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FlyBC "Site of the Day July 2016 Archive"
Woodside was good all month
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@ 3000' in knots |
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| 7-31-16 |
 Agassiz BC A mix of clouds and sun. High 23C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1000 metres 7-30-16
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| Agassiz BC Abundant sunshine. High near 30C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1000 metres Even Martin N & Karin S did not launch, so the students did not argue especially when the trees were thrashing around. We salvaged the day with a great Heritage Park session, and many tree landings! Fish, Henry and Carl all played with their new wings getting ready for the next flyable day. Tomorrow we travel to Mara Lake to set up for the SIV Course and I got the 2016 T-Shirts from the screen printers this afternoon. 7-29-16
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| Agassiz BC Abundant sunshine. High near 30C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1000 metres One wayward student took a unique approach over the corn field and blueberry farms and landed on the opposite side of the cornfield?? Good landing followed by "I am surrounded by cows" on the radio. Apparently these cows have never seen a paraglider up close. The bull looked rather protective of his herd but stayed his distance.
7-28-16
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| Agassiz BC Plentiful sunshine. High around 30C. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1000 metres We had a new student starting on the Training Hill with Denis, and by noon Grant got a first solo flight! I had advanced students Henry & Erik fly over to Bill Best's field for some adventure and it was quite thermic over the hayed area of the field for Henry as he had his first assymetric collapse on the Gin Sprint 3, which did not look that bad on his GoPro footage. Erik just squeaked over the fence into the field as his line was not as lifty, but he had fields under him the whole time. We decided after three flights that it was getting too thermic so we went to lunch as we saw Jeff, John, Dary & Richard high over launch thermalling together. Richard headed out first and reported a nice smooth flight out to the Ranch. Dary waited too long and ended up in Duncan's pasture as his NK1 did not have the glide of Richard's Buzz Z4. We had just ordered food when I got a phone call from Jeff that he had to top-land as they hit sink from being 800 feet over launch to almost treetop height and John had clipped a tree and had gone down behind launch. We waited for an update and Jeff headed into the bush after calling 911. By the time we arrived on the 3.5 km mark we saw 5 ambulances, 4 police trucks, Kent SAR, Agassiz Fire Department all mustering to help John who was talking on the paramedic radio channel self-assessing his injuries and relaying his coordinates. The SAR Techs decided a long line rescue was the plan and after the LongRanger pilot found the area they had to setup in Chris Miles backyard just above Riverside.
The SAR techs brought John's wing down and all the lines were severed on the lower cascades, and we were not sure if it was part of the rescue or when he went through the trees, but a new lineset is needed. 7-27-16
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| Agassiz BC Plenty of sunshine. High 29C. Winds light and variable. 1000 metres Very inverted at around 600 metres with lots of Vancouver smog being trapped and maybe some wildfire smoke too. Despite the inversion students got to thermal and Jeff S came out and got an hour around 3 pm just before it blew out. We suspended flights at 3:30 pm as several students dropped into Duncan's hayfield, not rough just windy, Burt made $60 today. We went back up at 7 pm hoping for a glassoff but just got sleddies, but the students got 4 flights today so it was a good day.  Willi Report - Thunderstorm warnings for the Columbia Valley, so the day was cancelled. 7-25-16
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| Agassiz BC A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 28C. Winds light and variable. 1300 metres We had some nice first flights for pilots who just arrived this week, and some excellent approaches from the more seasoned students despite windy conditions and thermals due to recent haying. We quit flying at 3 pm, but continued lessons on Heritage Park Hill where some brand new students took flight for the first time today! Some huge CU development out near Manning Park as we headed back to the Ranch at 6 pm! We did see lightning over Hemlock last night after dusk. Golden Willi Report - the day was cencelled due to thunderstorm activity. 7-25-16
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| Agassiz BC A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 28C. Winds light and variable. 1300 metres It did get windy after 3 pm as forecast so the students went kiting at Eagle Ranch til 5 pm. Golden Willi Report - the day as cancelled out of respect for the fallen paraglider pilot who was identified as a 5 year experienced pilot who was in a bad place (a leeside situation) according to reports. 7-24-16
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 27C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1300 metres About 8 students at last count and most flew four flights, with highlights of the day being James & Alex getting 3 hours of airtime on their new wings! Colleen and Derek flew one set of tandems at 1 pm heading over to Harvest. I did a second set of tandems with Derek at 3 pm, and it was strong! Good thing the students stayed on the ground kiting, as we had high winds on launch and strong thermals over the South Knoll. One incident happened late in the day in great conditions with Jacek overbraking his wing and not running and he spun below launch near the trees, and was okay other than a small cut. Pilots need to remember "airspeed, airspeed, airspeed". Golden Willi Report - Kevin and Al Hammer reported nice strong lift that got them to Canal Flats along with Martin N (145 kms).
