FlyBC "Site of the Day Archives" - January/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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Vancouver Weather - very wet! and windy! BC Ferries cancels sailings from the mainland due to high winds!
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Woodside Report - the weather cleared out by 2:00 pm, but it was "blown out".
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Woodside Report - we didn't think it was going to stop raining so we started on some non-flying projects. At 9:30 am, Jan K was knocking on the door after flying in. He said he drove Andy up the mountain after Andy landed after a 45 minute flight! Apparently, Andy had to land to get the snow out of his cells!
| We headed up the mountain around 11:00 am, and Colleen also bagged a flight as Andy and Jan drove down.
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Woodside Report - few desperados arrived but it was too windy, then it started raining hard. Then the sun came out at 4:00 pm, but when we got to launch it was way too strong to even get out of the truck!
|  Ozone Magnum available now FlyBC News. Order your test flight now! New Performance Flying Trailer - Jocky Sanderson's latest Flying Movie shot using a high-speed lab camera for the best slow-motion sequences ever seen. Flown on Ozone gliders. FlyBC Paragliding has the new Ozone DVD 2005 in stock now, see the news release Ozone News . Never Ending Thermal DVDs are also in stock for Christmas 2005.
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Valle Report - sixth and final valid task ran and many Canucks in goal (all of them I think). Results have not been posted at 8:30 am, but Amir is either 4th or 5th overall!
| Monarca 2006 Cumulative Results after 5 tasks!  Day 2 Action - photo by Amir Izadi  Alex Raymont landing at goal - photo by Amir Izadi Woodside Report - too windy and cloudy to waste a drive out. Space Shuttle Challenger's 20th Anniversary - twenty years ago today, Challenger exploded during the rollover phase after launch. Seven astronauts/pilots died that day. A good example of how aviation can go wrong no matter how prepared a pilot can be. Fly Safe! 
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Monarca Cup, Valle de Bravo Report - Amir Izadi is in 5th place again overall, against 124 competitors flying a stock Ozone Mantra!
Monarca 2006 Cumulative Results after 5 tasks! |  Three Kings rocks at Valle - photo from Monarca Cup Home Page Cochrane Report - it was definitely flyable at Cochrane, maybe even a bit strong, but I was stuck at a desk for the afternoon. I hope others got out to fly! Abbotsford Report - moderate to severe turbulence from 15,000 feet to the runway! Gusts to 35-40 knots, with an interesting runway dance once on the ground, not typical for Abbotsford.
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Calgary Report - nice day with light winds in the AM. It looked soarable in the PM, but work got in the way! And then it was dark. Maybe tomorrow. Greg H is heading west and should be soon seen on a hill in Chilliwack, some serious competition for us locals.
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Valle Report - most of the Canadian Team in goal today! Nicole has more posts at WCSC.
| Tapalpa Report - Jan 24, 2006 - Last day of the Tapalpa Trip. Got to launch about 11:30AM. Wind coming in nicely. Lots of American wind dummies on a tour. Lots of interesting launches even though they were P3's Even the instructor ass-canned off launch. Darren launched about 12:30 and was starting to get low. I launched shortly after. I ended up following Darren down the mountain and he hit a big one from the flats, It took him to 10,000+ and he went for another cross country for 32km plus and 2 hours! I missed the thermal boat and landed after about 45 minutes. Good flight for the last day though. Picked up Darren about 4:00PM and back to the hacienda for a quick nap then back out for a night on the town. Had a good dinner then the tequila started flowing... One of the locals started getting rowdy with some broken bottles and our Dr. friend from the Yukon joined in and soon there were tables tipped over, glass and spilled booze everywhere! We got hold of the owner so he wouldn't get the federaldes involved and everthing was cool. We slept in for a 2:00AM departure but we made Guadalajara in plenty of time - Garry H  Garry H heading out for a therm - photo by Darren  Darren heading out for a therm - photo by Darren  Darren at 9000' after finding a therm - photo by Darren  Garry got these locals to help packing up - photo by Garry H  Darren asking some locals for help packing up - photo by Darren  Barry's foot after a crash, day 4 - photo by Darren  Barry's sense of adventure wasn't dampened - photo by Darren
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Tapalpa Report - Yesterday, sunday, Darren and I flew into the same area trying to make the
San Marcos ridge but we sunk out in a small town by the freeway for 32km
linear.
