FlyBC "Site of the Day Archives" - August/2004
Vancouver
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| /1000' (unstable) | 3500 ft. |
Woodside Report - I was stuck in town but the weather looked fabulous for a last flight before the rains this week.
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| /1000' (stable) 2400 ft.
Woodside Report - a surprising number of pilots were out at Woodside, some faces we haven't seen in months! Norm logged 4 hours launching around 1:00 pm, Colleen and I headed up around 3:45 pm and saw that it wasn't student conditions, so we launched and had 1:00+ flights getting to 1000 meters or so in strong bullet thermals. Some pilots had huge collapses, but it mellowed out later. Huge sink in spots, with fast climbs to get back up to the top - almost springlike conditions. The students got a flight in around 7:00 pm in nice conditions, landing at Eagle Ranch. We sent Steve off to Ontario with his new wing and lots of good flights despite the rotten weather that we had.
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Colleen climbing out at Woodside
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| /1000' (stable) 2400 ft.
Woodside Report - we had a pretty good day despite starting out with low cloudbases. Starting at 10:00 am, we got Steve in his first solo flight after 4 tandems ten days ago (before the rains came). He launched and was going up immediately and Colleen coached him into Eagle Ranch for a perfect landing.
| I had two tandems to do and I arrived back at launch at 12:30 for Lerone's flight. It was coming in at 20+ kms so it was too strong for students but it was definitely soarable, in fact I had to do "big ears" with the tandem to maintain VFR. Derek was already in the air and we watched him do a "low save" from the highway near Riverside and climb almost back to launch (he logged 0:56 before heading to the Island. Back at launch for tandem #2 for Will, we launched and started ridge soaring up to 900 meters, with mixed thermals. Strong launch conditions again, so students sat this one out. We flew for 0:45 before heading out in smooth air. I thought we were going to land out due to the strong south flow, but we caught a nice thermal at the ridge by Duncan's and we soared back up to land by the Picnic Area behind the garage. Barry, Jim M and Andy all landed at Riverside after good soaring flights. Back up again for the students, Steve and Adam. Along came Darryl S. Bev and Norm were stuck on the east side of Woodside, due to a motorcycle accident that occurred just before they got to Agassiz. Two cars and a motorcycle involved. Highway closed and medi-vac chopper dispatched to take the victim to hospital, so it was quite bad. The third flights were pretty exciting! We were waiting for calmer launch conditions, but a few other pilots and studnets were in the air when 3 war-birds from the Chilliwack Flight Fest arrived over the river doing an aerobatic routine just south of Riverside. Full on formation flying with smoke and loops and rolls right near our flight path. Then as Rob S was soaring the south knoll area, a small Extra 300 stunt plane flew though at 150 mph, buzzing the launch and flying all through our normal flying area. Now there were 5-6 paragliders, and 2 hanggliders in the sky. And to top it all off, HeliJet flies in from the north around the mountain to the motorcycle wreck, and then back out right over Riverside! We had a mini airshow right off Woodside launch for about 15 minutes, but it was a bit tense hoping for traffic separation. It mellowed out enough for Adam to launch and he had a nice soaring flight landing at Eagle Ranch. Steve had a headache, so he drove down and I flew his wing, and was able to soar up to 1000 meters, for about 30 minutes before heading in to land near the Parking Lot. Nice launch, soaring and landing conditions. We loaded up again, Norm and Bev were now there. Norm was test flying Bev's Presta after a line change. Steve and Adam both flew and had great altitude for their flights, Norm was looking for lift in all the wrong places as Steve flew above him on straight glide. Norm's Zoom was sitting on launch, so I borrowed it for my first Zoom test flight and it started to "glass-off", slight catabatic flow then it came in enough to reverse launch the Zoom and I started climbing on the ridge, steady beeps all the way along the ridge with thermals mixed in. I was just at cloudbase when Alex R launched and climbed up to meet me. He ventured further north and was last seen surfing the clouds at about 1000 meters. I headed out so we didn't meet in a cloud. I was over the Ranch at 600 meters, getting -0.3 m/s on full bar all the way out, super bouyant air. I top landed on the training hill, and forgot how wet the grass came be at 8:00 pm, and almost slipped on my butt. Total Flight time for 2 tandems and 2 solos was almost 3 hours. Honduras Report - Hello Gang, Sorry to see that things are looking rather wet for you guys. Hope the skies clear soon. I had a wonderful visit from Pamela and kids in the last two weeks. We had a few days together in Tegucigalpa and then flew to Roatan and Guanaja for about a week of snorkeling and fun. Its like sticking your head into Finding Nemo, every kind of fish and coral you can imagine. I even swam for several minutes with a large Bat Ray. I got back in the air today for another flight in Yuscaran. I'm quite excited about this place, though launches are a little tricky. I spent most of the morning clearing brush with a machete. I'm launching somewhat crosswind from a road and were the road is flat there is little wind. As the wing comes up I have to turn it to launch. Today was an elevator ride straight off launch with lift every where. I climbed quickly into a fairly strong headwind and after hanging out for about half an hour occasionaly using big ears to keep away from cloud that was developing headed out to land. The air was smooth on the decent until about 50 meters above ground level and just as I was approaching I could see a very strong wind gust in the tree beside th LZ. Nothing I could do but ride it out. It was very strange because the gust was opposite direction to prevailing wind, must have been a strong thermal releasing. This kind of situation concerns me, strong thermals so close to ground. I was lucky this time but I had to make a very tight turn in my final approach and ended up coming in fast. Total flight time- 55 mins - Regards, Jeffrey
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| /1000' (unstable) 2400 ft.
