2008-07 - Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association of Canada

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FROM THE PRESIDENT ing it available online, allowing members to forego the paper version. But we are also experimenting with the paper version. The first experiment will to go for full colour starting next issue. ■ Another of our Achilles’s heals — flying sites — will be the focus of much attention. The first step was to take away the $10 fee for the site insurance certificates. Now, our BM doesn’t have to wait for cheques to process certificate requests. The second huge step will be the widening of scope of the environmental impact assessment, which will provide us with a national document to defend existing sites and develop new ones. Our site preservation and development chair, Margit Nance, might have some announcements about this in the next community. This word seems to be a common thread in many of the points expressed above. To develop this sense of community, we have identified tools and means that we now consider priorities. From an idea brought to us by Amir Izadi, we will develop a welcome package for students to make them feel part of our community from the start. We still have to work out some of the details, but this might require our instructors to promote the student rating for example. Newly rated students would get a welcome letter, AIR Magazine, XC Magazine, a cool calendar — all this with their shiny new student rating card. Also, our directors would play a more visible role, ideally in be the functional services-to-members part of the equation, which is what we have now. Yes, the goals are high. Yes, it might be expensive. But we want your input and we will seek your approval before going ahead with this project, which just might be the biggest one of the coming year. Another big contributor to this sense of community that I am taking about is the competition and fly-in scene. Although we started the year with a big blow by realizing there were no volunteers to take on hosting the Paragliding Nationals, which resulted in the decision to hold them in the U.S., we rolled up our sleeves and looked for new solutions. That’s when Mark Dowsett and Randy “If I could sum it up in word, it would be: community. This word seems to be a common thread.” issue of AIR. This point touches on concerns brought up a previous point, but focuses on soft spots in our potential growth. Here, we just want to underscore our understanding of the very tentative survival of our sport in more remote locales and the very tentative survival of hang gliding instruction far away from the big centres. In those cases, the survival often depends on the will and persistence of a single instructor. We have to see if there are ways to help out those lone instructors. ■ The final point of this discussion touched on the legal framework in which our sport operates and our organization exists. This includes the insurance environment. Every so often this framework and environment evolve, which requires an all-encompassing reassessment of the way we do things. We just started this process by educating ourselves on the subject. With many new directors, who, like me, aren’t necessarily aware of the history behind this issue, we have a lot to explore and a lot to learn. It is still possible that this process will bring about some changes to our bylaws or simply the way we operate. So these are some of the basic themes that started our annual meeting. As you can see, pretty much all of them have practical and immediate applications. From this exercise, I can say that I’ve developed what I consider to be my own priorities for our organization, for our sport and for our community. If I could sum it up in word, it would be: person but when not possible using a free and direct communication net to defeat the long distance barrier. To defeat this long distance barrier and to create this sense of community, we need electronic help. This can only take the form of an electronic community centred on our website. To achieve this, we might be talking about a major overhaul and/or addition to the website. This might involve outside help and also quite a bit of your money. To try to get it right from the start, we will encourage you to communicate with us and tell us which the features that you would really like to see in this website. To attain the goals we are setting for this endeavour, the website should have a shiny and gripping front display for the interested newcomer, a front page with dynamic, inyour-face pictures, captivating streaming video and direct links to local schools. The second part would be the virtual community part. We are talking about sideby-side local forums, capped by the national one. These forums should actually be much more than forums, they should be full multimedia blogs where members can post themselves, be it in text, photos or videos, to share locally or nationally, so that my buddy Bruce in Calgary could catch the little video of the crummy sledder I did at Yamaska that same day. That section would be open to the newcomers so they can get a sense of this community of ours. The last component of the website would Parkin can up with the idea of our new XCXC Series, which you can read about in detail later in this issue. The XCXC Series is designed to be a takehome package to make it much easier, even for