023 parking passes are needed at Palomar.

3. WX Station updates:
Laguna station having sporadic on/off issues, similar with Little Black, where batteries run
  down. Discussed a couple possible solutions:

Put one of Josef's new stations at Laguna
Move Holfuy station from Palomar to Laguna
Plan is to upgrade current stations to have 2-3 battery cells vs 1. The current Holfuy stations have 3 cells in them.
Joseph also has updated FW that should help reduce battery drain when the station loses signal an spends a lot of power trying to frequently reconnect. The new FW will have reconnect timeouts with progressively longer pauses between reconnect attempts.
The logistics for Upgrading and fixing the El Cap Station will be a Challenge due to the remote location. We will likely need to build another and then swap it out. The question is if we have enough confidence in our prototypes to keep sending them out to this location until they are proven to be robustly stable.
Next steps to work on WX data Network feeds. Joseph could use some help programming the data feed. Specifically, help w/ Typescript from back-end Google Firebase. During the meeting, we had an awesome volunteer from Kevin Sweeney to help out. Thank you Kevin!!!!

4. Windsocks - Ordering some more windsocks

5. Chapter renewal and Annual Safety Review is due to USHPA Feb 15th to not have a gap in coverage at our Sites.

Round up of Accident Reports
Start of Risk Assessment & Site Guide Review. Steve updated site guide for Palomar
Are our Safety Officers going to come back to ground & SD in time to work on renewal tasks?

6. Calendar for the Year:
2023 Fly-Ins Dates:

Tentative March/April 2023 for Fly-in and awards
Fall Fly-in ~October 2023 or early November

7. Palomar point series registration and scoring page is up!
https://www.sdhgpa.com/palomar-point-series.html

The SDHGPA Palomar XC Point Series is an educational, task based, out and back style race-to-goal held at the Palomar Mountain paragliding site. The inaugural season will be held from January through April of 2023. It will run in two more seasons each (May-August and September-October) if there is continued interest in a year round contest. The series is free to enter for all SDHGPA Members as a membership benefit. Launch is the standard Palomar Mountain launch.

Scroll to the bottom of the page above and give it a test if you fly one of the tasks this month.

Kudos to Cam, Ana and Robb Milly for putting this together! Awesome job!

8. For future meetings, we are looking for awesome topic presenters who would like to share their knowledge/lessons learned/tips. Possible topics areas are listed below. If you would like to share some knowledge, please email the board.

Using Flyskyhy for Tasks (Palomar Point series)
Using xctrack for Tasks(Palomar Point series)
Using XC Soar for Tasks(Palomar Point series)
Other instruments? (Flytech . . .)
Things to work on to build your flying skills
The Classic SD XC routes:
SD Thermaling Clinic topics

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SDHGPA MEETING MEETING MINUTES August 18 2022

8/19/2022

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SDHGPA Club Meeting Meeting Minutes
Thursday, Aug. 19th 2022 5:30 – 9:00pm
Little Black - Black Mountain Gliderport
15198-15442 Black Mountain Rd, San Diego, CA 92129, USA

Agenda:
5:30 - 6:30 After Work Flights (experienced pilots)
6:30 - 7:30+? Glass off Flights
7:00 LZ Social Mixer & Pizza in the LZ (BYO_)
7:30 General Meeting:

Site Updates:

No updates on Blossom or other sites.
Discussion about adding Sites / Site Pioneering: Whales V near SD Skydiving DZ and the old Escape Country - Robinson Ranch in Rancho Santa Margarita / Orange county were used as examples of Sites pilots might want to make more legitimate for Site preservation. When is it a good idea to add in Sites and what is required. One key thing is to check for Landowner / Agency requirements of the Site and establish permision for use as a Part 103 requirement.

Weather Station Updates:

Awesome work by Joseph getting his weather sensor prototype working and communicating through cell service back to Google Firebase to aggregate data. To see prototype, go to Weather Station page under "More Coming Soon". https://www.sdhgpa.com/weather-stations.html
Next Steps: A motion was made to approved Club funds ($2000) to reimburse Joseph for development materials to date and to build 3 to 4 more Weather Stations. The Motion passed by a large majority of Club Members at the meeting. There where no objections.

