FlyBC "Site of the Day July 2007 Archive"
"If you want to grow old as a pilot, you've got to know when to push it, and when to back off." - Chuck Yeager
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Woodside Report - Miguel and I went up around 2:00 pm, where a HGer was setting up when we left the Ranch. When we arrived his driver as heading down but we couldn't see him so I assumed he had landed. There was a shadow crossing over launch but it was a Bald Eagle climbing high above launch, so it was soarable. Miguel suited up and clipped in his new Rush and was soon in the air and I guided him into a nice thermal and he was soon at 900+ meters in the same thermal as the Eagle (who had left the area). Miguel flew for about 35 minutes and then headed over to Harvest for his first mini-XC flight as we were headed to Bridal for a 4:00 pm meeting with Derek and Martina. 
Miguel's new Rush as he heads to Harvest at 900 meters - by JPR Bridal was good and Miguel logged another 1:45 before heading out to land as I tried out the new Mojo2 and Oxygen Harness combo (everything fits in a small backpack, great for fooling lifties at ski resorts!). Good soaring conditions even later as I top-landed when Rob arrived to go flying at 6:00 pm. Derek and Klaus were flying around Upper Launch and Derek top-landed to watch Klaus try. Rob launched and made it to Elk and back to Launch. View this youtube video to 3:15 into the movie to see Norm's Zoom in action, but keep watching for "how to not topland at Bridal at 3:51! Miguel had lost his cell at Woodside so we went back to check for it at launch but it was gone, so he flew one last 40 minute fligt into the Ranch, not a bad day for starting at 2:00 pm.
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Bridal Report - excellent lift today, Ihor reported +7 m/s, Alan +5 m/s. A little rough at times with windy landing conditions around 5:00 pm. | There is a new Mascot in the LZ, not yet named. 
Bridal's new tenant - by Normando Looks cute but don't mess with it, it trapped and killed a baby rabbit last week despite best efforts of Alan to keep them apart.
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Woodside Report - not a good student day but great for 2 tandems to Harvest Market in windy ridge lift. Later flights by Derek and Martina had super smooth lift all the way to the Ranch, but they elected to land at Harvest as it was still gusty on the ground. |
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Woodside Report - a normal day at Woodside, too many students laid out without being clipped in
causing a jam-up at launch, but I was flying tandem and took priority and launched with Vickie
and we had a nice soaring flight but it was too windy to make it to the Ranch so we landed at the old LZ.
Our speed went from 32 kph to 9 kph at the 300 meter level over the ridge, very defined layer,
so we suspended student flights until 3:30 pm. | 
Vickie's feet over Woodside - by Vickie Lock The second tandem with Andrew went even better and we soared with Norm around 900 meters near cloudbase and went over to Harvest with Colleen following us out, pretty strong on launch but the ridge lift was minimal for her flight. Around 3:30 pm, we sent off Miguel, Emilio, Bev and James and they had little success staying up, a "piano" as the Mexicans call it. We went for one last flight before 6 pm, and it was also a "piano". The mosquitos are still nasty despite fogging, larvacide and wind. Wear good deet when you come to Woodside.
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Bridal Report - after a rodeo ride at Woodside with Colleen heading to Harvest, we went to Bridal to meet up with Adam, our BASE friend and the plan was for him to fly his wingsuit past launch if we got to 3000 feet. The only time we got high enough he couldn't rig his suit in time and we sunk down too low, so we top-landed and ditched the suit for a normal freefall off the tandem. That went way better! The air was pretty funky at or below launch but smoothed out for Miguel to fly later, and he even got a late flight off Woodside, landing in a fog of Mosquitoes |
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Bridal Report - lots of "knobs" soaring the "Knob", with poor ridge rules. Several pilots decided not to launch as the traffic was too intense. |
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Woodside Report - Miguel came out to fly with Emilio and they both got some thermals to play with around noon, with Miguel way above Martina and Derek (who had been in the air for about an hour with Martina's vario working better than Derek's). It started to get windy as Norm launched and Emilio just squeaked into the field. Then we went to Bridal. | Bridal Report - Miguel got to fly first as I waited for our tandems to arrive getting about 45 minutes. I took Josephine tandem and we were up for about an hour when she started to get cold, so we tried to top-land but we were too light to get down in the strong thermals near launch, so we flew to the bottom to get Jules for his flight. His flight was shorted but he flew the entire flight, not bad for a Dash 8 captain!
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Bridal Report - the skies cleared by 4:00 pm, and when Martina, Thomm and I arrived there was already 5 gliders in the air, and Greg H had just top-landed. Thanks to Greg for driving my truck down. | Nice launch conditions, good thermals right off launch. I was fumbling around in the bowl for a while and couldn't get it together enough to climb to the Saddle, but those who did were fighting to keep out of the clouds. I finally headed back to launch to top out and no problem climbing there, just disorganized down low on the toe near the bowl. I watched Derek and Thomm trying to top-land and Thomm got in first, followed my me, then Martina (#2), Derek and Rob. There were only 2 vehicles so Thomm, Martina and I relaunched for another 35 minutes of soaring. Thomm top-landed 3 more times, just to say he could. One of the cars was Igor's who had landed in Hope at the airport, and he even got a ride back to Bridal.