inexperienced volunteers, to organize competitions aimed at regular pilots, which would sanctioned by the FAI and follow a uniform format across the land. It would therefore be possible for a pilot to travel and do the whole series of competitions to accumulate points. This format would probably produce a much higher number of ranked pilots. HPAC has earmarked $1,000 to help fund the first four scheduled events. To find out more, read Randy’s article in this issue and visit: goflyxc.com/xcxc. As far as marketing is concerned, we have decided to associate ourselves with a major effort to create a television amateur sports network. We have decided to support this effort because if it ever where to see the light of day, we just might gain a major visibility outlet for our sport. We will keep you posted on the developments. If you add the instruction review and the possible website overhaul, I strongly suggest that you keep posted through our website, AIR, the HPAC e-mail list and your fellow pilots. Be safe up there and fly sky-high! - Domagoj Juretic HPAC President president@hpac.ca 6 AIR MAGAZINE | JULY 2008
FROM THE BUSINESS MANAGER // CLASSIFIEDS SAM JEYES New hands on your money Introducing HPAC’s new P.E.I.-based business manager BUSINESS MANAGER First, I want to take the opportunity to thank the board of directors for bringing me into your association to help provide value and organisational skills to their operation. I certainly enjoy challenges, and I hope to provide each member the level of service they would expect from a national organization. I would also like to take a moment to thank Troy and Sharon, the previous business managers, for their hard work, dedication and professionalism over the past two years. With their help and support, I have been brought up to speed on a relatively quick basis, and effective June 1, I am now the sole contact for any questions and concerns you may have. For your reference, please make a note of all my particulars that are listed at the end of this column. With changes in technology, processes are always affected. I would like to take a moment to share with you some processing time frames so I can give you the right expectations. Membership renewals, insurance documents, ratings and all other member inquiries are processed on a weekly basis. From a member perspective, there would be a maximum 14-day processing time from when you send in your documentation to when it is mailed back to you. The only variable that would affect this is incorrect or missing information. If this is the case, I normally contact the member by e-mail or telephone. Naturally, I encourage you all to review your documents before sending them to our office to ensure you have all your information completed correctly. This would include the correct payment amount, your member number and relevant recommendations, etc. I appreciate your participation in this as it makes my work more effective, and, more importantly, I can provide you with a better level of service! From a logistical perspective, I am located in Prince Edward Island, which is on Atlantic Time — four hours ahead of the West Coast, an hour ahead of Toronto. So if you are trying to track me down, it’s a good idea to call in the mornings. UP Summit 3 paraglider, burgundy and grey, size medium, brand new glider - only test flown - new cost $5,000 - selling for $4,000. || APCO Edge harness, size L/XL, one year old, Black and red, $500 || APCO Mayday 18 reserve, $500 || APCO Allegra paraglider, size medium, blue and black, under 150 hours, $1,000 || APCO Contour AIR CLASSIFIEDS Going forward, as I start to get a good handle on working with the members and the directors, I look forward to managing, implementing and reviewing the policies and future changes that are brought into the association. On a personal note, I always appreciate feedback to help me serve you better, good or bad. With summer just around the corner, I would like to wish you all a great, exciting and memorable summer in the air, and if anyone has the opportunity to visit the beautiful Island of P.E.I. this summer, give me a call! – Sam Jeyes Business Manager 5 Millennium Dr., Stratford, P.E.I., C1B 2H2 Phone: 1-877-370-2078 Fax: 1-902-367-3538 Skype: spjeyes harness, size L, purple, $250. For all items, contact Nisbet at (403)932-1931 or patnisbet@xplornet.com Wills Wing Ultra Sport 147 in good shape. First reasonable offer takes it. ken@5starwatersolutions.ca (519)743- 9800 AIR MAGAZINE | JULY 2008 7
Page 1: THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE HAN
Page 4 and 5: FROM THE PRESIDENT DOMAGOJ JURETIC
Page 8 and 9: IN BRIEF Bite-sized news from the g
Page 10 and 11: EVENTS Events in Canada and below t
Page 12 and 13: B.C. XC LEAGUE photo by Nicole McLe
Page 14 and 15: OSCAR’S LONGEST DAY Oscar’s Lon
Page 16 and 17: MILES IN MAY MILES IN MAY 2008 phot
Page 18 and 19: IN SEARCH OF EL DORADO IN SEARCH OF
Page 20 and 21: XCXC SERIES XCountry, XCanada A new
Page 22 and 23: XCXC SERIES XCXC Series before or h
Page 24 and 25: XCXC SERIES by participants and the
Page 26 and 27: General / Général : Page 2 Reserv
Page 28 and 29: Type in the grey boxes HPAC/ACVL WA
Page 30 and 31: THE SCOPE OF SAFETY Are you prepare
Page 32: Adventure At Altitude (204)333-WING

2008-07 - Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association of Canada

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