FlyBC "Site of the Day Archive " - June/2005
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| /1000' (unstable) | 3774 feet |
Woodside Report - Jack reported it was blown out all day, until very late at Woodside.|
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| /1000' (stable) 4074 feet
Woodside Report - Jack, Derek, Darren, Nicole and Alex R were all out flying in light lift.
Derek said he hit one thermal that yielded +10 m/s for some time on the way to Riverside? Some stayed up and some flew out to land several times. Cloudbase about 1100 meters. No XC flights undertaken as ceiling was too low. |
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| /1000' (stable) 3843 feet
Woodside Report - just when you think you have made a "bad call" on the weather, it improves and pilots get a nice flight! Weather looked skunky all day on the Web Cam, and even when I arrived at 6:30 pm. | Derek, Jack and Martina were already at the Ranch, and headed up the hill while I did some renovations to the deck. I figured it wasn't worth heading up, but they soared for hours staying clear of cloud (for most part). Martina headed out to the Ranch because she was worried about "cloudsuck". Derek and Jack flew to Agassiz Rec Centre before it got dark, just making it in. Bev helped retrieve Derek's truck, thanks Bev!
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| /1000' (stable) 3625 feet
Woodside Report - rain most of the day, no one flew. |
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| /1000' (unstable) 3850 feet
Woodside Report - BFAR Tandems were conducted at Woodside today, thank goodness! Launch conditions were great from 9:30 AM on til dark, we had many student flights in between the tandems. Tandems were landing at the old LZ, except for Peter G and me, landing at Eagle Ranch for easier shuttles. Later tandems were flying into Harvest Market as the wind picked up, making for a short XC for the passengers. There was an unnamed PG school flying students into Riverside that had a tree/bush/blackberry incident requiring an hour to extricate a wing (no arborist needed this time). Riverside is not a good student landing area when the conditions "pickup", too easy to screw up (IMHO). |
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| /1000' (unstable) 3850 feet
Woodside Report - we flew a few flights before it got too thermic (11:00 am). Julie had another great thermalling flight with a gusty landing that she handled well, according to Colleen. The rest of the students went kiting until it got too windy.
I headed to Bridal for BFAR Tandem duty. Other pilots were flying Woodside all day, including 5-6 HGers. | Bridal BFAR Report - many pilots at BFAR, 15 tandems were donated. Bob Rinker from Seattle did 5 tandems, I only managed one as conditions did not match my energy level. Eventually I took a heavier passenger who could run and we had a nice 45 minute flight climbing to 1300 meters, while Kevin took his girlfriend on a similar ride. Lots of gliders in the air around 5:00, soaring the knob and climbing towards Cheam. A great day all around with great organization. Bridal Competition Report - Martina is "getting the boot" out of Team Poulet, after winning the prize for closest time to 1 hour with a 56 minute flight. The high winds yesterday were caused by Derek's "sigh of relief" after betting Martina couldn't stay up for an hour, or she gets a new wing! Congratulations on your flight, Martina, and hope you enjoy the new Ozone Vest donated by FlyBC.
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| /1000' (unstable) 3850 feet
Woodside Report - those who did not have to work flew at Woodside.
Kelly, Lucille, Greg, and a few others had good flights before it got trashy.
An un-named tandem pilot flying a UP Sherpa found an interesting new LZ, when he found Riverside blown-out from the south
(no problem in the end). | Later I took a load back up at 7:30 pm, and Colleen, Derek, Kevin A, Greg H, Thomm all got off in strong conditions and soared to 1000 meters for about an hour before I suggested a Harvest landing cause they weren't going down (and a rain cell was coming) and they were almost at the Ranch before they did a 180 and headed on to Agassiz landing in the High School. Kevin left last and lower and beat Colleen in to the High School by a big margin flying the Mantra M.