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Woodside Report - low cloudbase most of the afternoon, but it may have been flyable at times. |
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Woodside Report - while we were working in Vancouver on a landscaping project, we saw low cloudbase and no sun all day. Later the heavens dumped heavy rain as we cleaned up the mess we created. | Derek called around 4:00 pm and said it looked flyable, but we were too far away to join him. Monday looks like more rain with clearing on Tuesday for the rest of the week, so flying should improve on the worst weather season in 10 years :-(
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Woodside Report - And you call yourself a desperado! You have been removed from the list ! | I was there for about three hours waiting for some kids to come out and play but no one around. The sun peeked through many times and it was soarable with good cycles up tp 20km from the SW - W. I dont like to fly alone so tearfully had to leave -- sniff sniff 
Woodside - by Woodside WebCam Left around 4 and it was starting to sprinkle when I got to Dewdney - Thomm
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Woodside report - heavy rain and low cloudbase, forecast is bad until Monday. |
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Woodside Report - after a rainy day in Vancouver, I had a call in Chilliwack until 3:15 pm, and when I came out the sky had opened up and the wind was calm? A few towering CUs in the distance and a huge cell coming from Sumas dampened Kevin's enthusiasm, but Norm and I met at the Ranch anyway. | We loaded up the Ford and went up to launch, thermic cycles but not strong. No birds? Towering CU in all quadrants, but sunny and clear over Woodside. Harrison Bay was calm too, so I launched and managed to get above launch for a while to the North. I was starting to sink a bit as Norm launched but didn't top-land yet as the flight was just starting and besides Norm will find us some lift. Well . . . Norm kept hunting but eventually he scratched down to the treesnear Lower Launch and had to head out. I wasn't far behind him, and we landed near the Barn to avoid the mosquitoes. I logged 23 minutes, he probably got 15. Later Derek came over to fly but it started to rain, but was nice enough to give us a ride up to retrieve, thanks again. Wouter's France Report - Just returned from two and a half week of flying in France. First week was almost completely rained out but luckily it got better. Still no spectacular thermals due to stable conditions. Got about 30 flights in, though, on almost 10 different places. The last day I was lucky and was able to fly XC in Annecy, soaring up the "teeth" before crossing the lake and finally landing at Doussard LZ. Beautiful landscapes and very good XC potential if the weather permits. Thanks for the advice on the Gin Gangster, I like it! Very dynamic and agile, ideal for soaring tight spots. Check for pictures in this photoalbum: http://picasaweb.google.nl/gindjensun/PahoJuli2007 Fly safe! - Wouter
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Woodside Paramotor Report - a bad day for free-fliers with low cloudbases, but Bill got his first of many paramotor flights in light winds, good solid launch on his new Mojo and smooth flying to a perfect dead-stick touchdown. | Looking for a home close to Woodside? - 400 unit Mt. Woodside development underway By Lorene Keitch The Observer Jul 18 2007 Up to 400 new homes are scheduled for construction in Harrison Mills in a new project kicking off this weekend. It has been a long time coming, but the Harrison Highlands project officially launches this Saturday, July 21 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The project, marketed as “affordable, active living,” is split into five phases. Harrison Highlands, located on the left-hand side of Mt. Woodside heading out from Agassiz, will include lots with prepackaged home designs along with townhomes, duplexes and condos. Burnaby-based Newgen Group of Companies is managing the project while Kerkhoff Construction Ltd. is building it. “We’re basically building a new community,” Kerkhoff Construction Ltd. president Bill Kerkhoff says. “It’s quite a large project and there’s a lot of facets to it in order to get it to go.” According to Observer records, the project plan was first unveiled to the District in December, 2003. The initial plan included a resort-style community with a lodge complex and 250-person conference centre, spa, lounge, restaurant and fitness facilities. However, it was altered to a more community-orientated development that would attract a full range of people, Kerkhoff says, due to Council prompting. Councillor Mel Jorgensen, who sat on Council in the last term as well, said Council “stipulated a number of things” that had to happen for the project to go ahead. He says there were disagreements in areas such as sewage plants and water systems. “The owners of the property felt it was too onerous on them,” Jorgensen explains. So the project was basically shelved until the new Council was elected in November, 2005. From Kerkhoff’s perspective, it took a new Council and staff at the District for the project to finally move forward. “Initially, the District just wasn’t ready for the project. But now it’s all coming together,” he says. “The new staff (at the District) have been excellent to work with. So, over the last year, we’ve made more headway than the previous four years.” Jorgensen sees Harrison Highlands as a positive project for the community. “It’ll be nice to see a hill-side development,” Jorgensen says. “It’ll be an asset to the community, that’s for sure.” Mayor Lorne Fisher agrees. “It’s going to result in rejuvenation in Harrison Mills,” Fisher says. Fisher says the Mt. Woodside project came up at Council several months ago and was given the go-ahead at that time. He says Council liked a more “trimmed down” modified design than the original proposal for environmental reasons. “It’s a much smaller development than was originally contemplated.” He adds the developer is building a sewage system and a well system for the 400 homes. It was no small feat to bring Harrison Highlands to the construction stage. Larry Burk, director of development services for the District of Kent, explains the District actually created a new zone for the project, called Comprehensive Development (CD), to allow for the development requirments of building on Mt. Woodside. “We’re in a rural area, so rather than do a development variance permit, we created a site-specific zone,” Burk explains. Burk says they adopted a sustainable infrastructure standard with items such as storm water being returned to the ground and a sewage treatment system that is so effective, the effluent could actually be reused for irrigation. Also, the District encouraged compact development for a “reduced footprint” overall, Burk says. There are still some more items that must go through Council, related to specific phases in the project such as development permits. But Kerkhoff says work has already begun on the infrastructure. The ribbon-cutting ceremony happens at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, July 21 at the Harrison Highlands Discovery Centre, 1967 Lougheed Hwy. Kerkhoff says anybody can show up to check out the project. Sale Mountain Launch Upgrades - Some pics of our paragliding site work on Sale Mountain north of Revelstoke Dam. The usual road launch spot is still pretty much the same but with less debris over the bank, on launch. 