|  a photo of the same area north of Tapalpa shot last year - photo by JPR Been hitting 3000+ meters. Some big bad air out there at 6.8 up and some 7´s down. Had a heck of a time hitching back. And the big hangover didn't help either. We went to some Karaoki bar the night before and cleaned them out of Tequila. Bad news yesterday, a pilot from the Yukon that has been down here for a month suffered a big collapse straight off to the left in front of launch and had to chuck laundry. It didn´t fully open and he hit hard. No back protection. He was walking when he went for Xrays and they said he had a collapsed disk but don´t know if he had it from before. He wanted cigarettes and beer, so I guess that is a good sign. Today he is going to Guadalajara for a CAT scan. So we should find out how he is doing tonight. After Darren did the 32km sunday he did another one today. He is turning into a sky pig and doesn´t want to do sledders any more. I just flew to the Tapalpa turn off today. I hit 3160m above launch and had a 40 percent collapse with a small cravatte that I had to realy lean and pump out so I didn´t realy want any more rough stuff today - Garry H Valle Report - there is a problem at the Monarca Cup 2006 website reporting the results, so you may have to go to the flight logs Nicole is leaving at WCSC. Two days, two valid tasks and Jim Orava came in 3rd place! on day two, and Amir and Alex have made it into goal both days flying their Ozone Mantras against some full on comp wings, good work guys. Nicole is doing very well in the comp too, flying her new UP Trango II.
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Woodside Report - another skunky day at Woodside, started out rainy, then drizzle, then the sun started to shine. Justin showed up for a flying fix and talked Colleen and me into heading up for a try. We arrived to a foggy launch with strong cycles, but it eventually cleared and I launched and pretty much went straight up. The clouds formed all around me at times, but the lift kept me VFR. I was making some groundspeeds above 5 kms at times, and with speedbar no problem getting up to +20 kms. The only problem was the developing clouds. After 40 minutes I headed out and landed at Stonehenge to test the rotor (there was none, from +20 kms south wind to 10 kms east wind in a few meters but no sheer layers).
|  Maintaining VFR at Woodside - photo by JPR Colleen flew after me logging 53 minutes, and Justin drove down. Another load of desparados went up at 2:00 pm (Thomm, Justin, Rob S, Jim and Colleen) but no one flew as it got stronger.
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Woodside Report - a few sunny breaks appeared around 1:00 pm, but by then we were up our arses in paint. Colleen finally got me off the couch to paint the backroom.
| Tapalpa Gloat Report - Hi guys, Got into Tapalpa on Thursday morning and went for a 30 minute flight. Nothing big happening, starts to blow over the back early in the day. 30 minutes was all I could take after being awake for 30 hours. Friday, Darren and I flew a sledder and an extended sledder then it blew over the back again. Some guys from the Yukon knew of a west hike up site so off we went. After hiking up for 20 minutes the flights lasted 5 minutes. One guy took out a tree, a story that he may tell you about sometime. TODAY WAS EPIC! Flew a 20 minute sledder at 10:00 AM then back up for a 2 hour cross country to a unknown town across the dry lake from San Marcos, topped out at 2800m! I followed Russel, one of the Yukoners, and he sunk out and I kept going. I didn´t think I was going anywhere when I was stuck up above the corn patches and haciendas up in behind Tepec for 45 minutes, but as soon as I hit the cliffs I was off. +6.8m/sec in some places. One big collapse and some rough rodeo riding. I didn´t know where I was going so I gave it up. Awesome day, big flights by all. No cable for my cam so the pics will come when I get back. Regards, Garry H.
