This will be my last post regarding this issue.  Bille, you are absolutely correct.  I am worked up and I do have an agenda.  My agenda is to make the CSS property a safe and fun place for all club members.  To accomplish that goal, Gene must be banned from CSS property.  You are hyper focused on the fact that the original ban did not include Gene’s criminal threats of violence to club members and others.  But demands were made that Gene be allowed to attend a meeting of the Board and defend his actions.  My position is that since the Board members are going to hold a meeting, with Gene invited to attend, the Board should consider ALL issues related to Gene, not just horses and dogs.  In fact, the Board has made it clear that it did consider issues other than dogs and horses before it instituted the ban on Gene.  I am simply asking the Board to now consider all of Gene’s actions which clearly would include those shown in the videos posted by Jana.  The Board can do so or not do so.  That’s up to the Board.  But my agenda, my goal, is to have the Board do everything it can to prevent Gene from ever again making such criminal threats against anyone on CSS property, or even making someone uncomfortable while being on CSS property.  Is that too much to expect?  I think not.  I am worked up about that as I think all members should be.  That’s all I have to say about this.

I’m sorry that so many of you are willing to excuse Gene’s behavior because you want to maintain his ride service.  First, his ride service still exists.  You just have to walk two or three minutes to get to him  So let’s forget that argument.  I am so glad that Jana posted the videos of Gene in action.  Those are not normal actions of a person who just temporarily loses his temper.  The actions shown, and that so many of us have been subjected to, go far beyond acceptable behavior in civilized society.  Excuses are being made for him but they don’t hold water.  Gene has acted this way for years, if not decades.  So it can’t be blamed on a period of cancer treatment.  What Gene does is criminal abuse.  He threatens peoples lives and well being.  That is NEVER acceptable or excuseable.  Any person who has been subjected to his behavior could  have had him charged with criminal assault as he clearly puts those people in fear.  CSS is a club.  Members pay dues to join the club and enjoy what the club provides.  No one is legally entitled to be a club member if they are going to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.  The other club members should never have to worry about being subjected to such criminal behavior, or even such behavior that might not quite rise to the level of criminality.  It seems correct that Gene’s criminal threats of harm to others was not a factor in the one year ban from club property.  However, it is my strong opinion that such actions by Gene warrant suspension, even a lifetime suspension.  Since Gene and his supporters are demanding “due process”, the club should give him that process.  But there is nothing to prevent the Board members from now expanding its concerns to include Gene’s threats to so may people, threats that are well documented and indisputable.  His actions cannot be excuses and they cannot be further tolerated.  I don’t believe for one minute that Gene has written his responses to the club actions that have been posted here.  But even assuming that the did, he continues to refuse to admit to his actions, both those for which he was suspended and for those well documented actions of criminal threats.  Give me a break that I am supposed to believe that Gene is sitting in his home shedding tears over all of this.  And if in fact he is, then it’s only because he can no longer engage in his reign of terror and control on CSS property.  The Board cannot back off at this point.  If the Board does, Gene will be evermore empowered to continue with his unacceptable and criminal activities on CSS property.  Nothing he has done in the past can justify ignoring his actions.  Actions must result in consequences in a civilized society.  The Board needs to not only stand by its existing suspension but should consider more serious actions based on the massive evidence of criminal activity through Gene’s threats and intimidation.  No other CSS Board dared to cross Gene but this one has.  The Board needs member support and must move forward with its completely justified and correct actions.

Let me be the first to predict that no one will step up to fill the club officer vacancies when the current terms expire.  Why would anyone do so?  All they do is get unjustly criticized for everything they do.  I live 800 miles from AJX but typically I make 4 to 6 annual trips out there for the past 25 plus years.  So I have spent a lot of time there and have seen the good, the bad and the ugly.  And I have cross paths with Gene on more than one occasion and let me tell you, that is not a pleasant experience.  Claiming that Gene has been trying to keep the horses out of the lz in a good faith effort seems implausible to me.  It’s simple.  You keep the horses under your control or boarded so that they cannot get out.  If they are wandering in the lz, then neither of those actions have occurred.  Some I don’t get the “good faith efforts” claim.  Horses aren’t wildlife.  They are big, dangerous animals that can kill and maim if spooked.  And the club, with knowledge of this problem, would be liable.  End of story.  Keep the damned horses out of the lz.  I strongly believe that all dogs should be leashed and that’s been an ongoing problem for years that still needs to be addressed.  The lz exists for one purpose–to provide a safe place for hg and pg pilots to land.  It’s not a dog park.  It’s not for horses to graze.  Gene clearly has done positive things for the club.  No one can dispute that.  But there is another side to Gene that has created problems for the club and club members for too many years.  This Board has finally acted to deal with those issues.  The conflict amongst club members, including Gene and many others, had become almost intolerable for me last year, which led me to going almost a year without travelling to AJX.  I went there in October and found a much better situation.  I was unaware of the ban on Gene until I arrived.  The lack of tension and conflict in the lz was quite refreshing during my 10 days there.  I strongly support the Board’s actions and encourage them to not be swayed by the ridiculous allegations of collusion and retribution that are being made against them.  Thank you Jana for your very professional approach to dealing with this and other matters.

