Wilcox and the powers that be...

[glbro]

Hey folks,

I am just the messenger, so please don't shoot me. We have a city safety official with at least four recent incidents on record from people "landing" on the beach at Wilcox. Briefly, 1) guy spirals into six inches of water at the shoreline, pounds in, and has the lifeguard and innocent bystanders screaming and running for help; 2) guy lands on an elderly couple; 3) guy lands [on] the lifeguard station (probably wing draped over); 4) guy becomes belligerent towards lifeguard. We are in serious jeporady of losing our site. Please lets be vigilant about self-police-ing our site, and let's not fly when the tide is high, the beach is crowded, and it's cross.

P.S. I apologize if this is redundant, but I tried to post a couple of days ago, to no avail.

Greg Brown

[oj]

I don't fly Wilcox but I seem to recall that it's a P4 site, or P3 if you're with your instructor. Have these rules been forgotten? The things you describe don't sound like "Advanced" flying to me, and there's no excuse for arguing with a lifeguard. Flying at these sensitive sites is a privilege that can be lost with just one mistake. The people involved need to work on their spotlanding skills at the training hill and take a refresher course on diplomacy. John Kloer.

[irene]

Thanks Greg for this message. Of course we don't know what the lifeguard did, but it looks like the pilot did not land in the permitted area anyway. It is really annoying that some pilots put our sites in danger like that. It would be really too bad if we lost More Mesa and Wilcox because of a few non responsible individuals. I think it is the responsability of all pilots and instructors to monitor these sites and have the contracts respected. That's also where having an active club is also important.

[JimmyZ]

We need to find out who caused the issues to happen and make sure to speak with them about it. I'm hoping that some certain "squirrel school students" aren't ones to blame for these dangerous actions. The site it too sensitive to be used as a ridge soaring "training hill". It is an H4/P4/P3 site for a reason....

[glbro]

Thanks for the feedback. I think that as long as we're all aware of the precarious nature of our present situation, we can collectively do what is necessary to ensure that there are no more immediate problems. Also, small correction - it was a county official, not city.

Pokey (a.k.a. Greg Brown)

[Parma Chris]

3) guy lands [on] the lifeguard station (probably wing draped over); 4) guy becomes belligerent towards lifeguard.

For the record, I was there when this happened and this is NOT an accurate record of this incident.

In my opinion; Simple Self regulation of the “current” rules that have been placed by our community leadership and a little common sense should be all that is necessary to continue to keep this and “All” of our sites open.

Also, for those P4’s & P3’s that have been sponsored to fly Wilcox please note we should not be landing West of the lagoon river. (Unless of course you’re making a run for More Mesa and you land well west of the restaurant)

Thurmals will be here soon enough....

that is all i have to say.

Cheers

[Ramey]

Well then - exactly what DID happen.

Robert Ramey

[Parma Chris]

No Need to keep beating this horse, if you need to know ask me in person.

[irene]

I think that as long as you keep it anonymous it is fine to describe what happened. It is important info, especially reagarding the pilot: out of town, new pilot, local...... We need to know in order to prevent that.
irene

[Ramey]

Hmmm -

a) I don't think its very nice to question greg's credibility without being willing to add what you know.

b) The fact that there's a reluctance to describe what really happens suggests that it's even worse that what was reported. Since, if its not worse, then there's no reason at all not to describe it.

c) There is a widely held belief that maintaining a "low profile" on incidents of this sort will make them less likely to cause any damage. Personally, I've never subscribed to this view. In fact, my take is just the opposite. I think the best way prevent this stuff is to shine a light on it when it happens. If the responsable parties feel that they've done nothing wrong - let them stand up and make their case. Perhaps we can use the incident to refine our consensus about what's good for the flying community. If they feel they made a mistake, they can just stand up and apologise for it and permit their experience to be a lesson to the rest of us.

Robert Ramey

[Parma Chris]

In my opinion; Simple Self regulation of the “current” rules that have been placed by our community leadership and a little common sense should be all that is necessary to continue to keep this and “All” of our sites open.

My point was, "In my opinion" I think we all get it here and we don't need to go thru each incident and keep posting this about this issue.

For the rocord: It was a kiting issue, wing on tree next to the lifeguard station not on it, as for “guy becomes belligerent towards lifeguard” Not true and im not going to continue talking about this in a public forum.

Also this is no attack on the Messenger, It was to point out that whisper down the lane.. when one person tells another who tell another the story changes….

Please let’s move on

[Allison]

A pilot landed on the beach at the Wilcox on Saturday and the lifeguard told him that pilots are not to land on the beach anymore. Maybe this can be a topic at the club meeting on Thursday so everyone can be clear on the 'rules'. Then- we can pass the word around. I really hope this isn't the case- hopefully there is a 'right' place to land and a 'wrong' place to land.
allison

[Parma Chris]

Last I heard was, we were NOT to land west of the creek/little river from the lagoon. But on the east of it was OK.

[JimmyZ]

Scary...

[glenny]

hey pc et al.... smells like some salt rot at the wilcox....
here is a thought or two...
one way for pilots to avoid confrontation at the beach is to fly the wilcox when you are sure you will be top land...
also note that the summer is very busy on the beach... especially weekends.. thus another time to avoid landing on the beach...and remember, after labor day weekend there will probably be no lifeguard at hendry's until memorial day...

fly safe
glenny