Sale Mountain Renovations - by Jerry Livesly If you're planning on using the Sale launch site any time soon, the new contoured area adjacent requires a bit of rake work and smaller bolder picking to smooth things out to allow grass seeding. There are some logs at the end of your calm-air run that could use your chain saw for 2 hours, it was too soft for the bucket to go down the slope too far - Cheers, Jerry
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Woodside Report - someone was smiling on Joel's Stag Team today. Raining like mad in Vancouver, but the line of the cells ended near Abbotsford so we all went flying anyway. Six tandems to complete, with mixed conditions and not a great forecast but we were on the mountain at 1:00 pm, and I launched after Larry (our wind technician) and we were both soaring nicely at or above launch altitude. Soon . . . David and Kevin's tandems were off too. | We managed to get 35 minutes before heading out to do the next round of tandems before the weather deteriorated, landing in semi-gusty conditions at the Ranch. The next three tandems waited on Launch and Derek and Martina volunteered to drive for us, so we were back on launch fast and back in the air with much lower cloudbase. We were not having any issues with cloudsuck, but Derek was! We flew for another 30+ minutes before my passenger was "feeling woosy" taking pictures. We managed a nice landing in gustier conditions. Later it was not possible to fly due to rain and clouds, but we had a great round with Joel's brothers and friends. Thanks to Larry, Martina, Derek, David and Kevin for helping make this a memourable day for Joel!
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Bridal Report - while Miguel and I were "slope-soaring" at Burnaby Mountain, Derek called with a "gloat report" from Upper Bridal Launch. He was waiting for Martina to join him and said it was nice flying. | Russ Ondeck's Hot Truck Report - apparently Russ won't be offering rides in his truck for a while :-). 
Russ's Dodge earlier this week - by Lynette
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Woodside Report - we flew all day, doing tandems with PJ, Dylan from Golden.
Julie flew a tandem with me mid-day as we flew with Norm logging about 1:30 before landing at the Ranch.
No one at Bridal believed we were soaring until they finally gave up and joined Thomm - 2:15, Derek, Norm, Martina (who launched in pretty strong cycles with grace and style) and Julie (first day student) for a beautiful "glass-off" flight in the sunshine. Bridal was still socked in. | 
Julie on the Fiesta heading to the Ranch, with a few un-identified pilots boating around - by JPR
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Woodside/Bridal Report - we flew Woodside early and logged a few student flights until Thomm and Nataliya reported "chunky air and 20 kph headwinds around 1:00 pm. We shutdown student flights then and headed to Bridal. | Good launching conditions at Bridal got several students in the air (Ben and Pavan both flew good flights up to 1:00). Gary K logged 2:35 for his longest Bridal flight, but even the best couldn't get above 1200 meters today due to the inversion and haze. After lunch it was back to launch for a tandem with Jozef's nephew (now called Super Man after his launch posture). We flew for a while until the shade got us and we landed to guide Vicki in for her first Bridal flight followed by Ben and Pavan again. We planned to do one last Woodside flight but launch conditions were strong so we started dinner instead, but Garry H and Derek flew and were soaring with the mosquitos at launch! When they landed they were sprinting to keep away from them.
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Woodside Report - we had a few good flights until 3:00 pm, when the landing conditions got
turbulent due to the coastal breeze kicking in, so we headed to Bridal.
Not a good day for red wings today as you will see. | Bridal Report - we arrived at the LZ and took a load up to Launch to find several wings "knob soaring". Not much lift but enough to stay up close to launch. JP and Dylan launched tandem, and Norm followed. They were checking the air for Gary and Miguel and they said it was a bit strong in the LZ (20-25 kms) so we waited to launch Miguel (flight #2). Eventually it calmed enough to launch Miguel and he had a nice flight with a perfect approach and touchdown near the circle. As we were packing up Jeremy (from Golden) exclaimed "I just saw a red glider launch and spin into the trees!". I said sometimes a top-landing approach looks like a tree landing, but he was sure it was a tree landing. So we radioed up and Tom C said it was indeed a tree crash and the pilot was talking and appeared okay, Rob should have trimmed more trees near the stump I guess. No name on the pilot. We went back to Woodside as launch would be tied up with a rescue at Bridal for a last flight at 8:15. Woodside Report #2 - arriving at launch at 8:30 pm, Colleen and Annette launched and were ridge soaring to the North. I launched Miguel and he soared a bit and I sent him straight to the Barns but he he was moving slow. As we were launching Kamloops fliers Pavel and Majec arrived at launch and were getting ready too. Gary launched before them and was seen trying to thermal rather than bucking the headwinds and he ended up in Riverside. The Kamloops fliers launched and were soaring out front. Colleen just beat Miguel to the Ranch and as he was on final as I heard Majec have a collapse which he over-braked and he went parachutal on his red wing and spun it into the trees just behind the dead snag near the Lower Launch area. He was yelling "I am okay!", which I heard from Launch so no panic. Problem was it was getting dusky and the mosquitos were nasty. But he was out of the tree and waiting for a ride by the time Pavel drove back up. Trees: 2, PGs: 0. After all it was Friday the 13th!
