The Launch

The Board of Directors at its 2017 Annual Meeting met with senior officials of Jasper National Park to review the 2015-2017 trial period of our sport in Jasper National Park, the first National Park in Canada to allow it. Jasper Park Visitor Experience personnel Pam Clark and Amber Stewart, as well as Todd Noble, General Manager of Jasper SkyTram, attended. While Jasper Park is producing a formal assessment of the trial period, flying can continue as per the published guidelines (http://www.hpac.ca/pub/?pid=389). Pilots are asked to strictly adhere to the guidelines and post all flights on Leonardo, so that Jasper can be a strong argument for gaining access to other National Parks in the system.

Discussions in Jasper centered around the ongoing need for recording of flights on Leonardo and landing proximities to roads, regarding concern for driver distraction, and other issues. The Board of Directors identified immediate priority parks located in Atlantic Canada and Quebec, as well as the remaining Mountain Parks of Banff, Yoho and Kootenay.

The Board reviewed the wide variations in quality of instructor certification across the country. A proposal came forward from a Senior Instructor for raising the base-line quality of instructor certification in Canada and it was approved in principle by the Board of Directors. Some components of the new program will include the creation of new instructor categories, an expanded and more intensive initial instructor certification course, formal sanctioning by HPAC/ACVL of instructor courses. A draft of the new program will be ready by end 2017, will be developed in consultation with CSI, and will then go to the Board of Directors for implementation in the 2018 season.

The initial development team includes Jacques Blanchet, Eric Olivier (who is also the liaison with the Board), Claudio Mota and Max Fanderl.

The Board of Directors welcomed the new Director for BC to the table. Nicole McLearn is a pilot well known as a frequent member on Canada’s Team to international competitions, past chair of the Competition Committee, and a long history of service to the West Coast Soaring Club and the Grouse Mountain Flying Team, to name just two. The Board thanked outgoing BC Director Scott Watwood for his service.

From Russell Bamford, President of the Association of Yukon Hang Gliders and Paragliders

This is a call for input from any and all HPAC members: The Association of Yukon Hang gliders and Paragliders is faced with a government proposal to establish a wind farm on Haeckel Hill near Whitehorse. This is one of only two road-accessible flying sites in Yukon and is used year round by all levels of pilot. If any members have any direct knowledge of the effects of 75meter blade wind turbines, or know what effect they may have, I would be very keen to hear. The proposal is to erect 2x 75m turbines less than 100 meters behind the west launch and a third approximately 100m behind the main launch. How noisy are they and will pilots be intimidated? Your help would be much appreciated.

Please reply to Margit @ admin@hpac.ca or myself at gotwinkle@hotmail.com.

In response to repeated concerns by tandem pilots that the current one-size-fits-all approach to tandem instructor certification and recertification does not properly serve the diverse tandem pilot community in Canada, a Task Force was named by the Board to develop new levels/types of tandem endorsement, after the initial instructor certification, and appropriate recertification, as well as a curriculum for each level.

Members of the Tandem Task Force are Claudio Mota, Max Fanderl, Eric Olivier (who is also the liaison with the Board), Scott Watwood and Herminio Cordido. The Task Force will submit its recommendations to the Council of Senior Instructors by year-end for review and comment, before they are submitted to the Board for decision early in 2018.

In accordance with HPAC’s SOP regarding Board elections, elections for Regional Director will take place in November for BC, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Atlantic Canada. A Call for Nominations will go out in early November to all members in each jurisdiction.

As part of effective risk management for our sport in Canada, HPAC will be requiring all of its members to have attained, or be actively working on, a minimum P2/H2 rating, before they will be able to renew their membership after their initial full year of membership. This will go into effect on January 1, 2017.

All pilots who have a long flying record but no rating, or for whom instruction has not been easily accessible for geographic reasons, or who have been putting off getting a rating, they are asked to please connect with an HPAC-certified instructor to have their skills assessed or documented (where the pilot is known by the instructor) and a minimum rating of H2 or P2 assigned and sent in to the Office by the instructor.

In our efforts to keep our insurance fees reasonable and our safety record high, it is important to be able to demonstrate that all of our pilots are trained pilots, given that we all share the same insurance policy. The intent is to make sure that particularly new pilots, who often purchase gear after just a few lessons, actually complete their training in order to be able to have the documented skills to fly safely.

This is meant to be as painless a catch-up for our long-term unrated and H1/P1 pilots as possible. Thank you for your understanding and please contact the Office by e-mail if you have any questions or special circumstances.

Since 2001 HPAC’s annual membership fees have remained enviably unchanged, due to the careful allocation of pilot resources by successive Boards of Directors. But due to the rapidly changing and ever more complex legal, insurance and public accountability environments under our self-governance status, the Association has repeatedly had to dip into its cash reserves to address issues as they arose. As a result, after 15 years, Association membership fees have to be raised.

Some examples of increased costs:

• Legal fees: a number of legal actions across the country, two ongoing, have forced HPAC to engage legal counsel and pay fees in several jurisdictions in Canada;
• Instructional Overhaul: the Council of Senior Instructors was formed to engage in a long overdue overhaul of HPAC’s rating, instructor certification, and tandem endorsement programs; this was necessary to achieve high quality instruction across the country as well as demonstrating to the public and our insurance underwriters that HPAC is committed to the highest safety standards and to the professional management of the risk inherent in our sport. The Council (CSI) meets every three years for an intensive face-to-face work session to upgrade instruction and has met twice to date, with the attendant costs (made up of bare travel and meeting room costs only);
• Two new websites (hpac.ca and acvl.ca): as a critical part of its communications, HPAC is in the midst of final development on its new websites; this requires the updating, editing and review of all materials on the current sites, development of new material, and effecting a smooth transition of our database; it also requires extensive translation work, as the two sites mirror each other;
• Production of new publications: for example, a new national Training Logbook for P1/P2 students across Canada (an equivalent Logbook is pending for H1/H2) (an initiative of the Safety Committee and the CSI), shortly to be available to teaching instructors either by download or by order at cost from HPAC.

(It is important to note that HPAC continues to benefit from the hundreds of hours of uncompensated volunteer work from our Board members, CSI members, and Committee members and advisors, without whose work the Association could not function.)

In order to continue to be responsive to our members, as well as to continue to conduct the Association’s business in a professional manner, while also being prudent and efficient with HPAC’s resources, the annual membership fees are being raised. This is being done reluctantly but certainly mirrors what our sister associations in other countries have also been forced to do.

As of early 2017, when the new websites go live, the annual membership fees will rise to $160 for Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Ontario and out-of-Canada residents (there is no provincial fee in these jurisdictions); $175 for the Maritimes, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon (includes $15 provincial fee); $185 for Quebec (includes $25 provincial fee). A notice will be sent out to members just before the new hpac.ca and acvl.ca go live.

Your Board has managed to maintain the current fees over many years, but HPAC’s reserves have taken a sizable hit in recent years and a revenue adjustment is necessary. Thank you for your understanding.

Please contact your regional Board member or the Office by e-mail if you have any additional questions.