August 25, 2008

Dear USUA members,

Many of you have been wondering what USUA has been doing this year. We are writing you now to let you know what has been happening at USUA, and briefly discuss where we are going. We are aware that communications between USUA and its members has been an issue during the first half of 2008. We are working to correct that. 2008 has not been the best year for USUA, and we suffered some serious setbacks during the past 6 months. We would like to take a few moments to share those with you now.

January 2008 - Reggie Deloach, our President had to resign with little notice. As previously reported in UltraFlight magazine, Reggie became diagnosed with a potential life threatening disease. Rightfully so, he chose to resign and take care of his health. Reggie served as the President of the board of directors. Previously, he had been a regional representative and very active in USUA for many years.

February 2008: We realized that we had to start cutting back on our expenditures. To that end, our staff went to part-time status. We also realized that eventually we would no longer be able to justify our biggest recurring expense, which was our leased office. At that time we approached our landlord, who agreed to release us from our lease once a new tenant was found to occupy the office.

March 2008 - Donna Barth, who previously handled many of the day-to-day details such as the issuing of membership cards and fulfilling merchandise orders, resigns. She had to move out of state to join her husband who recently secured a new job in another part of the country.

April 2008 - Dale Hooper resigned. Dale joined USUA in 1992 and worked as a full time staff member until his promotion to Executive Vice President a few years ago. In this capacity, Dale was in charge of running USUA on a day-to-day basis.

At this point, the day-to-day operations of USUA were taken over by the board of directors. Our first order of business was to begin transitioning everything to our control and to "learn the ropes" of the day-to-day duties that need to be taken care of. We continue to work on this, to this day.

Thankfully, by the beginning of May 2008, a new tenant was found to occupy our office and we were released from our lease. In early May 2008, we vacated our office and moved to a "virtual office". While our e-mail addresses and phone number remain the same, the one thing that has changed is our mailing address. Our current mailing address is: USUA, PO Box 3501, Gettysburg, PA, 17325.

Now that the board has taken over all functions of USUA, we want to assure you that your phone calls and e-mails will be answered. While we will most likely not be able to take your phone call when you place it, we will make sure that all voice messages left for USUA will be returned.

So, that is what has been happening in the first part of 2008. It couldn't have happened at a worse time, and we didn't have much notice, but we're trying to get through all of this.

The board of directors of the USUA is made up of the following people:

Bob Comperini, vice president: Bob has been a member of USUA since 1991, and was both a BFI and AFI. Over the years, Bob has served on several committees of the USUA, including the Safety and Training committee. This committee maintained the airman registration program administered by the USUA. In 2002, Bob became the webmaster for the USUA, and was responsible for the operation of USUA's website and e-mail services. In 2003, Bob was appointed to the board of directors, and serves as vice-president.

Bob is a software developer, working in the aerospace/military industry in southern California. Bob has been a licensed pilot since 1981. In 2005, Bob became a Sport Pilot CFI, and a Sport Pilot Examiner. In 2006, Bob earned his Repairman/maintenance rating. During his spare time, Bob enjoys instructing in hist Quicksilver Sport II, and an Aeropro Eurofox.

Dennis Gregory, treasurer: Dennis lives in Virginia, and has been an ultralight pilot since 1999. Dennis later became a USUA BFI. Dennis served as USUA regional representative, representing Region 2 for several years. Dennis currently serves on the board of USUA Club #6. Dennis is currently a Sport Pilot, and enjoys flying his Flightstar, and Rans S-14.

Harold "Skip" Little, secretary: Skip is from Tennessee. Skip is an ultralight, and FAA pilot, with land, sea, and glider ratings, and enjoys flying his Minimax. Skip and his wife Kathy are the owners of Meadowlark Aerodrome, in rural Bradyville, Tennessee. Skip was a Principle in the formation of TEAM aircraft, and has worked as a demo pilot, wing varnisher, staple puller, etc., until the sale of TEAM Aircraft. Skip is a retired staff member of the University of Tennessee aerospace graduate school in Tullahoma, Tennessee. Skip is a member of ten aviation organizations, and past officer of several. Skip is a current active member of USUA Chapter 510, the Middle Tennessee Ultralight Group (MTUG).