San Diego Paragliding (Private) Facebook Group (www.facebook.com/groups/297854983577956)

Discussion if this site is still relevant or should be removed. Right now Steve is the only moderator. Club decided to leave site 'as-is' with the same membership requirements of being active USHPA pilots and act as a landing spot, then direct to Club website (https://www.sdhgpa.com/). Rob E will be added as a Group Admin for member adds.

Meme Chat:
Rob discussed meme chat… see his Telegram post for details. Meme Chat info has been added to the current Member Information page.

Palomar Safety Update (Rob/Steve)

Discussion on a couple recent incidents where pilots landing at Chickens and other les than desirable locations. Reiterated that Chicken LZs should not be considered an intended landing zone and pilots need to assess if they are at or Below the proximity of house thermal knob to start glide to LZ. See the Blue time to glide to LZ line in the Site Guide.
All Approaches to the Main LZ should be over the Air Strip LZ and not over the Orchards. Pilots should be targeting to land in the Center of the Main LZ then run long if needed. The Main LZ is very large and into the wind. It is very unlikely that even a high performance HG will use up the entire length of the LZ.
Landing in one of the Orchards could put the Site at risk.
Link to Palomar site guide: https://www.sdhgpa.com/palomar.html

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SDHGPA Meeting Meeting Minutes July 21 2022

8/16/2022

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SDHGPA Club Meeting Meeting Minutes
Thursday, July 21 2022 5:30 – 9:00pm
Little Black - Black Mountain Gliderport
15198-15442 Black Mountain Rd, San Diego, CA 92129, USA

Agenda:
5:30 - 6:30 After Work Flights (experienced pilots)
6:30 - 7:30+? Glass off Flights
7:00 LZ Social Mixer & Pizza or Subway in the LZ (BYO_)
7:30 General Meeting:
1. Club Info & Updates:

Site info Updates:
2022 Election Results: Welcome new 2022 SDHGPA Board.
- President: Steve Rohrbaugh
- VP: Jeff Brown
- Secretary: Russ Gibfried
- Treasurer/
  Acting Secretary: Josh Gelb
- Safety Officer: Rob Eschbach
- Safety Officer: Alex Gray
- Member at Large: Josef De Beer
- Member at Large: Robb Milley
- Member at Large: Ron Davis
Weather Station 3G sunset activity updates - Jeff Brown
SD PG FB Group policies? - USHPA Pilots only or more open? - Prior Policy concerns of prior Admins. Need need Moderators/ Admins
What the ___ is going on at CSS? Not sure but current status

Other Election and survey results:
Meeting Location responses:

I like the idea of having it at a flying site. Either little black or Palomar
We can meet at my place in Fallbrook (Greg Hunter). It is probably too far for most people during the week though.
Marshall Crestline
little black
Mission bay!
Balboa park?
LB LZ

Comments responses:

Small group break out sessions.
Thank you for your years of service to our local
more fly-ins
Keep up the great work!
Great flying club.
Thank you for all your work ... just thank you.

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2022 SDHGPA Officer Nominations Extended into June

6/16/2022

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Due to recent events, the SDHGPA elections have been slightly delayed into June so that we can fill Bill Helliwell's positions. Bill is willing to stay on at an advisory level but feels that it is time for others to pick up his roles. We would like to thank Bill for his years of contributions and recent roles as Treasurer, Landowner and Agency Relations, and Site Rep for the following Sites: Anza Borrego State Park, Laguna, Horse, Big Black, and Otay along with managing the SDHGPA XC competitions.

Nominations will remain open until election in June. Ballots will go out after the SDHGPA June 16th Meeting. This nomination list and posting date will be updated as we receive nominations with seconds.

