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  • in reply to: Associate Membership #17603

    A lot of people bought the Associate membership without having a spouse or family member who was already a General member. So, instead of paying the $100-$125 yearly General membership like they were supposed to, they’d pay $50 and call it good. It got to the point where we had around 30 Associate members, of whom only like 5 were legitimate.

    I don’t know exactly when it was removed from the website. It’s possible that it might still be available, but you have to prove you live in the same household as a General member.

    in reply to: Associate Membership #17601

    As far as I know, the Associate membership was for spouses and family members living under the same roof, only. For example if you, or Heather, had a General membership, the other person would be able to join the club as an Associate member for half the price.

    Unfortunately there was a lot of abuse of this membership by people who did not have a spouse or family member with a General membership, so there was discussion of either finding a way to make sure this rule was followed, or the Associate membership gotten rid of. There would have to be a way to verify each person as a spouse or family member of a General member.

    I’m not on the Board currently, so I don’t know all the details, but that’s what I suspect happened with it. Maybe it’s just temporary until they figure out a better way to implement it on the website. 🤷‍♀️

    in reply to: CSS Board Meeting Videos, March 18th, 2023 #17566

    XC Ranch:

    31B2F70C-856D-4609-BCCA-2299B84F5A3C

    AJX + XC Ranch:

    8A2576F2-F552-4D12-A40A-938241AACDE8

    One of these days we’ll learn from (some of) our mistakes. 😜

    in reply to: CSS Board Meeting Videos, March 18th, 2023 #17551

    No problem! Now everyone can feel like they were there. 😄

    PGs could practically land anywhere if they’re skilled enough, but HGs have more speed and sometimes require more runway. It’s harder for them to go to plan B during the last stretch. Of course there are other considerations for keeping the ranch as part of the LZ that have little to do with the landing part.

    If anyone were to ask me what side I’m on, personally I just want to see this flying site preserved for decades to come. If I get the feeling that something, or someone is threatening its existence, I want to know how to stop it. The only way to figure that out is by putting all of our heads together and start brainstorming & getting the facts straight.

    If we’re going to make big decisions, we need to understand all the possible consequences and have a back-up plan already in place to remedy any problems we might encounter as a result. Saying “Don’t worry! Everything will be fine! We’ll figure it out afterwards!” is not what I would call a solid back-up plan. 🤷‍♀️ If there is one in place, I’m not clear on those details. Where can I see it, or read about it?

    in reply to: CSS Board Meeting Videos, March 18th, 2023 #17544

    Thanks for showing up! We all love this place and want to keep it going. I think that sometimes we just get a bit stuck on one solution, and maybe that’s not the right one. That’s why it’s important to talk about it with everyone before making a rash decision.

    in reply to: CSS Board Meeting Videos, March 18th, 2023 #17542

    OK, now the video is available on YouTube. Took forever to upload. 😅

    It was a way better day than I expected! I didn’t do anything special, late launch, but at least I got a good view out of it. 😄

    I learned during flight that I brought two LEFT gloves 🤦🏼‍♀️ and put my K2 sleeves in back of harness where they’re useless. When I got to over 8,600ft, I headed past Pine, but by the time I got there, my hands were hurting bad from the cold. I turned back, lost altitude and when I got up to Last Chance, I was too low to catch anything good to help me stay up. I learned that 1.) I need to stop waiting so long to launch and 2.) make sure to have comfortable gear.

    SportsTrackLive, March 18th 2023

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    in reply to: Artificial Grass PG Packing Area #16792

    The HGs have been enjoying packing up their gliders near the shade structure for decades, sometimes leaving their gliders parked in the LZ for hours, sometimes stretching the HG parking lot almost to the PG landing cone.