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Woodside Report - I took Fleur for her 29th Birthday tandem and we stayed up for 30 minutes in strong, windy conditions (you had to S-turn in the thermals as 360s just dropped you out the backside). Interesting landing conditions! Gusting to 30 kms! Smooth landing once established on a final approach as we kept going up all over the field. Obviously too strong for Miguels first solo flight so we headed to Bridal for a flight. | Bridal Report - Rob, Al "June's Eagle of the Month" Theilman, Martin N and a few other were already in the air. Colleen went out to test the air for Miguels first solo flight and deemed it smooth enough, but by then it was very light at launch, but he pulled it off on try #3. Rob had top-landed to drive Al's truck down so he got to witness Miguel's launch. On the way down we had to rescue a vehicle stuck in a ditch on the high side of the mountain, pictures later as it was quite a feat getting him out without tipping the car over.
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Bridal Report - blown out again until 5:30 pm, when Al called that he, Rob and Robin were just getting to Bridal Launch and it was coming in nice and Lucas was soaring back and forth in front of launch. Later Derek saw them still in the air from his Agassiz viewpoint. | Woodside Tandem Report - it was Tara's 35th Birthday and she and her friends went tandem paragliding with us. She had a nice long flight for an hour before we landed at Harvest Market with Greg and Alex W. 
Tara and hubby Jeff before the flight - by ?? 
Taras friend during the flight with Greg - by Jeff 
Tara took this picture during the flight - by Tara
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Woodside Report - Bad call for Bridal today, NOAA Soundings was very accurate. Blown out with strong north winds. | Oregon Flight Record - BEND, Oregon (AP) -- Last weekend, Kent Couch settled down in his lawn chair with some snacks -- and a parachute. Attached to his lawn chair were 105 large helium balloons. Destination: Idaho. 
Balloons suspend Kent Couch in a lawn chair as he floats in the skies near Bend, Oregon, on Saturday. With instruments to measure his altitude and speed, a global positioning system device in his pocket, and about four plastic bags holding five gallons of water each to act as ballast -- he could turn a spigot, release water and rise -- Couch headed into the Oregon sky. Nearly nine hours later, the 47-year-old gas station owner came back to earth in a farmer's field near Union, short of Idaho but about 193 miles from home. "When you're a little kid and you're holding a helium balloon, it has to cross your mind," Couch told the Bend Bulletin. "When you're laying in the grass on a summer day, and you see the clouds, you wish you could jump on them," he said. "This is as close as you can come to jumping on them. It's just like that." Couch is the latest American to emulate Larry Walters -- who in 1982 rose three miles above Los Angeles in a lawn chair lifted by balloons. Walters had surprised an airline pilot, who radioed the control tower that he had just passed a guy in a lawn chair. Walters paid a $1,500 penalty for violating air traffic rules. It was Couch's second flight. In September, he got off the ground for six hours. Like Walters, he used a BB gun to pop the balloons, but he went into a rapid descent and eventually parachuted to safety. This time, he was better prepared. The balloons had a new configuration, so it was easier to reach up and release a bit of helium instead of simply cutting off a balloon. He took off at 6:06 a.m. Saturday after kissing his wife, Susan, goodbye and petting his Chihuahua, Isabella. As he made about 25 miles an hour, a three-car caravan filled with friends, family and the dog followed him from below. Couch said he could hear cattle and children and even passed through clouds. "It was beautiful -- beautiful," he told KTVZ-TV. He described the flight as mostly peaceful and serene, with occasional turbulence, like a hot-air balloon ride sitting down. Couch decided to stop when he was down to a gallon of water and just eight pounds of ballast. Concerned about the rugged terrain outside La Grande, including Hells Canyon, he decided it was time to land. He popped enough balloons to set the craft down, although he suffered rope burns. But after he jumped out, the wind grabbed his chair, with his video recorder, and the remaining balloons and swept them away. He's hoping to get them back some day. Brandon Wilcox, owner of Professional Air, which charters and maintains planes at the Bend airport, said Couch definitely did it. Wilcox said he flew a plane nearby while Couch traveled and took photos of the flying lawn chair. Whether Couch will take a third trip is up to his wife, and Susan Couch said she's thinking about saying no. But she said she was willing to go along with last weekend's trip. "I know he'd be thinking about it more and more, it would always be on his mind," she said. "This way, at least he's fulfilled his dream." . ps: this is not an April Fool's Joke.