If interested in a Nomination or volunteering for a position, please email [email protected]

Club Officers 2022 Nominations with seconds to date:

President:   Steve Rohrbaugh (Incumbent)
VP:   Jeff Brown    (Incumbent)
Treasurer: Josh Gelb (Nominated and seconded)
Secretary: Russ Gibfried (Nominated and seconded)
Safety Officer: Rob Eschbach (Appointed as replacement Mid Year)
Safety Officer: Alex Gray (Nominated and seconded)
Member at Large: Josef De Beer (Appointed as replacement Mid Year)
Member at Large: Robb Milley (Appointed as replacement Mid Year)
Member at Large: Ron Davis (Appointed as replacement Mid Year)

Also need help in the following Appointed / Committee Chair positions:

Appointed Non-Voting Extended Board Positions (could be part of a Board position):

Social Committee: _____Open______ (Lead), Josh Gelb, Sharon Tang?,
Website: Steve Rohrbaugh, Georden Grabuskie, Russ Gibfried,
Blog Article - Newsletter Content creators: Russ Gibfried, ____________
Meeting and other Video post editing & content creators: Neil Karstetter & Jeremy Graham ???
XC Competition: Jeff Brown / _____________
(New) Palomar Point Series Competition: Robb Milley, _________

Pilots in Command:
Coordination point for site information, Site Intro, and stewardship of Sites (need two per Site)

Palomar Jeff Brown, Ron Davis, Robb Milley
Big Black ____________ , Paul Markham ???
Horse Canyon Kris Souther, ______________
Laguna Butch Peachy, _____________
Anza-Borrego SP Jeff Brown
Little Black Jeff Brown , James Acres
Blossom Valley Nik Hawks , Josh Gelb, Art ???
Otay Rob Eschbach, ______________
Elsinore Liaison: Amber Carney, Bill Soderquist ???

Advisory Board Representatives:
Black Mt Open Space Citizens Advisory Council:

Jeff Brown
James Acres
Dave Metzgar
Anto Metzgar

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GATE CODES CHANGING - 2022

1/12/2022

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Notice: Palomar & Laguna Gate Codes will be changing to the 2022 Combo by the end of January.

All Gate Codes are available in the Member Only Section

2022 Gate code for Laguna and Palomar gates is: XXXX (will be updated mid Jan)

Reminder: All 2021 Annual (calendar year) memberships expired on Dec 31st.

For 2022 Site & Gate access: Join or Renew SDHGPA Membership if you have not already done so for the 2022 calendar year.

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.

Plus you get all the other great SDHGPA membership benefits:

Site & gate access to the following sites:
- Palomar
- Laguna
- Big Black
- Little Black
- Horse
Site Guide & News Updates
SDHGPA Weather Stations with accurate current conditions at your favorite sites (more being added each year)
Quarterly Fly-ins

Telegram Groups
LiveTrack24 groups
Year long SDHGPA XC Competition
Great Meeting Topics & clinics throughout the year

Access to the Member Only section of the Website
- Local Pilot Roster & Contact Directory
- XC maps & way point files
- Master SDHGPA Google Earth Site Guide file
- Meeting notes & presentation materials
- Membership Card & Parking Pass re-printing
- Gear Swap Listings
Helping to protect The Sites & Landowners by carrying Site Landowners as Additional Insured to the USHPA policies for the following sites: Palomar, Laguna, Big Black, Little Black, Horse, Blossom.
Site Maintenance for all of the above sites (depending on permissions negotiated) that includes Windsocks, Outhouses at Palomar Launch & LZ, Mowing, & other launch & LZ surface maintenance from erosion & other.

You can check Current Membership Status under the Membership menu.

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SDHGPA Summer 2021 Fly-in & Awards CerEmony

7/30/2021

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SDHGPA Summer Fly-in Fiesta 2021
&
XC Awards Ceremony for 2018, 2019, & 2020:

Aug 14th @ Palomar!

Come on out and share the sky with the San Diego free flight crew. Dinner & soft drinks will be provided by the club; Please bring a Fiesta worthy appetizer, side dish, salad, fruit, dessert, or drinks you'd like to share throughout the day (BYOB).

SDHGPA Membership is required to participate in the Fly-in Event and to Fly Palomar.
Please take care of Memberships and print parking passes BEFORE driving out if not current.

Check Current Membership Status here.