    Meanwhile PGs try to find a clean piece of grass to lay their gliders down wherever there’s room. Most of the year we haven’t got much ”grass” to speak of, just dirt & rocks. Sometimes it’s windy and this makes it more difficult to fold our wings, so we try to find some wind shade behind the structure. Unlike HGs, we have to let our glider fabric touch the ground to pack it, so it’s been incredibly nice to have a small, clean patch of the LZ dedicated to packing PGs.

    I don’t know why anyone would get upset about us PGs getting to enjoy what HG pilots have had for years. Can we share and have some mutual understanding of our needs? We have many more PG pilots vs HG, so we do need people to pack and move their gear out of the packing area as soon as possible. If you’re not ready to tear it down, don’t park it on top of the packing carpet. I think that’s all we’re asking.

    in reply to: 11 days later and still dumping dirt #16735

    Those present could possibly turn them away and take pics of their license plates as proof, time stamp and warning against illegal dumping. 🤷‍♀️

    in reply to: AUA ratings #16473

    Just FYI, IPPI ratings & membership do not provide any liability insurance coverage to pilots, in case it matters to the safety of our site, or our members. Neither does the AUA, which (to me at least) seems very much in it’s infancy as far as rating requirements & training go. They basically rely on you having a USHPA rating to issue you their equivalent rating.

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    If having a form of liability insurance is a site requirement for our pilots to keep our flight park protected, then a USHPA membership is the easiest way to achieve this goal. I suppose AUA and IPPI pilots could purchase a separate liability policy, as long as they can provide proof to the club that they are covered.

    Any changes to the club bylaws need to be approved by the majority of the CSS general members via a ballot, like we did about two years ago. We sent out a ballot with the proposed changes about 30 days in advance and discussed those changes on the forum beforehand.

     

    in reply to: $ for camping overnight ? #16274

    I believe it’s $15 per day, or $75 per week. You can stay a max of 21 days, at which point I think you have to leave for seven days before you can come back and camp another 21 days. 🤔 Correct me if I’m wrong.

    in reply to: CSS no longer has USHPA insurance. #16231

    If it helps any, I do remember that the new insurance policy was given to the land owner to review and they had to approve it before the switch happened. As far as I know, their terms were satisfied.

    in reply to: CSS no longer has USHPA insurance. #16225

    I’m curious what the benefits of being a USHPA chapter are. I tried having a quick look on their website, but I didn’t see anything that jumped out at me (other than land owner  insurance, which we currently have via a different provider)Becoming a USHPA Chapter

    If any of you find something you think we could benefit from at AJX by renewing our USHPA Chapter status, please share it here. Their map still has us listed as one of their Chapters, but it hasn’t been updated since 2020.

    in reply to: CSS Rumors & Board Meetings #16213

    It is possible that one party to the conversation may have been sick with COVID-19 for the second time in under a year and their normally civil and relaxed manners were temporarily absent. Just something to consider. I have had enough people explode at me and make false accusations right to my face that I have tried to learn to step back and look for the underlying message and ignore the mode of delivery at least for the time it takes to determine what they may be concerned about. Once I have acknowledged that I heard their true concern they usually stop the overt attack.

    Just a few things to consider. Thanks.

    I appreciate your interesting angle on this outburst, though I’m not sure it had anything to do with Covid.

    I know we’re all different and handle discomfort in various ways, but I can say with confidence that at no point did I feel the need to insult anyone during my four-day kidney stone experience, which I hear is one of the worst kinds of pain one can go through. My mom had her spine shattered by a tumor last month, prior to that she was enduring the worst pain one could imagine for three to four months, very little sleep, she is just now re-learning to use her limbs, and she hasn’t insulted anyone during the process thus far. Stephen occasionally experiences extreme back pain and partial paralysis from his old back injury, but somehow he keeps it together. Maybe we’re special! I don’t know. 😂

    If someone is unable to handle Covid without lashing out, perhaps staying away from the internet for the duration of the illness is in order? I suppose if you are right, one could always apologize for the Covid-induced outburst. 🤷‍♀️