Paul Wells, Ex Officio Board Member: Paul is from Texas. Paul soloed in general aviation at age 15 and holds an FAA SEL private pilot rating. Paul first soloed an ultralight in 1982. Paul is currently a flight instructor for Blue Max Ultralight with over 1000 hours. Paul competed in the 7th National Microlight Championship. Paul is currently is a member of USUA Club #406.

Art Greenfield, Ex Officio Board Member for NAA. Art is employed by the National Aeronautic Association, where he is responsible for all aviation records certification. He serves as NAA's Delegate to the Federation Aeronautique Internationale's General Aviation Commission, Air Sport General Commission, and General Conference. He holds a degree in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and FAA Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor Certificates. He is also a USHPA novice-rated paraglider pilot.

Kathryn Ridgway, Board Member: Kathryn Ridgway (USUA #A96024), from Fayetteville Pennsylvania, is the newest member of the board, and was elected to the board in July 2008. Kathryn has been an ultralighter since 1996. In 1998, she became affiliated with the Millennium Flyers, and held several positions with them, including treasurer, and Events Coordinator. In 2003, she served on the Chambersburg Airport Committee, and became the Angel Flight Community Representative for the Mid-Atlantic Region. Most Recently, Kathryn has served USUA as Region 2 representative.

We are also aware that many of you have not received membership cards for the past several months. USUA is currently experiencing several issues related to the actual printing of membership cards. The membership database was written back in the late 80's and early 90's. The database was written, using a Mac version of a commercial database that is no longer in production, and is NOT compatible with any current generation database. This software can ONLY run on an older Mac. We can't move the application to a newer Mac, and it will ONLY print cards on an old printer of the same vintage. The Board is trying our best to get this database converted into something that can be used for years to come, but obviously, that's going to take time.

USUA is now being completely run by volunteers. We ask for your patience as we work to streamline things. But please remember that we are volunteers, and performing the day-to-day operations on our off time.

Now, we would like to share with you information about the health of USUA, and "where we go from here."

First, let us acknowledge that the USUA's strength has gone down over the years. We estimate that we had over 8,000 members in the mid and late 90's. In 2008, we're approximately one third of that. We are quite sure that all ultralight organizations are suffering from the same problems, whether they want to admit it or not. We choose to be upfront and honest about it. USUA started noticing a "change" in 2004 and yes, it was expected to some extent. Here are the areas we saw changes:

Clubs: Several clubs chose not to renew, or they disbanded altogether. We spoke to several who indicated that their membership and activity levels were down.

Regional Representative program: In the 1990's, the regional representative program was pretty active. During that time, there were several nominees from each region, during regional representative elections. By the end of 2004, several had resigned, and it was almost impossible to find replacements. In many regions, no nominations were received, or very few votes were cast from members in those regions. USUA realizes that this is a difficult job, and that the areas a representative might have to cover are large. For quite some time we have wanted to find a way to change this program, but quite frankly haven't found the solution yet.

BFI Program: With the release of Sport Pilot, the end of the training exemptions was announced. We knew that by the beginning of 2008 we would lose our remaining BFIs. Between 2004 and 2008, we did see a decline in renewing BFIs but of course, by January 2008 they were all gone. USUA has never been an "instructor mill" and even in our strongest years we only had perhaps 600 BFIs which was less than 10% of our membership. Losing all those BFIs in the course of one year does have an impact, both short term and long term. Short term, losing the BFIs means a loss of considerable income for the organization. Long term, no more BFI program means no new student pilots being registered, and no new members joining USUA as a result of their training activities.

Competition: Beginning in 2004, we saw a large decline in the number of members and clubs participating in local and regional competitive events. In fact, for the last 3 years, only two clubs participated in our Points Series Championships. Prior to that, we had as many as 50 clubs participating.

So there you have it. Things have obviously changed. The good news is that since USUA is completely run by volunteers and our overhead is very, very low. Does this mean the end of USUA? No, it doesn't have to mean that at all. Is there still a need for an ultralight organization? Yes, we think so, perhaps even more now than ever.

