Hang gliding at Fort Funston in Golden Gate National Recreation Area/Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
Some of the best hang gliding in the country, the National Park Service says, is at Fort Funston at Golden Gate National Recreation Area. What the agency doesn't come right out and tell you is that you need a $150 membership in the U.S. Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association, as well as a USHPA rating that could cost upwards of $2,000 or more in classes, to launch there. And it'd be nice if you made a donation to the association's local chapter, too.
Logan J. Remillard of Utah discovered that when he decided to enjoy Golden Gate with a flight from Fort Funston. A hang glider for three years who carries $2 million in insurance for his sport, Remillard contacted Golden Gate staff when he learned that the Fellow Feathers of Fort Funston hang gliding club holds a Special Use Permit from the Park Service to control the sport at Fort Funston and wasn't about to let any non-USHPA members launch from the cliffs overlooking the Pacific.
"I'll keep it real simple for you guys...The answer is NO! That's our policy," Rob Johnson, the club president told Remillard in an email after he reached out about the requirement that he join USHPA for $150 to fly from Fort Funston. "We are a USHPA chapter site and 100% OK with that. If you want to fly 'over' Fort Funston, you can launch 2.8 miles south at the 'Dumps'."
Remillard struggled with that rejection, as he viewed national parks as being open to the American public for recreation and enjoyment.
From the Park Service's point of view, having Fellow Feathers oversee hang gliding at Fort Funston provides a measure of safety in that only those hang gliders who hold an H-3 rating from USHPA can fly there.
"One condition of the (Fellow Feathers) permit requires, as a means of determining pilot skill level, that all hand-gliding participants have a minimum of a level 3 certification from the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association," Lee Dickinson, who oversees the Park Service's Special Use Permit programs, told the Traveler. "At this time we are unaware of any other reliable rating for hang-gliding proficiency. It is important to have an independent assessment of a pilot’s skill level."
When Remillard first got into hang gliding, he, too, thought it'd be good to join USHPA, as he thought it was "an actual regulatory agency." But his experience left him wondering if the association was truly objective in teaching the sport.
"After going through two instructors that just never quite felt like signing off on my paperwork, and watching one of them kill a student, I decided to go solo, as have most of my flying buddies," he told the Traveler. "I had already spent over $2,000 on instruction with no end in sight or any explanation on why I hadn't been allowed to advance since the second day other than, 'Something doesn't look right,' and that the instructors didn't feel comfortable letting people fly due to the club's internal politics. The USHPA members were also very proud to tell me that they were under no obligation to explain what those politics are."
Across the park system there are ten units that have issued SUPs for hang gliding, and all require USHPA certification, according to Ms. Dickinson.
From Remillard's point of view, whether USHPA is the only group that regulates hang gliding is debatable, as the Federal Aviation Administration "is the only legal authority on any devices designed to carry persons through the air."
On its website USHPA acknowledges that hang gliders do not need a license to enjoy their sport, but adds that "a program analogous to FAA licensing exists and is administered by the USHPA."
"While these ratings don’t carry the force of law in quite the same way as FAA pilot’s licenses do, the majority of flying sites in the U.S. require that pilots hold some specific USHPA rating to be allowed to fly," the site adds.
The issue of USHPA's authority, or lack thereof, has been raised in hang-gliding forums. Back in March a question of whether USHPA is the same as the Federal Aviation Administration came up, and one member replied that, "(T)he FAA does not recognize USHPA as having any regulatory authority."
Another said the FAA does regulate hang gliders through its Part 103 guidelines that were adopted back in 1982 and which "established limits on size, performance, and configuration and also established that people flying them needed no certificate or medical qualification."
While Fellow Feathers' SUP stipulates that the group "shall not require fees for hang gliding, hang gliding instruction, or any related activities," Park Service personnel did not respond to whether the $150 USHPA membership requirement violates that provision.
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Comments
It is a sad state we live in when you have to pay for free flight. Who does the park belong to? Can I ride a mountain bike through the park without paying National membership proving I can ride a bike and paying local membership to the clubs?
Tim D; As this is National Park Land this land belongs equally to all American Citizens. It is your land, and your tax money pays to maintain it. The private clubs have been granted exclusive rights to this land for the bargain price of $2,947 per year. That includes a 1,064 square foot clubhouse and a police force that will arrest you for enjoying your land without being part of this private club and paying the fees.
