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FlyBC "Site of the Day" Archives - February/2004






Addiction
Warning
FlyBC
Mexico
Gallery
Gerry
LaMarsh's
Gallery
2003 Women's Fly In Gallery
- by Lee Gross
2003 Women's Fly In Picture Database
- by Chris Amundsen
BC Road Report
- for Road Trippers
2002 PWC Video
Keara Top Landing Video

Home of OJ Lawrence, Chris Santacroce and Chris Muller

FlyBC E-Mail,
Send us your flight reports here!
news
What's new around the Vancouver Flying scene.





Date
Site
Forecast
Precip.
Winds Aloft
@
3000'
Lapse Rate

Cloudbase Forecast
calculated
by SOAR8.XLW

Comments
2/29
Sumas (if cloudbase lifts)
A few showers. High 10
40% POP
110° at 8 knots
-2.4°
/1000'
(unstable)
900 m
3140 ft.
Woodside Report - after I posted Sumas as the possible site to fly, I drove to Chilliwack for some lumber and I could see the east winds never materialized. It was actually getting sunny by 10:30 am. I returned to the Ranch to start working on the deck and by 1:00 pm pilots started showing up after writing the ham exam.

Jeffrey, Kirril, Bob, Garry, Rob S, Gerry L, and many others started falling out of the sky into Eagle Ranch, Gerry had a 20 minute soaring flight but Rob claimed top honours by scratching out 40 minutes landing at Riverside. Not an epic day but lots of flights. No reports from Sumas.



Plane Crash In Fraser River
February 29, 2004 - 1:57 pm
By: Reaon Ford/Maria Weisgarber

Rescue crews are still searching for a 75 year old pilot who crashed into the Fraser River yesterday. Witnesses say a small, cessna-type aircraft crashed into the water between Maple Ridge and Mission. There is no idea on what caused the crash - News1130



Search for downed plane in Fraser River called off

MAPLE RIDGE, B.C. (CP) - After hours of searching the depths of the Fraser River Sunday, Coast Guard divers gave up their search for the pilot of a plane which crashed in the river earlier in the day. "There was no hope of survivors," said Capt. James Pierotti of the Coast Guard. Pierotti said a Canadian Forces helicopter spotted oil from the plane and directed divers from a Coast Guard hovercraft where to search.

"They found pieces but they couldn't find the actual wreckage itself," he said. "They searched for four to five hours. There was no hope of anyone surviving down on the bottom that long."

Coast Guard spokesman Corp. Wayne Kennedy said a lone male was in the plane according to reports from Delta Heritage Park where the plane took off.

2/28
Woodside later
Cloudy with sunny periods. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 10
40% POP
light and variable
-2.4°
/1000'
(unstable)
800 m
2540 ft.
Woodside Report - Ian and Leon were out motoring early and had many flights before we got motivated to head up to launch. It was socked in most of the day but Alan flew a short flight into Riverside. We flew around 3:30 pm when it cleared enough to launch, just sled rides but nice to get in the air. A few showers on the way out.

Blanchard Report - The wind stayed South and even went a little West of South, allowing Delvin, Russ and TJ to fly 3 flights each. We had a little sun on the first flight, giving good instant thermals when it popped through. Delvin managed to stay up for 1hour for the first flight and 40 minutes the second. TJ and Russ were more like 30 minutes and 25 minutes. Started raining on the last flight down, when Jim Wagner showed up and flew about 40 minutes in the light rain, without benefit of Magic - TJ

Victoria Report - Dallas was on for about 5 hours today. I took an hour off of housework and flew. Just bought a new house and am working myself skinny to get mine together to sell - Bruce McG

2/27
Woodside later
Showers ending this afternoon then cloudy. High 12.
40% POP
light and variable
-2.5°
/1000'
(unstable)
1000 m
3340 ft.
Woodside Report - we worked most of the day until Klaus, Monica and Norm showed up around 1:00 pm then took a break to go flying. It was flyable up to that point with occasional low cloudbase filling in launch.

I don't know where everyone else was today, perhaps the rain in Vancouver and Abbotsford scared them away but we had pleasing flights. I launched after Norm sledded into the Ranch to go to work and had a nice soaring flight trying to stay out of the clouds. Jim Wagner lent me his Magic 3 to fly and it was very nice at staying in light lift. Colleen and Monica launched after I landed and experienced cloudsuck. Klaus commented that he was on ears most of the time and still came over Eagle Ranch at 650 meters.