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Bridal Report - about 8 pilots flew today, but it was east at launch until later. Alan reported climbing to around 1400 meters and getting to Gloria with Rob, but no lift from Gloria back to launch. | Rob was able to top-land to save a retrieve. Odd conditions as it was blowing hard from the SW in Richmond all day, Colleen reported big white-caps on English Bay. Kirill's Paramotor Report from Sunday July 8 Kirill over Eagle Ranch last Sunday Video 1 Kirill over Eagle Ranch last Sunday Video 2 Kirill over Eagle Ranch last Sunday Video 3 Kirill over Eagle Ranch last Sunday Video 4 Kirill over Eagle Ranch last Sunday Video 5
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Woodside Report - more BFAR Tandems (now known as BFARTs) were completed by many volunteer instructors adding needed bucks into the WCSC coffers. | Alan D was seen going tandem with Russell mid-day and they had a pretty nice flight. We had students flying off Woodside between tandems and they did very well including a few flights to Harvest in the late afternoon when it was getting windier on Harrison Bay. Greg H and I flew some tandems and got to 1300 meters over the South Knoll before heading east and it was very thermic and windy. Alex W can attest to that as he flew the same timeframe. Many experienced pilots drove down while students were asking "why can't I fly?". Later, Colleen and Annette flew a nice glass-off flight getting to 1100 meters waiting for Stewart to launch and he climbed out on the South Knoll with a little help and flew to Harvest Market with the girls. Bridal Report - Another great day at BFAR! The sky was busy, including a couple of hangies. Bev shook off her feathers for another flight at Bridal, complete with soft touchdown. I had another personal best moment - my first toplanding at lower launch! After flying for 2 hours pilots started to make their way down (maybe it was Nicole announcing there was still steak left from last night) and a few pilots had interesting attempts at toplanding. Eventually Derek & Norm got in, and I made one timid pass out front but too low. I tried again and looked over at Norm who gave me the thumbs up that it looked good & waved me in. I crabbed in from the front by the firepit and had a perfect touchdown! Since Norm had already packed up he offered to drive down so Derek & I flew again. It was the best lift of the day - 8 pm and it was smooth & bouyant. We probably could have made it to Upper again, but instead just played around for another 20 minutes, doing wingovers and not losing much height - Martina. Yuscaran Report - Hi Jim, Very quickly as it is late. Hello to all. Here is a picture of a recent "fly in"in Yuscaran with friends from Nicaragua having their first flights off Monserrat. I had a nice 24 kms flight with climbs up to 8+ averaged over 10 seconds all the way to cloudbase! Los de Nicaragua fue muy empresado con Yuscaran y me prometan que van a regresar! Adios, Jeffrey (from Honduras) 
Yuscaran Fly In - by Jeffrey Miller 
Yuscaran Fly In - by Jeffrey Miller
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Woodside Report - the BFAR Tandems went well, but it got windier after noon to the point that the solo gliders were parked heading to Riverside. A bit thermic and windy at the Ranch for Greg and I but we gave Chris and Connie a great ride. | After 6:00 pm it was still windy and Ian H and Annette both flew with Ian almost making the Ranch and Annette flying to Harvest. Bridal Report - A bunch more BFAR Tandems were done in support of the WCSC. Some bumpy flying as the winds picked up. Many pilots missed the mowed swamp and some never even got close to the the swamp with an outlanding at the Gas Compressor Ststion east with a tandem and another in Al's PaintBall LZ. We didn't stay for the BFAR BBQ as we had releatives in town but I am sure there are stories!
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Woodside Report - Gary K was out for a few flights, some thermals but only enough for 19 minutes. | Bridal Report - Lots of activities with BFAR preparations.Then about 20 pilots ended up on launch for a short flight around 5:00 pm. Later flights were longer with knob soaring. Too bumpy for new students.
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Calgary Report - one of my last trips to Calgary and the winds were strong SE,
so no flying at Cochrane today. Stampede fever is hitting Cow Town, and
many parties were being planned but alas I have plans in Agassiz too.
The pilots were apologizing for strong headwinds into Vancouver which made us late
but it wasn't bumpy (100 knots + right on the nose). Too high over Bridal to see if
anyone was flying at 6:15 pm, but I am sure there were several pilots still up. | Bridal Report - a pilot was flying too close to the trees in the lee, north of launch and went into the trees, apparently unscathed. He just got his glider repaired from another incident . . . time for a refresher course??
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Brdal Report - many pilots flew earlier and stayed up. Greg H was the "SkyPig of the Day" with a flight to Mt Cheam, where he ridge-soared up the SE side to top-land as the thermals died part way up the North Side. No camera onboard. | Derek and I were "duking it out" near Upper Launch, waking each other in tight proximity. Norm joined us for a bit. I flew out to top-land to drve Derek's rig down and I hit the strongest thermal (off the dial!) that took me straight up and back for over a minute and I could not turn in it for fear of falling out, after that super smooth for top-landing (unless you are Garry H). He and Russell went for a 3.5 hour tandem sharing the controls as they got tired of flying, with Russell launching and landing. Not bad for his first tandem with another pilot!
