FlyBC's Paragliding Site of the Day Archive Page for December 2008
"Gliders, sail planes, they're wonderful flying machines. It's the closest you can come to being a bird." - Neil Armstrong
Aloft @ 3000' NOAA Sounding CYXX | Rate /1000' | Forecast calc using SOAR8.XLW | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| (unstable) |
Manzanillo Cerro del Toro Report - if you look at Google Earth and locate Cerro del Toro NE of Santiago Beach, you will see why they call it the "Bull Mountain". It looks like a bull lying down with horns pointing towards the sea. It was Colleen's turn to fly off el Toro and we arrived at the top just before noon to little wind and even lighter cycles. By noon the cycles improved and the birds were circling Theo's antennas and Colleen was off and flying toward the birds.  Colleen launches off Cerro del Toro - photo by JPR Not much lift and a conservative flight path had Colleen high over the bailout field at the Golf Course, and plenty of height to burn off over the Beach. It is always good to have lots of altitude when flying a new site, especially one rumoured to get windy in the afternoon. Two days on a row and we have had little sea breeze.  Colleen flies away from Cerro del Toro for the last flight of 2008 - photo by JPR After flying we had the requisite afternoon Margaritas before siesta to ready ourselves for the huge New Years Party. The Staff at Club Maeva had turned the football field into a sea of tables and a huge bandstand and food kiosks circled the perimeter of the field. We arrived too early at 8:45 pm, and were some of the first tables to arrive. By 9:15 pm the place was full and the food fight started. I went to take a video of the opening number of the band and by the time I got back Colleen had gotten her food and I was at the end of a huge line of hungry Mexicans. I finally sat down and had a wonderful meal with lots of seafood, and whatever one could want to eat. We had a fun time and were offered up a wonderful fireworks display at midnight. The band kept playing 'til 2:00 am, but we were in bed by then.  Celebrating the last day of 2008 - photo by JPR
|
| (unstable)
Colima Report - we tried to get through the gate to el Toro Launch but the farmers were gone this morning and the hired man wasn't clear as to when they would be back and he had "no llave" or "no key" for you gringos. | We decided a drive to La Cumbre in Colima would be faster than waiting around . . . bad call in the end. We stopped along the coast at a property for sale to see if there were any dunes as it was getting windy enough to soar. No dunes where we stopped but the black sandy beaches were beautiful and sunny. This would be a great towing beach about 25 kms south of Manzanillo, if one had a tow rig and a 4x4 with big tires. On to La Cumbre and one toll booth later for 98 pesos, we were at La Cumbre's turnoff and soon up the mountain where we met Giles, the instructor in the YouTube Bikini Paragliding Video. Giles lived in Victoria for a few years but we never met before. He had a tandem passenger today and was waiting for better cycles as it was leeside when we arrived and even the vultures were struggling to stay up. After an hour of waiting, I clipped in and launched in a nice cycle and was circling in light lift to the South but it wasn't that good. I went to the north ridge as the air was coming from that side but I only got spikes of +2.8 m/s up, that were too small to circle in. The sink outside those spikes was -3.5 m/s, so from this low site it doesn't take long to be on the dirt. I landed in Kirril's field and Colleen came to get me, just as Giles launched.  Jim just off La Cumbre site in Colima - photo by CMV Giles did much better and despite getting low a few times hung in and was soon 300 meters over launch as I arrived back on top. This flight was much better, solid launch cycles and immediately I climbed 250 meters right over the towers. Giles was further south and higher, but everytime I tried to go to his location I hit sink, so the strong thermal was where I was climbing. There was a CU right over La Cumbre so why leave this lift? I had flown this thermal before, La Cumbre's house thermal and it gets pretty boring when you can't go anywhere. Giles flew over launch and was heading to Colima town, where he lives now, and I told Colleen I would fly out towards the highway to save retrieve time. She suggested I get higher cause I was only 200 meters over launch and the ground rises up to the north, but we were heading back to Manzanillo and I wanted to get back before dark so I followed Giles out to the north. I miscalculated the glide path and landed short of the main highway but close enough to save some time. The lift band was coming off the paved road and I was on the wrong side to pick it up, as I landed in a black field, Giles was topping up a bit to the east and made it to town. Nice flight but Colima is not my favourite site, too many flight restrictions down wind of La Cumbre and narrow lift bands to the north and west. Especially when the sea breeze kicks in. Also, boring to not have anyone to "duke it out" with as it was just me and Giles in the air . . . the rest of the locals stayed home due to high cloud and the forecasted inversion. Belated Tenancingo Report from Dec 28. - apparently the flights from the NW USA and Canada were mostly delayed or cancelled due to the storms. Norm arrived on time, but Brad and Christine were delayed (and Brad's daughter was delayed a few days). The afternoon for Dec 28th; Norm, Doug Marshburn and Scott McAllister flew La Laminche near town and had great flights. Norm got to 14000 feet, Doug made it to 9000 feet and landed near Gari's in Tenancingo next to the Casa del Piloto. Meanwhile, Scott twisted up his lines after a collapse and he threw his reserve just as the wing reopened! No injuries as he floated down - a recent repack by FlyBC worked again! Champagne all around next time we see Scott.