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| /1000' (unstable) 5308 feet
Woodside Report - Julie logged 1+ hours on her first thermal flight and was very excited! Darren is back after a few months of tree planting.
| A pilot was seen flying at 1500 meters on a Mantra before heading over to Agassiz, Bear and Hicks before landing at Sea Bird Island Gas Bar, 1:09 in strong 5+ lift with equal sink. Bridal Report - Alan flew after directing the garbage truck where the illegal dump sites are. Kevin flew and said it was rough. Derek flew and then Colleen and Martina, following Klaus and Monica.  Colleen over Bridal  Martina over Bridal
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| /1000' (stable) 3360 feet
Vancouver Report - hoped to get out later to kite some new wings, but even after 6:00 pm, it was pretty strong in Burnaby. Rain in the valley until quite late according to News1130. No pilot reports. BFAR this weekend Saturday and Sunday. |
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| /1000' (unstable) 6100 feet
Woodside Report - no pireps from Woodside or Bridal, but Derek said it started raining around 4:00 pm. |
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| /1000' (unstable) 6100 feet
Woodside Report - Andy flew several flights with Kelly but they reported "ratty air". Bev also flew with some encouragement from Norm. Bridal had some pilots soaring according to the report below. | Bridal Report - After you chastised me on the radio, telling me I should "fly more and drive less", I went up Bridal for my 3rd flight today (after 2 flights at Woodside.) I launched at 8 pm, caught a nice verrrry light cycle and soared for 20 minutes - So there - Martina
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| /1000' (unstable) 4000 feet
Woodside Gloat Report - Winds aloft light & variable, forecasted clouds clearing in the afternoon ..... all the fixins for a good day, finally, after all the post/pre crapolla for the last 10 days or so! | Launched around noon right after Andy (his third flight of the day already), high clouds still over launch but the valley was sunny over Sumas so it was on it`s way. We scratched around grovelling for any lift until the sun made it`s appearance. It was still weak for a while but if you were patient, things got better. I hooked into a constant 1.5 m/s progressively getting stronger to 4.4 m/s as I rode it to cloudbase (about 1400 metres) after buzzing launch. It was choppy there and decided it was time to head over the back. Cloud surfed the constantly developing cu`s until Harrison and it got really rough and flew away from the mountain to get away from that crap and now Harrison was in sight. Flew under the developing clouds to regain some height and contemplated flying further down the valley but after getting my butt kicked was not prepared to fly into even nastier conditions so opted to land at the beach. Many thanks to Bev who picked me up and drove me back to Eagle ranch. Saw gliders near Little Nick on the way home assuming they flew from Woodside???? - Thomm ps: Andy also landed at Harrison Beach for his first flight home as he moved there last week, he said it is easier than flying to Agassiz town centre. Woodside Gloat Report #2 - we overheard Norm on the radio a few times, over Dewdney, over Lil Nick, etc. Eventually he landed at the Longhouse Interpretive Centre in Mission after 3 hours of patient flying. Bev was tracking him and retrieved him along with a Taiwanese pilot on a red Titan. Alex and Nicole also flew toward Dewdney but opted for an out & return flight with Nicole barely making Riverside in leeside sink, but Alex went on to Hicks east of Seabird Island. Some of the US boys also flew out & return. Carrie on a yellow Atis flew a very respectable 3+ hours over Woodside, not going anywhere but up! I was able to take my daughter tandem for Father's Day, and we launched when it was particularily leeside and had a rough flight until the bailout where we soared with Carrie, Rob S, Monica and Klaus for a while getting back to launch altitude and just cruising over Harrison Mills. The students even got to fly a few flights before it got too ratty, so it was a fantastic Woodside day. Woodside Gloat Report #3 - Nicole, Alex, Brian Webb flew from Woodside to Dewdney, up to Stave Lake! and then back to Woodside and points beyond. 70 kms +. Fantastic flights with no wind in any direction.  Alex near Stave Lake  Stave Lake in the distance  Nicole's track log June 19/05
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| /1000' (unstable) 2600 feet
Woodside Report - we flew all day until 5:00 pm, when we left for Monica's Birthday Party in Rosedale. Andy flew for a few hours, Colleen got up to 1200 meters before heading out to land students. We had perfect launch conditions, and landing conditions with no wind aloft. Perfect day all around. |
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| /1000' (stable) 2600 feet
Kamloops Report - Colleen said it was raining until Hope, so no flying there. | Woodside Report - when I arrived at 6:00 pm it was flyable but drizzling "on and off". No sign of any pilots.
