by Steve Rodrigues » Mon Sep 24, 2012 12:04 pm
Re: Meeting Minutes 8-9-2012
by bobk » Sun Sep 09, 2012 6:02 am
I believe the greatest threat to hang gliding at Fort Funston (and many other sites) is USHPA's monopoly on insurance.
There are only two ways to break that monopoly - a large chunk of money or a large number of people joining an alternate organization (like the US Hawks).
With regard to crvalley's comments, there is no requirement that individual pilots be US Hawks members in order for the Fellow Feathers to be a US Hawks Chapter. That's somewhat true of USHPA as well, except that USHPA does require that it's Chapters consist of 70% USHPA members. The US Hawks has no such requirement, and the Fellow Feathers could be a US Hawks chapter without any Fellow Feathers members being US Hawks members. I hope that's clear to everyone.
Chris, the big issue here is choice. Right now none of us has a choice because USHPA has a monopoly. If you feel confident that USHPA's monopoly will continue to support hang gliding (as paragliding continues to grow), then let the record reflect your opinion. Time will be the judge of who was right.
For everyone else, we've already seen what USHPA has tried to do. They took two steps toward demanding that all sites be biwingual ... but they only took one step back. They will continue to push to turn Fort Funston into another Torrey Pines. If your club has no other option for insurance, then they will eventually succeed. If we want to stop that inevitability, then we need to start building an alternate association for hang gliding right now. Time is ticking.
Thanks,
Bob Kuczewski
Founder - US Hawks Hang Gliding Association
USHPA # 30605
H-5, Mentor and Observer