All,
Flying was GREAT on Sunday marred by one little thing--Kathy Moacanin found the gate unlocked when she came up the road that afternoon. There were only a few trucks/drivers) that came up that day (Cathy Thompson, Erwin, Dana and Paul Yardley are those I can remember).
I found it hard to believe that ANY of those folks left the gate unlocked. Having locked the gate myself, it could have been one of those, "I think I locked it" because it can be really hard to tell.
Anyway, it's in everyone's best interest to check once more and MAKE SURE the thing is locked. Hopefully this won't become more of an issue once summer rolls around.
lw
Gate left unlocked on Sunday, April 6
Moderator: Chip
Gate Locked
The gate has been up for several months now so the excuse "I thought it was locked" is lame to say the least. All you have to do is pull and twist the lock - if it isn't locked you will know it.
I wonder if someone, other than a pilot vehicle, somehow knew the combination and entered? On Sunday morning we had someone ask to follow us (Fred's van) in so they could watch. Fred and Andy Beem politely said no. Interestingly, the guy knew the original lock combination!
I wonder if someone, other than a pilot vehicle, somehow knew the combination and entered? On Sunday morning we had someone ask to follow us (Fred's van) in so they could watch. Fred and Andy Beem politely said no. Interestingly, the guy knew the original lock combination!
We have a lot of unauthorized vehicles getting in, and it's difficult to understand how they are doing it. It seems that our combination is often compromised. It's possible the off-roaders are hacking our website to get the combo, or maybe some SHGA member is giving it out. If our combination lock keeps failing to keep them out, we may have to change to a keyed lock.
It's possible some members are leaving the lock unlocked when they think they have locked it. The way to prevent this is to SCRAMBLE THE NUMBERS BEFORE PUTTING IT BACK ON THE LOCKING BAR, THEN LATCH IT CLOSED AND TUG ON IT.
Some jerkoff in the LZ once suggested that if the gate failed to keep the off-roaders out, the Forest Service would eventually just give up, and open the gate.
There's also the possibility that if off-roaders are getting in, the Forest Service will conclude that we're too inept to manage something as simple as a gate, and lock us out too. Here's what District Ranger Mike McIntyre wrote:
Larry - I think that you summarized the issue perfectly. The environmental
damage that was being caused by the unauthorized off-road vehicle use will
be repaired and we need to restrict access to allow the repair to
successful. If the gate at Dillon Divide is found to be open and your lock
is open (or even locked), we will assume that it was one of your members.
If this is found to occur repeatedly then we will remove your lock and
install the FS lock in both slots. Having the gate left open defeats the
whole purpose of having the gates in the first place. I think the
effective use of the gate will benefit both your organization and the
Forest.
Michael J. McIntyre, District Ranger
Los Angeles River Ranger District
Help us out, folks. If you see an unauthorized vehicle on (or off) Kagel Road, take down the license number, take a photo and send them to Lisa Wendt at lswendt@earthlink.net.
The Forest Service and the Sheriff's Department have asked us for those license numbers. They will ticket unauthorized vehicles.
If any of them give you any grief, just tell them that we have a permit from the Forest Service, if they want one, they can go down to the Little Tujunga Canyon Road Forest Service Office and ask for one.
Does anyone think the off-roaders are monitoring our forum?? Duh.
Thanks for your help with the gate.
Larry [/b]
It's possible some members are leaving the lock unlocked when they think they have locked it. The way to prevent this is to SCRAMBLE THE NUMBERS BEFORE PUTTING IT BACK ON THE LOCKING BAR, THEN LATCH IT CLOSED AND TUG ON IT.
Some jerkoff in the LZ once suggested that if the gate failed to keep the off-roaders out, the Forest Service would eventually just give up, and open the gate.
There's also the possibility that if off-roaders are getting in, the Forest Service will conclude that we're too inept to manage something as simple as a gate, and lock us out too. Here's what District Ranger Mike McIntyre wrote:
Larry - I think that you summarized the issue perfectly. The environmental
damage that was being caused by the unauthorized off-road vehicle use will
be repaired and we need to restrict access to allow the repair to
successful. If the gate at Dillon Divide is found to be open and your lock
is open (or even locked), we will assume that it was one of your members.
If this is found to occur repeatedly then we will remove your lock and
install the FS lock in both slots. Having the gate left open defeats the
whole purpose of having the gates in the first place. I think the
effective use of the gate will benefit both your organization and the
Forest.
