FlyBC "Site of the Day Archives" - June/2007
"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 - 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.
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Woodside Report - when we arrived late last night it was still raining but the blue was coming our way!. |
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Vancouver Report - not much sun, mostly rain and clouds with heavier rain after dark. Most pilots are making long weekend plans to leave the area for Savona, Bella Coola, anywhere drier. |
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Bridal Report - Die hards Carl, Rob S, Natalia & Alex show up to drive up for about a 3
PM launch. We didn't expect much and the first launch or 2 proved it,
but 20 min later there was enough sun to keep 3 gliders up around launch
area. We spent 40 min or so bouncing around (1.5 m/s up max) from about
150m below to 100m above launch - then the sun really came out and it
became quite a lot more active (4.5 m/s up on a 10 sec avg), but the
same ceiling at 100m above launch (we just got there a lot quicker than
before). I finished up with an hour, Rob a little more, and Alex was
still boating around working on his second hour when I left. An
unexpected pleasure - Ihor
| Bridal Report for June 26 amended - Just a quick note. Yesterday, Al got to almost 2400 metres, not 1200. He was boating around over the peak of Cheam, and even went back and soared around Lady Peak. The rest of us were lucky to break 1000 metres, and had to scrap for every bit of lift possible - Robin
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Woodside Report - as predicted, east winds at launch until 1:00 pm. Britton logged four flights and did very well launching in light to no wind conditions and hitting the landing spot twice. Quite a few others flew as well getting sledders (welcome back to civilization - Alex and Nataliya). | Bridal was a bit better, Alan got a 30 minute flight launching too early, Al was the SkyPig of the Day with over two hours of soaring up around 1200 meters, and a truckload of 8 pilots had to drive down after 6 pm due to over-the-back conditions.
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Woodside Report - the FlyBC Woodside Webcam looked good, nice CU over launch. Derek and Martina flew a few flights but no soaring. | 
Woodside Today - by FlyBC's Woodside Webcam
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Woodside Report - the students slept in cause of the morning rain, but it was flyable from 9:00 am, on. We went up the hill at 11:00 am, for their first flight and Colleen led the gaggle. She soared the ridge for a while and then off to her favourite thermal spot where she hung in for a while, nice conditions despite a forecast that was UGLY! Bill followed her out to the Ranch, as Don and Britton got ready. | They both got away clean and were soon on the way to the Ranch with a perfect spot landing for Don! We came back up and it was getting breezy, so I went tandem first with Catherine (Gary K's daughter) and we soared for a while and went to the South Knoll where it was not happening. A bit sinky on the way toward the HG LZ, but we caught some thermals and managed a 20 minute flight with the longest final I have ever had. We had good east wind on the socks, but we hovered past the spot almost to the fence line where we landed downwind as the wind had shifted after we passed the circle. Gary landed right after us heading south and also glided long. After that the winds switched to 20-25 km/hr from the NW and we deemed it too strong for students. Unfortunately, Bev had already launched and was soaring above launch so we told her to head to Harvest. Norm launched after Bev and they both had interesting flights over the back. Strong east winds over there, with +6 m/s cloud suck for Norm in the rain! Bev landed and then the rain hit her, she looked like a "drowned cat"! After everyone got back to the Ranch it was lunch and finally calling the day as the rain didn't look like it would quit, but we bagged two sets of flights before that happened. There was a tropical monsoon driving back into Vancouver last night.
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Woodside Report - despite a poor forecast, we flew all day. First flights at 11:00 am, with Bill hitting a +3 m/s thermal low over the bailout swamp, and he took it to 900 meters. I think it was the best thermal of the day. We flew past 7:00 pm, and cycles were good all day. First solo flights for Don and Britton (father-son team) went very well. Brandi had two solo flights, the first one getting as high as Bill on a Prima! Lots of pilots out all day with some ridge soaring later. |
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Woodside Report - Bridal was very cloudy so we stayed at Woodside.
Rain til 1:00 pm, then lots of windy kiting until 3:00 pm, when we went for the first flights.