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Woodside Report - I worked until 1:30 pm and headed out to the Ranch thru many showers
figuring the day was a bust and Blanchard would have been a safer call.
Problem is all my gear is at Woodside!
| I talked Colleen into driving up and she hiked from Lower Launch while I was setting up. Just as I got hooked in, the Woodside Cloud enveloped me at launch. It cleared a few times but not enough to be sure I wasn't sucked into the cloud 'cause it was pretty windy. Finally at 4:30 pm, it cleared right off and I launched.  Camera flash caught the fog and some snow flakes - photo by CMV Some lift from thermals off the road, but not enough to extend my flight past dark. Landed at Stonehenge with a pretty damp Mantra due to the fog and snow at launch. It is drying in the back room ready for Saturday.  Chilliwack lighting up in the distance past the rain clouds - photo by JPR Valle de Bravo Report - Steve H and I have been in Valle de Bravo for a week and we are getting lots of flying in. We are not yet XC experts, but we are getting high every day . . . and we are working on it. Jim Orava "learned me a good technique" for reversing without switching toggles so you will be impressed!! I have no pictures to share yet because I left my stupid camera cable at home : ( Perhaps I'll be able to send some next week!! Steve says, "haha mudsuckers, have a nice wet time!" - Take care, Brent Lavangie  Nicole shot this picture while having a great flight in Valle, stolen from WCSC flight log page.
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Bridal Report - Alan kept watching the clouds and felt it wasn't soarable until too late in the day. Landing at Abbotsford at 7:30 pm was rougher than normal with fairly strong SE winds, and light showers.
| Valle, Mexico Report - Nicole, Alex R, Jim O, Graham and a few others are in Valle for the Monarca Cup 2006 . Cloudbases to 12,000' and hazy skies should make for a tough comp, all the big names are there.
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Cochrane Report - all the way out to Muller's it looked good, west wind along the route and as I pulled into town, I saw a red wing kiting! Another desperado is out!
| By the time I drove up the hill, the wind had swung around 180 degrees and was blowing over the back. The kiter was Greg H who was packing up. It was not meant to be despite sunny skies and nice CUs. New Zealand Nationals Report - Abe Laguna took 1st place Serial Class and 2nd place overall flying his Mantra at the New Zealand Nationals. Abe is truly an international man of mystery- he speaks with a strange latin accent and claims the US as his home, but usually writes to us from other random faraway countries. Congratulations Abe, and have fun in Australia!  Abe is on the white Mantra in New Zealand
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Abbotsford Report in the late afternoon, it started clearing and it may have been soarable at Woodside, but it would have been dark before I arrived there.
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Chile Report - still surviving the Chile experience.
We have not missed a day of flying for weeks now, with the shortest flights lasting over half an hour.
Earlier, Askia said I was obsessed with flying, but after her big grin from making it to the beach for the first time today,
and the way she hops out of bed to check the weather every day I know she is too.
It should only take us about six months to get all the sand out of our gear and bodily crevices,
but the trip has been fantastic. Savouring the last four days in Iquique before we head for Santiago and home - see you soon, wish you were here - Askia + Jeremy
|  Jeremy's self-portrait in Chile  Askia and the Chilean Sunset Brad's Thailand Update - here is the nurse that accompanied the rescue helicopter that came looking for the treed-paraglider on our last days in Thailand.  Official Thai Rescue Nurse  Official Thai Rescue Chopper
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Woodside Report - another interesting flying day! I decided this was the day to start exercising so I lightened up my kit and got dropped off at the bottom at 9:15 am, to hike up. Cloudbase was just below launch but I figured it would be okay in an hour.
