Club donation to USHPA

[pvanoevelen]

Charlie, that is fantastic!! It is wonderful that members that are able to step actually really are stepping up! AS you said though this is not the end of the story and free flight in the US needs to tackle a few other issues as I have previously mentioned. Nonetheless, it is very uplifting to read messages like yours!
Cheers Peter

[callen]

Glad I'm in a position to help. Given how big a part of my life flying in is it would be really sad to see it fall off a cliff due to the insurance issue. However I really want to see the real problem fixed which I don't believe is insurance.

Charles

[lbunner]

Charlie, you are one awesome man!

[mcelrah]

I admit to keeping silent as I digested USHPA's turnabout from excessive secrecy about insurance settlements etc. (even from directors - this info was held at the Executive Committee level) to a panicked call for donations.

@Charlie: thanks for your generous contributions and matching; one reason for the low net worth of the association is that a lot of it's wealth was spun off to the Free Flight Foundation as a hedge against a possible future big liability settlement that went after USHPA assets.

I cheerfully pay ~$290 for the Rogallo (instructor) insurance - which is NOT encompassed by the current fundraising effort. (Turns out this will pay only for representation - no help if there were a judgment against you.) I was not so cheerful about being required to take a nothing-burger tandem pilot additional training clinic ($150) this summer/fall which was justified by...insurance liability concerns! Seems like the association was flailing around, unnecessarily expending my cash and goodwill on yet another scattershot response that did no good.

So, having gotten these complaints off my chest, I guess I will pony up some (more) money. I understand the USHPA board are all volunteers and the larger problem of our lawyer-ridden society is beyond their scope. But I would like to transmit some negative feedback and a requirement for more transparency back up the line. Haven't heard form any Regional Directors lately...

- Hugh

[callen]

Hugh,
Thanks for the info on the Free Flight Foundation. I took a look at their tax filings and indeed they have grown their net assets from around $100k in 2003 to ~$750k ending 2014. However even if you add this to the USHGA over the last 10+ years the combined balance sheet has not grown much. Given there are almost 10k members spread across the U.S. this is not big growth especially considering the small numbers. My gut feeling is an organization with this many members and after over ~20 years of operating should have a much stronger balance sheet. It goes back to my original point "The goal of a non-profit should be to make as much money as possible to further it’s purposes and the goal of a for profit should be to make as much money as possible for the benefit of its shareholders. 95% of non-profits fail to understand this and never grow their balance sheet." Assuming the insurance issue is solved then what? Back to business as usual? An organization with no money has no options and an organization with deep pockets can make strategic decisions to further its purpose and grow. IMHO post insurance crisis the only thing the USHGA should be doing is figuring out how to grow the balance sheet. Everything else is a distraction as it can't be paid for.

Charles

[mcelrah]

Hi Charlie,

I encourage you to run for regional director and provide your expertise to the board. One of the better things the board has done in recent years is to search for why we are so small and weak as a sport in the U.S. France and Germany, for example, with far smaller populations, have several times the membership of USHPA in their free flight organizations. Also, USHPA "benchmarked" PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors - the dominant scuba organization) which is also bigger and wealthier than USHPA by an order of magnitude. I think they get their income from those $80 textbooks you have to buy when you take a dive course. They said they had *never* had a waiver or covenant-not-to-sue - broken...

- Hugh

[alek]

I understand that the RRG may be the only way to address the immediate insurance crisis, but my concern is that the RRG won’t be able to break even, let alone run a profit as USHPA says it hopes to, when it is insuring a risk that no real for-profit insurance company is willing to cover for any premium. Seems like the risk is just too high or unpredictable. The idea that the RRG will aggressively defend its insured in cases where an insurance company would have just settled, in turn discouraging future claimants, in turn lowering the future risk, in turn generating profit, etc. -- is questionable. Such practice must have crossed the minds of insurance companies before, but didn’t take. Settling -- and settling early -- is usually preferable to a carrier. Reasons include release of the reserve funds which factor into capital requirements, often a disclaimer of liability, lower claims adjusting and legal costs, etc. The only way I see to maintain insurance, via RRG or otherwise, long term, and without skyrocketing premiums, is by a sustained focus on safety to lower risk, which given the inherent high risk of the activity can only be managed marginally. All this goes to Charlie’s point above regarding USHPA’s overall financials. In order to avoid future RRG re-funding hysteria, USHPA will have to evolve as an organization.

I haven’t had a flight in a few years, but the spark is still there. I am supporting the RRG funding drive in hope that when I do go flying again, there will be flying to be had.

[callen]

Hi Charlie,

I encourage you to run for regional director and provide your expertise to the board. One of the better things the board has done in recent years is to search for why we are so small and weak as a sport in the U.S. France and Germany, for example, with far smaller populations, have several times the membership of USHPA in their free flight organizations. Also, USHPA "benchmarked" PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors - the dominant scuba organization) which is also bigger and wealthier than USHPA by an order of magnitude. I think they get their income from those $80 textbooks you have to buy when you take a dive course. They said they had *never* had a waiver or covenant-not-to-sue - broken...

- Hugh

Hugh,
Wish I could but no time. I'm already working two jobs CEO/CFO of a public company and have a commitment to my shareholders. Moreover I just had another daughter and have yet to drop the ball on hosting the Highland Challenge. The USHGA is going through a serious stress test and we'll all watch to see how it pans out. To make a flying analogy think of the USHGA as comp pilot in a 100mile task and the other competitors are nonprofits PADI, Rock Climbing, kiteboarding, surfing, etc. etc. the USHGA is near last place, only half way through the task, and down to 300ft working broken lift for a low save. However its an 8k foot day and everyone else is way ahead and the USHGA has been flying the whole task at 2k. Think of thermals as cash the more you have the farther and the faster you go but their hard to catch especially down low. I'm rooting from the sidelines and will do what I can but I just don't have the time for anything beyond that.

As for the RRG there are no other options at this point. Think of it as arriving at a the only landable field surrounded by trees with 300ft and broken 25ft/m up. Do you hook the thermal or do you land? If you speck out you can ditch it later if you want. In the long run the RRG is a really good idea if its well run.

Charles