|
| (unstable)
El Toro Report - another FlyBC Adventure! | I had done research on how to get up to Cerro El Toro for a month, checking with pilots who had flown there (Brad H had an awesome flight there 5 years ago, going XC to a town that took him a full day to get back from). I also checked Google Earth extensively but the road is pretty low resolution on the Google Earth photos. The road goes in from the north end of La Central village on the Libre Road to the Airport. It is a sandy single lane road directly to a red gate that was locked. Not being sure this was the right place we back-tracked to the highway and headed closer to Manzanillo to look for another route. Nothing looked right but the road we had been on, so we decided to activate Colleen's iPhone and look it up on Google Maps which tracks our position on the Google Map. Sure enough we were on the right road again and as we retried the gate lock a red pickup drove in and let us through the gate.  Colleen negotiating the gate crossing at El Toro - photo by JPR The family in the truck offered to meet Colleen back at the gate in 2 hours to let her out as their farm was right near the gate. The gate was put up by the owners of the radio towers at the top to stop vandalism. The road up to launch is sandy and pretty steep in places, so a 4x4 would have been nice but our VW Pointer made it up pretty well. Launch is at 750 meters and the highway at La Central is sea level. Much like driving to Bridal Lower, but no cross ditches. 30 minutes to the top. We checked out several launch options but they all had an omni-present 3 phase high tension powerline behind them. Not good in the strong cycles we were seeing. We decided to go to the most westerly antennas to check the launch options there and met Theo, the site watchman, and talked to him in broken Spanglish about "parapente". He said "mas viento" meaning too much wind to fly a paraglider right now as it was 3:00 pm. Usually pilots fly this site at 11:00 am. We explained I was "crazy" and flying a fast wing. He sent us down to the best launch spot the locals sometimes use and met us on his ATV and started brush-cutting with a machete and shovel.  Theo clearing launch while I setup on the road - photo by JPR I was flying the Mantra M, with the Vamp Harness with pod and I had to connect everything up, so I did that on the road while Colleen and Theo cleared up the launch. While I was getting ready a group of workers from another antenna stopped to make sure we had a key to get out, not wanting to have us trapped behind the red gate. I explained the arrangement with the farmers at the bottom. Nice for them to ask however. I walked down to the launch spot and roughly laid out the Mantra and brought it up into the light cycles and I had a tangle. I kept the wing inflated and banged the C's a few times to clear the tangle and was soon turned around and launching. Nice lift right away and good penetration, showing 30 kph on the GPS.  Jim just off El Toro Launch - photo by CMV The lift was stronger on the left but took me further away from the LZ, and we weren't sure I could even make the LZ in a straight line in the wind we saw at launch. The Golf Course affords a nice bailout option, and the ridge in between the Launch and Beach LZ can be skirted around to the North. Also, out of the picture is the north escape route along the highway with many fields if you had strong south winds.  El Toro Launch to LZ flight path - photo by JPR There were nice CUs marking the various thermals, and some birds, but as this was a first flight I was cautiously keeping my flight path options open and didn't drift too far back in the lift. I flew to Theo's antennas and the rocky slope was working there. I saw a CU over to the south forming and headed there over a little bluff and started climbing smoothly at 1.5 m/s, when a black vulture joined me. Soon there were 8-10 vultures climbing above me and we all circled merrily up in the lift taking us over launch.  El Toro Locals showing me the way to 'base - photo by JPR The lift started to die and they all headed SE away from my LZ and not climbing so I elected to fly out toward the Beach LZ. I was still at 400 meters over the Golf Course so no issues at this point. No headwind as I was getting over 30 kph on the GPS.  