Yes, Underdog please accept my apologies, and
"Please feel free to set the record straight." The quote belongs to
Calef Letorney.
Calef Letorney said: The same way embracing PG saved the United States Hang Gliding Association, I think we have the opportunity to embrace the next evolution of free flight- mini wings.
I have to say the Paraglider People are really nice people as others have also noted. While Hang Glider Pilots are of a kind that will freely let you know when you have your head up your . . . It is not that Hang Glider Pilots are a-holes, they actually really do care about your well being. They are being your friend and buddy and merely are seeking to save you from yourself.
Now, and to be sure and set the record straight, in about 2006 the Hang Glider Pilots of the USHGA agreed (per a vote) to accept Paraglider People into the organization and represent them.
mtpilot wrote: ↑Sun Mar 25, 2018 10:41 amThe real enemies are administration, insurance, lawyers . . .
Shortly thereafter in August of 2008, the now USHPA through the organization’s insurance is involved in a liability insurance lawsuit representing six paragliding instructors of Jackson Hole Paragliding (were involved in the training session as employees, owners, or agents of JHP). The simplest facts are: Edward Venard wanting to learn the art of paragliding is signed up with the USHPA and after six weeks of training Mr. Venard has earned his P2 rating.
FACTS . . . Mr. Venard attended a paragliding training clinic at the Palisades Reservoir near Alpine, Wyoming, offered by Appellee, Jackson Hole Paragliding, LLC (JHP). During the clinic, Mr. Venard was towed in the air by a cable attached to a boat. He was thirty-five feet in the air when the operation failed and he fell to the ground, suffering severe injuries.
Link
Now before we go any further with the lawsuit, have these paragliding instructors lost their ever . . . . minds hooking a six week old P2 to the end of a tow rope behind a speed boat?
With just a little common sense, let us all ask why is the sport in the state it is in right now?
Now back to the lawsuit, the defendants are represented by three law firms with seven attorneys who tie this case up for five plus years arguing lack of jurisdiction in the State of Wyoming due to the Plaintiff signing the waiver with a forum selection clause. The case goes all the way to the Wyoming Supreme Court with the Defendants, Jackson Hole Paragliding and the USHPA loosing the argument in January 2013.
Now just ask a simple question, what were the attorneys’ billing hours to the insurance company over the five years of litigation?
Meanwhile, the premier primary/novice paragliding training site in Southern California is a 300 foot cliff in San Diego.
Now really, who among you is going to put forth that P0-P1-P2 belong at a 300 foot cliff launch site? This is shear lunacy. The results should be oblivious.
But the plot thickens, the duly elected Regional Bi-Wingle Director of the area voices his sincere concerns over safety at the site. Well, he is not considered to be just a get along guy and special interest groups successfully recall him.
Now it just so happens at the
Paragliding Rodeo, Joy Rides for Kids (they are happy to put your children’s life in peril) a woman is injured in a paragliding miss-hap similar in nature as to the now former Regional Bi-Wingle Director’s safety concerns.
So, there is a lawsuit, DAH!
The crack legal team of the USHPA represents the Paragliding Rodeo, Inc., Joy Rides for Kids in the lawsuit. The now former Regional Bi-Wingle Director testifies of his safety concerns prior to the woman’s miss-hap. Headlines: There is a Settlement – DAH!
The Jackson Hole Case and the Paragliding Rodeo Case both come down about the same time.
Is the Insurance Company
Lloyds of London happy? Not in the least. Can you say, Good- Bye Insurance?
So whose insurance is the first not to get renewed?
Windsports – Joe Greblo who is the most professional safety conscious Hang Gliding flight school on the planet earth. Windsports & Joe Greblo’s flight school is on par with the United States Military and Commercial Airlines training departments, simply the best.
Of course the story is not over. Sore that the former Regional Bi-Wingle Director testified in court against the Paragliding Rodeo, the USHPA in their great wisdom holds court to expel the former Director from the USHPA even citing as cause for expulsion his testimony in court. The USHPA Board of Directors expels the
"The Unmentionable".
Well, there just so happen to be a Federal Law against retribution against an individual for testifying in court. Where was the crack legal team to advise the USHPA Board that retaliation against a person for testifying in court is a Federal Crime?
42 U.S. Code 1985 (2) Conspiracy to interfere with civil rights.
Kinney v. Weaver, 111 F. Supp. 2d 831 (E.D. Tex. 2000)
KINNEY v. J.B. Smith, Smith County Sheriff
Well moving on to the next chapter:
We all need to
Save Free Flight. Send us your money so we can insure the Paragliding Rodeo.
And after it is all said and done, the USHPA expelled
“"The Unmentionable" and
the Paragliding Rodeo does what it does best, gives the USHPA the Big Bird.
We really know how nice those Paragliding People are and how Hang Glider Pilots will tell you to pull your head out and get a grip on reality.
Calef Letorney said: I think we have the opportunity to embrace the next evolution of free flight- mini wings.
Boy, it is a good thing Paragliding saved the USHGA because I can’t wait for the
Mini Wing Rodeo, Joy Rides for Kids.