| I kept watching for Andy's tracks, sure that he had already started hiking. I stopped at Joe's swamp to try and reroute the water and was almost to the first switchback when I heard a vehicle. It was Andy driving up? So, we drove up together. So much for my exercise. We arrived at launch and waited a while for it to clear enough to launch and I was first off. Light thermals off the clearcuts and some ridge lift, but I bailed after 15 minutes and headed out. Andy had better luck launching after me and he soared for a while in and out for the clouds and top-landed a few times to wait out the clouds, before driving down to the Ranch. All this before 11:00 am. Others arrived and we headed up in the van, and we waited and waited as the wind picked up and it kept socking in. I was offered Colleen's small Mantra when a window opened, and I launched and was flying out to the clear when I got "cloud-sucked" so fast there was not time for anything but keeping my heading. I popped out going north by the towers! And remained clear of cloud for the rest of the flight. ROb was inspired and launched after me, and was on "big ears" almost immediately.  Jim flying Colleen's small Mantra - copyright CMV We were soaring out front keeping out of the clouds, when I radioed Rob to note the snow squalls near the Ranch. There was a distinct line coming toward us, so we bailed and headed for Harvest Market with good height at around 750 meters. We thought maybe we could make the Agassiz High School but there was big sink on the downwind side, so Harvest was where I landed before Rob.  My view heading east, note all the new lakes on the way to Harvest Market - photo by JPR When we arrived back at the Ranch, there were several hopeful pilots waiting to fly but it was getting too late so we headed to the Sasquatch to eat before heading home. Elk Report - I talked to Alan as he was soaring Elk, and he had to head out due to developing clouds, David and Larry also flew Elk. Kevin and Al were still on launch, but ultimately they flew as the clouds thinned out landing at Eddie's at the same time.
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Woodside Report - at 6:00 am, it looked like Woodside was not a good choice and Blanchard might work, but by 9:00 am the weather picture had changed. On the way out to the Valley on 0 Avenue, we could see Cheam in the clear! And Blanchard was under a vicious towering CU. | Many pilots arrived at noon, and a load was soon at launch in the new 8 seat FlyBC GMC Van. Andy was already in the air several hundred meters over launch, having hiked up earlier. We laid out on various parts of launch, and Al was first off and soon soaring with Andy. I butted my way off launch from the back missing wings on the way and was also soon cloud-surfing. Within 10 minutes all 8 of us were off and climbing. Clouds were forming below us, above us and sometimes around us, so you had to be careful not to get "whited-out". Most pilots maintained VFR wisely. The wind was blowing 20 km+ in the air according to GPS and the clouds below showed it.  Cloud Surfing Woodside (6 unidentified gliders, but I think Alan is one of them) Despite having hand-warmers in my gloves, I was starting to get a bit hypothermic after 2 hours, so I tried top-land to drive down. As I was setting up my approach I saw a huge cloud form in front of launch off one of the clear-cuts and it was heading for me, so I had to peel of towards the South Knoll. The cloud got so big it pushed me and Ben out towards the Fraser River, and we had to surf around the outside to get back north. When it cleared away, we were below launch and had to climb back out. I finally got a good approach and had a smooth landing on launch.  Norm (top Gin glider) and David S (flying a Mantra demo) Ben finally landed at the Ranch just before dark for 3+ hours of flight (having forgotten to attach his speedbar), most others got 2-2.5 hours. Some thermals mixed in with the ridge lift, not bad for the middle of January. See you Sunday for more soaring fun.  Tapalpa picture from 2002 trip Tapapla Report - Barry and I are having a blast down here. It has been smoking hot and the flying has been great. There has been an inversion the last two days so we have to settle with 30-60 minute flights, not complaining though. I got up to 9200ft today and managed a top landing, that is only about 1800ft above launch, but it still sounds pretty damn good. The site is great, but they charge you $85 a week to fly, that must be new. I will send you some pictures on the next email - Darren
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Vancouver Report - more heavy rain warnings, North Vancouver still under evacuation alerts. Property values are hurting in the Riverside area, to be sure!