Tim D: Beyond Hang Gliding there is no other activity that I am aware of which requires club membership in any National Park. When I spoke with Ms. Dickinson she was unable to provide any such example or precedent.
Tim yes mountain biking would be welcome. It's your land, and mine. Rented without authority from the people and controlled against the people (hanglider and paraglider pilots in this case) by an agency made up of officials operating in a capacity which they were never elected. People outside flying would never even know there was an election taking place of people that will assume control if their property.
It is a disappointment That our public lands aren’t really available to everyone. Hikers don’t need to pay extra fees, horse riding doesn’t need to pay extra fees, kayaking and canoeing don’t need to pay extra fees. But somehow hang gliding pilots need to pay extra fees to a flying club in order to use the land.
Rebecca Clegg: Worse than the fees is the fact that the clubs are entirely unregulated in how they grant access. They can shut down a site just because the president wants to fly by himself that day, revoke a rating because the member said something that a board member didn't like. The fact that USHPA is just a private club means that they have *NO* oversight. There is no due process or expectation of reasonableness to their decisions.
So who exactly says when and who? What overseer says when I get to be on land my taxes pay for?
Stephen: The NPS Special Use division says so. They have given USHPA an exclusive special use permit to use the parks clearly stating that "Commercial activity is not authorized by this Special Use Permit. Permittee shall not require fees for hang gliding, hang gliding instruction or any related activities. Permittee shall not sublet any part of the permitted premises or grant any interest or privilege whatsoever in connection with this permit without permission in writing from the NPS." I have taken complaints about this violation to the special use office, their reply is that "It is GGNRA’s understanding that Fellow Feathers is managing hang gliding at Fort Funston consistent with the Permit terms and conditions as well as USHPA best practices and that there are not unreasonable barriers to pilot participation. Fellow Feathers is the Permittee for use of the assigned lands and hang gliding participants are required to follow its rules. GGNRA considers those issues that the park has not addressed in this or previous correspondence as internal club matters." In a follow up phone call I was told, in essence, that they can make up whatever rules they want and charge whatever they want so long as the charges aren't processed on National Park Property.
Good comments.
USHPA membership has no place in any requirement for citizens to use public land.
I am an advanced hang gliding and paragliding pilot with over 10 years of previous USHPA membership.
I also have an FAA issued Private Pilot's License (single engine, land and sea).
I also have a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering.
I have logged many hours of hang gliding flight at Fort Funston over a number of years.
I was expelled from USHPA in 2015 in direct response to my expert witness testimony
in a court case. A young woman was learning to paraglide at Torrey Pines and was
under radio instruction when she collided with another student (also on radio).
I testified that the instructor was responsible for the student's safety since she
didn't otherwise have the qualifications or ratings to fly that site. That was in
November of 2014. The law suit was settled in the injured woman's favor in the spring
of 2015. USHPA expelled me shortly afterward. They cited my own testimony in the
case as grounds for the expulsion. They also cited my testimony to the San Diego City
Council and the fact that I've started an alternate national hang gliding association.
The expulsion quoted USHPA's Standard Operating Procedure that prohibits "conduct
materially and seriously prejudicial to the purposes and interests of USHPA".
Here's the translation: Citizens can't use our own public parks because of conduct
that USHPA considers prejudicial to their own interests and purposes.
No public land should require membership in an organization that expels members for
testimoniny in a court of law.
It is unAmerican to require membership in a private corporation (evil ones or not-so-evil clubs) to recreate on public lands. The extant HG-PG clubs are participating in PG deaths; one in good conscience might choose not to be a member of a club or association that is doing repugnant things. The constrained view of just what is HG is enough to fully reject joining USHPA; the marrying PG to HG is repugnant for PDMC cause. The odd RRRG money grab is a private arrangement; no USA citizen ought to be forced to participate in such constraint in order to recreate on public lands. The recreation statues suffice without having to join this or that association. At any moment a private club or association can turn on a dime and promote philosopy and politic that sinks away from good.