Woodside Report - rain all day, with low cloudbase.
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| /1000' (stable) 2400 ft.
Woodside Report - Derek was heading up for a flight later, but had no flying buddies? Where is everyone?
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| /1000' (stable) 2400 ft.
Woodside Report - Derek had just landed after a 1:10 flight dodging cloudbase, lots of little thermals but mostly zero lift all along the ridge.
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| /1000' (stable) 2400 ft.
WET!
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| /1000' (unstable) 2400 ft.
Fraser Valley Report - WET! We are staying away until Friday night, hopefully we can fly Saturday if the weather dries out.
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| /1000' (unstable) 5000 ft.
Woodside Report - there was a flyable, sunny window around 5:30 pm, but no pilots were out due to the forecast rain and low cloud.
| Mt. Rainier, WA Report - I was so disappointed that you cancelled the Grouse Fly-in, I decided to check out Mt. Rainier... - Thomas Hasek   
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| /1000' (stable) 1900 ft.
Woodside Report - rain most of the day with some clear breaks around 5:30 pm, but no one was flying.
| pre-PWC Report Bulgaria - final results, Annelies Browne came in 7th place female flying an Airwave Magic 3. Final Female Results Renegades ACRO Team - new stunt! Two Ozone ATOM2 gliders linked above, with another underneath flying upside down! Apparently the unhooking is quite interesting for the bottom pilot?  Renegades Video from Red Bull Villeneuve 2004, note low release just before landing at the height of the sailboat masts!
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| /1000' (stable) 5000 ft.
Woodside Report - after a few hours of cutting trees on the north boundary of the Eagle Ranch LZ,
we ventured up for a flight around noon. Alex R, Colleen, Rob S, Derek and I flew with the goal being to
approach lowest through the "goal post trees" and land in the circle. Most of us made it!
About 25-30 minutes of soaring getting just to launch height made the last thermals feel more precious. We packed up before the rain.
| Bridal Report - apparently there are a few trees that fell over at Bridal Lower Launch, waiting for an excavator to remove them and add some fill.
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| /1000' (unstable) 5000 ft.
Woodside Report - another easy flying day for students and advanced pilots, depending on when you launched. Some outflow air with interesting holes early, but still student flyable. Later in the day I flew a tandem and soared the south knoll to 900 meters in strong thermals and then headed to Cemetary Hill where I hung out soaring for 20 minutes waiting for Andy and Alex R (also tandem), Joseph also did his first over-the-back flight to Harvest Market. Later Colleen showed Derek what a low save looked like when they were scratching low near Riverside LZ, and she took one thermal to 900 meters and haded east.
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| /1000' (unstable) 5000 ft.
Woodside Report - despite forecast high winds we kept flying all day and logged many good flights. I did three tandems in thermic conditions getting good altitude and airtime for the first time student pilots. Last flight of the day lasted 1.5 hours with pilots landing in smooth conditions at Eagle Ranch.
| Mara Report - Interior Sky-God Norm flew from Mara to Vernon, just by the weigh scales and managed a low save getting back to 3000 meters and flying on to land at King Eddie LZ (straight line distance is 69 kms). Grouse Fly In Update - Fly In cancelled due to weather forecast until further notice, BUMMER!
