No hang glider pilots have died so far in 2006. In a normal year,
about five are killed.
From the USHPA BOD package:
This data includes fatalities that have occurred that meet the
following guidelines in order to be consistent with USHPA Accident Reporting
Guidelines:
· The incident occurred within the calendar year of which is covered in this
report.
Hang Gliding Fatalities Member Name USHPA No. Date
Paragliding Fatalities Member Name USHPA No. Date
1. Gerald Lutz Non-Member April 26, 2006
2. Charley Chau 77832 May 21, 2006
3. John Van Meter 59105 July 8, 2006
4. Travis Kolvet Non-Member July 8, 2006
5. Sam Esmiol 78636 July 26, 2006
* The Association’s Reporting Requirements prescribe reporting on all fatalities
within the US, member or not. For purposes of reporting to the insurance
company, only USHPA member fatalities are reported.
I really believe that the scooter tow training tool as shown at
the various classes can make a substantial difference in the USHPA's ability to
meet the 10 year goal of doubling the membership. One of the big stumbling
blocks for instructors has been a good training hill -- the scooter is an
inexpensive answer to the issue. We have been having a good time with ours doing
demonstrations at colleges. It is great having a portable training hill.
The committee has nearly finished with the draft outline for scooter towing. Rob
at Wills Wing feels that they may have their scooter tow manual finished around
January. They too see the value.
I feel that doubling the membership within the next 10 yrs is a very attainable
goal. If there is a push from the Executive Director and growth is the main
focus for the Executive Director. This will take focus, leadership and desire.
Hang gliding and paragliding are not visible enough -- we need inexpensive press
releases, other inexpensive networking marketing and a meaningful referral
program. Further, there is a need for the certified school -- if that has too
much liability then the recommended school. These entities would have a measure
of professionalism that would be outlined in the requirements.
These requirements would help schools/instructors be successful. Successful
schools/instructors will encourage more individuals to do the same.
This year we are up over 30% in new soloed pilots and I feel that it is very
possible for us to nearly double the number of new members that we bring into
the USHPA in the next two to three years. So far this year we have soloed eighty
new pilots. We have also increased our focus in recruiting young people -- I
feel this is vital for the future.
I feel that your push for scooter towing with Steve Wendt was exactly the kinds
of things that USHPA should be investing in to achieve growth, with progress
seemingly moving so slowly or not moving I thought I would offer an update.
I have been an instructor in the Pacific Northwest for 10 years
now. I have done the best that I could do with some ideal natural resources. My
emphasis has been basic and novice instruction and promotion of hang gliding in
this region.
The reality is five things must happen for a school run by one person:
1. It must develop a professional program of instruction given the resources
available. The perception of a value must be apparent to the customer and pilot
community. We cannot sell snake oil.
2. The program (and its cost to the customer) must be actively promoted by all
the USHPA chapters within a pre-determined economic sustainable territory. This
must result in generating a minimum dollar volume of impulse and committed
students.
3. The business must sell a minimum volume of merchandise in connection with the
program or the outside sales to the community. This is necessary to subsidize
the instruction program to keep prices affordable.
4. The business must be able to pay its single employee a living annual wage for
any chance of expansion.
5. The business must be able to re-invest back into itself for upkeep,
improvement and absorb setbacks (cars breaking down, gliders damaged, etc) If
any one of these elements is missing, the aspiring instructor will not survive. What specifically happens is:
1. The instructor becomes disheartened by the actual effort, unreliability and
risk of instruction. They are overwhelmed by the work, scheduling of ideal
experiences, equipment damage, or no longer feel confident they can safely teach
someone - so they quit.
2. Not enough prospective students call. The instructor depends too heavily on
the complete commitment of fewer and fewer students from too small a territory. They are also surprised By the lack of support, petty jealousies, expectations
of buddy deals from peers, excessive scrutiny and arm-chair criticism, so return
to the recreational pilot community.
3. The single instructor’s low instructional volume necessitates augmenting
instructional income with equipment sales. If students or the community do not
purchase equipment, the business fails.
4. If the business cannot pay its expenses and/or cannot pay the instructor, an
instructor will, by necessity, find another job and become less available for
instruction until the quality of service (availability and reliability)
deteriorates to the point of becoming entirely non-viable.
5. The program remains primitive and deteriorates till it cost too much to
re-tool and/or instructor is distracted to greater sources of income.
Geoffrey Rutledge <<geoff>>
sends this picture of Dr. Jack giving a presentation on the future of BLIPMAPS
to the USHPA BOD and the members of the Bay Area hang gliding and paragliding
clubs:
Click on above to see who is really there and what they think of the
presentation. This is the presentation:
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