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Torrey Pines Demise
Fight for Flight: Gliders Oppose Research Facility
By HEATHER CHAMBERS San Diego Business Journal Staff The Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine will seek final approval next month to build a $115 million research hub on the Torrey Pines Mesa, one of seven proposed stem cell research institutes statewide. The tan, windswept bluffs of Torrey Pines have long beckoned daredevil pilots who, with a little wind and enough momentum, launch their gliders off the cliffs above the Pacific Ocean. Today, those pilots are fighting a headwind that they say is apt to spoil their usual activities. Torrey Pines Gliderport pilots who fly fixed-wing aircraft could see their favorite landing spot impacted by the construction of a state-funded stem cell research laboratory. The Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, a group comprised of world-class research institutes such as the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, The Scripps Research Institute, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and UC San Diego, aims to erect a four-story building on North Torrey Pines Road. Last week, the UC Board of Regents issued their set of approvals to the project. The proposal will likely go before the California Coastal Commission in December for final approval. |
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Torrey Pines Demise
On Dec 8, 8:26*pm, wrote:
Fight for Flight: Gliders Oppose Research Facility Seems like a good reason to go back to landing on the beach! Andy |
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Torrey Pines Demise
And launching!
Fight for Flight: Gliders Oppose Research Facility Seems like a good reason to go back to landing on the beach! Andy |
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Torrey Pines Demise
On Dec 9, 10:54*am, GARY BOGGS wrote:
And launching! Nah, unless the beach usage has changed you never get anyone to take a launch. Only hearsay unfortunately. When I flew Torrey with AGCSC in the early 80's the beach was already closed for landing. Andy |
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Torrey Pines Demise
I hate to say it but that is a high risk place to fly full size
gliders. I have flown my paraglider there and have seen the action first hand. The full size gliders have been hit with RC models in flight and its just a matter of time before something really bad happens there with Models, Hang Gliders, ParaGliders, full size gliders, Jets, golfers, surfers, beach users, tourists and tour choppers all occupying the same area more or less. I think the time has come to shut down that winch operation location for the great risk to safety it presents. Ray |
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Torrey Pines Demise
On Dec 9, 1:26*pm, jb92563 wrote:
I think the time has come to shut down that winch operation location for the great risk to safety it presents. Last I heard the winch operation was only a few weeks of each year. Why could the other users do something else, or go somewhere else, for those few weeks? Andy |
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Torrey Pines Demise
On Dec 9, 12:55*pm, Andy wrote:
On Dec 9, 1:26*pm, jb92563 wrote: I think the time has come to shut down that winch operation location for the great risk to safety it presents. Last I heard the winch operation was only a few weeks of each year. Why could the other users do something else, or go somewhere else, for those few weeks? Andy Well for one thing the paragliding operation there is for-profit ($150 a pop for a tandem ride), and they're not willing to part with several weeks (or even several days) worth of revenue. But the real problem is not the paragliders or RCers, it is members of the general public who feel they have a right to walk across the runway to get to the beach, or park their cars on the emergency cross- wind runway. |
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Torrey Pines Demise
I have to say, the title of this thread sounds like everything is
already over and soaring at Torrey has ended. Nothing could be further from the truth. Members of the Associated Glider Clubs of Southern California and other organizations from the Torrey Pines Soaring Council to Save Our Heritage Organization (a local history preservation advocate in San Diego) continue to work with UCSD to identify a compromise that allows both science and gliding to continue. The Environmental Impact Report that so many glider pilots commented on at meetings in San Diego was indeed approved by the UC Regents last week, but this report also includes a possible runway reconfiguration that will likely allow continued sailplane operations at Torrey. Furthermore, these same organizations have worked with the CalTrans Department of Aeronautics to insure that these sorts of changes will satisfy the needs of the govt organizations responsible for flight operations approval. Torrey is by no means dead. To answer the question regarding safety, quite frankly I don't think Ray clearly understands the flight operations. This makes me concerned, because as a paraglider pilot at Torrey, he should be quite familiar with the flight regulations at Torrey. Safety is everyone's concern. When the winch is in operation, there is a very loud horn, there are flagmen, etc. and these flight rules are expected to be reviewed with every pilot at Torrey as they check in at the gliderport during the annual sailplane operations, whether the pilot flies hang gliders, paragliders, models, or sailplanes. The essential reason that hang gliders, paragliders, and RC sailplanes fly at Torrey Pines today is because of the history of soaring in sailplanes at this site. This is a history worth preserving through an active soaring institution that includes winch-launched and auto-towed manned sailplanes. If you want to soar at Torrey in 2009, I encourage you to contact the Associated Glider Clubs of Southern California. Suggesting the "demise" of Torrey Pines is quite premature. Gary Fogel |
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Torrey Pines
I have to say, the title of this thread sounds like everything is
already over and soaring at Torrey has ended. Nothing could be further from the truth. Suggesting the "demise" of Torrey Pines is quite premature. Gary Fogel Thanks Gary! |
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Torrey Pines Demise
On Dec 11, 4:11*pm, wrote:
I have to say, the title of this thread sounds like everything is already over and soaring at Torrey has ended. Nothing could be further from the truth. Hang in there! I enjoyed flying at Torrey. I may never go back, but I'd like others to be able to experience it. Andy |
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