Agreed, Jerome. We try to impress upon any potential visiting pilot to show up at the LZ for a site intro first, get their temporary or general membership, check out the approach pattern, talk to the local pilots, and then ride up to launch. Anytime anyone asks about visiting AJX, that is my standard answer.

I’ve even walked up to struggling unfamiliar pilots on launch to find out more about their skill level. Unfortunately some don’t want to hear my opinion on whether or not they should keep trying to launch. If it takes you multiple tries in smooth air, you should be on the grass practicing kiting instead. Realistically I can’t tackle anyone to prevent them from going forward with it, and I’m not the police.

I’m not on the board anymore as of this upcoming Saturday, but I think this year the club will have a monitor checking everyone’s ratings and club membership status at the LZ. If you land at the LZ, be ready to show your USHPA rating, active status and club membership.

Which also reminds me, everyone make sure you take a look at the club members list and see if your name appears in red. If it does, that means that either your club membership has expired, or your USHPA membership hasn’t been renewed, or that you didn’t enter your USHPA number into your profile.

Brand new PG/HG students with a temporary 30 day USHPA membership don’t have to worry about that, until they get their permanent/official USHPA numbers. Don’t forget to update your profile.