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| /1000' (unstable!) 3700 feet
Lumby PG Nats Report - Alex R was getting up in a thermal near Coopers Launch,
thermalling with a free-flyer, when the free-flyer cut straight across the thermal and
wrapped Alex's body with his leading edge! Alex felt the other pilot turn left so he instinctively turned right to free himself and fortunately nothing caught on Alex or his gear. He was pretty shaken after this and chose to fly out forfeiting some points. It wasn't that big a points day with the top pilot getting 421 points vs 157 for flying out.
Glad it didn't turn uglier. | Woodside Report - Andy and Derek were soaring before I arrived at the Ranch at 6:00 pm, and I watched their landings in smooth conditions. We all went up again so Martina could test the Rush and Derek let me fly his Vulcan down. I watched Martina and Andy thermalling over the bailout before hitting a wall of wind, so I flew straight out. It got quite windy on the ground too, making for a rough approach but everyone landed fine. After we packed up it got even stronger, as Martina says "it is either pre-frontal, frontal or post-frontal" lately.
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| /1000' (unstable!) 3700 feet
Woodside Report - Colleen drove out to the Ranch around 3:00 pm and said Jack, Andy and a few others were out. No reports but she said it looked "very good". Jack was at Bridal earlier and watched Alan climb out around 1:00 pm. |
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| /1000' (unstable!) 3700 feet
Woodside Report - Jack hiked up around 11:00 am, and hung out on launch for 30 minutes waiing for a black-bottomed cloud to pass over before launching. No lift until the bailout and then up he went, eventually landing at Eagle Ranch. No other flights after that as the winds whistled thru til dark. |
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| /1000' (unstable) 2300 feet
Woodside Report - Derek flew around 7:00 pm, getting up to 1200 meters immediately with little penetration. We headed down to rebuild my mower, while Derek flew out to the Ranch. We went back after 8:30 pm and the conditions calmed for a sled-ride. | 
Rainbow over the Fraser River copyright Martina Lang 
Derek over Woodside copyright Martina Lang
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| /1000' (unstable) 2906 feet
Woodside Report - it started out windy at launch and on the ground,
Roman and John bailed as a sacrifice to the "Weather Gods".
We went to launch around 3:00 pm and Colleen, Alex and I launched after an un-named tandem instructor launched
and scratched his way into the Riverside LZ. | We couldn't find any sink and we were all soon at 1000 meters at the North Cliffs, Bev launched after us and must have followed the same route as the tandem took to land in Riverside as she wanted to hike. Not many pilots out, I guess everyone is at the PG Nats in Lumby where they had a task with 4 in goal, and a bunch in the bombout zone.
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| /1000' (unstable) 2906 feet
Hope Report - just like Ground Hog Day (the movie). Rain, wind and low cloudbase made us decide to go back to Woodside by 10:00 am. | Woodside Report - Jan and Roman launched around noon and flew over to Harvest, pretty windy on the ground at the Ranch. I launched next at 3:00 pm, and flew for 30 minutes in weird, windy air going backwards at times but not gaining much altitude (staying around 800 meters). I bailed and headed to Harvest Market, as the others launched and had more pleasant flights later. Then Colleen and I finished our planting mound in front of the house; thanks to Alex, Jan, Roman and Jack for pulling rocks for us. We went back up at 7:00 pm, and the wind at launch got even stronger and we went to eat.
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| /1000' (unstable) 3606 feet
Woodside Report - we launched around 6:00 pm and flew for an hour getting up to the North Towers. Martina flew to Harvest Market and arrived with 700 meters! not sure where to go further east she landed at Harvest. Andy flew home to Agassiz Rec Center. Colleen and I flew to the Ranch for some late night rodeo action, losing "tips" and gaining grey hair on the approach. | Andy has logged 9.5 hours in the past two days at Woodside in thermal and ridge lift.