Gary was the "wind technician" and his sinky flight barely making Eagle Ranch was not inspiring
so we waited for him to come back up. A large group of "Desperados" showed up. | It took some time to get everyone off the hill (Gary, Robin, Jeff, Gary, student Bill, Wiley, Thomm, Tom C) , with Brandi & me on tandem as the last few off the hill as it started to sprinkle lightly. It was only "high humidity" as the wing was dry when we packed up. Better than sitting at work!
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Woodside Report - good kiting all day at the Ranch, Bill spent the mid-day perfecting his reverse launches (he can now kite over to his water bottle, pick it up and drink from it while kiting!). We went up to Woodside Launch around 4:00 pm, and he had a nice thermal flight (oddly no ridge lift to the north), getting to 900 meters in the front clearcuts and then heading over to Harvest Market for LZ #3 at Woodside. Then back up to launch for flight to Eagle Ranch before heading to the Sasquatch Inn for dinner with his friend who is starting lessons tomorrow. | Bridal Report - Derek didn't like the look of the thermals at Woodside, so he headed to Bridal with Martina. They were at Bridal Lower the same time as we arrived at Woodside Launch. He commited to the "shortest Bridal Flight in history", about 6 minutes?? Glad we flew Woodside!
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Woodside Report - a few good flights off Woodside before the wind picked up. Some thermals but even Norm had issues staying up for long! So off to Bridal. | Bridal Report - first flights at Bridal for Bill, and second flights for Wiley, but they both did well, in fact they had to land to warm up after an hour, no matter what I tried to get Bill to do to get down faster they arrived to the Swamp at exactly the same time and did a good job avoiding each other. Second flights after dressing warmer were interesting, with Wiley have a full frontal off launch and missing the ground and Bill over controlling the wing into a wingover off launch and a top landing! He felt that was safer than continuing a launch gone bad and he landed smoothly by the Big Rock. His next launch was flawless and he stayed in the air for 1:20 for about 3 hours of airtime in one day and he only has 16 flights logged to date. A late incident occured when an un-named pilot decided to fly their old Nova Carbon and spun in trying to top-land, fortunately not hurt as they hit some soft bushes on the descent. Nova recalled most of the Carbons with a certain serial number range after fabric problems caused deep-stall tendencies to manifest themselves into these kinds of incidents. A very experienced BC Instructor had a serious crash flying a Carbon on a test flight three years ago, also entered a parachutal stall before spinning out of control into the ground (this time not so lucky as he broke his pelvis). Good thing to do with a Carbon: make wind socks! or a campfire!
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Woodside Report - Colleen and I were out around 1:00 pm, and watched Greg B, Jeff R and Martin (the other Martin) fly their HGs for a while getting to about 3000 feet but not any higher, it looked like a bit of a struggle to stay in the air. Colleen had to be in Kamloops later so she bailed on flying and left as student Bill showed up around 2:30 pm. | No problem for Bill getting some kiting and training hill practice after a 4 week hiatus with a broken collar-bone from Motocrossing (dangerous past-time), and we then got him 3 nice flights with flight #2 getting him above launch to 1100 meters in a nice construction zone thermal on the way to the Ranch. Thomm and Jan K showed up for a flight each and some soaring under the well defined inversion layer around 1200 meters. Bridal Report - Alan, Ihor, Ivan, Carl and a few others were flying Bridal as Colleen drove by and she called to say they were not getting very high, I confirmed that with Alan as he could get to 1300 meters but no more. Odd with such a great lapse rate, but it was inverted at that altitude based on visual clues. I also looked pretty windy higher up so it may have been "ragging out the thermals" above 1300 meters. Derek and Martina showed up later and had good flights too.
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Vancouver Report - light drizzle at times, light winds in the morning, but cloudbase too low to fly at Grouse. Woodside looked flyable part of the afternoon. Whidbey turned out pretty light for soaring. |
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Woodside Report - it was wet most of the day and when it quit raining, it got very windy . . . so no flying here today. |
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Woodside Report - not flyable even for a minute all day. Looks bad until Tuesday. |
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Woodside Report - Thomm showed up around 3:00 pm, and we kept watching launch appear and disappear in the clouds, and around 4:00 pm, we headed up the hill. Arriving at launch to low cloudbase we waited for an opening, typical Woodside with gusts blowing through that would clear the cloud for a minute and then "sock-in again". | When we could see the ground for more than 2 minutes I pulled out the 6907, figuring it would be less likely to get sucked up into the clouds. Off I went and was able to soar for quite a few passes, and it was strong and lifty. 