It's a shame that some hang gliding enthusiasts at Funston decided to turn other (qualified) hang gliding enthusiasts away based on some imaginary special privilege or enforcennt authority they think they hold on public land. Fort Funston has been a special case of self-regulation for many years, having recognized the safety conflict in sharing the same narrow lift band with paragliders. By relegating paragliders to a separate nearby area, all have found a a workable solution. This is a good thing and it is in the core interest of Fellow Feathers and the sport of hang gliding not to resort to legal enforcement or banning of fellow hang glider pilots, as this invites a challenge which is very likely to succeed. A government decision, even a statement, to allow non-USHPA members to fly at Funston could be a pyrrhic victory as it might result in the ban on paragliding there being lifted. It would be so much better to agree to disagree, take a deep breath and allow the occasional "rogue" hang glider pilot to fly unmolested than to make Funston "a hill to die on," as they say, by taking a stand on such shakey principles. I had to make this decision myself as the USFS concessionaire of Walt's Point in Owens Valley in the 1980s. Yes, the FAA expects us sportsmen to regulate our sport but we must do it quietly, with peer pressure and not force. Otherwise we risk a brave new world which may not be to anyone's liking.
Rick Masters: It sounds to me that USHPA members ought to realize that they are the only ones with anything to loose, this brave new world doesn't sound so bad to me. I am more than happy to be an adult and discuss ways to share resources; USHPA seems to think they own the sport and the land, they are unwilling to discuss.
USHPA is a corporate entity. It does not seem legal for National Parks to require a park visitor to become a member of a corporation to enjoy our national heritage. I have objected to USHPA regulatory over reach and after 42 continuous years, I am on a "medical sabbatical". A portion of my medical problem is that the autocracy and occluded transparency of the USHPA Board makes me very queasy.
Rick Masters: I had USHPA's membership requirements removed from Utah Parks, including Point of the Mountain. Oddly enough, nothing bad happenned
Additional comment: The student killed was on July 29, 2016. I still haven't been able to find an article or report to verify that she was actually killed, but that was certainly my impression. She went off the hill, SS POM, in a paraglider and was moving slowly. I understand that the instructor was depending on the radio but did not perform a radio check before launch. People on the ground kept yelling things about "release the brake", "don't brake", "let off the brake", but in the confusion all that was consistant was the word "brake". The paraglider stalled and the student fell into the gravel parking lot/landing zone. People rushed down to help, but she wasn't moving and I seem to remember people staying pretty clear of her. People cleared out and she left on a chopper. I watched this from under my glider as I was about to launch.
I have been rudely attacked in public forums by the president of this taxpayer funded club, simply for stating the FACT that Fort Funston was public land. I could never belong to a club that elected such rude and ignorant people as officers! I have written and called the GGNRA and have been completely ignored. Rob and club members, if you are monitoring this, realize that you guys constantly harp on the dangers of losing the privilege of flying this site--at the same time you withhold that privilege from EVERYONE whose opinion differs from your own. Why can't you see that we won't care if you can't fly there if you won't let US fly there. Where will you live in your ugly little van if you can't park nearly 24/7 365 days a year? I'll be happy to see you lose your flying site if you keep acting the way you guys do!
Beyond the fact that this taxpayer funded club has a monopoly on our public land, which is illegal; they also have a monopoly on the air navigation facility.
49 U.S. Code § 40103 - Sovereignty and use of airspace
(e)No Exclusive Rights at Certain Facilities.—A person does not have an exclusive right to use an air navigation facility on which Government money has been expended.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/49/40103
I don't want to take this to court, unfortunately neither the NPS or USHPA administrators seem terribly interested in who owns the land or the laws governing the land.
USHPA attempts to block acess to a variety of public launch sites. it claims site insurance and pilot insurance are necessary. No other organization tries to imdenify
USHPA tries to block non members from public property for the purpose of generating cash and establishing a mock authority over hang gliding. It falsely claims pilot insurance, site insurance
and (it's ratings) are necessary. It's a money making racket and has done nothing to improve the safety and image of hang gliding. It is illegal for government agents to grant a concession
like this. The FAA clearly states in FAR 103 that USHPA has no authority over hang gliding and you do not need to be a member or have it's ratings.
The NPS is compelling membership in a private club for the activity of hang gliding. That club requires financial compensation, restricts constitutional freedoms, and is not held accountable to any ethical standards. The method of using a special use permit for the misappropriation of resources does not make this legal or ethical.
The justification for requiring club membership was:
36 C.F.R 2.17: (a) (3) Delivering or retrieving a person or object by parachute, helicopter, or other airborne means, except in emergencies involving public safety or serious property loss, or pursuant to the terms and conditions of a permit.
However: 36 C.F.R 2.17: (d) The use of aircraft shall be in accordance with regulations of the Federal Aviation Administration. Such regulations are adopted as a part of these regulations.
