World Capital of Hang Gliding? WTF?

dhmartens · Post by **dhmartens** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 12:13 pm

To register a trademark they will also ask when was the "first use".
When did Sylmar first coin the phrase.

Jim · Post by **Jim** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 8:08 pm

Still glad you brought this up, Janyce?

You never did answer my question: If not Sylmar, where would you call the world capital of HG?

Or is this just an expression of your aversion to elitism?

Hey, somebody has to win. Ask the U.S.S.R.

Busto · Post by **Busto** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 8:14 pm

http://vimeo.com/32433494

jcflies · Post by **jcflies** » Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:43 pm

yes jim, i'm glad i brought it up! my GUESS would be that the current WORLD capital of hg is in either europe or au. we should ask someone who flies at a lot of int'l comps. zac majors, kraig, and jonny are far more qualified to answer this one than I am. i LOVE our site and the people who fly here, but we aren't any kind of world locus...we may HAVE BEEN, we may WISH we were, but we aren't. more than anything, we're OLD...

Glenn · Post by **Glenn** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 12:12 am

To accept the general consensus of opinion, as I think I showed it above, based on a generic Google search of the term (which is the way us young people do it now days) is the opposite of elitist. An elitist approach, by definition, would be to take the opinion of a few "elite" pilots and override that general understanding.

For example: Latin America is not known as Latin America because they speak Latin there. It's simply because that's what most people call it, whether some elite professors of linguistics thinks it's appropriate or not.

An even more obvious example is if you ask people: What brand is known as the "King of Beers"? Now the correct answer to that is really ridiculous, but if you want to move on to the lightning round, you better answer Budweiser, no matter what us more elite and smarter beer drinkers think.

Power to the people!

Even if you wanted to do it based on some metric, the sport is spread out so wide and thin around the world that there just would be no clear cut winner location that would be beyond dispute.

While it would certainly be silly to call Sylmar The World Capital of Paragliding, it's as appropriate as any other site to be what it is : the World Capital of Hung Gliding!

jdevorak · Post by **jdevorak** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 9:06 am

1.i think groveland florida should be nominated 2.old and feeling it 3.what, rob isn't the king with budwiser just one of his provinces? i'm going to quit reading this thread.

dhmartens · Post by **dhmartens** » Sat Mar 10, 2012 6:52 pm

A Capital is not complete without some kind of flag.
Any design Ideas?

jcflies · Post by **jcflies** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 6:30 am

just because we have a handful of pilots from other places in the world doesn't make us the world capital. AGAIN, how many international comp. (or tourist) pilots fly here regularly because we are such an integral part of the WORLD circuit?
i give up.
but i can't resist the analogy between second graders calling their first tree house, "The BEST Treehouse in the WURLD" and us, calling our site "World Capital." It's a form of collective self-aggrandizement that's just, well, GAY. (non-sexual preference connotation) the best pilots and sites don't have to self-promote; everyone already knows...

Rome Dodson · Post by **Rome Dodson** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:26 am

let's traidmank our title wev'e had for 40 years!!!!!! ( or copyrite)larry, how much $ to do it?
rome

Steve90266 · Post by **Steve90266** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 8:30 am

Hey, if Ringling Bros. can call their circus "The Greatest Show On Earth", I think we can get away with calling Sylmar "The World Capital of Hang Gliding".

Maybe it sounds a bit like bragging or self aggrandizement, but really, who give's a rat's ass?

Glenn · Post by **Glenn** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:09 pm

Janyce, if you think another site is a better choice for the title, then just name it, and make your case. Let's see how it strands up to the history, provenance, attendance, or whatever criteria you want to offer.

All the sites in the world can't be equivalent on these things. One has to be more qualified than the rest. Which one is it?

Don't forget, Sylmar does have the ace in the hole, the ultimate tie breaker, the secret weapon, the holy grail, the one and only symbol of hang gliding history personified in a living being: Rome Dodson.

TomS · Post by **TomS** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 4:35 pm

The Rome Dodson defense is genius, Glenn. It's even better than the Chewbacca defense!