Sure, there are still reasons to join USUA. One reason to join is to take advantage of the third party liability insurance coverage offered by First Flight Insurance. This policy allows people to insure their Part 103 ultralight, and N-Numbered experimentals, as long as the aircraft falls within the limits specified by the policy.

Another reason to join is for ultralight pilots, who either need to be registered as an ultralight pilot, or those who need to register their ultralight vehicles. Many people still need to show their airport or flightpark "proof" that they have met some minimum standard of training. USUA's pilot registration program satisfies that requirement. For the same reasons, many people need to have their vehicles registered, often for identification purposes. USUA's vehicle registration registry satisfies that requirement. Remember, both of these functions are a direct result of the desires of the FAA for the ultralight community to "self regulate" as spelled out in the preamble to Part 103, which reads in part: "The FAA has chosen not to promulgate Federal regulations regarding pilot certification, vehicle certification, and vehicle registration, preferring that the ultralight community assume the initiative for the development of these important safety programs. The ultralight community is expected to take positive action to develop these programs in a timely manner and gain FAA approval for their implementation. Should this approach fail to meet FAA safety objectives, further regulatory action may be necessary."

Another reason for instructors and/or flight schools to join is to take advantage of being listed on our website, as a resource for instruction.

Ok, so those are all valid reasons to be members, but that's not enough. We believe that the most important reason for the existence of an ultralight organization is training and safety.

The need for ultralight training hasn't gone away, and there is still a need for qualified instructors willing to train the next generation of ultralight pilots. Sure, the BFI program has gone away and has been replaced with FAA certified flight instructors (CFI). The problem is finding instructors willing to train people in "ultralight-like" aircraft who are knowledgeable about the differences between Part 103 and Part 91 operations. It's a shame that more former ultralight BFIs didn't take advantage of the transition period offered by the FAA when the sport pilot rules were released. We believe the future of ultralighting will depend greatly on instructors who are knowledgeable, capable, and willing to train people in these Dacron covered contraptions. To a large extent, that means "former BFIs".

Sure, there are many fixed wing CFIs out there. But unless they came from an ultralight background, many won't instruct in the kinds of planes we fly. Nor are they willing to train in an experimental. Is it appropriate -- and a good idea -- to expect someone who wants to fly a high-drag, slow ultralight to receive all their training in some-high end LSA?

Weight-shift and powered parachute CFIs and examiners are obviously willing to instruct and fly in those kinds of vehicles, but there are not enough of them to go around. Powered paragliders have no legal way of providing tandem training any more. [Update: In September 2008, the FAA did re-issue a training exemption to the USPPA, allowing them to perform tandem training] Powered paragliders are not part of the Sport Pilot rules, so rhere is no powered paraglider Sport Pilot or CFI certificates available.

The problem we face now is how to re-write our training program and make it work within the current rules. Sure, it would be easy for us to simply replace all occurrences of "BFI" with "CFI" in our training program documents, but is that the best thing to do? Do we want to somehow "approve" (for lack of a better term) those CFIs we will accept to provide training to ultralight students in order to make sure they understand Part 103 and ultralight flying? Do we want to somehow define the types of vehicles we'll want ultralight students to receive training in, so that their training includes flights in something similar to what they will eventually fly? Or do we just get out of the "training business" altogether? We are not sure, but "getting out of the training business" sure doesn't sound like a good solution.

There are several players involved with this whole "circle of life" of ultralighting. The manufacturer's part in all this is to produce Part 103 aircraft, and two-place equivalents of those, for students to train in.

Willing instructors (CFIs now) are needed to be able to provide the training needed for future ultralight students. We believe an organization is needed to provide some kind of standardized training curriculum for people who only want to operate under Part 103, so that instructors are all teaching the same thing and students are learning the same thing. This curriculum was already defined by the USUA, and modeled after FAA requirements, so that part is done. No, ultralight pilots do not need to be taken through an entire Private or Sport Pilot program. The USUA program focused on those items the typical ultralight pilot needs. As we mentioned before, we believe the majority of these CFIs who will be willing to teach "ultralighters" in "ultralight-like vehicles will continue to be those who did it in the past: the former BFIs.