We went up in Mike Werner's truck to retrieve the Suburban and this is what the conditions looked like.





We drove down and when launch opened up at 5:15 pm we went back up for one last flight before dark.

2/26
Stay Home
Cloudy. High 11
60% POP
130° at 8 knots
-2.2°
/1000'
(unstable)
700 m
2440 ft.
No pilot reports, Victoria was sunny when I was there today but North winds made Dallas un-flyable.

Brad's Hiking Report - Re: Day 4&5 Summit Day Kilimanjaro

We just summited Mtn Uruhu. This is the tallest mtn in Africa at 19340'.

The summit started 11:30pm Feb 21 at 4700 meters, with only mild affects of high altitude sickness.

At 6:20 am Feb22.04 David Moon, Brad Henry, Ron Douglas from Barton Insurance Brokers reach the summit of Uhuru Peak, Mt Kilimanjaro the world’s highest freestanding Mtn. at 19,340 ft.

This was our longest day which included 17 hours of hiking ! - Brad Henry

2/25
Stay Home
Rain starting in the afternoon. High 10
70% POP
140° at 28 knots
-2.4°
/1000'
(unstable)
700 m
2440 ft.
Fraser Valley Report - Alan says fairly strong east winds, not looking good until Saturday (but even the long range forecast has changed for the worse).

Phone Number Change - after trying ATT for a while I have decided to revert back to Fido, so call me at 604-618-5467 (618-JIMR) mobile if you need to contact me.

2/24
Stay Home
Rain starting mid-day. High 9
70% POP
150° at 42 knots
-2.4°
/1000'
(unstable)
700 m
2440 ft.
Woodside Report - I was out doing renos, not flying and there was a flyable window before the rain started pounding down! No pilots seen flying however.

2/23
Woodside, early before showers start
Increasing cloudiness. 70 percent chance of showers in the afternoon. High 11
70% POP
160° at 11 knots
-2.4°
/1000'
(unstable)
1700 m
5640 ft.
No pireps but Woodside was probably okay.

2/22
Sumas
Sunny with cloudy periods. High 12
0% POP
140° at 17 knots
-2.4°
/1000'
(unstable)
1700 m
5640 ft.
Sumas Report - A few of us met up at Sumas hoping for better flights than the day before. Rob S. launched first and reported lots of thermic action and a narrow lift band, so Joseph launched too. Ian and I waited around a bit, then we launched into nice ridge/thermic lift, and a wider lift band. Very smooth air for the most part, with a few bumps. The lift kept getting wider and fatter, and we were going all over the east and north face of the mountain, going way around the corner to the Little Nick side, heading to the next bump over, back way west past launch, and over the LZ all in nice smooth lift. Finally after 1hour 40min and 1100 m later we both decided to land cause we were getting cold, but the lift was everywhere - Nicole

2/21
Sumas
Sunny. High 13.
0% POP
120° at 13 knots
-2.4°
/1000'
(unstable)
1700 m
5640 ft.
Fraser Valley Paramotor Report - I decided I needed some excitement so I elected to fly my paramotor out of Eagle Ranch over to meet Colleen at Sumas. One small problem . . . which direction to launch? We set up the wing into the normal east direction and it switched to south. We moved the wing and then it switched north. Finally after moving the wing and trying 5-6 inflations I was pretty tired but determined. When I finally launched north, I climbed at about 3 m/s in a strong thermal that was drifting me south to Chilliwack and I was soon over the Fraser heading west.

I encountered steady lift all the way along the River, and when I turned in the lift I was parked pointing NE. So I just kept flying right to Sumas Launch and arrived there in less than 30 minutes. I flew past launch and saw steady cycles up the PG launch with no one there. I was on the radio with Nicole and Rob after turning off the engine and tried to soar but I was being blown towards Whatcom Road, no penetration upwind even with the added weight of the motor (and no speedbar). I lit the engine back up and headed west with the intention of landing by the turnoff up Sumas Mtn. but the winds were perhaps a bit strong to be landing in the lee, so I flew on to Whatcom Road and landed by the Tim Horton's where Rob picked me up. Not windy on the ground, just nice landing wind.