7-23-16
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| Agassiz BC Partly to mostly cloudy. High around 20C. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1300 metres Highlights of the day were Hunter & Alex W logging 4 hours of airtime in 4 flights with some good soaring on their new wings. New students Richard & Cam got their first two solo flights and had nice long flights too.
7-22-16
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| Agassiz BC Partly to mostly cloudy. High around 20C. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1300 metres Pemby Swift4 Report - Claudia had a really nice flight in Pemberton on her Ozone Swift 4 and she says EN-B gliders "ROCK!". Her track log here. My question is diapers or a strong bladder? 7-21-16
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| Agassiz BC Sunshine to start, then a few afternoon clouds. A stray thunderstorm is possible. High 28C. Winds light and variable. 1300 metres I was in Chilliwack doing a Greyhound Run when a lady called to say she was headed out for her scheduled noon tandem. Apparently I forgot to add her to the Calendar, so I rushed back and got Colleen out of the office and we headed up the mountain to fly Nicole and her son. No CUs anywhere and light east wind prior to arriving on launch, so we thought it would be a "sleddy". Nope, Colleen launched first on the new Ozone SwiftMax Tandem and started clibing out with Nicole. Loving the new clearcuts below launch as there are many nice thermals there lately! I got ready with Andrew and we launched and started climbing out fast fromt he normal house thermal, it was smooth and good climbs to +5 m/s. We topped out at 1200 metres and I was considering a trip east as we had no other commitments today, but logistics could be hard and then Andrew started shivering and burping. Not a very strong stomach I guess. I got him to fly out to the Ranch as he was feeling ill, and that helped his stomach. I gave him a good locked in spiral, which he liked, before setting up an approach. He landed on his feet and then had to lie down for some time. Colleen's passenger, Nicole, lasted even less time than her son. After we flew Shaun, Mark T, Alison & Paul flew and had mixed results. Mark T and Shaun got 2+ hours, Ali got high too as Paul sunk into Riverside? 7-20-16
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| Agassiz BC Partly cloudy. High 24C. Winds light and variable. 1400 metres Martin N & Kevin A both got high and headed east, while Nikolai headed towards Bridal. Erik B was here, and Denis took Richard P to the Heritage Park training hill for the morning while I was running errands. Erik got two really long flights, enjoying his first flights using a variometer.
Derek arrived at 5 pm, and flew with Erik and later I took out the EONA L and got Brandon ready to go tandem for his first time. He was scared and excited all at the same time and we had a very lifty flight getting to 1000 metres with a few turns despite being on the heavy side of the loading. No GoPro footage as the camera was dead, maybe tomorrow. 7-19-16
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|  Agassiz BC Mostly cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 23C. Winds light and variable. 1100 metres Denis took new student Richard P for a tandem to get him used to the approach into Eagle Ranch. Andrew & Sam were here finishing up their last flights for their P-2 and logged three flights with Andrew getting used to his new Ozone Zero 19 hybrid wing. Sam was always up high on her new Ozone Buzz Z4! Andrew & Sam wrote their P-2 exams last night and passed with great marks, watch for them flying around Kelowna soon. Erik B is getting near sign-off too, and he also got three flights. Derek, Norm, Bev and some visiting Swiss pilots all flew today and had some nice soaring.
