Attention: Starting December 14, 2019 Yahoo Groups will no longer host user created content on its sites. New content can no longer be uploaded after October 28, 2019. Sending/Receiving email functionality is not going away, you can continue to communicate via any email client with your group members. Learn More
- Nov 19, 2018Hi All,Firstly thanks to all for your support and patience as the new committee finds their feet.We’ve had some busy weekends lately, both from the perspective of lots of pilots here as the season kicks off but also with some huge events in town - we had the Cup Weekend, Hotrod Weekend and the Spartan weekend 3 weekends running. We managed to deal with all the extra traffic and shared use of Mystic really well. Thanks to all for helping keep our relations with the other users of Mystic in great shape.I wanted to remind everyone also of the importance of being a current member of the NEVHGC when you fly at Mystic in Bright. Mystic Launch and the LZ sit on land under the control of Hancock Victorian Plantations (HVP). We have permission from HVP to fly off Mystic based on a licence arrangement. That licence arrangement specifies that we have to be members of NEVHGC and HGFA. HVP is only interested in allowing compliant, insured pilots to fly here. To fly from Mystic without membership puts the site at risk for everyone.It has been brought to our attention that there are some pilots who are flying here without NEVHGC membership and without HGFA membership. I’ll leave it to the HGFA to explain that flying anywhere in Australia without HGFA membership is illegal, but our priority is to ensure that Mystic and the other NEVHGC-managed sites remain open to paragliding and hang gliding now and in the future.Mystic may only flown by NEVHGC members because our permission to fly this site DEPENDS on it. Our other sites only require HGFA membership. The committee and local pilots are working hard to keep land-owner relationships optimal to provide us with friendly and safe places to land, but the flight doesn’t even start without permission to launch. A lot of hard work from many committed people over the years has enabled that permission and it only takes a few pilots to demolish that work. Losing Mystic would not only rob us of one of the best sites in Australia, but it would decimate local paragliding businesses which continue to feed our sport. To fly here without membership is reckless, irresponsible and selfish.The bottom line is, if you are not an HGFA member and NEVHGC member, do not fly Mystic. If you are not an HGFA member, do not fly any of our sites.How can everyone help protect our sites? You don’t have to be the fun-police to help. It all starts with a conversation and assuming everyone wants to do the right thing. Continue to be the awesome human beings you are and, if you see a pilot you don’t know, go say hello. Start a conversation to discover where they are from, if they have flown here before, if they need a site brief. Even if you are a low airtime pilot, you can help by pointing people in the direction of a Safety Officer or PG-5 pilot. If it's clear they are a visiting pilot, ask them if they had any issues signing up for membership (and by all means pass on any feedback to the committee if it was genuinely difficult). If something doesn’t feel right - if they are dismissive or disinterested - try to get their names so the committee can follow it up. Most of the time you will walk away from these conversations with one more paragliding buddy (and retrieve option!) and probably a contact for flying that person’s home site. It’s a win-win situation :)Anyway, thanks for your help on this issue. It takes an entire community to keep our sites open and land-owner relations healthy.Fly safe and have funKirstenPresidentNorth East Victoria Hang Gliding Club