FAR
§ 103.7 Certification and registration. (b) Notwithstanding any other section pertaining to airman certification, operators of ultralight vehicles are not required to meet any aeronautical knowledge, age, or experience requirements to operate those vehicles or to have airman or medical certificates.
49 U.S. Code § 40103 - Sovereignty and use of airspace; (e)No Exclusive Rights at Certain Facilities.—A person does not have an exclusive right to use an air navigation facility on which Government money has been expended.
In essence; the NPS is illegally giving a monopoly to a private club in order to illegally give exclusive use of an air facility so that they can unlawfully require a permit.
Logan R. has a personal vendetta against two separate USHPA flight instructors who on seperate times and in seperate places would not sign him off for advancement without more remedial training. He thinks he knows better than the vast experience of voluntary members in USHPA made up of rank and file members of our diverse aviation community. USHPA "United States Hang-gliding and Para-Gliding Association" was formed voluntarily to represent the foot launched free flying sports in a professional manor.
One of USHPA's many contributions to public safety is a competency and proficiency rating system for pilot skill levels just like in Scuba Diving and Rock Climbing or Sailing. How much more danger can you imagine in flying alone over the most remote places or the most populated and concentrated areas of this country. The NPS for example does not allow any aviation operations in its National Parks without a use permit. Foot launched flight by definition under FAA part 103 requires that all aviators must follow all FAR's "Flight Aviation Rules" The basic needs for a use permit to be granted must show competency in aircraft operations, knowledge of the specific rules which apply to such operations, operations which dont put the public, NPS staff or the park environment at risk. The NPS also needs to be assured that flyers are not stranded in the most remote places beyond rescue resulting in needless loss of lives..
For these reasons a flight profiency system on the level with other aviation pursuits has been developed by USHPA. There is a wide swath of people and pilots in USHPA, they are law enforcement officers, military pilots, airline pilots, private pilots, firemen, teachers, doctors, nurses, para-rescue, Park Rangers, politicians, Gov workers, austronauts, rocket scientists, pastors, scholars, professors, moms, dads, teenagers whom all are volunteers and elected to official positions by the rank and file members. USHPA is not what Logan R. describes it to be. USHPA is contentious nature loving people who understand the risk of flight and want it to be accessible to all willing members who learn to be safe and proficient in the greatest aviation pursuit of free flight. Since nothing is really free when you use others property and put people at risk by flying over them USHPA exists as more than just a local club. Every country has something similar to USHPA..
Logan is a barn burner who wants to punish his peers who would not agree with him. He knows better than the many thousands of competent people who don't agree with him. Mostly his USHPA instructors who just want him to show basic proficiency with a Hang-Glider so he could be insured by his peers and volunteer members of USHPA who self insure out of our own pockets to protect the public from harm. Accidents happen in everything.
That is what the $150 is for, it's not a money making conspiracy in any way. Logan R. is delusional and disgurntled because someone with authority over him suggested he take a time out. He is stomping his feet because he wants to flap his wings, but they are just not ready yet.
Ben Reese
60 years, US Air Force Para-Rescue, Fireman, Private Pilot Complex Aircraft, Glider Aero Tow, USHPA H4 Advanced, Aircraft Owner currently 6, Business Owner, Parent.
I met Logan R. because he wanted to buy a Sailplane from me. When I found out who he was and the havoc he was causing I refused to do business with him. I don't think he belongs in aviation, he is a danger to himself and others. He has misled this forum and others in aviation. All because he won't listen and make the grade. I would not teach a person like this and that is what Logan must learn. He needs to learn to fit in and be a team player. But for now Logan is a barn burner and on a tear it all down quest to prove he is better than you. Attacking USHPA is an attack on social order and that is Logans fight. He is hiding behind complex relationships of NPS, FAA, Land use Law and agreed upon rules meant to give extrodinary freedoms to responsible people who show the maturity and competency to pursue them..
He is no friend to NPS or any other agency..
My problem with USHPA is that their member seem to think they are the authority and social order. To see the quality of interaction between myself and Ben acting as a representative of USHPA just look at his own words.
https://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=56953
I just don't beleive anyone should be subject to this form of abuse from a private organization in an attempt to enjoy their public land.
Additionally; if I am so incorrect about the laws regarding aviation and controlling agencies, why I am I the only one with legal references?
Qualifications: Literate American Citizen
Logan speaks the truth, but Ben Reese just speaks to obfuscate it. Ben attacks the person rather than addressing the issues.
The fundamental question here is whether the private organization known has USHPA should be the gatekeeper to our public recreational sites. Ben says "yes" and Logan says "no". Logan is right.