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Bridal Report - Alan and Kevin flew Bridal for several hours. |
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Woodside/Bridal Report - a perfect day, we flew Woodside early and James logged an hour with the birds and almost ended up in the bushes on the north side of Eagle Ranch as the south winds picked up. | Then on to Bridal at 1:30 pm after picking Colleen up at Harvest as she tested the air and decided it was too strong for Pavan. We got to launch and I took Gary H's daughter Andra for a tandem to test the air, it was a bit "chunky" and we flew for about an hour before top-landing to give her stomach a rest. I got Colleen to fly out and test the air for Pavan and James and she said it was smooth so off they went. James went to 1300 meters fast and Pavan had a great launch and stayed in the air for over an hour. Bev and Nataliya flew too! Al was out and flew much earlier and he top-landed several times to make sure someone would drive his truck down and was doing nice SATs on his Addict before climbing back to launch again and again. I flew my last tandem with Paolo and we were outclimbing the solos nicely before a nice smooth landing in the freshly cut Swamp, thanks to Rob! Also thanks to Ian J for driving my Ford down as my driver Bev flew down instead.
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Woodside Report - good flying early but lots of sink meant Riverside was full of gliders at times. Some later flights to 2 hours long, but it got nasty trying to land at Riverside and Eagle Ranch, turbulent to the ground with thermals kicking off and gusts. | After 6:00 pm, we launched the students and Pavan was able to get high at the South Knoll and he and Colleen headed to Harvest. David was still in the air over Eagle Ranch and landed around 8:00 pm, going backwards at times. Kirill's Motor Report - windier up high, but still a nice flight. 
Chilliwack from 6000 feet - by Kirill Bridal Report - Gary H was being very patriotic over Bridal today! Thomm said he wasn't enjoying the air. 
Gary's Happy Canada Day Picture - by Klaus Bella Coola Report - Hi Jim, We got to fly off of one of the smaller mountains in the Bella Coola Valley today. We took the helicopter up to 5000 feet above the airport to launch off the snow and ran off quickly before the valley winds kicked in. I flew over the rodeo but chose not to land in the grounds since the bull riding competition was on. We landed right beside the airport strip after half an hour and just as we started packing up the valley winds kicked in. So off to the rodeo for a burger & a beer (still not as cheap as the Sasquatch!) to enjoy the rest of the day - Martina and Derek 
View of launch (launch is snowy 'runway' patch on left peak) - by Martina 
View from the Bella Coola High Launch - by Martina
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Woodside Report - I guess everyone left town for elsewhere, cause launch was deserted except for us and a few desperados. | First tandem with new student Suzanne at 11:15 went well as we climbed out to 900 meters and she took the controls to thermal around for 25 minutes. Then she went out kiting with Zak for a few hours, learning the launch sequences. Unfortunately the training hill was faced the wrong direction for her today. Back up for tandem #2 with Thomm, Norm, Gary K, Zak, Rob S., Suzanne, and there was talk fo flying somewhere for lunch. I suggested Kilby Store (too close), Harrison Lake (Norm says "too easy") , so we just flew. We had a great climb right off launch amd Rob soon joined us for some good +6 m/s up action and we climbed to 1300 meters over launch while waiting for everyone to launch to join us. Agassiz Mountain was in easy glide but we waited, and waited, and waited. Finally; Gary, Norm and Zak had launched and were working hard to get away. Rob flew out with post-Woodrat jitters! and we joined him out over Harrison Mills going up everywhere. We were on the way to Kilby for lunch after an hour of soaring when we hit turbulence behind Harrison Hill. We headed back toward the Mountain to climb out again. At this point Norm, Zak and Thomm were crossing to Sasquatch. Zak chose a line to Harrison Hill and hit the same sink and crap and landed at the Ranch after us, as Norm and Thomm got a good climb to coudbase over Sasquatch. We lost them after that as we went to lunch. They called after landing at Hatzic Lake just short of Mission for about 25 kms upwind, nice flight. The north wind in Sylvester Valley put them down early. After rejoining the group we went back for another tandem, and Colleen launched first. We followed and climbed back to 1000 meters fast while Kelly joined us. Nice conditions for Suzanne to thermal again and we logged another 25 minutes for 2:00 in total today for her first day. Solos tomorrow. Black Mountain WA Report - I had a fun flight today at Black. A little unnerving, but out in the middle of nowhere, I don't mind that so much. My vario not only pegged the top, but wrapped around and went back up again ... same for the sink. (9m/s up, 10m/s max down -- all that and no collapses, I tell people my wing is DHV .9, but maybe it isn't a joke... ) After one abort, I had a successful but bizzarre launch, it would have made a good "bloopers" segment if anyone had been filming -- me tripped into sitting on the steep slope, kiting the wing, then being lifted up, turning around and away. After launch, I headed out under the vacuum cloud. At one point I went to Big Ears to keep from getting eaten by the cloud. It was sufficient to let me go down. Although for just a bit, I was still going up with ears on. Mike Lervick watched me rock and roll and shoot up like a rocket and decided he wanted his first Black Mt. experience to be a little tamer. I tired rather quickly and decided to head away from the sucking cloud spot, there was still some lift away from it, but not enough for me to work, so I slowly made my way down to the LZ, but it was smooth and easy. The LZ was blissfully tame by the time I landed. Only 45 minutes in the air, but it felt like forever -- sweet - TJ Pembie Report - the same un-named pilot that spun in on a Nova Carbon last week had to throw their reserve, no mention of what maneuvers they were attempting but they had a 1 second reserve ride before impact. Apparently okay again. |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports
May 2007 Site of the Day archives - flyable every weekday, but the Fraser Valley XC Comp got crappy weather on the weekends, although it was student flyable.