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Vancouver Report - heavy rainfall. 400 North Vancouver homes ordered on evacuation alert!
| Paragliding in Thailand By Brad Henry, HPAC Tandem Instructor, Xmas & New Year 2006 The plan: get away from the dreary wet coast weather, location - Thailand. I have been meaning fly Thailand for many years, my brother Joseph has lived there for over decade and he too was very interested to learn how to paraglide.  Joseph and Brad Henry So with a FlyBC loaner wing from Jim Reich and one large bag of gear I was ready to go.  Joseph kiting the Santana I have been to third world countries many times and I do know this, you must plan absolutely everything; Accommodation, contacts, medical, civil instability, language, culture nuances, WEATHER patterns, road conditions, vehicle rental etc.  Local Sightseeing We go south from Bangkok; our mission, paragliding sites near a place called Petchburi, Thailand. After three days no launch sites, no pilots. We contacted the Narint local Thai paraglide guru (www.thaiparagliding.com) and he advised that no one is flying because of an unseasonable typhoon from the Gulf of Siam. Great…….  Local Launch Director We drive farther south towards Phuket with the images of light winds, paragliding and scuba diving. The wind gods are not kind, ground handling impossible and we are cold. So we hop on a high speed catamaran featuring a copied movie of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, to the Island of Koh Tao in the Gulf of Siam. We spent three days on the island; we spend two looking for launch site possibilities, there were none. We scuba dived but the water visibility was like talcum soup, a result of the typhoon tossing and turning waves in the Gulf.  Brad . . . not paragliding again! So back we go to the main land to the province Champhon. There is the rumor of great ridge for flying in this area. Using funny hand gestures and sounding pretty stupid (there is no translation for paragliding in Thai) locals help us find the launch. The site: 300 meters high 3 km long, a sweet limestone hedge in the middle of the coastal flatland. Launching was easy considering that the ground was over grown with grass and shrubs up to five high. Needless to say it was perfect ridge soaring, hour and half until sunset.  Local Thai pilot The next day we arrive at the base of the ridge, the local Thai people seemed pretty excited to see us, constantly pointing at the ridge. Of course we give them thumbs up. What we didn’t know was that someone had flown a paraglide into the jungle canopy. We hike up and I launch around 3:30pm. At about 50 meters, and perfect soaring, I radio Joseph about the stream of people including several trucks at launch. He advises that an ambulance had dispatched two nurses, a doctor, search & rescue and fire department personnel looking for a lost paraglide pilot. I am asked to look for a green glider hung up in a tree, imagine a green glider in a tree! Much to my amazement the royal navy Helicopter arrives to the scene, which made flying very very interesting. There are people all over 3 k mountain ridge; waving at me point fanatically and I suppose they are saying “look, look down here”. Flying for a good 1.5 hours I decide to get out of the ruckus and fly to the landing field, where I meet a television team and a mass of village people. I radio Joseph for assistance; he arrives and puts everyone into check with his basic Thai. While driving back to the road junction at the launch site, we are astonished to see, the Thai military, police, fire trucks, another search and rescue team (different color suits than the first team), a base station with flood lights, generators a full blown operation and a roadblock. Imagine this, one freaked out foreign pilot and 100 plus Thai interests looking for him. I would only guess that this lad, who landed into the trees, is all wrapped up in his paraglide shivering waiting for everyone to leave. After all there is no public funding and he would have to pay for his own rescue costs.
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Fraser Valley Report - Alan says several new lakes have formed in the neighbourhood!
| Guadalajara Report - excellent conditions in the Tapalpa area, 73 degree highs, light winds, excellent lapse rates, unlimited ceilings! Darren, Barry, Garry H and a few others are headed south for a good time.
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Woodside Report - the day started rainy, but this webcam pic looked like it was flyable in the afternoon. I was in sunny Calgary where it was clear and very light winds meant no Cochrane soaring.
|  Woodside Webcam Shot
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No flying locally!