7-18-16
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|  Agassiz BC Mainly sunny. Increasing cloudiness late this morning then 70 percent chance of showers this afternoon. Risk of a thunderstorm this afternoon. High 23. Humidex 27. UV index 6 or high. 1100 metres 7-17-16
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| Agassiz BC Partly cloudy skies this morning. Thunderstorms likely during the afternoon. High near 25C. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. 1100 metres Carsten took off on the EONA L and had a great thermal flight over the South Knoll on his fourth flight, staying up for 30 minutes before landing at the Ranch. Caleb took off demoing an Ozone Geo 4 and following Martin N and at times he was easily above Martin. Caleb is close to signoff after a week of flying at Woodside.
The storm only lasted about an hour and it was clear and calm afterwards when we headed to Kevin & Brad's retirement party. 7-15-16
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| Agassiz BC Showers early with some clearing for the afternoon. High 22C. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. 1100 metres Carsten is our latest student and he lives very close at Harrison Highlands so he should always be on time for lessons!
Here is Derek climbing out at the end of the day on our demo Ozone Alpina 2 MS, late in the day.
7-15-16
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| Agassiz BC Showers early with some clearing for the afternoon. High 22C. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. 1100 metres Denis was helping with students and then sent soaring with Caleb this afternoon to show him where the lift was.
US Nationals PG Report - Lots of Canucks in goal in the longest ever paragliding task in a competition. 224 km! And a new personal best for me too, popped my 200km cherry! - Nicole 7-14-16
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| Agassiz BC Mostly sunny. High 22C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1100 metres Thomas got another solo, Alex Y picked up his new Buzz Z5, Michael was flying his new FireFly 3 out to Riverside (but it looked like it would have made it to the Ranch), Caleb is doing well and is up to 12 flights now and looking super confident in the air. New student Andrew was training on the ground with Denis and he is ready to fly now, once we get decent conditions for first flights. We headed to Mission and used the west facing baseball park in gusty winds and got everyone tuned up for tomorrow. One of our students from Squamish put out this fun video of his experiences at Woodside & Squamish Chief. Blanchard Accident Report - Long time pilot and weather/wind guru TJ Olney was apparently flying alone at Blanchard when he suffered a collapse near launch and fell to the ground, too low to throw his reserve. Only wtnesses were hikers and not pilots so we wil never know what really happened. He was attended to by the hikers and 911 was called but TJ passed away on the slope. TJ was a very enthusastic pilot and supporter of all things PG & HG. His TJRASP was a great tool for site selection and lift potential. We did not get to fly with him much as he was mostly flying Blanchard for the past 17 years, while we have been flying here at Woodside, but we will miss his smile and suspenders. Our hearts go out to Joy and his son Thomas, who were going to get him full time as he recently retired from Western Washington University. Services will be held Monday July 18th at The Church of Jesus Christ, 2925 James St Bellingham WA. 7-13-16
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| Agassiz BC Sunshine and clouds mixed. High 23C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1100 metres Luke & Caleb flew a few flights before Erik arrived and all the flights today were soaring flights of up to an hour.
The most dangerous and interesting thing that happened today was getting to drive Kevin's Yamaha 250 motorcycle down from launch, I gotta get me one of these! US PG Nats Report - Beautiful skies all the way to goal in Omak! I think Keith, Andrew, and Igor made it in as well.
7-12-16
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| Agassiz BC Mostly cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 21C. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1100 metres Caleb and Kennedy flew two flights with the last flight taking them to the new Triangle Field east of Woodside, Nicole J followed them over there on her Ozone Geo 4. Bev & Norm flew too, and also headed to the old Harvest Field as it is still in hay . . . for the time being. Denis was working with new student Evan in the LZ and then took him tandem getting quite high near cloudbase, it was quite lifty for July! We did more groundhandling with the students til around 5 pm, as it was deemed too strong for student flights. US PG Nationals Report - Yesterday's task was tough since it was unexpected SE 25 kph wind so into-the-wind . . . 2 reserves and dragging through the moon dust at the first TP near Sheep Canyon. One pilot had to use his hook knife to cut away his reserve bridle after landing...the other was dragged 300m before getting his gear under control. I got as far as Coulee City; Igor and Jim made it to Wilbur. Today was cancelled since the clouds were building quickly and beginning to rain on course line. But some pilots braved the weather gods (!) and flew to Brewster and Bridgeport while it was thunderstorming near Waterville - Nicole Pic is of the clouds over Farnham Canyon just as things were cancelled.