The 6907 cloud-surfing - by Colleen I soared the mountain for a while, then headed to the South Knoll where I started sinking, back to the clearcut to top up and there were thermals but I was flying too fast to make any use of them and was eventually headed to the Ranch. Even on the 6907 I was bucking a pretty good headwind and I just cleared the trees to the North of the field to land in gusty SE winds. I advised the others to head to Harvest if they flew and I would get them there. Colleen launched first and was immediately headed into the clouds and had to big-ear to stay clear, so she headed over the back fast. Thomm had similar conditions and was going up at 2 m/s with ears! I packed up and headed to Harvest figuring they would be soaring Cemetary Hill, but it was raining on the back side so no lift. It cleared up after 6:30 pm, but we were heading to dinner in Abbotsford so we called it a night, but I am sure there was "sweet soaring" later.
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Bridal Report - Alan was all alone at Bridal, flying for 4+ hours! Cloudbase to 1500 meters, but all the lift was over the Valley. Alan flew out to Rosedale flying around town, and almost lost it flying back to the mountain, but climbed out nicely under the clouds. Some climbs to +7 m/s! He kept looking for flying buddies, but they all went to Woodside. | Woodside Report - Norm had a great flight before heading to work, getting easily to 1300 meters, lift to +6 m/s. Rob and Derek flew Woodside later around 6:00. I flew over at 7:00 pm, but didn't see anyone in the air from 10000 feet?
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Caochrane Report - I was out at Muller's test Sflying a new APCO DHV I ship called the "Karma". Very cross from the NW and strong enough that the UP Targa IIs were going backwards! But we tried to fly. Brett and Suja are now living in Calgary and they were out with Brett's folks visiting and he was flying the Targa. Bernie was also on a Targa II and Tihi was flying the odd coloured Vista (DHV I-II). We got a few passes each and no one landed at the bottom. Thursday looks like rain so no flying expected here. | 
Brett, Jim, Tihi and Bernie kiting at Muller's Hill, Cochrane AB - by Vincene
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Woodside Report - after many calls to the Valley, Alan and I met at Woodside as Bridal was cloudy around 1:00 pm. Al was already at Woodside and we met at the Kettle and were at launch by 2:45 pm. Nice cycles, not too strong. Alan launched first and was soon climbing to the north quite fast. | Al launched and headed south and struggled a bit but got up to the north as well. I followed both of them to the north and further out I found a strong thermal in front of the cliffs that took me to 1500 meters behind launch halfway to Agassiz Mtn. Alan was already at cloudbase north of me and Al was down near the towers waiting for a big one that finally took him to 'base. The air was smooth in the cores but the sheer layers were busy with lots of turbulence and noise. The obvious choice was to head east towards Agassiz Mtn. and then on to Harrison or Bear Mtn., but I had a flight out of Abbotsford at 7:30 pm, so I had to stay close to my truck. After about 30 minutes in the air, Alan and Al had climbed to 1800 meters to the north and were headed to Sasquatch to the west, while I remained over Woodside. I headed over to the South Knoll to lose some height and try some top-landing approaches, but soon gave that up as the thermals down at 800 meters were sharp and drifting every direction. Dennis had gotten back to launch after sinking out earlier and was relaunching and I was trying to find sink but kept getting lifted back to 1000 meters without turning. I watched the guys get to Sasquatch pretty high and was sure they would get "cloud-sucked" as there were black-bottomed clouds over there but they were soon scratching around at 400 meters and landed at the Sandpiper Golf Course airstrip (the part not flooded!). I was not at 1200 meters and trying to figure out the logistics when Kevin called from Chilliwack heading over for a tandem. I decided to fly out to the Ranch, grab Al and Alan in the Tracker and back to the Ranch to meet Kevin to go up in his truck rather than risk a top-landing. It took quite a while to get down to land even with spirals and stunts, and the landing was smooth. Alan offered to drive my Van down so I took the 6907 down to the Ranch for my last flight, thermalling a bit with Kevin's tandem, but the lift was too light to keep me up for long with a -1.5 m/s sink rate. Eventually Al, Kevin and I were all in the Ranch and I had to balst off to Abbotsford. A great flying day, the last probably until Friday. Weather looks bad for the weekend again!