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Elk Report - Alan, Davis S and Larry hiked and flew Elk today in soarable but cold conditions. I talked to Alan 60 minutes into the flight and he said David and Larry had flown out frozen, but Alan was still hanging in.
| Woodside WOW Report - January 8th and it was flyable all day. At least 10 pilots or more were out flying multiple flights; Annette logged 4 flights for her personal best record of flights, Andy logged 5 as he hiked up earlier to beat everyone else. Super launching conditions all day with Colleen, Martina, Derek and me getting above launch for a few passes (all on Ozone wings?? Hmmm . . . just a coincidence!). The thermals were trying to break through but they were a bit ratty at times. Landings were mostly by Stonehenge to reduce the dampness on the gliders as the grass never dried out all day. Jeremy And Askia's Chile Report - the area is amazing. We walk out to the foot of a 100´ dune and inflate our wings, minutes later we jump back onto a 2500' mountain with a ridge extending as far as the eye can see in either direction. In my attempts at SATing yesterday, I went from 1500´to 300´and back up about six times in two hours, only landing at about 1500´once in the talc fine sand for a quick break. Askia is learning lots with a local instructor Veronica, six time national female champion. Pictured below she gets high on her first ridge soaring experience. Peace ´n´ Love, jeremy+askia  Askia on her new Buzz over Chile
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Woodside Desperado Report - Thomm, Colleen and I headed up the mountain at noon, despite a few clouds blocking launch. The windsock was showing light inflow. By the time we arrived it was clear, but blowing over the back.
| We headed up the mountain to the North Launch, also blowing over the back there? Then, on the way to the secret East Launch, where Thomm said "Go ahead!". We then started driving down and had to stop at launch to check it out as we passed by (true deperados). It was blowing up lightly at launch so we raced up and laid out and it started to blow catabatic again, but Colleen got off first, and found a thermal over the new house north of #7 and did a few turns it it in North wind. I got off just as Al arrived by himself. Then Thomm launched after some time with Al right after him. As they bunched up at the Ranch the rain started pounding down and they got to the Barn with wet gliders. Beautiful flights with super smooth air.  Jim's view on the way out to to Eagle Ranch - January 7, 2006 Wildfire visible in Fraser Valley January 08, 2006 - 8:44 am By: Mike Hanafin/Claudia Kwan People driving through the Fraser Valley early this morning were treated to a spectacular view. A wildfire erupted on Vedder Mountain south of Chiliwack. Eye witnesses described flames shooting over 30 metres in the air. Chiliwack Fire Department received a number of calls, but the fire was actually on the U.S. side of the border. American fire officials are monitoring the situation, but say there doesn't appear to be any threat of the fire spreading, especially with the recent wet weather. It is confined to a forest area so far, with no buildings in the vicinity. No cause for the fire has been identified.
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| Amount 15 to 25 mm. Windy. High 10. (stable)
Woodside Report - too windy and low cloudbase obscured launch at 3:00 pm - VA7FLR
| Jack Carlson Report - 156 knots straight on the nose all the way from Ottawa to Vancouver, longest flight I have ever made (6:20) - VA7JFC Brad's Thailand Report - Photos Dec 29 Champhon, Khoa Pang mtn. Thailand Khao Pang is another classic XC site, a 3 Km ridge with East and West side take off areas, good flatlands flying and ample landing areas - VE7BJB  Brad Zooming at the one Thailand site he found flyable
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| Amount 15 to 25 mm. Windy. High 10. (stable)
Vancouver Report - low cloud, rain, east wind made it easy to go to work today! I hate it when it is sunny and I am at work.
| New Ultralight Available in Canada - FlyBC has secured rights to market the Kestrel Falcon aircraft in 2006. Plans are to start excavation on the east-west runway at Eagle Ranch as soon as it dries out a bit, and we will have a Falcon at the Ranch for demo flights and training. The Falcon is a two place tandem seat configuration that qualifies for Sport Aircraft certification with the FAA. Powered by a Rotax four stroke engine, the Falcon can cruise at 110 knots economy cruise for 4.5 hours. Amphibious floats are available for the Falcon, as an option.  Kestrel Falcon demonstration aircraft in the California manufacturing facility
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Woodside Report - Derek and Martina reported too much east wind to bother going up, Sumas probably was flyable but no reports came in.