Of course, the last part of this is having students. If no one wants to get in to ultralight flying anymore, then there will be no students and the whole need for any training program goes away. With the high cost of fuel and the ever increasing cost of aviation, we firmly believe there is a place for the "cheap" flying offered by Part 103. So we think the students are out there.

It seems to me that if any of the players in this "circle of life" goes away, the future of ultralight flying is at risk. It might seem that way today, but with prospective students out there, this will begin to change.

We also want to bring back that "Fly for Fun" attitude. One way to do that is to strengthen the club network. We need to re-invent our club network, to include some kind of a representative program that allows members to have more control over their organization. We need to bring back the camaraderie between clubs and USUA. We need to find ways to make members want to belong to their local club and USUA, and we need to help clubs want to be affiliated with USUA. Clearly, the strength of clubs at the local level has a lot to do with the strength of ultralight activity at the local area. We need to help make that happen.

Competition is another area that plays a big part in the "Fly for Fun" scheme of things, yet there is very little activity lately.

So where do we go from here? Do we even try to move on? The answer to those decisions rests entirely with you, the member.

The board does not have enough manpower to do much except the routine day-to-day functions of running the business. With the level of help we have, we just do not have the time or resources available to tackle the other things that need to be done.

We desperately need people willing to tackle the important things that will keep our organization alive. We are open to reasonable offers. We need people willing to re-write our training program, so we can continue to provide training for future ultralight pilots. We need help bringing our membership database into the 21st century. Our current system was written a long time ago, and is crippling us in many areas. We are also looking for someone willing to help out with the accounting functions of the USUA. We also want help redefining our existing club network and competition programs.

Right now, there are several vacancies on the board of directors. We need to fill those positions, and soon. These include the most important position of all, which is that of president. We are quite sure that existing board members would welcome stepping aside and letting others take their place, if approached, so we're open to anything. For several years, we have discussed possible ways of filling board positions with people elected directly by members. Unfortunately, we have seen that we can't even get people interested enough to vote for their own regional representative who did have direct influence on the direction of USUA (Remember, for many years, the regional representatives, elected one of their own, to be a full voting board of directors member). As a result, we will probably only be able to fill these vacant positions using the rules of our current bylaws which dictate that it is the existing board members who elect new people to the board. But that's ok, too, because you must all understand that every member of the board has nothing but the best intent for this organization. Some people have suggested in the past that "the board doesn't care". That never made any sense to us. We're volunteers, and by volunteering we are agreeing to take on a lot of responsibility, a lot of additional work, and expense. Why would anyone want to do this job, unless it was for the pure love of the sport and the organization?

For over 23 years, USUA has tried its best to serve our members, and the ultralight community with the very best intentions. In those 23 years, there have only been a few people who were the voice of USUA. Those included the founder of this organization, John Ballantyne, who had the original vision for an organization supporting ultralight flying. Following him, were Tom Gunnarson, Rich Pendergist, and most recently Dale Hooper. We mention this because it is our desire to be nothing but the best and most effective organization out there representing the ultralight movement. The board has decided that if we can not get the help we need, we will not be able to be that organization. We will not allow USUA to become a "do nothing" organization, or one that "pretends" to be helping the ultralight movement. We'd rather close the doors than to turn this organization into anything less than what it was intended to be. With the help of our members volunteering to assist us in these areas, we can continue not only being the great organization that we were in the past, but to improve our ability to help ultralight pilots in this Sport Pilot era.

With that in mind, our volunteer-ultralight-enthusiast-operated USUA can achieve these goals. Without your help, our future is at risk. Yes, we firmly believe there are many reasons for this organization to remain, but we cannot do it alone. We don't want people who just want to complain and tell us what to do. We need people willing to roll up their sleeves and help get the job done. We need your help, and we need it now. If you are interested in helping us achieve these goals, please contact us.

The future of USUA is in your hands.

USUA board of directors