Golf Course is to my right and the ridge is in front with lots of clearance - photo by JPR I came over the Beach area with 200 meters to burn off, and noticed no wind on the flags, odd for Manzanillo to not be windy at 4 pm?  View to the North, towards the high peninsula that has a ridge soaring launch - photo by JPR  View to the South, Club Maeva is the white buildings near the overhead walkway, where I landed to pack up and get my free Margarita on landing - photo by JPR Flight time was only 20 minutes but a nice way to break-in a new site. Colleen's turn tomorrow and then maybe off to LaCumbre in Colima for another flight.  Everywhere you land in Mexico there are kids with many questions - photo by JPR
|
| (stable)
TJ's Whidbey Island Report - A very pleasant couple of hours of soaring today at Ft Ebey. The sun was out
for most of it and the snow had all melted off the top of the bluff. Smooth
thick air - TJ | WestJet Report - a nice 4.5 hour direct flight to Manzanillo, where our bags arrived and we were through customs and in our rental car within an hour and soon at Club Maeva on the Santiago Beach. We had no idea what a 4 star Mexican Resort (all inclusive resort), would be like but here is the rundown from our first night: free food in 5 different restaurants, free liquor in 7 different bars, huge swimming pools all around the place, a beautiful Spa area (paid for services here), entertainment every night in the Central Plaza (Sunday night went on til 2:00 am). The room is 60's style brick and tile with 2 bathrooms, a nice patio overlooking the tennis courts, air-conditioning, 60 channels of TV (some in English).  Colleen by one of the 20+ swimming pools in Club Maeva - photo by JPR
|
| (stable)
.Woodside Report - after digging out the farm from record snow falls, we headed in to the city to get ready for our flight to Manzanillo, Mexico. |  Over a foot of wet snow on the hot tub roof demanded some attention - photo by CMV  The Unimog was needed to pack down 2-3 feet of snow to get out of the Ranch - photo by CMV FlyBC has received the Ozone R09 Medium for demo flights, unfortunately it arrived December 29th after we had left getting delayed by FedEx over Christmas. "Valley Crossings" should be easier now! November 4, 2008 - Ozone releases the newest Comp Glider the R-09 Dav's Designer's Notes: Mantra R09
The concept: Maximum Performance in the Open Class Competition Wing Category, in order to support our international XC / Competition team. The R07 was a well received comp wing with high performance and perhaps the best climb on the PWC and also highly comfortable – but we needed to improve on the top speed in order to have it all.
New Features: The airfoil is a completely new type. The thickness, camber, and the general shape have all been improved, with the aim to retain the positive features of the R07 while yielding higher top speed. Speed is a factor of wing loading: we have reduced the size to achieve a good compromise between climb rate and speed.
The arc has been revised in order to achieve the highest performance possible for this geometry. The planform remains the same except from the tip which has been redesigned to work with the new arc.
We’ve also managed to make a 15% reduction in total line drag, which translates into a straight benefit in performance!
The tension straps running across the span are now made with Mylar: This gives more cohesion to the wing, and guaranties longevity of performance.
New “shrink tabs” for the brake attachment makes the trailing edge even cleaner, and also creates more tension in the trailing edge during the turn.
Profile-enhancing rigid construction on the leading edge has also helped to give the R09 a 10kmh top speed increase! In order to maintain the shape of the nose, two types of reinforcements have been added inside and outside, at the front of the airfoil: the result is a cleaner airfoil shape, and the stability of the openings allows a higher top speed with less sail deformation – this helps prevent collapses and inefficient excessive sail movement.