Michael J. McIntyre, District Ranger
Los Angeles River Ranger District
Help us out, folks. If you see an unauthorized vehicle on (or off) Kagel Road, take down the license number, take a photo and send them to Lisa Wendt at lswendt@earthlink.net.
The Forest Service and the Sheriff's Department have asked us for those license numbers. They will ticket unauthorized vehicles.
If any of them give you any grief, just tell them that we have a permit from the Forest Service, if they want one, they can go down to the Little Tujunga Canyon Road Forest Service Office and ask for one.
Does anyone think the off-roaders are monitoring our forum?? Duh.
Thanks for your help with the gate.
Larry [/b]
Soar With Prudent Passion
Larry Chamblee
Larry Chamblee
-
JT
Larry tells me he is working on a new version of the shaft that will make it easier to get at the lock but not so much that it compromises it.
Everyone seems to have trouble with all the versions that have been in place. However, Larry has put a great deal of his time and effort into making this work, as has Joe Greblo, who has come to the rescue many times since this gate-thing started.
We should all at least put in the effort to secure the gate. It isn't that hard. It will help to start carrying a flashlight in your vehicle. And don't hesitate to rattle the whole lock assembly after you think it's secure. Teach all inexperienced users, not just drivers, what to do.
There's talk of putting up a grand, new windsock. Let's try to make this one last. Vandals appear to be put-off by the walk to the top.
Everyone seems to have trouble with all the versions that have been in place. However, Larry has put a great deal of his time and effort into making this work, as has Joe Greblo, who has come to the rescue many times since this gate-thing started.
We should all at least put in the effort to secure the gate. It isn't that hard. It will help to start carrying a flashlight in your vehicle. And don't hesitate to rattle the whole lock assembly after you think it's secure. Teach all inexperienced users, not just drivers, what to do.
There's talk of putting up a grand, new windsock. Let's try to make this one last. Vandals appear to be put-off by the walk to the top.
Seeing my hang gliding truck at a gas station this morning, the head enforcement ranger for our area approached me and I learned a lot about our gate problems from him.
He's close to recommending the forest service make some changes because clearly too many people have been getting in our gate. He felt we may be making access too easy for our members while security is being compromised.
He has suggested a meeting with him, a club officer, and the District Ranger.
In the meantime, he suggested we develop an effect system in which we can log and track each and every one of our cars that go's up that road as well as a thorough log of each incident we find.
Joe
He's close to recommending the forest service make some changes because clearly too many people have been getting in our gate. He felt we may be making access too easy for our members while security is being compromised.
He has suggested a meeting with him, a club officer, and the District Ranger.
In the meantime, he suggested we develop an effect system in which we can log and track each and every one of our cars that go's up that road as well as a thorough log of each incident we find.
Joe
-
skygeek AKA Seabass
- Posts: 252
- Joined: Thu Dec 21, 2006 9:34 pm
- Location: Newhall
- Contact:
gate
If there is a meeting, one of the things that make us beneficial to the forest service is that we are all a bunch of eyes in the sky & can report activity within the gates, we can see if there are motorcycles within the gaes & there is usually a truck with maybee a trailer next to one of the gates so we can radio it in, also we can report the start of fires, about 2 years ago I called one in that just started near 2200.
I think the time has come to reconsider the use of combination locks on the gate. Originally we felt that combos would allow for member pilots to go directly to the launch without first visiting the Landing Zone for a key.
We never dreamed the vandalism would get this severe. Combo locks are expensive and hard to operate. Going to the hardware store leaves the gate unsecured too long.
The time has come for every frequent Launch Vehicle to carry a dozen "keyed alike" locks onboard. If a lock is vandalized, replace it immediately. It won't be necessary to notify the Forest Service.
The problem of keys getting out of control among pilots is not as important as offroaders getting in. Pilots were not the problem in the first place. Instead of a security nightmare for us this will place the burden of access for visiting pilots on the visitors. They will have to come to our LZ to sign out a key.
We never dreamed the vandalism would get this severe. Combo locks are expensive and hard to operate. Going to the hardware store leaves the gate unsecured too long.
The time has come for every frequent Launch Vehicle to carry a dozen "keyed alike" locks onboard. If a lock is vandalized, replace it immediately. It won't be necessary to notify the Forest Service.
The problem of keys getting out of control among pilots is not as important as offroaders getting in. Pilots were not the problem in the first place. Instead of a security nightmare for us this will place the burden of access for visiting pilots on the visitors. They will have to come to our LZ to sign out a key.