7-11-16
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy early with peeks of sunshine expected late. Slight chance of a rain shower. High around 20C. Winds light and variable. 1100 metres
TJRasp said winds to 15 knots all day and we never got that but the thermal index was right. Last flight of the day we had Derek & Martin N visit us as well as Josh and I got a chance to fly the new SupAir EONA M that arrived for our student fleet. We have been training on these wings for two years and they are the best student rig ever! Josh is somewhere in this picture looking towards Harrison Lake.
I climbed right out of launch to cloudbase and the EONA turns very tight without fear of a spin or stall. I whited out a few times as base was lower at certain areas, but with the strong sun you knew where SW was.
Derek got 2+ hours, Martin and I probably an hour and student Erik got about 45 minutes, not bad for his 12th flight. SIV 2016 Announcement - FlyBC is planning the 2016 Annual SIV/Maneuvers Course for Aug 1 - 7 at Mara Lake. Details Fly|BC SIV 2016 , send us an email to confirm your attendance. Pre-registed pilots are $250 per day, drop ins are $300 per day. An un-named pilot recently had to throw his reserve at Benny on the weekend as he failed to perform a B-stall and cravatted his wing resulting in a spiral dive. One needs to know this basic canopy reduction technique over water at an SIV Course. an over-pulled B-Stall can cause a cravatted glider. The other Erik B has been flying his home site of Princeton this week after getting signed off here at FlyBC. Nice job! Flying a Niviuk NK1 we sourced for him. But don't you have any real shoes? Iron mountain soaring from Erik Bobicki on Vimeo. 7-10-16
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| Agassiz BC Sun and clouds mixed. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 21C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1100 metres New students Aaron & Dave had done a few days of ground handling and this was their big day flying solo off Woodside. Dave was flying the SupAir EONA L and he got off first try, while Aaron had some fear to conquer and he had a few aborts trying to get his hands in the right position (nothing dramatic, just being too tentative). When Aaron did get his hands to work, he flew off with just a few steps.
The wind came is as forecast and was quite strong as we saw HGers parked high over Woodside on our return and the trees were flapping in the LZ. Pilots landing at the Ranch after 3 pm said it was exciting and he winds quite strong with vertical descents, so we didn't miss anything for the students. I sent everyone home at 4 pm, as it was forecast to stay strong all evening. Blanchard Report - Peter, Claudia, Craig M, Derek & Martin N formed a Canuck Contingent at Blanchard and had good flights lasting upwards of 2 hours and getting above the Oyster Dome. HGers launching at the Lookout Launch at I-5 flew back to Blanchard LZ.
US Paragliding Nationals Comp Report - Nicole is in Chelan WA competitng in the US Nationals. I fondly remember going to Chelan for this comp in July 1995 and watching three pilots coming down under reserves just as I arrived at launch. Spooky but everyone survived with only one broken arm! Chelan Report - An eventually cancelled day due to big cells and associated wind, some pilots free-flew to Mansfield after it cleared up. I chose not to fly as it looked a bit on the windy side; lots of pilots landing at the LZ had "exciting" landings. Tomorrow is looking much sunnier and less windy though, more like typical Chelan! - Nicole
7-9-16
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| Agassiz BC Periods of rain ending this morning then mainly cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. Risk of thunderstorms. High 18. UV index 5 or moderate. 1500 metres Kennedy, Erik B and Alex W all flew today, with most getting four flights and some good soaring.