The R09 is also the first model to have a new generation of trimmers. Pilots may choose either performance or stability while previously; the choice was to either set your accelerator system to one feature or the other.
Please find tech specs below. Please note that custom colors are available for the standard cost of 100 Euros extra.
|
| (stable)
Coquihalla Report - nice day to be in the ditch - for about 10 other vehicles. We skidded a few times but the Suzuki stayed upright. No flying again at Big White, north wind and packing to be done, but only a few more sleeps til Mexico. |
|
| (stable)
Big White Speed Flying Report - we had it all figured out. Light winds at the condo, sunny skies, and we were heading out to the hill by noon after opening presents. | I was trying out my new snow blades and the boots were a bit stiff as this was their first outing. We were very optimistic as we had upslope winds going up the chairlift and there were snow thermals.  Snow thermals at Big White, note the drift - photo by CMV By the time we were halfway up we knew I was going to be denied. Strong NW winds and cold conditions causing drifting along the chairlift line.  Colleen bundled up at Big White - photo by Aaron We went skiing anyway as we were on top now.  Snow Blading at Big White - photo by CMV As the day rolled on we had even stronger NE winds to the point of being dangerously cold so we went in for hot chocolate. Woodside Report - So we woke up Christmas morning & Derek said, "Wanna go for a hike?". It looked beautiful - blue skies...not much wind. I asked Derek if it mattered that I didn't have gaiters when he threw his into the car & he said "you'll be fine". Now where have I heard that before? Alan was here by 11 and we set off with our wings to Woodside. When we got to the Coffee Kettle it was snowed in, but a shovel & some brawn got us a parking spot.  Alan shoveling - photo by Martina We started hiking in the deep snow and doubted even The Hammer could get very far!  Starting to Hike - photo by Martina A nice hike, but trying to keep up with a logger and someone who hikes 2-3 x week for fun is hard.  Note NE drift in distance clouds - photo by Derek My knees started complaining (never had knee problems before) but I attributed that to the fact that my pants were now soaked in snow from the knee down.  Tired at 1 km - photo by Derek Shortly after passing the 3 km sign we felt the worse thing you possibly could at this point - wind blowing over the back! NO!!!!  Blowing Down at 3 kms - photo by Derek We couldn't have gone much further anyway, it had gotten pretty deep  Time to break out the snow machines! - photo by Martina 4 hours after leaving the Kettle, we were back at the car...cold & denied! - Martina More photos can be found at Martina's Facebook .
|
| (stable)
Big White Report - great snow and not too cold, but poor visibility for Speed Flying today. |
|
| (stable)
Elk Report - After numerous calls but no takers, I prepared my warmest gear and headed up Elk. | Eddy drove me to the trailhead and took my vehicle to his place and I set off ahead of two snowshoers. The trail had footprints until "chapter 5" and then I had to break through about five inches of new all the way to the top where the wind had drifted the layer to about two feet. Snowshoes would have helped but it was a short distance. Hiking time was one hour forty minutes - its amazing how much energy the snow sucks out of your steps. The wind was perfectly south and 5-10 k. Cold was still the issue. I miss my beard this year. Keeping my fingers thawed while sorting out lines and radio gear was challenging. It was lightly soarable on the west shoulder and I watched the snowshoers ascending the first lookout as I made eight or ten passes before heading out trying to bury my frozen face in my jacket. Landed to the usual wonderful reception of Sheutz hospitality - coffee, bakies, warm home and warm friendship. Drove down and checked my phone messages to learn that my Dad had just passed away in South Africa. For those of you who know, this was not unexpected and I just returned ten days ago from a wonderful visit with him where I had took every opportunity to give him hugs and told him I loved him. I am so glad I went. All the more poignant at this time of year. Happy Holidays Friends - Kevin Ault Woodside Report - no pilots flying despite nice conditions for a change. We left for Kelowna before the blizzard started and the Coquihalla was nasty. Big White is white and cold, hoping to take the Bullet out for a speedfly before they kick me off the mountain!
