Sylmar Hang Gliding Association

If there are pilots looking for glider storage, there are 4 open slots in the SHGA storage bins: number 5 in the old box and numbers 3, 4 and 35 in the new. Please see Jay Devorak for details on cost.

Glad to say that all of the glider storage in both boxes has been taken. If you need storage Windsports still has some spaces available. Or, you can volunteer to dig dirt from under the new pavilion.

The North/West storage is all dug out that one is ready, does anyone know who arranged or who we used to make the containers interior storage frame work and locking doors, and where we get the tubes.
I now have a hang glider again and need storage and would like to be in the North/West pavilion storage.

It is time to prepare the first bay on the north/west corner ready to store gliders. I would like to be the first to store my glider in the new pavilion and will do so as soon as it is ready. Hopefully more will follow soon after me.

Who has experience with the set-up that can help? I will work on it myself but could use some direction / ideas on how to get it done.

We have all been concerned about how to cover upcoming costs. Increased glider storage is absolutely the best way I can think of to do this. So let's get going on this storage area NOW.

Can't help on the framing but I remember Kathy Moacanin posted something about the availability of tubes a year or so ago.

I purchased my personal storage tube from a place in Oxnard. That was the closest/reasonableness place I could find.

Just an idea, but what about just strapping all the tubes together into a big honeycomb without building a frame. Since the the stack will not be very high this time, the weight on the bottom ones will not be that great. I suspect they will support it just fine. If it's 3 rows high, that's only about 7 - 8 lbs per square foot on top of the bottom tubes.

Then just slide the whole assembly into the space. The front would be the only grid made just to secure the doors. That frame would bolt onto the block walls.

Just an idea.

Also how do we assure that the bottom row (where Rob's glider will be) does not get soaked if heavy rain floods the compartment? I suppose we need a little wall at the front, or dig a drainage trench around the front of these compartments that takes the water down grade. Building a wall out a single layer of bricks at the front of each compartment would be easy. Then raise the tubes even with the top of that wall to leave a space under them in case water does intrude.

Wait a second, forget strapping them. Just stuff them in the compartment and fill any extra space on the side with wood frame.

Getting wet at the bottom should not be an issue when we dig the dirt out from in front. The bottom concrete needs to be sticking up out of the dirt at least a couple of inches anyway to help secure the large metal doors that need to be installed. Eventually we plan on putting a patio in front of this area anyway and it will be sloped away from the storage.

I believe that we will neet to build a frame at the back as well as the front to keep each tube stacked directly on top of one another so that the individual door system will be square and work like the other boxes. Also the space will only support 2 rows of 4 each (total of 8 gliders per storage space) so there should be plenty of room to elevate the bottom row off the floor. Somebody who knows better can correct me if I am wrong about how many gliders can fit.

I don't think that it will cost much to build the interior frame in back end (use speed rails?) so we may as well do it. I also have some ideas about making each tube completely water proof. Since there will be considerable space between each tube I think the individual doors can be made large enough to cover the entire front of each tube. With a little rubber glued to the inside of each door, the tubes will be waterproof when the door is closed against them. Plus the large outside (main) doors can also be made very water resistent as well.

I believe that the new storage will be better at weather proofing the gliders than either existing box, and this will make them even more attractive to people who don't currently store their gliders there, like Sebastian and me!

Yesterday Seabass, Glenn and I put eight 15" tubes into one of the north facing bays. We still need to build the front rack as well as the doors. Glenn is working on obtaining the materials for this and we hope to have these ready to use before the new year.

It turns out that 14" tubes are prohibitably expensive because of low production so we went with 15" tubes at $137 each. This is less than what was paid for the tubes in the new storage box and 8 of them do just barely fit in the left side bay. The right side bay is slightly smaller so 2 of the 8 tubes will be 12". These will be relagated to falcon type gliders only because their diameter is too small for a topless glider.

So what should the annual fee be for storge in this new area? I think the storage cost should reflect the best mix of member value and club income, keeping in mind the law of supply and demand - maintaining empty tubes due of prohibitably high storage fees is not benificial to the club or the individual members. The fees charged should keep in mind that we want to encourage NEW storage, including defection of those currently storing across the street (sorry Joe).

I plan to discuss the topic of storage fees at the board meeting in January so am asking for member input on this. And this discussion need not be restricted to just the new area. Perhaps we should rethink what members currently pay for the other spots as well as what they should pay for the new ones. For example, should we charge the same price for the top rows in the current 2 boxes as we do for the other (easier to use) tubes below them? Why should the person that has to use a stool to put their glider away pay the same as those who don't, particularly when there will soon be more convenient storage area tubes available?

Personally I think we should drop the price for the top row of the new storage box. And maybe we should slightly increase the fee for the old box EXCEPT for the top row. The old box is quite the bargin relative to the new one, at $200/yr versus $260, and no less convenient. But I want to make it clear that I would NOT support the rasing of fees for any member currently paying annual storage. I believe that those people should not have their fee increased as long as they continue to renew. If we were to vote for an increase on the old box, I would support it only if it applied to tubes that become available in the future, when a current person removes their glider and it become available for someone else. These are ideas I intend to discuss with the board this Thursday. Please let me know what you think about these ideas and also give me others.


At last count, we had 5 people ready to store their gliders in the new area. These are: Rob B, Seabass, Glenn, Malury and Busto. This will result in immediate new club income. That will leave 3 tubes available for new storage as soon as we are done, plus 8 more that can be made available as needed (I already have the other 8 tubes in my backyard). Fee for this new storage will be announced soon but is expected to be the same as the new box at $260 per year, pending a final BOD review in January. This will be a really cool new storage area so let Jay or me know if anyone else is considering it.

For your convenience, I will asking our web administrators to come up with some sort of graphic display of our old and new storage area so that members can go there to see what is available and how much it will cost. Any ideas on this would also be appreciated.

Rob Burgis
The Prez

I posted this "reply" so that those currently interested in glider storage can read opinions I wrote earlier and respond to them before the next meeting.

Bottom line - this is your club and you can help determine price structure and management with your ideas and/or attendance at the meeting next Thursday!