Sumas Report - Bob and Lee drove up first and waited and waited and waited and were still there when we arrived. Another instructor had them a bit spooked because he wouldn't fly so they waited for a senior pilot to launch. Good call at any time.

I launched and there was no penetration problem and only scrappy lift on the slope. There were a few small tight cores, but also some -2.4 m.s sink. I flew about 25 minutes landing at the normal LZ at the end of North Parallel Rd. Many others followed and had similar flights except Robin who got high enough to park himself into so East layer that kept him abve launch for 30 minutes, but not moving. We heard pilots flying Woodside so we packed up quick and headed over there.

Woodside Report - there was a narrow window of soaring opportunity and Alan got into it before the HGers cluttered launch. 8-9 HGs waiting for perfect launch cycles used up the 45 minute window and the PGers were forced to do no wind or tail wind launches. We arrived and the place looked like a parking lot but Colleen and I launched after Ian J and had nice sledders. I was forced to fly Bev's Presta to see if it would spin, it did but it recovered after 180 degrees of spin so quickly that no one really thought it looked bad. Nice wing Bev! - Jim
2/20
Woodside may be leeside, get there before 2:00 pm
Sunny with cloudy periods. Fog dissipating late this morning. High 11
0% POP
020° at 6 knots
-2.0°
/1000'
(standard)
800 m
2640 ft.
Woodside Report - despite obvious east winds aloft,a lot of pilots flew Woodside after 1:00 pm. I arrived late to see Alan start the show and he was still in the air at 4:45 pm! Kelly was very proud of her 50 minute flight. Others did well too.

East drift to the thermals, but hangs and bags alike shared the sky. Some of the hangs were complaining about 2 stroke smell in the air as Ian and Leon flew around on the motors exploring Harrison Bay area. I tried to launch my motor around 3:00 pm but the wind was light and I tired out after a few tries, so I gave up - Jim

2/19
Woodside may work?
A few showers. High 10.
40% POP
190° at 5 knots
-2.0°
/1000'
(standard)
800 m
2640 ft.
Woodside Report - I had to drive out to work on my tractor and it looked like that was all I was going to do as I drove through the rain from Sumas to Harrison Mills. I passed by the road up to launch and saw Fred C's jeep at the bottom and thought "I'll bet that crazy fool hiked up and has been sitting in the rain all day!" and since I couldn't get him on the radio I decided to drive up and rescue him. I took my wing just in case.

As I arrived at launch, I saw Fred kiting his wing in the drizzle (man he is air-horny!). He had been up there for 2.5 hours! But he didn't need rescuing as Tom and a chimp were up there too. Fred launched as the drizzle and cloud cleared and it was either the wet wing or the fact that he is a chunky monkey but he didn't stay up for long.

The student launched and started soaring so I launched after him and flew for 20 minutes just staying above launch a few hundred meters in light thermals and ridge lift dodging forming clouds. Tom launched after me and took a few minutes to get organized and started soaring too. When it got lighter I made an Instrument Approach to top-land through a bit of mist, missed it and got below launch for a few minutes, then pegged the next approach for a smooth touchdown.

I just stuffed the wing in the truck 'cause it was damp and drove down. Tom also toplanded later to drive down.

Not a great weather day but I got to fly, but I couldn't convince Alan to come play so he went fishing - Jim

ps: 145.555 mhz is not an approved simplex frequency.
2/18
Stay Home
A few showers. High 9.
70% POP
270° at 12 knots
-2.0°
/1000'
(standard)
1200 m
3900 ft.
Woodside Report - there was a blue patch of sky that went over Woodside around 4:30 pm, otherwise wet all day. It was quite strong at launch with clouds ripping past.

Blanchard Report - I couldn't go out today, but some folks had great flights at Blanchard in the short clear window between fronts. Hour + flights - TJ

2/17
Sumas
Becoming mainly cloudy this morning with a few showers. High 9.
20% POP
130° at 17 knots
-2.0°
/1000'
(standard)
1200 m
3900 ft.
Valley Report - East winds all day. Sumas looked flyable until 4:00 pm, when the virga started to fall. Call from Victoria around 3:00 pm reported heavy rains.

2/16
Stay Home
Cloudy. Rain beginning this morning. Amount 15 to 20 mm. Windy. High 9.
100% POP
170° at 33 knots
-2.0°
/1000'
(standard)
1200 m
3900 ft.
Lower Mainland Report - very windy and wet. Good day to work indoors!