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Bridal Report - it looked flyable after 4:00 pm, but no pilots were seen on the Bridal WebCam. |
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Woodside Report - Thomm and I headed up when it lulled for a bit, and we saw a Hangie setup. When we arrived Bill Brass and his wife were trying to keep his glider on the ground, and eventually with four of us on the wires it was still dangerous, so we took him into the lee to breakdown as a rain cell approached us. | 
Cheap Camping at Kilby Campground right now! - by JPR Lumby Report - Jim Orava was testing harnesses and blew Bev's Cocoon up?? More on this later.
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| Agassiz: Cloudy. Rain beginning late this morning. High 18. UV index 3 or moderate. (unstable)
Lumby Air Races Report - Lumby Air Races had a valid PG day on Friday, but Saturday didn't look good so we stayed home at the Ranch to do chores. | Woodside Report - we had a few flyable hours until 11:00 am, and it started raining hard. The forecast high winds didn't come to Harrison Mills.
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Woodside Report - new Ozone silk delivered today; Martina's new Rush, David's new Buzz and Kevin's
new Mantra M2, were seen soaring over Woodside after 5:00 pm today.
Add to that Colleen and Al and Derek and I was the odd man out on the Gin Boom Sport. | 
Kevin's new Ozone Mantra M2 - by JPR 
Martina's new Ozone Rush - by JPR I could have dragged out the 6907 but it wasn't that soarable. Earlier Al and Thomm logged 2+ hours and Thomm even hiked up for the fun of it?? I top-landed in a heap to drive down as others headed out cause they were cold and hungry. Nice conditions here, Bridal was not as good due to cloudbase issues.
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Woodside Report - Colleen reported clear skies over Woodside, while Bridal was "socked in". No pireps. | Bald Eagle delisted as "Endangered Species" in USA By Peggy Mihelich CNN (CNN) -- The bald eagle is officially about to become a "conservation success story" for the U.S. government, which has worked for more than three decades to help the national symbol recover from habitat destruction, illegal shooting and contamination of its food source. By June 29, the government is expected to take bald eagles off the Endangered Species Act's "threatened" list. The birds then would be protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. But Kieran Suckling of the Center for Biological Diversity conservation group said this victory comes at a price -- loss of eagle habitat protection. The bird's nesting grounds were protected as long as the bald eagle was considered a "threatened" species. But the less restrictive eagle protection act does not put eagle habitats off-limits. Suckling said he worries that without habitat protection, developers will move into critical bald eagle areas, push the birds out and reduce their numbers. "There is big money to be made in cutting down and developing bald eagle habitat," he said. The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act prohibits anyone without a permit from "taking" bald eagles, including their parts, nests and eggs. Its definition of "take" includes: pursuit, shooting, shooting at, poisoning, wounding, killing, capturing, trapping, collecting, molesting and disturbing. "For the most part, it's a shooting and hunting statute," said Nicholas Throckmorton of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "It does talk a little about nesting and the tree that eagles are in, but it's not intended to protect habitat or ecosystems." As part of his concern, Suckling points to Arizona, home to 43 breeding pairs. The birds nest along small rivers, which are easily affected by development, he explained. Suckling said once protection is gone, these rivers will be under severe threat. He said he's particularly concerned about growth in Prescott in central Arizona and its impact on the Verde River, which he said could harm eagles' nests. Bald eagle recovery Bald eagle populations severely declined in the lower 48 states between 1870 and 1970 due to hunting, habitat loss and the use of DDT. DDT, a powerful insecticide, made bald eagle eggshells so weak they couldn't produce