Welcome to Torrey Pines GullsTPG Slope Negotiating Committee – Modeler of the Year 2002
2001 was a very challenging year for RC soaring in general at the Torrey Pines Gliderport. A new lease signed by the City of San Diego in 1998 with Air California Adventure to operate the Gliderport and provide flight direction generated considerable promise of a brighter future. However, by 2001, to some in the paraglider community the RC gliders were “in the way” of their fun and income. To some in the RC community, the paragliders routinely avoided obeying the established flight rules and not much was being done by the flight director to solve the issue. This difference in opinion led to additional discord not only at the cliff but at Torrey Pines Soaring Council (TPSC) meetings.
Established in 1978 by the City of San Diego Park and Recreation Department, the TPSC had long been the source of discussion between all flight communities both local and national to ensure flight safety at the cliff. And when the 1998 lease was signed, the TPSC was named as the body required to work the lessee to review and generate site rules. However, despite meetings and input, the divide between the lessee and many user groups grew. On June 1, 2001, Air California Adventures notified users that the flight fees would be increasing to $150 for an annual pass or $7.50 a day. This was higher than what was approved in the 1998 lease and the change was made without any coordination with the TPSC. Tensions continued to escalate.
In 2002, a decision was made by the lessee/flight director representing Air California Adventures to ban all RC soaring at the Gliderport as in his opinion the RCers were flying in a reckless and unsafe manner in the window, representing a collision hazard with the increased number of paragliders. The ban came to RCers in the form of a green “By Order Of” notice posted at the RC frequency board. From the RC’s perspective, rules weren’t being enforced properly, the window was crowded with more than one paraglider at a time, most not blowing whistles or informing their intended takeoff direction on launch, etc., creating the hazard in the first place. But the outright ban of RC gliding was made with the coordination of City of San Diego Real Estate Assets Department as they managed the lease on behalf of the City.
Upon hearing this news, the two RC clubs that shared the site, Torrey Pines Gulls and Torrey Pines Scale Soaring Society (TPSSS) launched into action. Within the Gulls a “TPG Slope Negotiating Committee” was formed including John Davies, Steve Condon (TPG representative to the TPSC), David Laney (TPG Treasurer), Larry Fogel (AMA representative to the TPSC), TPG member Don English (a lawyer who enjoyed flying RC at the cliff with TPG), Ron Brown, and John McNeil (TPG President). This team interfaced directly with the TPG Board of Directors, the TPSSS, as well as the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA), especially District X VP Richard Hanson (currently, AMA’s President), Carl Maroney and then-AMA President David Brown, as well as the other flight disciplines represented on the TPSC. A series of meetings were arranged between the RC users and the lessee mediated by the City of San Diego Airports Division. Suffice it to say that these were very contentious meetings. However, an approach was finally outlined that included reinstated RC glider activities along with new safety procedures, an RC pilot certification/rating system for both the TPG and TPSSS, with provisions for guest members and with the assurance that the flight director would enforce existing TPSC approved site rules such as having only one ultralight in the window at a time. This new approach was approved by the TPSC, the flight director, the City of San Diego, the AMA, and the AMA’s insurance carrier. Once everything was approved a set of long-time experienced modelers were then “assigned” a Senior Rating and given the extraordinary task of reviewing and certifying all of the other modelers that wanted to use the site. It was a tremendous effort. RC soaring officially resumed at Torrey Pines on October 11, 2002 with John Davies being the first to be back in the air flying his RnR Genesis.
While many people beyond just the negotiating committee made this possible, the TPG Slope Negotiating Committee was the team that carried a considerable burden and the many negotiations in August and September 2002 led to the successful renewal of RC soaring activities. As TPG President John McNeil noted in the newsletter in December 2002, “despite the bad situation, working with this fine group of pilots has reminded me why I love this hobby so much: the fine people attracted to it.”
At the holiday party it was an easy decision to award the “Modeler of the Year” trophy to all members of the TPG Slope Negotiating Team for their many hours of service and dedication for the continued and future use of RC soaring at Torrey.