HPAC Insurance Report

All HPAC/ACVL Members

The HPAC/ACVL board of directors have voted to accept an offer from our current insurer to renew our third party liability insurance policy. Our insurance coordinator Gregg Humphries has made the necessary arrangements and the new policy is now in place for the 2004-2005 flying year and is effective until Feb 14, 2005.

Last year our annual premium was $50,200 for $3 million coverage. We actually paid less than that because we were uninsured for the period when nobody would take us. This year the annual premium is $40,227. Most of the reduction in premium is a result of the lower membership numbers this year but the per pilot rate is also a little lower. Last year the per pilot rate was ~$59.00 on 850 pilots and this new offer comes in at ~$57.50 on 700 pilots.

This is very good news because we were all expecting another increase.

The reduction in our insurance premium combined with the expected savings from Air magazine will mean a much better financial position than we expected and will probably allow us to work towards building our cash reserves back to where they were.

If we can increase our membership to close to where we were last year things will be even better.

Doug Keller
President HPAC/ACVL

2/15
Stay Home
Periods of rain easing to a few showers this afternoon. High 9
100% POP
210° at 12 knots
-2.0°
/1000'
(standard)
700 m
2400 ft.
Woodside Non-Flying Report - drizzle all day, even the eagles weren't flying. Forecast looks bad all week :-(

Rainy Day Joke

An elderly Irish woman goes to the doctor and asks his help to revive her husband's sex drive. "What about trying Viagra?" asks the doctor? "Not a chance," says Mrs. Murphy, "he won't even take an aspirin for a headache."

"No problem," replies the doctor. "Drop it into his coffee and he won't even taste it. Try it and then call me in a week to let me know how things go."

A week later, Mrs. Murphy calls the doctor. "Oh, faith, bejaysus and begorrah, it was terrible doctor!"

"What happened?" asked the doctor.

"Well, I did as you advised and slipped the Viagra into his coffee. The effect was immediate. He jumped straight up, with a gleam in his eye and with his pants bulging fiercely! He swept the cutlery off the table, at the same time ripping me clothes and then proceeded to make wild, mad, passionate love to me on the tabletop. It was TERRIBLE!"

"What was 'terrible' said the doctor. "Was the sex not good?"

"Oh no, doctor, the sex was the best I've had in 25 years, but I'll never be able to show me face in Tim Horton's again."

2/14
Woodside
Periods of rain easing to a few showers this afternoon. High 9
40% POP
230° at 13 knots
-2.0°
/1000'
(standard)
700 m
2400 ft.
Woodside Report - the weather never cooperated and after noon we had steady rain.

Blanchard Report - It looked good on radar and from Bellingham, went to LZ at 11:30. Raining and East winds. Went home. East all day. The rain did clear out after about 3, but without sun to make cycles, the ESE at launch is nothing but trouble, so I stayed home. I did spend a good hour kiting at the park. Sure is easier when the wind is fairly steady and right around 12 mph - TJ

2/13
Woodside
Increasing cloudiness, rain late in the day. High 10.
0% POP
160° at 22 knots
-2.0°
/1000'
(standard)
1000 m
3200 ft.
Woodside Report - while I was flying back from Calgary (working); Kelly, Thomm and Jack were flying Woodside. Light upcycles and sled rides but they were flying.

Another Woodside Report -Jeffrey and I had three flights each yesterday at Woodside. Not very long . . . but very long on nice. Even tho it was really blowing in Abbotsford and Aggasiz it was great up the mountain - Lee

2/12
Sumas
Sunny. Windy. High 15
0% POP
140° at 18 knots
-2.0°
/1000'
(standard)
1000 m
3200 ft.
Woodside Report - Lee reported two flights in light lift of 40 minutes each, hiking each time!