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| /1000' (unstable) 5000 ft.
Woodside Report - some turbulent air put some gliders down early, in non-standard landing areas! But everyone was okay and accounted for by 6:00 pm.
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| /1000' (stable) 5000 ft.
Woodside Report - strong valley winds all day, but it subsided enough for us to get a flight around 7:00 pm. Colleen and Derek soared around launch for a while while John was practising reverse launches, before taking flight. Nice cool temps made it bearable to kite in the LZ.
| Zoom Flight Report - Will Gadd's Golden to Canmore flight Aug 13/04
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| /1000' (unstable) 9800 ft.
Cornwall Report - Colleen, John and Norm flew while Bev drove. Not much lift but some tailwind in the air to get them to the Ashcroft Manor.
| Colleen is headed back to Eagle Ranch, for the balance of the week to prepare her costume for the Grouse Mountain Fly-In this weekend! Grouse Update - Hi all, After talking to Grouse management yesterday, they asked me to remind all users of a few items. These are not current problems, just reminders: Firstly, there is absolutely no smoking on the mountain, other than in the designated areas on patios. There are no restroom facilities at the peak, so please prepare for your long soaring flight with a visit to the washrooms by the peak office. Respect the tram operator and paying guests by not talking when the tram operator is giving the "Welcome to Grouse Mountain" speech - Thanks, Ian
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| /1000' (unstable) 9800 ft.
Cornwall Report - we arrived at launch to super launching cycles around noon, Bev launched first and headed straight out. Next was John for his first Cornwall flight and 5th site. Then we got buzzed at launch by a water bomber and spotter plane, a few minutes apart but going about 200 knots! Colleen was nervus to launch and complained that it was hard to stay below the ridge to avoid air traffic. Norm and I played around launch and got to 2200 meters but then the lift just quit and we had to hunt bullets to make it out to the Manor. We all made it down safe and after retrieving we headed to Savona, where we got some kiting practice for a few hours.
| Ian & Allan's Road-Trip Report - Allan and I rode the Dempster Highway (725km one-way)to Inuvik a couple of weeks ago. I have attached some pictures. We trailered the bikes to Whitehorse non-stop from Vancouver, and went riding for a week from Whitehorse. I packed the Allegra and a hiking harness in one of the bags on my beemer, and when we arrived in Dawson we were both stoked to fly. Met Steve, the local tandem pilot and spent the rest of the day (and part of the night) going up to the Dome launch to fly.  Great site. I had a nice soaring flight and both Allan and Steve had great flights.  Last launch was about 12:30am (that's the fuzzy picture). Pack up and then off to the bar for one beer before the 2:00am last call.  Next day we had an "interesting" 15 hour ride to Inuvik, mostly in the rain, on roads that turn into "Slippery shit" when wet, arriving in Inuvik about 3:00am. We met the Governor of the N.W.T. at a ferry crossing, and they were turning around(in a 4X4) due to the condition of the road!  On the return journey, between wind and rain showers, I got a 1 minute sled ride off of a hill next to the Dempster, but my first PG flight north of the Arctic circle!  There is great flying potential in the Dawson area, along with the Tombstone valley area on the Dempster. I would like to go back next year for the solstice to fly - and we did all we could to convince Steve to hold a solstice fly-in. We did almost as much driving as you guys do in a typical week! - Ian
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| /1000' (unstable) 10800 ft.
Idaho Peak Report - we arrived at launch at the forestry lookout at 12:00 noon,
and it was coming up all sides of the hill. John had laid out his glider towards the
lake and was sorting lines when a "dusty" picked up the glider and half of it was twisting
in the air vertically before I grabbed it and pulled it down. While he was sorting it out I clipped in and was ready to launch when my glider did the same dance! Colleen grabbed it and sat on it. I waited for a whiel for conditions to stabilize before I launched.