Thanks Tim.  Can you keep us informed as to whether the mouse infestation seems to be taken care of and it seems safe to use #2 again.  I had a friend move my 2 gliders out of there and into container #4 until the problem is taken care of.  He said that the odor in #2 was awful.  Fortunately he didn’t see any damage to my gliders.

It’s just ridiculous that such incidents continue at AJX considering the size of that LZ, the well known approach rules, and the lack of obstacles, as well as the very consistent wind direction in the lz.  I fly at a lot of sites around the country and I consider landing at AJX to be one of the most dangerous things I do.  But I also have had more than one extremely close mid-air flying at Marshall as well.  So I guess I also consider it one of the more dangerous places I fly because of so many pilots who seem to have absolutely no awareness of other pilots in the air near them.  I was once told that I “came out of nowhere” when I was flying my pg with a hg pilot and we both had flown over to Cloud together, so he clearly knew that I was around.  I came out of nowhere by being in front and lower than him in a bright red glider.  Pretty fucked up but the one foot between us as he flew directly over me kept us safe.  In another incident, I was on my hg climbing in the house thermal to the east of Marshall launch when a pg just flew straight at me with no noted intention of ever turning in the thermal.  Another pg pilot came up to me in the lz and apologized for him saying that he was just a dangerous clueless pilot always.  In the LZ, it’s clearly the pg pilots who are the constant problems as they seem to not give a damn about rules or safety in far too many cases (and I fly pg 90 percent of the time so I’m not some grumpy old hg pilot).  I have no idea what it takes to solve this problem but thanks to Dan for posting the video to try to wake a few people up.  But those who need a wake up call most likely will never see the video because I don’t think they are likely to read this forum.  They just pull their pg pack out of the closet and go and create mayhem in the air.  Sooner or later they will kill someone due to their stupidity.  I just hope it’s not me.

“Pilot flew behind the ridge due to lack of experience about ridge sites and potential for rotor and sink conditions. ”  If this information was obtained from the pilot, or from the supervising instructor, then this pilot had no business launching from Marshall in 10 to 15 mph south winds, or really is not ready to be flying the mountain in anything but super light sled run conditions.  How can a pilot be qualified to fly in such conditions when they lack a basic understanding of potential rotor and sink conditions when flying on the lee side of a ridge?  I know that I took hg lessons in the days when dinosaurs were roaming the earth (1980) but we were actually required, or strongly advised, to READ books on learning to fly hang gliders.  I’m pretty sure books on that subject still exist although I know that everyone wants to learn everything on their I phone these days.  Dennis Pagen stills sells his books and all it would take is a quick glance inside to learn about rotors and the dangers they create.  How about the advise of staying within a 1 to 1 glide ratio of the front of the ridge as you drift back as a good standard for new pilots?  The above post laid out some criticisms of the instruction but I want to place plenty of blame on the pilot for not doing the homework necessary to fly safely.  When I was a beginner I read Pagen’s book until I pretty much had it memorized and I think that saved my ass on more than one occasion.  Let’s try some self responsibility for being a safe, competent pilot.  It ain’t that hard.  And don’t even get me started on the PG pilots who have absolutely no clue as to how to join another pilot in a thermal, and who don’t seem to think there is anything wrong with just flying straight through the thermal you are circling in.  Flying late day at Marshall has become more dangerous than flying mid day conditions because you have to constantly see and avoid those who have no clue what they are or should be doing.  Come on people, up your game.  There are lives on the line every time you launch.

Did anyone speak to this pg pilot about the extreme danger he created by making such a ridiculous approach?  Flying and landing at Marshall/Crestline just continues to get more dangerous due to pilots refusing to follow simple rules.  Maybe there will be a wake up call when someone dies.  I’m considering just starting to use the McAleer lz to the west of AJX.  No grass but far safer..