FlyBC "Site of the Day Archives" - June/2012


Iffy weather today at Woodside.

Quote of the Day: “What you do today is important, because you are exchanging a day of your life for it.” - unknown author

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Date
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Comments
6/30/2012
No flying around Woodside today

         18°C
230° at 8 knots -2.7°C (unstable) 900 m Woodside Report - we spent the day indoors setting up harnesses and packing for Savona next week, really wet out.

6/29/2012
Woodside should be flyable today, but later

         20°C
240° at 10 knots -2.7°C (unstable) 900 m Woodside Report - we started later today as Matt got a late start heading out here, but he wasn't disappointed as he got three great flights on his new Ozone Element II glider.

Klaus, Monica, Martin N, Willie (from Clearwater) and Brock joined Matt on his flights and did really well with super nice thermals over Woodside. Bridal was clouded over, so everyone came over here.

Norm came up for a last flight with us and managed to stay above launch despite no sun or appreciable meteo winds, on his Ozone M4.

Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at Woodside & from the FlyBC June Album.




Woodside Report #2 - Team Promontory was representing today! George & Lee picked me up around 1:30 to grab a quick flight. George offered to drive as he is still recovering from Tough Mudder and also had an appointment at 3:30.

We drove straight up to launch & made a plan to fly to Harvest to save time for our driver. I launched first into the awesome looking sky but my impatience almost got the better of me! The sun hadn't been on Woodside long enough so thermals were tiny & punchy and I was thermalling myself into the ground. One last effort before giving up & gliding to Riverside and boom! Got back up to almost 900 metres from below 400. Lee had waited and was rewarded with a flight that kept him above launch the whole time, so once I got back up to him we went on glide to Harvest & got our driver back in time.

Sounds like it was a locals kind of day, with Monica & Klaus and Martin N flying. Hope your student got in some nice airtime too. - Martina

6/28/2012
Woodside should be flyable today, but probably cloudy later

         23°C
240° at 10 knots -2.9°C (unstable) 1700 m Woodside Report - I had a flight on the new FoxBat Ultralight at King George as the Coyote was NFG due to a brake problem. Nice straight wind down the runway for a change!

Then on to Woodside for a tandem at 4 pm with Kris, who brought the family to watch.

When we arrived on top, Gary P was pulling in "big ears" to descend to top land, which he performed well. We were clipped in just as he landed and got a lull and we were off and soaring above launch with ease, oddly thermic despite solid cloud cover.

We flew around the mountain for 15 minutes before heading out to let Kris fly, and it got windier close to the Ranch but the landing was soft and right in the circle.

We had taken Joe Chromy up but it was too windy and it actually got stormier as the night went on with heavy rain drops and gusts.

6/27/2012
Woodside should be flyable today, but probably cloudy

         20°C
240° at 9 knots -2.9°C (unstable) 1100 m Woodside Report - a busy day for me with 4 tandems and no helper pilots.

The first group came at noon and they were both big boys - 210 & 235 lbs. Crap, I hope it is windy on launch!

We got up at 12:30 pm to nice strong cycles and I launched with the lighter brother, and we climbed fast at +3.9 m/s with good duration and we were soon thru 1000 meters. After 25 minutes of this we headed out and the passenger flew me home to a nice approach but he landed on his butt driving his helmet into my jaw. Ouch.

Back up to launch with Bro #2 and it was even stronger so not much running needed as we floated off the carpeted area. Sweet lift again this time +4.1 m/s and we climbed almost as high as flight number 1. Another 25 minutes of thermalling and we headed out to a nice approach and I surfed him into the tall grass as he caught his toes instead of running. Soft landing for me!

Next up was a Birthday tandem for a nice lady, and we took off around 2:30 pm, into equally strong conditions and we climbed thru 1100 meters for a nice view of Harrison Lake and beyond. I waited to see the hubby drive down and we then headed out arriving over the Ranch at 700 meters but somehow he never got to the field in time to video her landing. Another surf landing as she caught her toes too. In reviewing the landing videos all three approaches were slow but they could not coordinate their feet.

Last tandem flight at 4:00 pm was not as long or as strong but we had a nice launch and landed at the ProCircle but Rob tried to land on both feet instead of running so he face-planted too. After 8 good landings in the past 8 tandems, I knew it wouldn't last.

Mixed reports from Bridal, tough earlier with pilots breaking through and heading to Cheam and further east.

Click here for more pictures from todays Tandemonium & from the FlyBC June Album.


6/26/2012
Woodside may be flyable today, but probably windy

         14°C
240° at 17 knots -2.9°C (unstable) 1400 m Woodside Report - I spent an hour in the air over King George Airpark doing circuits in the Rans Coyote II in some thermic crosswind conditions, good lift over Highway 99 and a bit rotory from the White Rock Bluffs.

Then on to the Ranch to do tandems but all three passengers cancelled as they thought it was going to rain . . . which it didn't.

I waited for the last passenger to arrive at 530 pm, and it was blowing in with soarable winds but they called at the last minute to cancel too. Tomorrow will be busy as the last days of Groupon Redemtions is coming to a close on June 27! Yippee!

I installed the new Brush Cutter with Derek's help and mowed more of the brush near Chimp Creek until dark when it finally started to sprinkle.

Click here for more pictures from the FlyBC June Album, and some tandem action from a few days ago.


6/25/2012
Woodside will be flyable today, I can see launch at 5:30 am!

         20°C
240° at 12 knots -2.9°C (unstable) 1400 m Woodside Report - the weather did cooperate at Woodside and many were out enjoying a dry day for a change - Megs, Tom C, Martin N, Ihor, Denis went for a flight around noon and were soaring nicely when I arrived.

I had a few tandems to do and they got stacked up so Denis helped me do a couple.