| When I did launch I flew to the south side and was climbing fast when I heard them yelling that I lost my radio as I launched. The clip was attached to me but the radio fell off the clip, but it was retrieved. I climbed out to 300 meters above launch and headed to the mountain to the north and got a few beeps, but not as strong as at launch (3-4 m/s). I headed north towards the golf course and could maintain nicely on the hills but no climbouts so I landed at the golf course where I knew there was cold beer (it was now 39 degrees C). Colleen launched about 45 minutes after me, and was going up everywhere but because she wasn't sure of the winds on the lake she flew straight out. Norm launched after Colleen and got sucked up to 3700 meters!, for a 1500 meter altitude gain in a few minutes. 7-8 m/s climbs! Big development behind launch so he flew out to the campground LZ, where we met him to head to Vernon Mountain and Ashcroft. We arrived at Vernon Mountain to north winds, so we kept driving to Ashcroft arriving to hot, dry high winds in the Savona Valley. Tomorrow looks better, I hope. Jeffrey's Honduras Reports - August 5, 2004 - Hi Jim, Colleen & Gang, I had two good flights last weekend. Was good to get in the air without ******* myself like the flight I had before I returned to Canada. Flew right in close to town, my second flight Saturday was great, lift everywhere I went I had more concern of getting down were I knew I could land safely with a ride back via friend who came to watch with his daughter than worry about not maintaining. Seven yrs, old but very eager to fly after watching me with big ears and then spirals and finally a first for me, a b-line stall, easy on the tetra and a lot of fun. Hope you guys have a great weekend in the interior. I will be off to try a new site about an hour east of Tegucigalpa this weekend that I found last Sunday. I'm having a great time here and things are going well. My family will be here for two weeks as of the 12th. of Aug. Talk to you later. Regards to all, Jeffrey P.S. I have a flight back in Oct. and would like to book it to join every one to the Chelan Women's Fly-In, see you then. August 10, 2004 - Hi Gang, I flew a new site on Sunday called Yuscaran, very beautiful small town with, unusual for here, a steep mountain behind and a good road up to a cell tower and biological reserve. Had to create a launch with machete and with permission from a very curious landowner and his son. As I was setting up to launch some students from the tourism dept. in university in Teguc. came by and apparently captured me on film. I was too busy focusing on my launch to notice. I had a wonderful flight this time in easy and very smooth lift, I'm really excited about this site. Flew easily for an hour before deciding to land. A very large futbal stadium is within easy glide from launch but was impossible to land in because of a very strong and seemingly continuous thermal. Fortunately this particular area has alternative landing sites and I found green to be much easier in this case. Typical overwhelming welcome from the townspeople and I have an invite from the mayor who was there to greet me, to come back and fly into the town festival in December. The students who shot the video apparently sent it to the local tv station. Several co-workers came in this morning to say they saw me on tv. They said that I am the only person flying free in Honduras, though I don't know for sure if that is true. Any how, it was great fun. Regards, Jeffrey
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| /1000' (unstable) 9800 ft.
Lumby Report - John and Colleen launched and Colleen stayed above launch for a long time while John tried to thermal but was misunderstanding my instructions so he flew out to land. We then headed out to New Denver and Idaho Peak.
| Mara Report - Bev and Norm were supposed to follow us to New Denver but Norm launched Mara and was still in the air over Vernon late in the day, according to Bev's voicemail messages. They hadn't arrived in New Denver later in the day so I suspect they missed the Ferry. Idaho Peak Report - we arrived at 6:00 pm and headed up the mountain to arrive just before the sun fell behind Valhalla Glacier to the west, but John and I got off as Colleen volunteered to drive. No lift as it was late and super-smooth air . . . until 200 feet when the outflow valley winds from Sandon kicked in strong! I landed in some moderate turbulence and guided John in as he was going backwards due to the winds. He landed fine for his first turbulent landing.  The hiking trail to Idaho Peak with me panting ahead of John
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| /1000' (unstable) 9800 ft.
Mara Report - Norm called to say he flew Cooper's and got high but no one else was flying so he got bored and landed. We flew Skyline (Mara) after 3:00 pm and had great plans for Enderby and beyond but it clouded over and we only got 45 minutes and 2000 meters for a short time. We are staying in Mara for the next few days.
| Tiger Report - Just to be clear on this: Tiger is closed Friday because of President Bush's visit. Please don't fly there! Similarly, Mt. Si, Lake Hancock, and Rattlesnake are all closed, not that anyone flys any of those sites much. Rampart, Frailey and Blanchard are far enough away that they're OK. --Bill Bolosky
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| /1000' (unstable) 10500 ft.
