News

May 2023

AGM

We held the AGM at Muller Windsports courtesy of Vincene and Keith, thanks to Keith for loaning us some of his beer!

Official board business covered the election of directors and modifying the bylaws:

Unfortunately we had no new nominations for directors, and with Jens stepping back (thanks for your efforts Jens!) we are on the lower end of an acceptable number of board directors. If you have an interest in supporting the Alberta free flight community, especially if you also happen to be an accountant, we would love to hear from you. The time commitment is small, the board tries to meet quarterly to discuss board projects and we communicate on WhatsApp a couple times per week when needed.

The bylaws were amended for election of new directors, requiring 2 years of membership as well as a minimum P2 or H2 rating. The change permits the board to waive this requirement when other circumstances indicate the nominee would be a good choice for the board.

Parks Update

Brandon needs all the kudos we can give him for driving forward our project to open up the parks. Along with Scott McKay, with input from Darren Vonk and board director Patric, a presentation was made to the AGM regarding the current status of flying in Canmore and what we can expect in future with Banff National Park. The future looks bright, but there is more work to be done and potentially money to be spent before provincial parks and national parks sign off on free flight activities. Please remember that every time you fly in a populated area you are an extremely visible ambassador to our sport, whether you want to be or not. Have a smile ready, be friendly, and show everyone that we are a group who care about the areas we fly in. If you missed the AGM you can look forward to seeing this presentation shortly when it’s ready for publishing.

Miles In May

The 2023 Miles in May competition is over, with 21 pilots posting flights. Here are some comments from Bev Johns who worked to organize the comp:

We did fly almost every day, however high winds at the outset and the smoke throughout had a negative impact on our ability to successfully complete tasks. Out of 24 pilots, all flew and the vast majority did fly cross country. We unfortunately lacked the "boomer days" typically associated with spring flying due to the dampening from the smoke. The comp was still successful in that the newer pilots had many personal bests and their skill levels progressed over the week. More seasoned pilots got to test their mettle in some challenging conditions, and some of them had personal bests as well. There was great comraderie and plenty of mentorship, advice, and encouragement as well. The locals were very supportive and interested in what we were doing, and many enjoyable conversations were had as we landed in their fields or they passed by the staging areas.

With pilots from BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, we had a great group and a great meet that elevated the visibility of our sport and fostered a strong sense of community for hang gliding in Western Canada.  It was a challenging but enjoyable week that left everyone I spoke with looking forward to next year's event.

You can see the flights posted to xcontest here.

The Willi

This year the AHPA will be supporting the Willi by providing funds to cover some retrieve costs. Our hope is that by making retrieves cheaper for pilots as well as giving drivers better compensation we will encourage more pilots to join the Willi and fly far! More details to come from the Willi organizers.

 X-Alps

On June 11th the 2023 Red Bull X-Alps will start. Canadian Pilot James Elliott will be one of the 32 people crazy enough to join the adventure race, and Alberta's claim to fame is that our own Jonathan Klimow will be there as James' supporter. Best of luck to James and Jonathan as they prepare for an intense race!

The board is always looking for new ideas to support Albertan pilots. You don't have to be a board member to make suggestions, so if you have an idea please share it with us!