Rome Dodson · Post by **Rome Dodson** » Tue Mar 13, 2012 10:07 am

thank god you gave UP. !!!!

msoultan · Post by **msoultan** » Thu Mar 15, 2012 10:50 am

Based on the definition of capital ("The most important city or town of a country or region, usually its seat of government"), unless we're being recognized by the rest of the *world* HG community as the most important hang gliding spot, or we're providing serious influence towards the governance of HG *worldwide*, I think Janyce has a point. And like she said, just because we have pilots from around the world doesn't mean that we're the world capital. We might have a lot of traffic at our location compared to other HG sites, but do our peers from other HG locations recognize Sylmar the HG capital of the world? If not, then I think the phrase is misleading.

dhmartens · Post by **dhmartens** » Thu Mar 15, 2012 11:47 am

I was watching this GE Aviation lecture on the history of hang gliding by the maker of Big Blue Sky and gained an understanding of southern California's contribution to the development of hang gliding some 40 years ago. I think the title was gained during the glory years of fast paced advancement 1971-1974 and most of that was accomplished in Southern California. This was back when records were being broken everyday and new designs almost as often. There were many Hang glider factories here, test pilots, and records broken. I think there were over 70 fatalities in California in the early 70's in one year alone(needs factcheck). So I think the title was earned and we should understand the price paid and all the lifelong efforts before we hastily discard it. At some point the national USHGA moved to Colorado but I don't think Colorado is the World Capital. I think the sport decentralized as it became more popular as the technology and experience migrated to other areas and set up shop. I think we are the Historical Capital and no other location can even come close to claiming such a distinction.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbijpbpAH24[/youtube]

Spitfire · Post by **Spitfire** » Thu Mar 15, 2012 2:36 pm

msoultan wrote:Based on the definition of capital ("The most important city or town of a country or region, usually its seat of government")

I'd say LA is more important than Sacramento. And same goes for Sydney and Canberra. So we can get away with it

msoultan · Post by **msoultan** » Thu Mar 15, 2012 2:48 pm

I guess here's the real question: *Who* is calling Sylmar the world capital of hang gliding? If it's just us, then Janyce is completely correct in her statement. Now if there are other people *around the world* that also support this statement, then we are correct in having that line on our site. However, you can't just claim something... well, I guess you can, but we just end up looking bad to everyone that doesn't consider Sylmar the HG capital of the world.

I think it makes sense that Hollywood is the entertainment capital of the world, whether you live here or not. Even calling HB Surf City USA is a bit much, but they're a really popular city, surf plays a huge role in what that city is about, and people from around the world travel there to vacation and surf. Pipeline can claim to be the best tube ride anywhere because it's known worldwide how epic of a wave that is. Now, can the same really be said for how Sylmar relates to HG on a worldwide scale??.... I'd guess that's a stretch.

And please don't get me wrong - I think Sylmar is an awesome HG location, but let's not misrepresent ourselves. If we were the first in something, let's say that! If lot's of amazing stuff happened here, let's say that! But let's not claim to be something that can't be supported outside of our circle.

Jim · Post by **Jim** » Thu Mar 15, 2012 4:43 pm

Sylmar - Local Hang Gliders' Capital of Mental Masturbators, Malcontents and Pointless Lip Flappers, present speaker included, just so you know you don't have to point it out to me.

Yeah, I Like it!

TomS · Post by **TomS** » Thu Mar 15, 2012 6:33 pm

We must do something! I can't stand the ridicule that's been pouring in from around the hang gliding world. I'm afraid to wear my SHGA Dahlsten Cup t-shirt for fear of receiving a barrage of insults. Alas!

Jim · Post by **Jim** » Fri Mar 16, 2012 8:21 pm

Tom, it serves you right, you miserable patron of this usurper site of unearned glory! Go fly the real capital of hang gelding, if you're going to wear that shirt, not a pretender to the throne (according to JC).

Sylmar Hang Gliding Association

World Capital of Hang Gliding? WTF?

H.G.CAPITAL

World Capital of Hang Gliding

WORLD CAPITAL