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - 60 kph winds from the NE again! Even Chilliwack was blowing hard from the east when we went to fight traffic. Much less snow in the Valley than in Vancouver/Richmond according to live reports. | Wouter's Dune Soaring from yesterday This guy won $15,000 for this Excedrin Ad on YouTube!
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - more NE gusts and snow drifting. We headed in to Vancouver last night and turned back at 232nd Street as the roads were getting bad and we are heading to Kelowna Tuesday anyway. Only a few more sleeps til Mexico! | Wouter's Dune Soaring Report - Finally some good flying conditions again! Flew the dunes on the dutch coast today for almost two hours and it was great! Tomorrow looks good to so I'll update you on that pretty soon. Life makes sense again . . . - Wouter  Dutch Dunes - photo by Wouter
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - another blustery day, longest run of NE winds we can remember for 15 years. | If you are really bored you can watch the "snow devils" on the the FlyBC Woodside WebCam .
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - more "snow devils", and howling NE winds all night. Temps down to -18C at Hemlock Resort and Big White so not likely anyone is even skiing or 'boarding'. | Mexico is feeling like a "must" this year after all this cold. Lots of pilots are heading to Valle, Tenancingo and Colima from worldwide locations to get some thermals and sun. The only issue for Canadian Pilots is the weak Canuck Buck, down from the Euro and US$ severely since the last election.
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - forget "dust devils" . . . we had "snow devils" all day in the strong NE winds. They lasted up to 30 secnds and were climbing out over the Eagle Ranch LZ. |
|
| (stable)
Ozone Film Shoot in late fall 2008 . |
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - the power stayed on for 24 hours! But still bitterly cold. Start counting down to your Mexican Trips. | Scroll down to December 13 for updated photos from the Christmas Party. Send us yours if you have some. The new Ozone Mantra R09 in action at LaPalma . . . very skinny! Can't wait til mine and Rob's gets here! Chinese Paraglider Pilots doing a reserve clinic . . . with a crane! This also links to some other Chinese videos including a Gin Sprint DHV I-II that has been a long time coming.
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - gale force winds and several power failures during the night, nice to have a generator for these issues. It looks like the Sumas Windtalker got blown offline in the last few days too. |
|
| (stable)
While we are hiding out from the Artic Outflow Winds at the Ranch: | Some dude flies 507 kms in South Africa
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - we spent the day getting the party ready, and there was no flying as the winds were from the NE at 60-80 kph. | Kudos to "Head over Heels" as they endured record low temps in the Barn sets. We had a 125,000 BTU heater going but the winds and cold were sucking all the heat out of the barn faster than we could pump it in. The only way to keep warm was to dance . . . and dance we did til 3 am.  Boogie-ing in the Barn - photo by CMV  Adriana freezing in the Barn - photo by CMV  Aaron and his buddies hanging with Austin Powers - photo by CMV  Scott getting a hard time . . . instead of giving it - photo by CMV  Crystal and Jason - photo by CMV  Annette hanging out by the heater - photo by CMV  Kelly keeping warm dancing - photo by CMV  Derek on the dance floor - a rare picture - photo by CMV  Colleen and the girls scheming - photo by AJ  Mark getting into it! - photo by CMV  and these folks don't even drink - photo by CMV  My hands are freezing! - photo by CMV  Ivan danced all night - photo by CMV  Ivan danced all night without his canes - photo by CMV  Happy boy! - photo by CMV
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - much drier in the Valley last night, than in Vancouver. The north wind had already started drying things out. |
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - Dang y'all - how terrible to hear of Ihor's suffering !! Sorry to hear about it, Ihor. | Martin and I went up to launch today (12:30-ish) for a look in the hope that it might be launchable, with a small cloud hanging around launch and some out-flow a bit above launch height. Hope grew in seeing the eagles thermalling out in front of launch, so we started to unpack with optimism. Some tiny and occasional south cycles between over-the-back flow, until the cloud above burned off. Then it started coming in from the south a bit more consistently and Martin inflated nicely and ran straight off the south end roll-off. By the time I had my wing laid out (ten minutes later), the cycles were coming in gently but well from the s/west, and I had a smooth-and-easy inflation and run off to join Martin already soaring some very light thermals. We flew for what seemed longer than it actually was, with my getting even just above launch elevation once just off the south knob, until I left the zone, lost my lift and slowly got lower and lower and lower, never to regain a strong