>
2/11
Sumas
Windy. High 12.
0% POP
140° at 13 knots
-1.5°
/1000'
(inverted)
1000 m
3200 ft.
Sumas Report - Margit, Nikolai, Dean, Ian, and I all flew Sumas today. We thought we might end up blown out, but went up anyway. We arrived to strong, but straight in wind, with a few gusts. After watching for awhile, Nikolay launched first and immediately climbed to about 100m over, able to penetrate slowly without speed bar. He made the mistake of venturing around to the right, past the ridge, and immediately got stuck, sinking fast, and landing soon after. Dean launched next in really dead air. It seemed we'd lost our wind, although smoke just east of the golf course was still blowing straight at us. Really odd. Dean fought bravely, but lost out, and landed after a short flight. Thinking I was destined for an extended sledder, I laid out, and after 5 minutes of waiting, stronger cycles started coming through again. I launched, and once again, climbed out quickly to about 100m over. Ian and Margit on tandem launched soon after, and the 3 of us enjoyed the next hour and a half of the sweetest soaring I've ever had at Sumas. The lift band was huge, and we drifted around the bowl at will, finding lift almost everywhere, climbing higher as the day wore on. The air was smooth, and not too cold. As the sun began to set, we headed out to an easy landing. An awesome day - Robin

2/10
Sumas
Fog dissipating this morning then a mix of sun and cloud. High 10
0% POP
080° at 11 knots
-1.5°
/1000'
(stable)
1000 m
3200 ft.
Woodside Report - Lee reported several pilots flew Woodside for 2 flights scratching out 30 minutes per flight, as the east winds never materialized and the air was smooth.

2/9
Woodside
Fog dissipating this morning then a mix of sun and cloud. High 10
0% POP
320° at 8 knots
-1.5°
/1000'
(stable)
1233 m
4000 ft.
Woodside Report - I spent the morning working on my computer and making calls and the weather just kept getting better and better. When I talked to Alan he said there was a bank of fog east of Woodside right to the ground, but he could see Cheam. There were CU forming on the front of Woodside by 11:00 am despite the stable lapse rate. So we decided to go flying.

By the time I was ready to drive up, Andy had arrived (who has been skiing and flying at Hemlock), then Norm and Bev, and we met Ian J and Alan at the road up. Norm flew first and showed us it was soarable, Bev launched after Norm and flew to the Ranch, I followed Norm and we hit cloudbase in a few turns. Nicole and Ihor showed up as I launched and soon we were all soaring. I had a 45 minute flight and followed Norm out as he went to work and I changed gliders and headed back up with Ian and Jim Mansell (our last student from 2003) and Jim had a nice flight getting his first thermal turns in! Ian launched and met Nicole in the air as the clouds rolled in and shut them down (Nicole and Alan were still up from the first launch). I waited for it to get a bit sunnier and launched into a nice cycle that took me above launch immediately and I climbed up to 1000 meters and soared with an eagle (getting within 6 feet at times!). Alan was making his way up over launch from the sink that flushed Ian and Nicole, and I flew over launch to get another thermal and as I passed over I got nothing but sink so I top-landed to drive down. Alan was still soaring at 5:00 pm when I started working on the barn renovations - Jim

2/8
Woodside
Cloudy with sunny periods. 30 percent chance of showers over eastern sections. High 9
30% POP
310° at 5 knots
-2.0°
/1000'
(stable)
800 m
2800 ft.
Woodside Report - it was cloudy on the mountain until 1:00pm, and Norm launched first into nice cycles, but missed out and had ashort flight as the clouds closed in again. We waited for 20 minutes for the clouds to open up and then Colleen launched and got low, but hung in below lower launch before getting to cloudbase and flying until she froze. Nicole launched and never got below launch for over 1:30. Thomm also had a good flight getting whited-out at times. Others flew and had smooth flights with no problems, about 10 pilots flew in total. No outlandings or tree landings today, everyone made it into Eagle Ranch with ease.

Gerry's video showed the problem with the air at launch yesterday - the cycles were straight in at launch at the level of the ribbons, but when the gliders inflated the strong south component hit the gliders hard and if the pilots didn't control it immediately they were tossed about pretty hard.
2/7
Woodside
Cloudy with sunny periods. A few showers over eastern sections. High 8.
20% POP
310° at 15 knots
-2.0°
/1000'
(stable)
800 m
2800 ft.
Woodside Report - my forecast was pulled before the 7:00 am update and the upper level winds ended up being somewhat higher than 15 knots, but we flew anyway (or at least some of the crazier ones!).

I was elected "wind technician" by Alan and Bob on the first flight around 11:00 am. We arrived to steady inflow winds but it got stronger as I set up. I waited 10 minutes or more for a lull and when I pulled up my wing I had a nice inflation and was immediately pulled aloft. Not much penetration on a loaded Keara, but I wan't going backwards. I climbed to cloudbase without turning. I also got brave and flew towards the towers north, and got to the top of the ridge in a few passes, but it took a long time to get back to launch! After 20 minutes or so the others launched and we were flying together. I started to get very cold and decided to head over the back to the gas station where Rob picked me up.