Mara Report - we didn't bother going to Cooper's today, just flew Mara and the students got 3 flights while Norm, Noel and I flew to Sicamous due to south wind. I launched somewhat after Noel and as he and Norm "sky-ed out", I sunk like a rock and was committed to land when a bird flew out of the forest and climbed above launch in a very tight thermal. Good thing I was flying the Bandit, cause it required a tight turn to stay in the lift. I climbed to 2200 meters and then headed straight to Sicamous arriving to see Norm a few kms east waiting for me. Not enough lift to keep going east so we landed behind the A&W for lunch, Noel landed below the old HG launch and Ron picked us up to go back as Colleen launched for a third flight.
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| /1000' (unstable) 10500 ft.
Mara Report - another great day in Mara & Lumby! Colleen led the group with Lou and John getting two flights at Lumby (Derek launched and logged 3:56 in one flight while others flew twice!)and two more flights at Mara. I was on a Greyhound from Vancouver to get back after a meeting and saw the usual Bridal gang boating around Lower Launch, not too many pilots getting high and it was windy on the ground, reminding me why we head to Mara in August.
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| /1000' (unstable) 10500 ft.
Mara Report - we made one last maneuvers flight over Mara Lake and Carl & I decided to get wet landing a spiral dive into the water, before everyone else flew down. Successful maneuvers with no other splashdowns today.
| After lunch we arrived at launch at 3:00 pm, three trucks full of pilots. Bev & Norm with the guys from San Diego. Colleen and I with all the SIV folks and Derek and Martina who arrived later. The plan was to fly to Enderby and beyond if possible, I launched tandem with Emil's 8 year old daughter, Jenay, followed by Noel Llewellen (who is staying at Mara on the beach for a month). Jenay and I landed in Enderby 1:15 later and I lost sight of Noel who spent more time climbing above the Enderby Cliffs. He later called on the cell to say he landed in Vernon near the Walmart! His personal best from Skyline Launch, 60 kms. Martina landed at 7.72 kms with Colleen, Norm, Robin and Derek all landing at or near Enderby. Only Noel crossed the Gap. We went back for one last sled ride for the students, John and Lou and Martina flew off too as the other were being retrieved. Woodside Report - leeside day in the valley. But good if you could get off. Kevin launched Bridal Lower and made it to Cheam. He bumped into Alex R who flew off Woodside, climbing to 2300 meters (Class E) before crossing the valley to Gloria and then back to Bridal. I know Kevin crossed over to land at Chilliwack from Woodside, but this is a first for a PGer to cross the Valley.
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| /1000' (unstable) 10500 ft.
Mara SIV Day 2 Report - we had some fun over and in the water today.
Great control in all maneuvers, and Jack decided he wanted to work on "stally-spinny tricks"?
So he started with a full stall, which cravatted on exit, so he re-stalled the wing and "pooched the exit"
and re-cravatted the other tip. So I suggested one more small stall and it came out, but it was parachutal
and it started to spin and it re-cravatted again. So one more quick stall should reset the glider but that
exit was also messed up, into another cravatte. I told him he was going to get wet as the glider fixed itself
but he ran out of altitude, so he threw his reserve from about 40 feet up, and it opened just before he hit the water under a good paraglider and reserve. It was all captured on tape by Nathalia, and it will make great footage for explaining cravattes.
| Norm and some guys from San Diego (Art and Robin) went XC and Norm was in Enderby while Art went on to Armstrong for his best ever XC flight of 32 kms!
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| /1000' (unstable) 10500 ft.
Mara SIV Report - Day one went off very well despite the heavy rain the night before, and low cloudbases. We got up to launch around 1:00 pm and conditions were not very good, crossing from the south. But one by one pilots started launching.
| Martina created a new stunt called the "MAT", for Martina Acro Trick. She over pulled a B-stall and stuck a wingtip in creating a hige cravatte, which she stalled out of. Then trying the B-stall again she over-pulled again, cravatting the other side worse! Another full stall and wild exit to pull out. It is all on video and we will publish the stunt later when we get home. We logged three flights and most pilots got through to full stall by the end of day one. Russ O also had some wild cravattes from messed up full stalls, but he reset the glider rather than throwing. John is up to 8 flights and doing B stalls like a pro already.
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| /1000' (unstable) 10500 ft.
Mara SIV Report - we drove up in heavy rain on Friday, typical for an SIV Course but at least the fire hazard is down.