All memberships are available online, here. Please make you're paid up and print out your Parking Pass before you arrive. Let's work together to keep these wonderful sites available to the free flight community!

Please RSVP below or this link

Fly-in RSVP

Check back to this page for updates up to day of fly-in

This will be a great event!!!

Summer Fiesta in LZ with Taco Cart!
Targeting evening glass-off . . .
Midday flying not recommended!
SDHGPA XC Awards presentation for the past 3 years!
+ Special USHPA Award Presentation
Gear Swap

Rough Tentative Time Table:
2:00 - Set-up & General Meeting Time / Check in at LZ opens
2:45 - Carpooling to launch starts
3:30 - Site intro on Main Launch
4:00 - 7:00 - Launching (H1-H2 & P1-P2 should be launching later than 5pm with your higher rated sponsor/ mentor. . .)

~ 5:45 Appetizers Potluck & LZ festivities Start
~ 6:00-7:30 - Taco Cart serving in LZ
~ 7:00 pm - Awards Ceremony
7:36 - Sunset

Site: Palomar
Where: Palomar Main LZ
SDHGPA Palomar Main LZ - Roberts Ranch, 15482 CA-76, Pauma Valley, CA 92061 map

Please review and read Full Palomar Site Gide for updates:

Palomar Site Guide

Key Points for the Fly-in

All Vehicles must display Current 2021 SDHGPA Vehicle ID/ Gate Pass
Best to take care of memberships before, otherwise will be signing up on your phone with poor connections . . .
Check In and Out at the LZ Table and or Launch for this event vs calling individually into Tribal Security.
Carpool to launch to minimized Cars on launch
Main Launch is preferred for this event
Keep all access gates locked and closed behind. (2021 Gate Codes)
Active Launch Windows: Use mountain etiquette - Only enter the Launch Windows with your gear if and when you are ready and intending to launch hooked in and hang checked/ pre line checked (set-up and prep including hooking in and hang check in non active window areas.) 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.
No top-landing or fly-troughs before 5pm
Right turn day in front of launch and up the main spine to Robbin's. However, normal thermaling rules take precedence.

Palomar Main Launch Use Zones

If in Launch Windows or Top landing Approach areas, be cautious and aware of flight activities in all directions.
Do not enter Orchards . . . non-authorized Picking of Fruit is strictly forbidden and illegal.
COVID Guidance: Based on updated County & CDC guidance, Masks will be required when carpooling for all. If not fully vaccinated or uncomfortable in crowds, please feel free to wear a mask at other times & socializing. If not feeling well, please refrain from attending. (This may Change based on local CDC guidelines)

Gear Swap

We are giving gear swap a try at the fly in! Enter the gear you are selling in the Google sheet link below, include your contact info. If you are interested in a piece of gear reach out directly to the seller. If there are any issues Cameron Eibl (contact on telegram) will do his best to help you coordinate.

Gear Swap List

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HBvOSVivWNJ6jK9J_kNxx7l5Nt-MLUIrzWHK16vnBSY/edit?usp=drivesdk

Post Flying Fiesta & Awards Ceremony:
By popular demand, we will be having a Taco Cart in the LZ.

Main Course (Taco Cart) will be provided by the club however it is also an potluck; so plan to bring a Fiesta worthy appetizer, side dish, salad, fruit, dessert, or drinks you'd like to share throughout the day and post flying (BYOB).

Also Bring out your favorite Yard Games! for post flying fun & socializing: bocce ball, corn hole, ladder toss . . .

Cost:
SDHGPA Members: Free for SDHGPA Members (included as Membership benefit)
Non-flying guest: $10 BBQ/ donation for Taco Cart is appreciated.

SDHGPA Membership is required to participate in the Fly-in at Palomar and covers the taco cart as a membership benefit. (Full Annual Membership, or Visiting Pilot membership is valid for this event. For non flying guests, a $10/ person BBQ donation for taco cart 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 online and easier with a strong connection. . .

Check Current Membership Status here.