The issue becomes clear with a few thoughtful questions. For example, would it be appropriate for the National Park Service to require KKK membership for citizens to use our parks? Would it be appropriate for the NPS to require membership in "Antifa" to use our parks?
The answer is clearly "no" in both cases because those private organizations can have membership standards and/or goals inconsistent with the public's right to use public land.
So what about USHPA? Does USHPA have membership standards inconsistent with the public's right to use public land? Yes. It does.
USHPA has enforced membership "standards" which exclude citizens for things like:
- Testimony in a court of law
- Speaking at City Council meetings
- Creating competing associations
When USHPA bars membership on those grounds they move from being an objective rating organization into the territory of the KKK. That's what they've done. They have made themselves - by their own documented actions - incompatible with public use of public land. Logan sees this very clearly, but Ben Reese is trying to cover it up.
As a side note, it's been a year now since the County of Los Angeles has removed their USHPA requirement after seeing how USHPA retaliated against me for my expert witness testimony in a court case where a young woman was injured. There has been similar action in Ed Levin park (near San Francisco) and the Utah State Parks system. USHPA's KKK-like behavior is being recognized and rejected. I trust the NPS will recognize this in due course despite the vocal protests of USHPA loyalists like Ben Reese.
Good Job Logan, your arguments with USHPA are an attack on all aviators since you will not comply with proficientcy requirements. I have made my opinion of you known since you 1st started posting my personal email to you. You made it public in another HG.org forum. You think it's ok for you to send personal corospondence to public forums so you forced me to disclose my views on a competing forum. I don't use HG.org for the very reason you are allowed there. Why don't you share that truth. Here it is and you called me a "Tool Bag" .. http://forum.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=35916&p=404319#p404319
Logan posts misinformation and blantent lies when he can or thinks he can get away with it. Logan is finding out he is not welcome in his local community in Soaring SSA and Hang Gliding USHPA so he has aligned with a known element of disgruntled types many of whom have been banned from USHPA for unsafe and destructive behavior. It takes allot of bad things to get banned but it happens. I am not an officer of USHPA nor have I ever been one. Currently I am not even current with my USHPA membership. To many other things like SSA "Soaring Society of America" EAA "Experimental Aircraft Assosiation" AOPA "Aircraft Owners Pilot Association" All of which are structured just like USHPA for the safety and Government relations required to ensure a viable and robust aviation environment. You can be proud of US aviation as the best and freeest in the known world for all these organizations made up of citizen volunteers which include USHPA.
Logan has Choosen to align himself with a competing organization of fringe elements like expelled and rebellious pilots who formed USHawks to undermine and replace USHPA. They also want to split USHPA in half separating the Para-Gliders from Hang-Glider pilots. The reason USHawks even exists at all is because some Hang-Glider pilots want this split to happen. It is a silly argument because we are stronger together than apart. But the demographics have changed over time so more Para-Glider pilots have more power in USHPA to direct our sport in ways meeting both disciplines needs. Old Hang-Glider pilots are selfish about sharing power to a younger crowd of Para-Glider Pilots.. The real truth is that many USHPA members are bi-wing meaning fly both types and like all forms of free flight. Hang-Gliding purists want there own beach.. They don't want to share.
Fort Funston in Daily City, CA is part of GGNRA, "Golden Gate National Recreation Area" is the beach head for this argument. Logan is not being honest about his motives or his real goal in misleading concerned people like yourselves who follow this forum. Hang-Gliding acctracts Wild characters and Rebels just like myself. Over time they tend to grow up and become responsible citizens but not all do. Logan is one of the extreme cases which make up the rank and file of the USHawks who scheme and undermine USHPA out of jealously and contempt for authority of any kind. They will not make good partners with the NPS or other land owners.
If these misfits want to come back to USHPA then they are welcome as long as they stop the infighting and offer workable solutions to problems present and future. Logan is just the most recent mouthpiece of USHawks who is now running with a torch to burn down the town.
So I don't have explain all this again, I will coin a phrase to explain it.
""Logans Run""
This is Logans run...
This is the truth..
http://ushawks.org/
https://www.ushpa.org/
Look at the above sites both front pages and scroll through the sites.
Look into it and see which group of people you would want to work with as
a responsible organization with so much at stake...
This will end all debate and Logan is outed!
Ben Reese
Ok, guys, take your personal argument somewhere else. That's not what the Traveler is for.