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| /1000' (unstable) 3300 ft.
Woodside Report - when Colleen left Eagle Ranch for Vernon, she said it was dark and gloomy with high winds on the ground. No pilots were out in the Valley.
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| /1000' (unstable) 3300 ft.
Lumby Report - Bev flew first, heading out to make a safe landing for her first Lumby flight for some time. Norm and Derek flew later and reported flying to Vernon Mountain getting to 3000 meters (Norm) before Norm headed out to land due to a communications from someone on the channel that Norm confused with Bev. Derek continued on past Vernon (over the highway), and on to Enderby before having to land because of impending rain. Not a bad flight! We will have to try and beat that this weekend.
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| Strait of Juan de Fuca Forecast - Small craft warning in effect. Winds westerly 10 to 20 knots rising to 15 to 25 this afternoon. /1000' (stable) 2200 ft.
Lumby Report - Bev called to say she flew Cooper's and it was easily soarable, but she flew out to land cause she hadn't flown there for sometime and she just wanted to be sure she hit Randy's LZ with enough altitude. Derek and Norm flew but she didn't say how they did.
| Woodside Report - I was so convinced it wasn't going to happen today that I took the Suburban in for some much needed brake maintenance, and oil change for Mara Lake shuttle chores. As soon as it went on the hoist, the sun came out so I called Andy and we headed up the mountain with John (new student). It was too thermic for John so we went tandem instead, easily climbing to cloudbase (1000 meters) above launch. Four eagles were out playing with us and putting on a great acrobatics show. After about an hour I headed out to Eagle Ranch, and we had a smooth descent into the Ranch (first time in 2 weeks that the wind wasn't howling and gusty) - Jim We will be away from the Ranch for a few days returning Friday AM to pack up for Mara Lake, see you up there.
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| Strait of Juan de Fuca Forecast - Small craft warning in effect. Winds west 20 to 25 knots this afternoon /1000' (stable) 6400 ft.
Woodside Report - we flew a few flights before noon, and then it got too windy and choppy for our students. Another instructor was still sending their students into Riverside but the flights didn't look very smooth so we went ground handling.
It never calmed down even after dark.
| Turbine Seabee Report - I was booked to do a check-ride on a friend's new creation, a Turbine powered Seabee, and today worked out fine due to the high winds. I headed to Pitt Meadows Airport to fly this plane around 1:00 pm. The Seabee was developed in 1946 as a cheap Amphibious Aircraft (read Flying Boat), and was powered by an anemic Franklin 210 hp gas engine. Due to the engine/heavy airframe combination, these planes took up a lot of lake to take off (or runway). David Saunders is an aircraft engineer that developed spar straps and caps for Beech series airliners, that strengthened the spars after many wings fell off. His latest project is to retrofit the original Seabee airframe with an extended nose and Pratt & Whitney PT6-20 turbine engine rated at up to 500 hp.  An original Seabee with Franklin engine on the water  Seeabee s/n 457 with PT-6 power
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| Strait of Juan de Fuca Forecast - Small craft warning in effect. Winds west 10 to 20 knots rising to 20 to 25 late this afternoon /1000' (stable) 5100 ft.
Woodside Report - new student John M from Japan logged a tandem and two solo flights before the winds picked up.
Later flights had strong lift over the clearcuts and many pilots flew to Harvest Market to avoid the strong conditions
on the ground.