enough thermal to climb back. Sure was nice, seeing both of our lovely Sol Ellus air-ships (one blue/one red) in the air side-by-side - nobody else 'cashing in' on the good conditions ... Martin was sinking just behind me, a few hundred feet up so I could tell the cycles were weakening anyway. No wind at ground level so put her down in Joe's 'backyard', with Martin joining me right after I landed. Wet grass so I folded on Joe's gravel drive, and Jason picked us up in his FJ with Martina and his gal in the truck as well. My flight just about 20 minutes and Martins probably 30 or so. Back up to launch and after unpacking my wing to either fly again or try to dry it out, I watched Martina and Martin and Jason launch and basically slowly sink lower and lower with each pass-by, so I inflated my canopy on launch a couple times to try to dry it out, but at this time of year so much moisture leaches out of the ground each time I laid it out to fold, it was instantly damp again. Que sera, sera. Not a bad price for a mid-December day of light thermal soaring on a beautiful day. Sweet pay-off ... Woodside pulls through again!!! Hope Ihor heals fast!!!! Maybe he'll make it to Jim's on Saturday ... - Kent
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - low clouds and rain, typical December weather around here, but sun coming for the next few days. |
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - no flying today, heavy rain everywhere on the Coast. | While you are staying out of the rain see what these folks put together for you: Streamlined 08 from Team Silver on Vimeo. Belated Flight Report from Miguel - Last Thursday I went to Elk, I just want to share my slide ride video. Note: I know.... I know I forgot my helmet. Miguel hikes Elk Mountain .
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - don't know as I was stuck at work all day and the webcam seems down! I will be out Tuesday night to fix it. | For Sale - one Flying Car, $3.5 million USD. See details at Vintage footage of the Flying Car
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - We were so busy doing the hardwood floor in the Ranch House, that I did not even post the Site of the Day. | Sorry, first time I have missed in 5 years. Rob S showed up with wing after he saw sun on the the FlyBC Woodside WebCam . But that was only after a hufge thunderstorm came through with hail and hard rain. HE was denied a flight. Colleen and I had all the floors installed, sanded and stained by 7 pm. By the weekend it should be all varnished and ready for wandering guests with stocking feet only for a few weeks.
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - Rob S, Alan D, Rob H, Norm and I worked on the joist reinforcement for a few hours and the Barn is ready for a good dance party now. | Thanks for coming over to help, guys! Norm then started working on his kit for his upcoming 3 week Mexico holiday in Tenancingo, see below video.
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - Kelly was out all day cleaning the Barn, but no one showed up to fly. It was flyable too. Not bad for December! Keep your fingers crosse for Dec. 13 weather, hoping we can fly before the Party. | Ozone R09 Progress - our demo glider is now in production, too bad about the Canadian Dollar slumping against every currency but the Peso. Maybe the feds can bail Canada out along with the Auto Industry.
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - no takers today, even Derek decided to do some errands and miss a flight. |
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - Jason was at the Ranch at noon and said it was blowing east, but had no way up the hill.
I was stuck in town with major problems at work so I bailed on driving out later. | Jeffrey's Honduras Report - Hola Amigos, Flying is nice in Central America. A shot of a new launch I discovered recently. Stay warm and fly safe - Jeffrey  New launch site in the Honduras - photo by JM
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - I got out late but there was North wind at Eagle Ranch, so probably blowing over the back. But it was clear. |
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - an interesting day at Eagle Ranch . . . weatherwise. | I was out around 8 am and we had thick ground fog, but when I drove to the Silver Dollar Store I could see launch from Lougheed Highway, and I could see all the way to Hemlock Resort. The wind forecast for 3000 feet indicated soarable conditions, but if you sunk out you would be in the fog. I called Alan but he wasn't interested in tempting fate so I headed into town. Later the FlyBC Woodside WebCam showed clear periods 2 or 3 times during the day, but I don't thinkanyone came out to fly.
|
| (stable)
Woodside Report - no ne came flying, but around 3 pm the skies cleared and launch was wide open. It may not have been soarable but it was flyable on the last day of November 2008. | |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports
October 2008 Site of the Day archives - we went ot the Women's Fly In on Chelan for the annual Halloween Costume Fly-In, great conditions there to offset the wet month on the West Coast. Steve Fosset's crash site was found in Nevada after a year of searching.