April 2007 Site of the Day archives - good flights are starting. Some complete triangles from Woodside to Bridal and back, some "musical triangles" from others.
March 2007 Site of the Day archives - fifth month of crappy weather on the Coast. We went to Santa Barbara for some flights, and to dry out. Some good days were also recorded locally.
Febuary 2007 Site of the Day archives - fourth month of crappy weather on the Coast. So we stayed in Mexico.
January 2007 Site of the Day archives - third month of crappy weather on the Coast. So we went to Mexico to fly Colima, Tapalpa, and San Marcos, while Brad and gang headed to Tenacingo, Mexico.
December 2006 Site of the Day archives - more ugly weather on the Coast. Severe winds damaged trees and property so not much flying happened. Some good flight reports from local PGers travelling world-wide.
November 2006 Site of the Day archives - the wettest November on record. We flew a few good flights but mostly we were rained out.
October 2006 Site of the Day archives - lots of good days with 3-4 hours airtime. The Women's Fly-In was on again in Chelan with about 18 Canucks, and a good day Saturday with 85 registered pilots.
September 2006 Site of the Day archives - still soarable in the Fraser Valley, little or no rain. Colleen is back flying! Some mayhem in the valley.
August 2006 Site of the Day archives - a great flying month everywhere, we had a super successful SIV clinic at Mara Lake with everyone SAT-ing and heli-ing.
July 2006 Site of the Day archives - road trip to Lumby, then on the 8th Colleen spun in below Gloria cancelling her summer plans (but she is recuperating well).
June 2006 Site of the Day archives - the Valley dried out, and we flew most days and every weekend.
May 2006 Site of the Day archives - more rain that ever imagined in the Fraser Valley. Very few soaring flights and even less XC.
April 2006 Site of the Day archives - the Easter Bunny was "run over" on Kilby Road, plus the train wreck on April 1.
March 2006 Site of the Day archives - a new pilot was born, Chloe. We also flew a few days between showers, some long flights up to 4 hours. A few Out & Return Flights to Deroche and Bear.
February 2006 Site of the Day archives - another wet month with some soarable days (2).
January 2006 Site of the Day archives - some flying on Elk and Woodside, smart pilots headed South for great Mexican or Chilean flying.
December 2005 Site of the Day archives - some flying on Elk and Woodside, smart pilots headed South.
November 2005 Site of the Day archives - rain, snow and not much flying.
October 2005 Site of the Day archives - Women's Fly In in Chelan yielded two soarable days before the snows hit.
September 2005 Site of the Day archives - dry most of the month. Some great 4 hour flights at Woodside getting to cloudbase most days. Three crash-landings in the same clearcut by pilots scratching too low, but no injuries.
August 2005 Site of the Day archives - road trips to the Interior gave us an opportunity to rag out some gliders at FlyBC SIV 2005 (Part II). Also a great road trip to Savona.
July 2005 Site of the Day archives - good flying all month, no rain but some windy days shut us down. The Willi started in Golden with a few good days, but one tragedy as Charles Warren perished in a crash near Harrogate.
June 2005 Site of the Day archives - too much rain, but good days to fly between showers.
May 2005 Site of the Day archives - our Instructor/Tandem seminar yielded some good flying. Our May 2005 SIV Clinic had a good turnout, with many wet wings/pilots! Many nice flights at Woodside and Bridal, with some long "out & returns" at Bridal.
April 2005 Site of the Day archives - some great soaring at Woodside and Bridal. Sad news from the US Hanggliding Nationals as Chris Muller crashes at goal.
March 2005 Site of the Day archives - we had to head out of town to Savona a few weekends due to wet weather on the Coast. Wetter than normal according to Environment Canada.
February 2005 Site of the Day archives - some good soaring despite early time of year. Flights as long as 3 hours at Woodside, some good flights at Whidbey Island for first timers, too!
January 2005 Site of the Day archives road trips to Mexico, not much flying locally due to strong north winds and rain. Record rain kept Eagle Ranch quite wet for kiting.
December 2004 Site of the Day archives a dry month with some good soaring including a fantastic day on Dec. 11 where we thermalled for 2+ hours!
November 2004 Site of the Day archives more record rain. We installed a fireplace in the barn to keep pilots warm between winter flights.
October 2004 Site of the Day archives more record rain, but sweet soaring between showers. Many new students signed up and making quick progress. We missed the Women's Fly In for the first time in 9 years, and there was some interesting flying on the Sunday!
September 2004 Site of the Day archives rainiest September on record for the first 3 weeks, made flying difficult. But Alan and others logged some pretty nice flights later in the month. Lots of student tandems for both Colleen and Jim.
August 2004 Site of the Day archives Great Maneuver/SIV/ACRO course at Mara. Jack got wet! Some great soaring at Woodside. Norm made it 68 km from Mara to King Eddie, Derek made it from Lumby to Enderby the opposite direction for 67 kms. We also did our BC roadtrip from Ashcroft to New Denver, and flew everyday.
July 2004 Site of the Day archives the Willi was on at Golden. We missed the mayhem due to work and school commitments but Norm did a great job representing the West Coast.
June 2004 Site of the Day archives Canadian Nationals came off with many great rounds. Pemberton-Whistler Championships were blown out most days so we headed to Cornwall.