|  Russ Ondeck following me to Harvest Market with Jim Mansell close behind on their Prestas. Golden Report - Ho hum, another sunny day at Golden. This was the last day of the comp, a last chance to move up a position, or perhaps just hold on to the one you had. The valley was full of smoky haze again, so it did not look like an early start. Low level winds were forecast to be west again, but NE higher up. And that's what was found. Early in the morning, a low-time PG pilot discovered the wind in the landing field to be stronger than expected, perhaps up to 25 km/h, took a large fold and did not reinflate it, spinning into the ground from some height. Some broken bones were the result. Perhaps because of this carnage, a number of pilots chose not to fly this day. I went up the mountain to look for a hang-glider part, but took along the PG just in case. I was surprised to find very light breezes at the launch site, with pilots circling in apparently light lift. Winds in the valley bottom were calm, so I was encouraged to fly. I found that indeed the lift was very light. I'd chosen to fly with no vario, just my eTrex Vista GPS, and I found that its vertical speed indicator makes a good backup vario; even on Battery Saver mode, the update rate is fast enough to be helpful for thermal centering. Because of the accidents, perhaps, I was kind of spooked in the air, and not at all at ease. Thermalling right over the spot where the pilot went in on top the day before, I had in mind Alan Polster's advice to all pilots that morning: "Don't screw up". Each time I got up to peak-top height, I started to feel some shearing-type turbulence; probably the NE winds aloft. I ended doing a baby out-return to Pagliaro and back toward Nicholson. At one point, even with trimmers loose and full speed bar, the GPS was telling me my glide ratio over the ground was only 2:1. Needless to say, I landed out. Surprisingly, there were some long flights Sunday. Once you got above the peaks, the lift was stronger, though down low there was very weak lift. Mark Dowsett flew out about 60 km and back just over 30. Since he returned more than 50% of his total out-leg, he got the 1.3 multiplier for his flight, and with that moved up into third place in the advanced HG category, bumping Doug Keller into 3rd. Veteran Steve Best provided a consistently strong performance this week, earning him 4th spot. I believe I held onto 5th spot, though I don't have the final scores in front of me, and Scott Gravelle was right behind me. I'll post more results later when I have them. In first spot, of course, was Chris Muller, who won the meet with only 2 flights of the allowed 3! In the intermediate category, Charles Mathiesen was first on a new Wills U2, followed by Christine Nidd on a single-surface glider, and Steve Milchak. In the advanced PG category, Cary Grant of the Vancouver area turned in a very respectable performance Sunday with a flight to Windermere. However, to hear him talk about the turbulence he encountered, I have to wonder about where he was choosing to fly. He did mention just flying out into the valley after a while, though, and getting a 0.1 m/s thermal to get him back up. A Calgary PG pilot on a comp wing got into strong turbulence close to some spines near Parson and got into a twisted-up situation; he threw his chute and came down into the trees, landing okay and getting out in time for the party. That evening, I got a picture of the 4 laundry-huckers of the week. Will Gadd won the advanced PG category, on the strength of his flight to Skookumshuck and his 170 km out-return. Meet head Randy Parkin also established categories for intermediate pilots to encourage competition at all levels. I'll get those scores for you later. Summing up the week, we had 10 days of flyable conditions, at least for hang gliders. Two of the days were so windy that few people flew, but those days were right at the beginning of the week. By the end of the week, the tolerance for turbulence and wind had increased for many, so if those days had come later, in all likelihood more pilots would have flown - not that it would have been a good thing - we had too many accidents due to turbulence and wind. Once again we find that flying paragliders in the mountains is a risky proposition when there is wind and lift involved. Hang gliders are also at risk, but in the meet there were no injuries to any hang-glider pilots and no 'chute deployments by that group. A good guideline for the cautious pilot is to get the upper-wind forecast in the morning, and if there are moderate or stronger winds forecast, not even go up the mountain, since light winds on launch trick many unprepared pilots into launching, only to find ugly air aloft Stewart Midwinter |
July 2004 Site of the Day archives the Willi was on at Golden. We missed the mayhem due to work and school commitments but Norm did a great job representing the West Coast.
June 2004 Site of the Day archives Canadian Nationals came off with many great rounds. Pemberton-Whistler Championships were blown out most days so we headed to Cornwall.
May 2004 Site of the Day archives great flying at Woodside and Bridal. We held a very successful SIV Course at Mara Lake, and hope to run another one in August if they keep the forests open.
April 2004 Site of the Day archives good flying in the Valley. The Fraser Valley Cross Country PG Series was successssful.
March 2004 Site of the Day archives Nicole won in Brazil, otherwise the month sucked for flying time.
February 2004 Site of the Day archives some local flights extended to an hour with vigourous scratching above the trees. Good paramotor month.
January 2004 Site of the Day archives Mexican road trip yielded 20 hours of flight and a wet Canadian January kept most local pilots on the ground.
December 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew a few times but it got really cold at the end of the month as we prepared for a gala New Year's Party for 40 of our close personal friends and neighbours.
November 2003 Site of the Day archives windy and wet with the odd good soaring day, not many pilots out these days.
October 2003 Site of the Day archives Women's Fly In was great fun, some good soaring days mid-month, most of the students are signed off.