viable offspring. In 1963, there were only 417 breeding pairs in the lower 48. In a national effort to save the iconic bird, the federal government banned the use of DDT in 1972 and placed the bald eagle under protection of the Endangered Species Act, which allowed the government to protect bald eagle habitat. These two key factors helped it recover, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. Today, there are 9,789 breeding pairs in the lower 48 states. One landowner ready for delisting is Minnesota retiree Edmund Contoski. Contoski, 69, wants to build five log homes on his undeveloped seven-acre property along Lake Sullivan. However, the Endangered Species Act has prohibited development within 330 feet of an active bald eagle's nest on his property -- that covers all of Contoski's usable land. "Eagles don't pay taxes; I pay taxes," Contoski said. "I'm paying taxes, and I can't do anything with the property." In 2005, he challenged the Fish and Wildlife Service to make good on its 1999 proposal to delist the bald eagle. He took the agency to court and won. His court battle led to the June 29 deadline, which the government said it will meet. Future conservation The Fish and Wildlife Service plans to issue voluntary guidelines for landowners to protect bald eagles and permits to people who wish to evict a bald eagle from their property. The agency also took the additional step of defining what it actually means to "disturb" an eagle under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act: "To agitate or bother a bald or golden eagle to a degree that causes, or is likely to cause, based on the best scientific information available, 1) injury to an eagle, 2) a decrease in its productivity, by substantially interfering with normal breeding, feeding or sheltering behavior, or 3) nest abandonment, by substantially interfering with normal breeding, feeding or sheltering behavior." The conservation organization National Wildlife Federation called it a "solid framework" that will keep the bald eagle around for generations to come. Dr. Greg Butcher, director of bird conservation for the National Audubon Society, said he feels confident that "good things will happen for the bald eagle" as a result of the government's actions. Suckling said while that definition will help protect the birds, it fails to protect their habitat. "The definition is linked to bothering or agitating actually present birds; it does not apply to logging the nest area when the bird is not present," he explained. Suckling offered this analogy: "You come back from your summer vacation and someone has trashed your property so badly that you can't live there anymore. Have you been 'disturbed'? I would say so, but the Fish and Wildlife Service definition says, 'No.' " Paul Schmidt, the Fish and Wildlife Service's assistant director for migratory birds, told CNN.com the government is confident the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act will "afford adequate protections" and the agency won't see a decline in populations after delisting. "Americans can and will coexist with a healthy and sustainable population of bald eagles," Schmidt added. Endangered species delistings are often contentious. The proposal to delist the Northern Rockies gray wolf has ranchers worried packs of wolves will be free to attack livestock, while conservationists argue without safeguards wolves will be hunted back to just above relisting levels. On Monday, conservation groups filed a lawsuit asking the government to restore Endangered Species Act protections for the Yellowstone grizzly bear. Lack of habitat protection and climate change threaten the bears' future, says Earthjustice, a nonprofit public interest law firm representing the environmental groups. The Yellowstone grizzly bear was delisted in March. For more than 30 years, it was considered a "threatened" species. Currently there are 541 animals in the United States listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Twenty animals have been delisted under the act; 10 are considered recovered. (Recovery is the process by which the decline of an endangered or threatened species is considered arrested or reversed.) The Endangered Species Act calls for five years of monitoring following delisting of a species.