We headed back to Eagle Ranch and assembled a group of 10 and headed back up the mountain, Bob was landing at Riverside and Alan was still soaring. At launch Don S, Greg B and a few other HGers were setting up as Gerry L was videoing the mayhem that was to happen next. I launched first again and was yanked into the air so violently one of my biners was twisted 90 degrees and the wing was connected by the gate (now these are tough biners but I was a bit nervous so I flew out to land after 40 minutes landing at the Ranch). Most of the launches following mine were hairy according to witnesses. Rob S was going to win the "Chimp of the Day Award" for a near tree landing followed by a skid landing back on launch, until the third shift arrived and made Rob look good!

There was a weird shear layer just above launch, about where a wing would end up inflating that was turbulent. This was what was getting everyone who tried to launch, because above that it was smooth as silk. No hands flying, with a lift band all the way to the highway. I was at 500 meters at the end of the ridge and needed it all to land at the Ranch because of the headwind. But a few of us flew, with some getting 2 hours total airtime.

Nicole says Sunday is going to be better! Score: Trees - 1, Pilots - 10.

2/6
Stay Home
Rain. High 8.
80% POP
250° at 15 knots
-2.0°
/1000'
(stable)
600 m
2600 ft.
Valley Report - you didn't miss anything if you stayed home. It was raining east of Abbotsford til dark, but there was a beautiful rainbow near Matsqui for a while. Saturday looks awesome.

2/5
Stay Home
Increasing cloudiness. Rain beginning this afternoon. Fog patches early this morning. High 8.
80% POP
150° at 27 knots
-2.2°
/1000'
(stable)
1200 m
3800 ft.
Valley Report - it didn't rain until later, but it was windy.

2/4
Woodside between showers
Periods of rain ending this morning then cloudy. Rain or snow eastern sections this morning. Fog patches early this morning. High 8
40% POP
320° at 13 knots
-2.2°
/1000'
(stable)
1200 m
3800 ft.
Vancouver Report - it was a beautiful, sunny day with nice CU forming.

Woodside Report -There were a couple of flying windows yesterday at Woodside, between the clouds, snow, and changing winds. The east wind didn't really manifest there until very late, about 4:30 or so. Alan, Nicolai and I had a couple of nice flights, with some light lift to be found in front of the knob - Robin

Valle Report - Jeffrey and Brent are back from Valle, having spent the week after us watching the comp. Lots of spills and adventure at the Comp, as Brent mentioned some Canuck other than Amir and Annelies that broke an arm landing at the town LZ. Brent is sending a report with pictures soon.

2/3
Woodside between showers
A few showers. High 2-5
40% POP
240° at 8 knots
-2.0°
/1000'
(stable)
1200 m
3800 ft.
No pilot reports from the Valley, but the rain held off until after 3:00 pm so it could have been flyable.

2/2
Sumas
Cloudy with sunny periods. High 5
0% POP
120° at 20 knots
-2.5°
/1000'
(unstable)
1200 m
3800 ft.
Edmonton Report - when I landed it was -25 and foggy and the rental car had square tires? Now I know why I live in BC! Did anyone fly in the valley?

2/1
Sumas
Cloudy with sunny periods. A few showers mainly this afternoon. Flurries over higher elevations and eastern sections. High 5
30% POP
120° at 14 knots
-2.5°
/1000'
(unstable)
1200 m
3800 ft.
Sumas Report - I was nursing a cold and decided to stay home as Ian, Rob S and Ihor flew Sumas. Quite a few fliers out at Sumas getting up to 1:00 in nice lift (+3.0 m/s). No road reports but I doubt Ian would have hiked in! Kelly reported a nice bike ride on the dyke.

1/31
Woodside
Cloudy with sunny periods. A few showers mainly this afternoon. Flurries over higher elevations and eastern sections. High 5
40% POP
200° at 6 knots
-2.2°
/1000'
(unstable)
800 m
2700 ft.
Woodside Report - we flew a few flights at Woodside today, extended sledders mostly. You can drive to the parking lot as most of the snow is gone.

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 Clup 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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