FlyBC "Site of the Day February 2006 Archive Page" - February/2006
Quote of the Day:
"You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old." - George Burns
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Woodside Report - Greg H drove out to the Ranch hoping to fly, and it was windy with low cloudbases, so he rode his bike up the Woodside Road for a while. The trees were swaying pretty good during the ride. No other reports came in.
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Woodside Report - the day started out looking good, but by 10 am a huge cell blew through and started dumping rain with a lot of wind. I headed in to Vancouver but it looked okay later. No pilot reports.
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Woodside Report - a few flyable periods today, but no takers. Rain in the afternoon started to melt the snow.
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Sumas Report - the winds were way too strong to venture up the mountain so off to the Ranch, where it snowed all afternoon and evening.
| Elk Report - a snowy flight for the hikers at Elk. Despite strong east valley winds, the group was able to launch and fly to Eddie's. Carl mentioned having to do wingovers to dump the snow out of his cells?
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Woodside Report - Martina said her flight went something like this:
"beep . . beep . . . beep . . . beeeep! . . . BEEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEEP! . . .
beep . . beep . . . beep" over and over again til she got frozen and landed!
| Woodside Report # 2 - Have a look at your webcam photo attached. Andy and I were in the air when it was taken at that time. We kited up on launch around 11 am for a bit before we launched. The snow cleaned up our wings and we were off. It was very unstable (+ 5m/s - 4.5 m/s ) but some really nice stuff too! An eagle joined me as soon as I got in the air and he was at cloudbase in no time. I visited the white room a couple of times but it was freeeeeeeeezing, I must have thawed and refroze my hands about six times but eventually I was so cold I had to land after about 1hr 50 mins. There were others heading up when I left just when another big blue hole was opening up, so they likely had good flights too! - Thomm  Thomm claims he and Andy are in this picture! I can't find them?
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Woodside Report - so windy that trees were falling over, but it got sunny later!
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Woodside Report - Justin and I cut off work early today in hopes of some ridge soaring, but no luck. We drove up to launch and waited for a couple of hours, die hards. The winds did not let up and it was snowing. Oh well, maybe next time! - Darren.
| The winds died later but it was raining by then, according to Derek.
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Woodside Report - low cloudbase and rain showers all day.
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Woodside Report - I had to head to the Valley for a call, so I contacted Martina and Andy to see if it was flyable. Andy was heading home after 4 sledders, and I took Martina up for a flight. She tried to coerce me into hiking to retrieve the Ford, but it didn't look worth it (10 minute flight vs 1 hour hike?). She eventually flew twice landing in the "big girl landing spot".
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Woodside Report - finally a weather report was right! We flew Woodside from 10:00 am on, and some pilots actually stayed above launch later. There was east wind everywhere else, but cycles came up at Woodside all day. New students Mark and John had three great flights! Annette and John logged 3 or 4 flights with her last one being the flight of the day.
|  Annette launched around 5:00 pm and got way above launch Norm and Rob waited until later and were rewarded with some good soaring in the glass-off around 4:30 pm.  Norm and Rob north of launch Elk Report - Ivan said 7 pilots flew Elk and some soared in nice cycles up launch.
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Sasquatch North Report - Andy tried driving up to this new secret launch,
but it got icy at 3 kms, so he turned around. We waited for the wind to get below 50 km/hr
before Alex, Natalyia and Garry went kiting. The rest of us stayed in the Barn trying to keep warm. It didn't calm down til after midnight.
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Woodside Report - winds over 60+ kms from the NE. Some sections of Langley without power form more than 12 hours.
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Woodside Report - 50 km+ winds all day, hoping Saturday looks better :-(
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Woodside Report - strong north winds all day. The only person brave enough to take a wing out was Nicole down at Vanier Park! Good kiting winds there.
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Woodside Report - extremely windy!
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Vancouver Report - gusts to 60 kph noted on NOAA.
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Woodside Report - about 60 flights today in excellent training conditions. New students Barbi and Rob got their first tandems and ground school. Annette and John logged 4 solos with Annette's first reverse launch. Perfect launching conditions. Trees - 0; Pilots - 60.
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Woodside Report - a crowd of pilots was assembled at Sumas LZ at the east end of North Parallel Road
waiting for me to show up, when we heard Andy was conducting his third flight at Woodside!
Earlier Derek had commented that his house was shaking because it was so windy in Agassiz but
apparently Woodside Launch was in the lee and working.
So back to Woodside rather than try and figure out the gates and retrieve logistics at Sumas.
| We arrived at Woodside launch at noon and it was coming in straight at 10 km/hr or more (reversible) and we started pounding off flights. Some even stayed up in small thermals for up to 20 minutes, but mostly sled rides right up until dark. The weird thing was that we had east valley winds all day, but it cycled in at launch 90% of the time and the air was smooth.  Andy climbed up in this thermal for a while as we drove up.