The Rich Matros Memorial X-C Contest - a rich history of XC free flight in Southern California

The Rich Matros Memorial X-C Contest is a chapter member XC competition based on open flight with non-specified tasks for pilots to make XC decisions on how to fly the day. There are both season long competitive and personal milestone Shirt Awards. The competition rules are different for HG & PG, but the milestone shirt awards are the same for each class of wing.

Rich Matros Memorial X-C Contest History: The SDHGPA was originally known as the Ultralight Flier's Organization, or UFO. The UFO was formed in 1973 and changed names to SDHGA in 1987. In 1994 the name was changed once again to the San Diego Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association or SDHGPA to better represent our growing paraglider pilot membership.

Rich Matros was one of the earliest members of the UFO, and one of its strongest supporters for over 15 years before succumbing to cancer. The cross country contest was renamed the Rich Matros Cross Country Contest in 1988 to honor Rich and to recognize his years of contribution to our club and his passion for XC.

For more information and how to participate in the XC comp as an SDHGPA membership benefit, see the Rich Matros Memorial X-C Contest page under the More navigation section.

Summer Fly-in @ Palomar 2015

Please RSVP
The Social Committee would like some help from some volunteers to help coordinate, set up, and break down.

Social committee would like some help from some volunteers to help coordinate food pickup, set up and break down. Also, if you have a Portable Table 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.

RSVP Responses

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SDHGPA & Flight in San Diego County amid COVID-19

3/30/2020

2 Comments

We are expecting a statement from USHPA in the next day or so as they are trying to formulate a position on free flight amid COVID-19. However, COVID-19 and conditions seem to be changing daily . . .

I do know that USHPA has been asked to put out a statement from an impacted hospital in Colorado and a few others. I do know that France, Switzerland, and several others are shut down from flying right now. Britain is putting out a high caution statement with calls for social responsibility. I have a feeling that the USHPA statements and position will be very close to the BHPA March 23rd statement:

https://www.bhpa.co.uk/sport/news/index.php?category=2020#news2020308

In San Diego, the situation for impacted hospitals and service workers is just starting to ramp up and we can expect hospitals to be triaging similar to what was experienced in Colorado this past weekend.

There was an incident in Colorado this past weekend where a snowboarder ended up with a broken clavicle (collarbone) and at the ER, he was turned away from treatment at triage with the explanation that collarbone surgery is elective. They were an impacted hospital and not doing any elective procedures . . . that are not life-threatening. At Tiger (WA Site), there were also two separate incidents requiring ER and hospitalization in an impacted area this past week.

If you have not listened to Gavin McClurg’s podcast “The Corona Virus- Critical Choices in a Critical Time”, I urge you to do so prior to deciding to continue to fly:

https://www.cloudbasemayhem.com/corona-virus-critical-choices-in-a-critical-time/

If you still want and need to get out into the great outdoors, the Outdoor Alliance has put together some good guidance on How to Get Outside (during a pandemic) and is worth the time to read as it covers a lot of points relating to our outside activities.

Keeping it chill is one of the best takeaways: https://www.outdooralliance.org/blog/2020/3/24/how-to-get-outside-during-a-pandemic

If you do decide to continue to fly:

Please keep it chill: do so ultra-conservatively and realize that your actions could put a site that may already be sensitive further at risk.
Review and keep up with current site closures by following SDHGPA Announcements on Telegram and other public COVID-19 guidance
Realize that medical services may not be there for you and you may be on your own.

Hoping we get through this and back in the air without complex social health concerns.

Regards and Safe Flights!

Steve Rohrbaugh (SDHGPA President) and the SDHGPA Board

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Meeting Minutes, News, & Articles

2025 SDHGPA Election Results

SDHGPA Special Election 2024

SDHGPA February 26th 2023 MEETING NOTES

SDHGPA January 19th 2023 Meeting Notes

SDHGPA MEETING MEETING MINUTES August 18 2022

SDHGPA Meeting Meeting Minutes July 21 2022

2022 SDHGPA Officer Nominations Extended into June

GATE CODES CHANGING - 2022

SDHGPA Summer 2021 Fly-in & Awards CerEmony

SDHGPA & Flight in San Diego County amid COVID-19

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