Torrey - Just the Facts
- Two oversight Boards/Councils: Torrey Pines Soaring Council and Torrey Pines City Park Advisory Board ( Torrey Pines Soaring Council and Advisory Board )
- Torrey Pines Soaring Council is listed in the Gliderport Lease in an advisory capacity ("WHEREAS, Flight Director/LESSEE will consult with the Torrey Pines Soaring Council, which represents all user groups, in forming the above mentioned rules and regulations." - Page 1 of the lease).
- RC Clubs on Soaring Council
- Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) - National RC Club
- Torrey Pines Gulls (Gulls) - Local RC Club with approximately 50 to 100 members
- Torrey Pines Scale Soaring Society (TPSSS) - Local RC Club with approximately 10 to 20 members
- Sailplane Clubs on Soaring Council
- Soaring Society of America (SSA) - National Sailplane Club
- Associated Glider Clubs of Southern California (AGCSC) - Local Sailplane Club with approximately 10 to 20 members
- Hang Gliding and Paragliding Clubs on Soaring Council
- United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (USHPA) - National Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club
- San Diego Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (SDHGPA) - Local Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club with approximately 80 members
- Torrey Pines City Park Advisory Board was mandated by a settlement agreement between the Coastal Law Enforcement Action Network and the City of San Diego. This settlement agreement was based on a lawsuit alleging violations by the Concessionaire (Air California Adventure LLC). The Torrey Pines City Park Advisory Board contains representatives of many community and government organizations. It also contains one representative from each of the four flight disciplines at Torrey Pines:
- Hang Gliding - Ken Baier (Torrey Hawks Hang Gliding Club)
- Paragliding - David Metzgar (San Diego Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association)
- Remote Control - Ron Brown (Torrey Pines Gulls)
- Sailplane - Ed Slater (Associated Glider Clubs of Southern California)
- No HG pilot representation on the Torrey Pines Soaring Council from restart of Soaring Council (April 2007) through the Torrey Hawk's application (September 2007) due to PG-only choices by the SDHGPA and USHPA
- Current Representatives to the Soaring Council are Ken Baier (replaced Brad Hall) & Jim Wright
- The Torrey Pines Gliderport Lease is up for renewal / rebid in 2008 ... Currently in month-to-month status?
- Brad is working on getting H3s with advanced hours flying in the spring ... that was spring of 2008
- HG tandem pilot David Beardslee was banned for life by David Jebb and no reason was ever given. After the Hawks began requesting a reason for this suspension, Brad Hall and David Jebb came up with a special agreement for David Beardslee to sign to be reinstated. There were several clauses in this agreement which David Beardslee felt were unacceptable and certainly not required by any other pilots at the site. David Beardslee never signed that agreement. In December of 2008, Bob Kuczewski hired a lawyer to review the lease and draft a letter stating that both the bans of David Beardslee and Bob Kuczewski were unjustified. Both clients were advised to bring the letter and a copy of the lease and fly. On December 20th, 2008 (5 days after the Regional Director election) both David Beardslee and Bob Kuczewski showed up with their documentation and demanded the right to fly. They were both allowed to do so. Furthermore, Bob Kuczewski demanded compensation for the 8 months he was improperly unable to fly and it was granted in the form of a credit toward his 2009 annual membership.
- USHPA Regional Directors for Region 3 (Southern California and Hawaii)
- Brad Hall (brad.reg3@gmail.com)
- Appointed by Lisa Tate to fill Tad Hurst's unexpired term in 2007
- Up for re-election in 2009
- Hang Gliding
- Bob Kuczewski (bobk@nerdshack.com)
- Defeated former Director David Jebb by 122 to 98 in 2008
- Up for re-election in 2010
- Hang Gliding and Paragliding
- Rob Sporrer (rob@eagleparagliding.com)
- Up for re-election in 2009
- Paragliding
- David Jebb, is (or was?) the owner of Air California Adventures, inc. and FlyTorrey.com, David Jebb was a Regional Director. David Jebb was defeated by one of the largest turnouts in recent memory by Bob Kuczewski. It is not clear whether or not David Jebb retains ownership of Air California Adventures.
- Air California Adventures is the current leasee for this location to the city of San Diego
- P1's on a radio fly at torrey, but it requires an H4 rating for hang glider pilots.
- Torrey is not a USHPA site. It is a City Park.
- There is a Torrey Pines Soaring Council with rep's. from all. It is an advisory board and can make recommendations to the city and to the business. The lease holder can, if he wants to and is within his agreement with the city, choose to follow or ignore the recommendations.
- The Soaring Council currently consists of 7 member clubs (3 RC clubs, 2 sailplane clubs, and 2 HG/PG clubs). Not a single hang glider pilot is represented in the council. Corrected: Immediately after the Torrey Hawks applied for admission in September of 2007 to add one HG pilot to the Council, the SDHGPA changed its appointment. It had been represented by a succession of paragliding pilots, but when the Hawks applied, the SDHGPA suddenly changed its representative to a biwingual pilot. It is strongly suspected that this change was an attempt to reduce the need to have the Hawks on the Council.
- Link to city fine of Torrey | PDF Doc
- Torrey may not have the authority to ban any pilots - Lease Agreement: Section 1.10 Public Use. The general public shall not be wholly or permanently excluded from any portion of the premises. Flight Director/Lessee may develop reasonable restrictions for the facility use provided they are consistent with the rights of the general public and are designed to allow Flight Director/Lessee to use the premises for the purpose specified herein. Flight Director/Leesee agrees that all activities conducted on the premises will be as stated in section 1.2. Note - This clause in the lease was used to restore the flying privileges of both David Beardslee (who had been banned for life) and Bob Kuczewski (who had been banned for 1 year). Both bans were issued verbally, and no written reason was ever given despite many written requests.
- San Diego municipal code around flying activities
- The Torrey Hawks already are a USHPA chapter (#270 - check the USHPA web site). The Torrey Hawks web site is torreyhawks.org
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