September 2003 Site of the Day archives good conditions until the last days of the month when it got stable. Most days were flyable at Woodside or Bridal.
August 2003 Site of the Day archives Forest closures made the end of the month a non-flying period unless you headed to Blanchard. FlyBC SIV 2003 was a great success with 9 stunt pilots and no deployments or crashes.
July 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew most days early at Woodside until it got windy, then over to Bridal. Good Golden flying reports from the "Willi".
June 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew most weekdays at Bridal, Woodside worked most weekends. Bridal Air Races had one great day with only two tree landings!
May 2003 Site of the Day archives not a great weather month on the coast, especially on the weekends but a few pilots managed to get some great airtime at Bridal. The Nationals were held in Lumby and it didn't rain!
April 2003 Site of the Day archives rain for 28 of 30 April days, but we managed to get a few flights in between showers. Even the golfers were complaining!
March 2003 Site of the Day archives some high spring flights in early March, but not a great weather month. Still no HPAC Insurance!
February 2003 Site of the Day archives some nice long spring flights in late February. HPAC Insurance expired on Feb 14, so many pilots stayed home instead of getting USHGA coverage.
January 2003 Site of the Day archives lots of rain all month in BC so we bailed and headed to Tapalpa Mexico for three weeks. Norm and Lucille had a great XC flight the first day we arrived.
December 2002 Site of the Day archives lots of rain all month.
November 2002 Site of the Day archives not a great flying month, lots of rain in the beginning and then super stable and inverted for the balance of the month. Even the Savona Road Trip wasn't that great. Looking forward to Mexico!
October 2002 Site of the Day archives Still soarable some days, great fun at the Women's Fly In 2002 in Chelan. Allan logged 15 hours and only flew a few days. Most of the students are ready for signoff soon to get ready for Mexico trips!
September 2002 Site of the Day archives Still soarable most everyday! Some scary incidents at Woodside. Fun flying at Ashcroft.
August 2002 Site of the Day archives More spring-like days with super lapse rates, great fun up-country at Revelstoke and Mara, with some good XCs for all.
July 2002 Site of the Day archives Some spring-like days with super lapse rates, but still rather wet at times.
June 2002 Site of the Day archives another rainy and windy month with great lapse rates, some great flights at Bridal with some getting above Cheam Peak. The Club Cup was nearly rained out but they got one valid task in on Sunday June 30.
May 2002 Site of the Day archives an extremely rainy month with the more spring mayhem, another reserve deployment at Lil Nick and a pilot crashed at the top of Deroche Mountain, uninjured but with a ripped glider and long hike down the mountain. Colleen placed 5th place at the Canadian PG Nationals in rainy Lumby!
April 2002 Site of the Day archives a rainy month with the usual spring mayhem, one reserve deployment at Woodside and a pilot hit a parked car at Bridal LZ, fracturing his leg.
March 2002 Site of the Day archives a few great days days with lots of snow and rain mixed in.
February 2002 Site of the Day archives two epic days already (4.5 hours and 2.5 hours!).
January 2002 Site of the Day archives Mexico vacation shots, some local flying but it was wet on the coast.
December 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, wettest December on record, some good days sprinkled thru the month.
November 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, had some good days at Woodside +2 hours, lots of rain later in the month.
October 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, but great flying at Chelan at the Women's Fly In.
September 2001 Site of the Day archives starting to get pretty stable, more sled rides forecast for October.
Aug 2001 Site of the Day archives Mara, Bridal, till some great flights locally
July 2001 Site of the Day archives Road Trip Month, Golden, Mara, points east!
June 2001 Site of the Day archives Great Month, 3 hours of airtime for some pilots every time they flew Bridal Lower! Some getting up to 6 hours in a single flight!
May 2001 Site of the Day archives Unstable Month, 2-3 hours of airtime for some pilots every time they flew Bridal Lower!
April 2001 Site of the Day archives Rainy Month, not as much airtime for some pilots
March 2001 Site of the Day archives Spring has Sprung!
February 2001 Site of the Day archives Spring is in the Air!
January 2001 Site of the Day archives - Mexico Flying Trip
December 2000 Site of the Day archives
November 2000 Site of the Day archives (great month for airtime!)
October 2000 Site of the Day archives
September 2000 Site of the Day archives
July - August 2000 Site of the Day archives
June 2000 Site of the Day archives
March - May 2000 Site of the Day archives
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