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| /1000' (unstable) 3606 feet
Woodside Report - a very good day at Woodside! Martina logged 1:40 and had to land to warm up! Nicole was testing a harness that didn't fit well and did 4 top-landings for adjustments. About 10 gliders in the air for 2+ hours, some thermals but mostly buoyant ridge-lift. A few other top-landings made retrievals un-necessary (Thanks Rob and Nicole). A bad call for Bridal, it was skunked out all day. |
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| /1000' (stable) 2300 feet
Woodside Report - Derek says it cleared up later in the afternoon but he wasn't too motivated to fly as it looked a bit lame. | Ellenville NY Report - there is a report on www.paraglidingforum.com of a NY pilot named Scott who succumbed to injuries suffered during a windy, thermic landing a week ago. Apparently my fears are well founded that the last 30 seconds of a flight can be the most dangerous as you get close to the ground (be it at Grouse, Riverside, Bridal or even a big field like Eagle Ranch). This pilot was doing steep S turns over a tree-line (picture Bridal), and a thermal kicked off lifting him into a high angle of attack, causing a collapse and spin into the ground where he impacted on his chest causing "blunt trauma injury" to his heart. Don't turn sharp close to the trees or ground, Don't do turns over a treeline on final, stay inside the trees in case you get pushed back like this case. And keep the wing on course regardless of collapses or distractions. Scott's flying buddies posted many nice messages on the NY forum. Fly Safe out there!
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| /1000' (un-stable) 3400 feet
Woodside Report - rainy from 10:00 am on, according to Martina and Alan. Bad call on my part, sorry if you wasted a drive. |
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| /1000' (un-stable) 3400 feet
Vancouver Report - the day started out with huge CUs that the weather folks were calling "cartoon clouds", like on the opening scene of the Simpsons. Jack landed his AirBus at YVR and said he was getting 20 knot airspeed deviations on approach and it was quite bumpy due to the thermals. Even later in the day around 7:00 pm, there were towering CUs above the north shore mountains. | Woodside Report - Bev and Martina flew around 12:30 pm, good thermals even a bit rough at times. Andy was even noting the air was a bit strong according to the ladies. Bridal Report - there was only one pilot (Ivan T) that made it into the Bridal Swamp LZ, others chose to land wherever safe when a huge cell overtook them coming from Cheam. Outlanding fees can be paid to WCSC c/o Rob S (he knows who you are!). Russ Ogden wins British PG Comp #1 on an Ozone Mantra proto.
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| /1000' (un-stable) 2800 feet
Woodside Report - nice conditions early on, then rain after 10:00 am. Worked inside all day, then Derek and Martina came by at 6:00 pm, so I drove them up. Martina decided it was too cross and made me fly. Nice and smooth all the way to the LZ. No rodeo ride today. |
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| /1000' (un-stable) 2800 feet
Woodside Report - a lot of pilots flying Woodside today. | Good soaring from 10:00 am with Derek getting 1:30 on his first flight. Martina flew a couple of flights and was seen turning! Colin and new student Derek flew two flights before it got too strong, then we went tandem. Derek and I flew for about 45 minutes landing at the Ranch. Gerry Lamarsh was motivating pilots to get in the air when he was seen 500 meters over launch, "speck-ing out". Bev let me fly her new Buzz to test it out for about an hour getting up to 1200 meters and I had a "rodeo-ride" into Eagle Ranch (to coin Robin Sather's flight in prior!). Then Colin and I flew later with Rob S following us and we flew to Agassiz High School with Bev retrieving us. Why is it that the Upper Level Forecast says "light and variable" yet we always get 25-35 kms at launch and in the air?
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| /1000' (un-stable) 2800 feet
Woodside Report - we went up to launch around 6:00 pm. Derek, Frank and Rob launched while we watched an un-named instructor doing wingovers almost hit the trees tandem! This after the trees claimed another Russian north of launch in strong winds, no injuries. | It was soarable and Andy flew later and had a 3-4 km/hr ground speed out to the Ranch. New students Colin and Derek kited in the LZ for a few hours getting ready for Saturday.
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| /1000' (un-stable) 2300 feet
Woodside Report - it looked skunky when I left for town at 6:30 am. Andy never flew cause he thought it looked lame. |
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| /1000' (un-stable) 2300 feet
Woodside Report - Ken flew his new paramotor a few times before heading up to Kitimat. | Whidbey WA Report - I went for a drive today down to Whidbey Island and it was unbelievable !! I met a very nice local pilot named Bryce, and he told me all about flying at Fort Ebey. The wind was coming straight in SSW at 12MPH steady, and the air was smooth and laminar. We flew for about 2 hours getting up to 450ft max, doing lots of 'touch and goes' in the grass at the edge of the cliff. What a truly amazing site !! Bryce said that was the best day there this year so far, and we were the only two people out - Cheers, Neil G. |
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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