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Woodside Report - some blue patches on our Woodside Webcam and launch was clear, but I didn't see any pilots. |
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Woodside Report - better looking conditions at Woodside as Bridal was in the clouds most of the afternoon. It looked windy at Abbotsford Airport mid-day so landings at Woodside may have been a bit "rodeo". | Flood Watch Amateur Radio Protocols - I would like to ask you a favour and post something on the FlyBC site regarding some simplex frequencies that will be in use over the next few trying weeks. All simplex frequencies should be used sparingly, especially; 146.430 Boston Bar 146.460 Mission 146.415 Surrey 146.475 Kent Agassiz And those who are not used to proper protocol, all those who got the licence with a scratch and win and those who have no call sign at all to get a family radio. To refresh our minds. Simplex frequencies are as follow. 146415 to 146590 in 15 khz increments. 146520 is the national calling frequency and should NOT be used for rag chewing. Placing ourselves outside these frequencies ( like 145555) is nothing short of stupid and will encroach on other services provided by Radio Amateurs. This is about it. Hope you are better off than we are. Got our evacuation warning today. Orders to follow, which I am not about to listen to - Thanks again. Cheerio Klaus
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Woodside Report - no one flying but it was flyable around 6:00 pm. The rivers are getting very high! SIV Course may be held at Eagle Ranch if it floods. | 
The View from Eagle Ranch tonight - by JPR
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Woodside Report - good training all day, with some thermals for the students and others. Some folks at Bridal were reporting marginal conditions. Colleen took the Ozone 6907 for a flight and says "she likes it!". Zak and I also flew it but Woodside is too low for acro by the time you reach the Ranch, Bridal is better. | Lehora Hachey's Woodside Video - "A stable day at Woodside including the ride up to Launch and a landing at Eagle Ranch"
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Woodside Report - great teaching conditions, until 2:00 pm, when we had a great tandem but the LZ got a bit too thermic for safe student flights, so off to Bridal. | Kirril's motor report, slow climbs to 5000 feet, then good to 7000 feet, where he took these shots, first one is Eagle Launch north of Woodside, and the second shot is toward Hemlock where our planned Hemlock to Eagle Ranch flight is being researched. 
Eagle Launch, almost void of snow in the past week - by Kirril 
View towards Hemlock Valley - by Kirril Bridal Report - good cycles at launch but some cross winds caused some aborts. I flew Greg for his second tandem and we were in the air 2:08 but had to land to do another tandem for someone who decided to leave early anyway. So we should have stayed up. A bit of a clown-show at Bridal with unsupervised students, a tandem pilot flying without a helmet (twice!), unrated Russian pilot trying to do a mid-air with Diane, and poor ridge rules overall. Fortunately the FlyBC students and instructors behaved themselves.
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Bridal Report - Colleen arrived around 6:00 pm and we drove up with Andy (who had flown for 3+ hours and had just landed). It was still soarable and I pulled the new Ozone 6907 (six-nine-zero-seven) out and clipped in. At 16 meters it is pretty easy to infalte and kite, and as it wasn't that windy I thought a good sprint was in order. But I lifted off fast and was soaring above launch, but going about 45 kms/hr! It turns fast and dives nicely in a turn, great brake pressure and travel. I soared the knob for a while then tried to follow Rob S towards the west and that didn't work as the lift was too light, so I threw in a few spirals and tried a SAT but was too wimpy as I was getting low. Great apprach speeds and energy for the flare, so it seems like a great slope soaring glider, and acro ship. | Colleen flew after me and soared for about an hour, landing with Martin who flew to the Butterfly today, and Rob who flew most everywhere as usual.
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Bridal Report - after flying one trashy flight at Woodside, I took the students to Bridal for a flight. Unfortunately, Klaus and Derek reported 30 kms+ wind in Chilliwack, so solo flights for students was out. I flew Fiona tandem for 1:30, our apologies for anyone flying or hiking under us (2007's first barfer!). The air was rough and you had to turn pretty aggressively to core up, she was having fun but wasn't keeping her eyes on the horizon. Landing at the swamp was bumpy and thermic, but we hit the circle. Barry was out, two days in a row. | 
How long does sailcloth last, ask Andy - by www.harrymartinscartoons.com Woodside Report - we thought it had calmed down, so Derek, Martina and David flew. Martina had some rough air going straight down off launch until the new construction at the ridge and she climbed high there and then sinky again into the Ranch. Derek's flight looked smoother to the north, so off went David. He was doing okay until he hit some turbulence over the bailout swamp and had a 50% collapse, he lost a lot of height getting back on course and almost made the Ranch but opted for a safe landing. Bert is up another $20! Kamloops Dome Report - Harold sent some photos from 3000 meters over Kamloops, watch out for inbound Air Canada planes! Apparently the air is smoother over there than in inverted Fraser Valley. 
Harold's view of the world - by Harold Sartorious |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports
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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