September 2008 Site of the Day archives - great student conditions at Woodside and Bridal all month, with 10 students getting signed off this month, a record.
August 2008 Site of the Day archives - our second SIV Course of the 2008 season went well at Sale Mountain near Revelstoke (except for a few water landings and minor injuries). Wet all month at Woodside except the weekends.
July 2008 Site of the Day archives - our first SIV Course of the 2008 season went well at Sale Mountain near Revelstoke.
June 2008 Site of the Day archives - a few good soaring days at Bridal, lots of new students this month.
May 2008 Site of the Day archives - the cost of gas is keeping pilots at home and the weather isn't helping either. One good XC in May for me, leaving Woodside with Norm and Martin H and ending up at Elk at 1600 meters before landing by Hopyard Hill. 3 hours and 85 kms later by the GPS.
April 2008 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years but we flew every day we could.
March 2008 Site of the Day archives - more snow and still hiking to launch at Woodside! But some major airtime for the locals committed to coming out to fly.
February 2008 Site of the Day archives - more snow in BC than I can remember in 25 years of living here. We are still hiking to launch at Woodside!
January 2008 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years so we went to Mexico and logged many hours of airtime, while it snowed heavily in BC.
December 2007 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years so we went to Mexico on Dec 29th for three weeks.
November 2007 Site of the Day archives - Colleen and I went to California to fly the new Falcon A-16 Advanced Ultralight prototype and it flew very well. Some good soaring days at Woodside, some folks were still trying to fly Bridal but that is a waste of time this late in the season.
October 2007 Site of the Day archives - mid-air at Woodside caused Martin H some paraglider damage, some great soarable days. The Women's Fly In was a success with the Canuck Team taking top spot for the theme of "Celebrities in Rehab".
September 2007 Site of the Day archives - we re-discovered and flew 'Horsefly' Launch for the first time, some mayhem at Woodside due to tree-suck, lots of good soaring in afternoon glassoffs, a great Indian Summer until late in the month when the rains came early. Derek, Martina, Robin and Diane went to Europe. Kirill went to Australia for a paramotor Fly-In.
August 2007 Site of the Day archives - fun two weeks at Mara Lake, followed by steady flying at Woodside and Bridal, making up for the dismal spring and summer.
July 2007 Site of the Day archives - good flights at Bridal, some mayhem at Woodside from visiting pilots.
June 2007 Site of the Day archives - more crappy weather on the weekends. Some awesome flights between showers as Norm and Thomm flew to Mission on the last day of the month.
May 2007 Site of the Day archives - flyable every weekday, but the Fraser Valley XC Comp got crappy weather on the weekends, although it was student flyable.
April 2007 Site of the Day archives - good flights are starting. Some complete triangles from Woodside to Bridal and back, some "musical triangles" from others.
March 2007 Site of the Day archives - fifth month of crappy weather on the Coast. We went to Santa Barbara for some flights, and to dry out. Some good days were also recorded locally.
Febuary 2007 Site of the Day archives - fourth month of crappy weather on the Coast. So we stayed in Mexico.
January 2007 Site of the Day archives - third month of crappy weather on the Coast. So we went to Mexico to fly Colima, Tapalpa, and San Marcos, while Brad and gang headed to Tenacingo, Mexico.
December 2006 Site of the Day archives - more ugly weather on the Coast. Severe winds damaged trees and property so not much flying happened. Some good flight reports from local PGers travelling world-wide.
November 2006 Site of the Day archives - the wettest November on record. We flew a few good flights but mostly we were rained out.
October 2006 Site of the Day archives - lots of good days with 3-4 hours airtime. The Women's Fly-In was on again in Chelan with about 18 Canucks, and a good day Saturday with 85 registered pilots.