May 2004 Site of the Day archives great flying at Woodside and Bridal. We held a very successful SIV Course at Mara Lake, and hope to run another one in August if they keep the forests open.
April 2004 Site of the Day archives good flying in the Valley. The Fraser Valley Cross Country PG Series was successssful.
March 2004 Site of the Day archives Nicole won in Brazil, otherwise the month sucked for flying time.
February 2004 Site of the Day archives some local flights extended to an hour with vigourous scratching above the trees. Good paramotor month.
January 2004 Site of the Day archives Mexican road trip yielded 20 hours of flight and a wet Canadian January kept most local pilots on the ground.
December 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew a few times but it got really cold at the end of the month as we prepared for a gala New Year's Party for 40 of our close personal friends and neighbours.
November 2003 Site of the Day archives windy and wet with the odd good soaring day, not many pilots out these days.
October 2003 Site of the Day archives Women's Fly In was great fun, some good soaring days mid-month, most of the students are signed off.
September 2003 Site of the Day archives good conditions until the last days of the month when it got stable. Most days were flyable at Woodside or Bridal.
August 2003 Site of the Day archives Forest closures made the end of the month a non-flying period unless you headed to Blanchard. FlyBC SIV 2003 was a great success with 9 stunt pilots and no deployments or crashes.
July 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew most days early at Woodside until it got windy, then over to Bridal. Good Golden flying reports from the "Willi".
June 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew most weekdays at Bridal, Woodside worked most weekends. Bridal Air Races had one great day with only two tree landings!
May 2003 Site of the Day archives not a great weather month on the coast, especially on the weekends but a few pilots managed to get some great airtime at Bridal. The Nationals were held in Lumby and it didn't rain!
April 2003 Site of the Day archives rain for 28 of 30 April days, but we managed to get a few flights in between showers. Even the golfers were complaining!
March 2003 Site of the Day archives some high spring flights in early March, but not a great weather month. Still no HPAC Insurance!
February 2003 Site of the Day archives some nice long spring flights in late February. HPAC Insurance expired on Feb 14, so many pilots stayed home instead of getting USHGA coverage.
January 2003 Site of the Day archives lots of rain all month in BC so we bailed and headed to Tapalpa Mexico for three weeks. Norm and Lucille had a great XC flight the first day we arrived.
December 2002 Site of the Day archives lots of rain all month.
November 2002 Site of the Day archives not a great flying month, lots of rain in the beginning and then super stable and inverted for the balance of the month. Even the Savona Road Trip wasn't that great. Looking forward to Mexico!
October 2002 Site of the Day archives Still soarable some days, great fun at the Women's Fly In 2002 in Chelan. Allan logged 15 hours and only flew a few days. Most of the students are ready for signoff soon to get ready for Mexico trips!
September 2002 Site of the Day archives Still soarable most everyday! Some scary incidents at Woodside. Fun flying at Ashcroft.
August 2002 Site of the Day archives More spring-like days with super lapse rates, great fun up-country at Revelstoke and Mara, with some good XCs for all.
July 2002 Site of the Day archives Some spring-like days with super lapse rates, but still rather wet at times.
June 2002 Site of the Day archives another rainy and windy month with great lapse rates, some great flights at Bridal with some getting above Cheam Peak. The Club Cup was nearly rained out but they got one valid task in on Sunday June 30.
May 2002 Site of the Day archives an extremely rainy month with the more spring mayhem, another reserve deployment at Lil Nick and a pilot crashed at the top of Deroche Mountain, uninjured but with a ripped glider and long hike down the mountain. Colleen placed 5th place at the Canadian PG Nationals in rainy Lumby!
April 2002 Site of the Day archives a rainy month with the usual spring mayhem, one reserve deployment at Woodside and a pilot hit a parked car at Bridal LZ, fracturing his leg.
March 2002 Site of the Day archives a few great days days with lots of snow and rain mixed in.
February 2002 Site of the Day archives two epic days already (4.5 hours and 2.5 hours!).
January 2002 Site of the Day archives Mexico vacation shots, some local flying but it was wet on the coast.
December 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, wettest December on record, some good days sprinkled thru the month.
November 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, had some good days at Woodside +2 hours, lots of rain later in the month.
October 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, but great flying at Chelan at the Women's Fly In.
September 2001 Site of the Day archives starting to get pretty stable, more sled rides forecast for October.
Aug 2001 Site of the Day archives Mara, Bridal, till some great flights locally
July 2001 Site of the Day archives Road Trip Month, Golden, Mara, points east!
June 2001 Site of the Day archives Great Month, 3 hours of airtime for some pilots every time they flew Bridal Lower! Some getting up to 6 hours in a single flight!
May 2001 Site of the Day archives Unstable Month, 2-3 hours of airtime for some pilots every time they flew Bridal Lower!
April 2001 Site of the Day archives Rainy Month, not as much airtime for some pilots
March 2001 Site of the Day archives Spring has Sprung!
February 2001 Site of the Day archives Spring is in the Air!
January 2001 Site of the Day archives - Mexico Flying Trip
December 2000 Site of the Day archives
November 2000 Site of the Day archives (great month for airtime!)
October 2000 Site of the Day archives
September 2000 Site of the Day archives
July - August 2000 Site of the Day archives
June 2000 Site of the Day archives
March - May 2000 Site of the Day archives
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