Flyfunston

DB wrote;
The new H-2 Rules need refinement.
4. Presumably an “Advanced Funston Pilot” is a Hang IV pilot but what is an “Advanced Funston pilot”? Is it a Hang IV with a certain number of hours at Funston?
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This is a very good question and something that I've been wanting to work on. The term "Advanced Funston pilot" has been in the FF rules for ages but is very vague.
Ideally I would like all sponsors to be official Mentors, but that would limit the number of available sponsors.

Should we say that an "Advanced Funston Pilot" has a minimum H-4 rating and has flown at Fort Funston at least 20 hours?

Any other suggestions?

Steve Rodrigues wrote:Should we say that an "Advanced Funston Pilot" has a minimum H-4 rating and has flown at Fort Funston at least 20 hours?
Any other suggestions?

I think 20 hours is pretty low to determine if one is an advanced Funston pilot...

I do agree with the H4 rating requirement since we are using the term "Advanced", so that should equate to one's rating, as well, in addition to site experience...

Are we an advanced Funston pilot after 3 years of regularly flying the Fort?...4 years?...5 years?...hard to tell...

I think determining if one is an advanced Funston pilot is very subjective regardless of one's USHPA rating...

This is a difficult one to truly define in my opinion...

~Chris

You are right, it's not a simple thing! We are attempting is to use our subjective judgment to write an objective rule. But is this not how all rules are created? We could easily turn this into a huge discussion on philosophy but I think we should just focus on what is pertinent to our specific needs.

In general, we need a Sponsor to have enough experience at Fort Funston such that they can assess the conditions and make an educated decision whether to let the H-2 fly or not.

An H-4 might attain that experience in one good year at the Fort if they got enough hours. I suggested 20 hours because that is how we determine a Voting Member. This could possibly represent as little as 4 days but probably more like 10 to 15.

If this is not enough days to learn what is needed should we make it 30 or 40 hours or more? Should add or use a minimum of what, 2 years experience at the Fort?

I've also been thinking that having multiple types of sponsors might be adding to the confusion. Perhaps we should drop the "Mentor" wording and just use either "Sponsor" or "Advanced Funston Pilot"?

The following allows for a broad defintion:
"All H-2 flights shall be supervised by a pilot approved by the President or Safety Director. "

Dan Brown wrote:The following allows for a broad defintion:
"All H-2 flights shall be supervised by a pilot approved by the President or Safety Director. "

This might be our solution and is similar to what USHPA does for becoming a Mentor, requiring Regional Director approval.

We could put some parameters in the Sponsor Guidelines so everyone would know what kind of things are taken into consideration for approval.

Parameters could include not only objective elements like pilot rating, total hours/years at the Fort, excellent safety record, etc. but also more subjective things like maturity, judgment, communication skills, knowledge of the rules and Sponsor guidelines etc. Or would the subjective part be asking for trouble?

We modified Dans suggestion a bit, here is the final wording of the new rule;

"All H-2 flights shall be supervised by a sponsor approved by a majority of the Executive Committee."