September 2006 Site of the Day archives - still soarable in the Fraser Valley, little or no rain. Colleen is back flying! Some mayhem in the valley.
August 2006 Site of the Day archives - a great flying month everywhere, we had a super successful SIV clinic at Mara Lake with everyone SAT-ing and heli-ing.
July 2006 Site of the Day archives - road trip to Lumby, then on the 8th Colleen spun in below Gloria cancelling her summer plans (but she is recuperating well).
June 2006 Site of the Day archives - the Valley dried out, and we flew most days and every weekend.
May 2006 Site of the Day archives - more rain that ever imagined in the Fraser Valley. Very few soaring flights and even less XC.
April 2006 Site of the Day archives - the Easter Bunny was "run over" on Kilby Road, plus the train wreck on April 1.
March 2006 Site of the Day archives - a new pilot was born, Chloe. We also flew a few days between showers, some long flights up to 4 hours. A few Out & Return Flights to Deroche and Bear.
February 2006 Site of the Day archives - another wet month with some soarable days (2).
January 2006 Site of the Day archives - some flying on Elk and Woodside, smart pilots headed South for great Mexican or Chilean flying.
December 2005 Site of the Day archives - some flying on Elk and Woodside, smart pilots headed South.
November 2005 Site of the Day archives - rain, snow and not much flying.
October 2005 Site of the Day archives - Women's Fly In in Chelan yielded two soarable days before the snows hit.
September 2005 Site of the Day archives - dry most of the month. Some great 4 hour flights at Woodside getting to cloudbase most days. Three crash-landings in the same clearcut by pilots scratching too low, but no injuries.
August 2005 Site of the Day archives - road trips to the Interior gave us an opportunity to rag out some gliders at FlyBC SIV 2005 (Part II). Also a great road trip to Savona.
July 2005 Site of the Day archives - good flying all month, no rain but some windy days shut us down. The Willi started in Golden with a few good days, but one tragedy as Charles Warren perished in a crash near Harrogate.
June 2005 Site of the Day archives - too much rain, but good days to fly between showers.
May 2005 Site of the Day archives - our Instructor/Tandem seminar yielded some good flying. Our May 2005 SIV Clinic had a good turnout, with many wet wings/pilots! Many nice flights at Woodside and Bridal, with some long "out & returns" at Bridal.
April 2005 Site of the Day archives - some great soaring at Woodside and Bridal. Sad news from the US Hanggliding Nationals as Chris Muller crashes at goal.
March 2005 Site of the Day archives - we had to head out of town to Savona a few weekends due to wet weather on the Coast. Wetter than normal according to Environment Canada.
February 2005 Site of the Day archives - some good soaring despite early time of year. Flights as long as 3 hours at Woodside, some good flights at Whidbey Island for first timers, too!
January 2005 Site of the Day archives road trips to Mexico, not much flying locally due to strong north winds and rain. Record rain kept Eagle Ranch quite wet for kiting.
December 2004 Site of the Day archives a dry month with some good soaring including a fantastic day on Dec. 11 where we thermalled for 2+ hours!
November 2004 Site of the Day archives more record rain. We installed a fireplace in the barn to keep pilots warm between winter flights.
October 2004 Site of the Day archives more record rain, but sweet soaring between showers. Many new students signed up and making quick progress. We missed the Women's Fly In for the first time in 9 years, and there was some interesting flying on the Sunday!
September 2004 Site of the Day archives rainiest September on record for the first 3 weeks, made flying difficult. But Alan and others logged some pretty nice flights later in the month. Lots of student tandems for both Colleen and Jim.
August 2004 Site of the Day archives Great Maneuver/SIV/ACRO course at Mara. Jack got wet! Some great soaring at Woodside. Norm made it 68 km from Mara to King Eddie, Derek made it from Lumby to Enderby the opposite direction for 67 kms. We also did our BC roadtrip from Ashcroft to New Denver, and flew everyday.
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
| FlyBC Home | APCO Glider FAQ | Paragliding History |
|
Box 79, Harrison Mills, BC Canada V0M 1L0 Mobile: 604-618-5467 E-Mail: FlyBC E-Mail |