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Woodside Report - Kelly called to say the wind was "howling" at the Ranch making it hard to even drive.
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Woodside Report -
About 9 am at home there were no indictators that it was windy like Enviro Can said it was and knowing full well by the climbing pressure it was correct, but I was in "full desperado mode" thinking maybe I could get in a flight before it got too windy.As I got closer to Kilby my hopes were extinquished by the time I got to the Sasquatch. | There were whitecaps in the bay but I still headed to the "world famous" Eagle Ranch and looked through the telescope at the windsock. It was blowing and wagging in every direction and it was about 20 -25 kms outflow on the ground.Everything I expected so I shed a tear or two and headed home to do some yardwork - Thomm
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Woodside Report - apparently spring flying is here! Andy, Justin, Rob, Kevin and an un-named pilot on a red/yellow Vulcan were flying high over Woodside. 2-3 hour flights, +2 m/s therms, 1050 meter cloudbases.
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Woodside Report - Martina and an un-named pilot were heading to Woodside around noon.
| New Pilot Report - on Sunday morning, our daughter Amy and hubby Michael had little baby Isobel. 6 lbs 2 oz. We hope she will be flying with us soon! Jim & Colleen  Isobel Aislin Quinn was born at 3:35AM on Sunday morning. Long Distance Record Attempt Report - Steve Fossett took off in the GlobalFlyer today and is heading for the record books if he makes his 43,114km journey which should take 80 hours (538 km/hr).  The Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer aircraft arrives at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida January 12, 2006. The aircraft, piloted by Steve Fossett, is being relocated from Salina, Kansas, to Kennedy's Space Shuttle Landing Facility to begin preparations for an attempt to set a new world record for the longest flight made by any aircraft. note the drogue chute, just like a topless HG
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Woodside Report - Andy, Norm and Derek discovered the air was very stable, not leeside like forecast.
| Woodside Report #2 - Derek drove me up Woodside at around 3pm, Andy was just driving down after hiking up to retrieve his jeep, and said it still looked flyable. Got up to see...no wind at all. So I set up far back to do a forward (good thing we got all that practice doing forwards in Europe!) but it turned tail and my wing wouldn't come up. Tried again & got off, earning my "Downwind Derek" badge. Air was smooth til your field, then I hit some strange air. It was like I hit a wall, and then the air picked me up and moved me around the sky. Maybe convergence (?) as I was heading west and the smoke on the ground was blowing east. Landed facing north, and then Derek & I went to the Hot Springs in Harrison to warm up - Martina p.s. Since the disappearance of my harness, I had to fly with my risers clipped in to my belt loops! Elk Report - Luke and David reported light conditions, but flyable.
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Woodside Report - a great day after months of rain! Andy started off the day with an hourplus of airtime and top-landing to warmup. Derek had a 30 minute flight at the same time, also landing to warmup.
| Annette started flying her new Buzz at around 10:00 and was flying all day (3 flights) until it started blowing catabatic. Lots of hopefuls started arriving around noon, and everyone flew a few times.  Woodside Hopefuls Alan logged 45 minutes mid-day, Colleen had a good flight around 2:00 pm and Norm waited it out til later and logged 1:45 getting to cloudbase many times. 3:00 pm seemed to be the magic time. Nicole and Justin got to 'base at that time while others sunk out.  Norm "specking out" at Woodside Elk Report - Kevin, Larry and David hiked up Elk late in the day, lots of snow but you could walk on top of the crust. They logged nice 25 minute flights.
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Vancouver Report - lots of trees down, power outages all over, and lots of rain mixed with high winds.
| Grandpa Munster passes on - Al Lewis, the cantankerous Grandpa Munster from the '60s show "The Munster's" died last night according to AP.  Al Lewis - 1910-2006
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Valley Report - there may have been a flyable window at Woodside in the AM, but rain and wind kicked in later.
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Woodside Report - rumour was that Andy was hiking up, but no flight reports.
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Cochrane Report - sunny skies, nice breeze, but too cross from the North. I waited for a while until it was getting dusky and headed back to Calgary.
|  San Diego Report - I love San Diego, and don't miss the rain - Russ Ondeck  Torrey Pines Soaring - photo by Russ Ondeck  Delvin getting ready to launch - photo by Russ Ondeck  Blossom LZ Refreshments - photo by ?  Back at Blanchard (too windy for PGs) - photo by Russ Ondeck
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Vancouver Weather - very wet! and windy! BC Ferries cancels sailings from the mainland due to high winds!
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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
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