After the rain cell went through we got two more flights finishing up at 7 pm. 7-8-16
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| Agassiz BC Showers this morning becoming a steady light rain during the afternoon hours. High 22C. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. 1100 metres A quick look at the Radar showed Merritt in the clear with light winds forecasted so we raced up there arriving at 1030 am. We got to the top of Sugarloaf Mtn. and Erik & Kennedy laid their wings out and were kiting on the rounded hill and were doing little flights getting their reverse launches dialed in. After 2-3 successful hops down the slope, we moved to the South facing Launch area and we had Erik go first and he got in the air, touched down and his run failed to keep up with the Bolero 4 and it had a 50% collapse and he stopped just down the slope. These hills are nice grassy meadows so aborted takeoffs are very safe. By the time he hiked back up, we had Kennedy ready and it started raining . . . and hard. So back in the Van to wait it out, but it never abated so quick check of the Coastal Radar and the webcams showed Woodside in the clear, so we raced back to Woodside. Straight up the mountain at 230 pm, and it was coming in at 15-20 kph perfect in the lulls for some soaring for their first really high flights. Erik got off first after some practice inflations on the Gin Bolero 4 and he was soon above launch on his way to the Ranch.
Kennedy was off with a nice reverse launch once he figured out what his hands were supposed to be doing, and he got a few nice climbs too on the SupAir EONA M (soon to be going to Peter as the new one arrived today).
We did the log books entries, did a wucik debrief and sent the guys home for the day. It was a fun filled day of strom chasing! 7-7-16
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy with occasional rain showers. High 18C. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%. 1100 metres
Good day for indoor ground school, videos and Q&A sessions. These guys are now ready to fly and their wet wings are drying in the sail loft. 7-6-16
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| Agassiz BC Some clouds this morning will give way to generally sunny skies for the afternoon. High 23C. Winds light and variable. 1100 metres Great conditions for the advanced students, Linda & Samantha, as they were able to climb to cloudbase several times. Others were reporting +4 ms climbs but it was smooth and they were on EN-A wings which are very solid. I think Linda logged two hours today in three flights. Here are the two girls "duking it out" under the clouds today.
We headed to Mission to work on reverse launches and to get Erik's feet in the air and it was cross but we managed a few good flights before heading back to the Ranch. Benny Report - we were flying Woodside today and saw some gliders coming across the Sasquatch area and it was Hammer leading Denham, John W, Sam A towards Woodside. Only John W was forced to land at the Ranch, as the others climbed out over Woodside and headed east. Nice flying on a so-so day! 7-5-16
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers this morning. Periods of rain beginning near noon. High 18. 1100 metres 7-4-16
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers this morning. Periods of rain beginning near noon. High 18. 1100 metres 7-3-16
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| Agassiz BC A few showers ending late in the morning then mainly cloudy. High 21. UV index 6 or high. 1100 metres We thought it was calming down around 6 pm, but it was still gusty at 670 metres on Launch. TJ posted some pics of flying at Blanchard in shredded thermals due to the wind there too, but it must have calmed down much sooner at the coast. 7-2-16
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| Agassiz BC Overcast. High 21C. Winds light and variable. 1100 metres Forecasts looked windy after 2 pm but in fact it blew out by 1 pm, so we shut flying down and just did inside briefings and ordered gear for some of the new students. Two good flights today with five students, and with Aaron getting two good thermal rides way above launch. 7-1-16
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| Agassiz BC Overcast. High 21C. Winds light and variable. 1100 metres We got in five student rounds in nice floaty conditions despite the windy forecast and Colleen went to cloudbase before takng the students to Harvest Market while we can still land there. We have not found out who owns the proposed Triangle LZ, which is closer to Woodside than Harvest Market for gliders with poor performance (ie Non-Ozone brands). We have landed there in prior years and there was no complaints from any of the farmers and you can walk out on the Dyke Road to the truck.
Good turn out at the fly-in with 50 plus pilots and 2-3 hours of good soaring despite the rain there too.
6-30-16
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 26C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1100 metres Amazingly good launch conditions right up til 1 pm, when it exceeded 20 kph. We got three student rounds in by then and Paul got his first two solos in and got to soar on both flights on the EONA L. He climbed to 1000 metres on both flights out by the Constructon Zone. Paul works for the Armed Forces in the Abbotsford Airport and the highlight of his day was seeing one of his SeaKing choppers fly past him as he soared at Woodside . . . wonder if they saw him?
Ayaz & Carlos did very well too, and got to soar on their last two flights. Here is Carlos just off launch and climbing despite the inversion.
We did indoor ground school sessions and exam writing for the balance of the day before sending everyone home. |
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