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| Partly cloudy. Patchy fog in the morning. Highs 62 to 67 (stable)
San Diego Report - we had to fly out at 11 am, and it was east wind everywhere on the weather
links so no flying for Colleen and I. | Derek and Martina headed straight for Torrey Pines and were kiting in east wind, when it switched to soarable southwest wind at 10:00 am for about 20 minutes before it blew out (only Derek got in the air before it got too strong). Apparently two gliders were damaged when pilots were kiting too close to the buildings and got dragged into the structures, ripping one glider badly!  We flew by Torrey at about 250 knots and captured this shot, and I can't see any gliders at this time (12:00 noon).
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| Rain in the morning becoming mostly cloudy. Highs 61 to 66. South winds 15-25 mph. (stable)
Woodside Report -
Ho hum . . . 2006 is officially here! Kelly and I drove up to launch around noonish.
Windsock was flat with some nice northerly puffs so we got ready to launch.
Flew out in ultra smooth air without a beep and Kelly not to long afterwards.
Ihor showed up in the L.Z so we went up for another round. It was sprinkling and not much happening with the windsock,
but my wing was already wet from the first flight so what the hell, laid it out and pounded off another forward.
Kinda wet in flight until I was over the highway and landed in light sprinkles.
Ihor was knitting up at launch and flew out after about a half hour.
Kelly drove down (she didn`t want to get her wing wet (ter) .
Had a nice coolie and some food with Kelly at the Sasquatch afterwards.
Nice way to break in the new year! - Thomm | P.S My wing is having a nice night sleeping on the pool table to dry out ...  Thomm's first flight of 2006! San Diego Rain Report - Colleen and I did a quick calculation and we are 4 hours of airtime, so about $375 an hour unless we bag a flight on the 3rd before the plane leaves.  After the rain quit, it was howling until after dark!
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| Partly cloudy in the morning becoming mostly cloudy. Patchy fog in the morning. Highs 61 to 66. Light winds. (stable)
San Diego Report - due to the forecast south winds we headed to an old site we flew in 1997 called Otay Mesa.
|  View out from launch towards Mexico, note the boulders and sagebrush! We flew here confidently in 1997 on a trip with Colleen, Tom Hasek, Ian P, Kelly, Slim and many other fairly novice pilots. Top landings, tandem top-landings and many good soaring flights between the rocks were had that day, but it was much lighter conditions today and we didn't want to hike back up. Plus, the rocks seem bigger than I remember? Perhaps we are getting safer with more experience? Back to Torrey so Martina and Derek can bag some flights, but it was crossing from the left (just like Bridal) but the few locals that flew ended up getting blown down wind or sinking out to the beach.  Martina launches for a short flight at Torrey
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| Mostly cloudy with slight chance of rain mainly in the afternoon. Highs 60 to 65. Light winds. Chance of measurable precipitation 20 percent. (stable)
Torrey Report - we arrived at Torrey early in case the impending storm brought soarable conditions, but alas it would not be so.
|  Incoming weather at noon - photo by CMV A few of the locals tried in vain and were soon on the beach. Derek insisted on having a flight after yesterday's airline problems and kited for a bit before I pushed him off the edge!  Derek gets a push (Jim's hamstring should heal by spring) - photo by CMV  Derek doesn't get much lift - photo by CMV  A group of Torrey "desperados" hung out until 4:00 pm, but gave up as it started raining.  Proof that we got rained out! - for the folks at home also sitting in the rain. It is New Years and we headed out to Incahoots Dance Hall for the evening. The girls bought new cowboy boots at the Mall to get in the spirit and they danced all night. The dance floor was crowded all night with two-step, line dancing and even Derek and Jim out for a few dances (but not together).  Hot Cowgirls from Canada!  A local San Diego cowboy, who also danced a mean two-step. |
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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