The last two tandems were soarable with some nice thermals mixed in, except for the near-zero groundspeeds as we got to the Ranch. We started out at 800 meters with 20 kph on the GPS and at the ridge we were down to 8 kph, over the Maple Tree we were at a standstill but my landing was smooth once in the Ranch boundaries. Pictures will be posted later as Tom C & Megs were practicing tandems, with Denis & Miguel on one tandem, and Jim & Ken on the other tandem soaring Woodside around 6 pm.

I suggested Tom head to Harvest Market as they were pretty lightly loaded to make the Ranch run!

Thanks to Derek for all the mowing & driving duties today!

6/24/2012
Woodside may be flyable today, I can see launch at 6:30 am!

         18°C
260° at 11 knots -2.9°C (unstable) 1400 m Woodside Report - we started flying today at Woodside, after 11:30 am. We restacked the tandem schedule for 4 pilots and it worked out well.

Colleen, Martina, Denis & I formed the Awesome Tandem Team today and we had some very excited passengers. We each did 4 tandems and the weather held out for us all day long, no gust fronts or even a light shower all day long.

My last tandem was great despite having to wait a bit for a straight cycle, and we landed in the ProCircle on our feet, to save the last walk in from the field.

Lots of pilots out today, some getting to cloudbase even on the last flights before 6 pm. Not much XC potential but we will take it after all the rain.

Click here for more pictures from the FlyBC June Album.


6/23/2012
Woodside may be flyable today, I can see launch at 7:30 am!

         18°C
240° at 12 knots -2.9°C (unstable) 1400 m Woodside Report - we were flying today at Woodside, after 11 am. We had a few tandems to do, plus some refresher flights for Dan as we had flyable conditions after 11 am.

We had a good view of the flooding on Island 22 across from Woodside, where a community dyke was breached again this year.

Being mindful of what I said this morning: Woodside or Bridal looks possible today with a chance of Thunderstorms so beware of gust fronts., we were watching with every set of flights. Colleen and I did two tandems each with Dan sneaking in three flights (one during a retrieve run), and we were heading up at 4 pm for the third set of tandems when Kevin called to say the storm had just hit Cultus Lake, from calm to raging whitecaps and lightning storms in minutes. Oddly it was still nice at the Ranch?

We were loading gear and signing waivers, when Martina texted that Promontory just got windy and lawn furniture was becoming airborne.

We went out to check the telescope and heckle Thomm for landing early as he was just finished packing up, and the first blast hit us. The first to blow away was the mosquito tent (secured by boulders), then the telescope blew over and then it was a full-on gale. at least it didn't take much convincing for the passengers to understand that it wasn't safe to fly!

We sent them home and went for a beer at the Sasquatch Inn and the waves were crashing over the Harrison Bridge. On the other side the power was out but the Inn has a generator, so lights were on there.

Thanks to the Chilliwack Early Storm Warning System (CESWS) - Kevin & Martina - we were all safe and sound! Except for my Suzuki which a tree fell on when we were at the Inn, on to ICBC Monday I guess?

Click here for more pictures from the FlyBC June Album.




Wood Rat Report - task 6 stopped.

Results here.

6/22/2012
Woodside may be rained out today

         19°C
240° at 12 knots -2.6°C (unstable) 1100 m King George Report - no flying today at Woodside, so I went to KGA for some Ultralight Dual time to satisfy Transport Canada's requirements to achieve my Ultralight Instructor's License for all types of Ultralights (not just powered parachutes).

We got in the air around 1 pm, into a nice crosswind and the air was already getting turbulent rolling off the bluffs at White Rock. We did two circuits and had to shut it down as the gust fornt was near and approaching fast. After tying down the Coyote in the hangar, it really poured as I headed down to the US to pick up some gear.

Lots of high water near Agassiz and hoping the dykes hold out for a few more weeks til the water recedes.

6/21/2012
Woodside may be soarable today

         24°C
270° at 12 knots -2.7°C (unstable) 1100 m Woodside Report - we were at Woodside after 10 am Wednesday, and only one student and one tandem so it was a smooth day with no hiccups.

Jessica arrived on time to sign in and get the tandem briefing, and Dan was out kiting to get ready for his first flight in 4 months (last time was in February in Mexico).

Alex & Nicole came over after their Elk Summer Solstice Adventure with the Para-Hikers, and their 630 am flight off Elk to Eddie's for breakfast. Nicole offered to drive for me, so no retrieve issues for Jessica's tandem flight.

We had a few turns in some thermals but it was pretty lame air at 1 pm. I was happy with our launch & landing as we landed right in the big circle after setting up for the ProCircle and changing plans as it was pretty thermic behind the trees near Stonehenge. Another perfect landing on her feet - 5 in a row now!

I wasn't feeling too bad about the conditions when I heard Alan at Bridal had sunk below launch and had to scratch for 40 minutes, Ihor also launched and got only 30 minutes so the stability was there too. The winds never picked up at Woodside either despite the forecasts.



Elk Solstice Report - Seven hikers and two vol-bivvy vultures congregated on Elk Mountain, June 20th, the summer solstice.

We enjoyed various unique beverages, appies, milk-fed liver stew, traditional yodelling and geriatric nudity long past sunset, spent a beautiful night on top and then hiked and flew our separate ways.

I managed to glide effortlessly to Vedder to land in my school field and begin my day of work. Apparently I missed another glorious meal at Eddy's. Berg Heil! Fellow Solstice people you can upload some of your best shots to this site and download from this site.

Click here for more pictures from the Biff's Solstice Album.




Wood Rat Report - nice flyable task with Frederic making goal.

Results here.

6/20/2012
Woodside may be soarable today

         25°C
260° at 10 knots -3.0°C (unstable) 1500 m Woodside Report - we were at Woodside after 11 am, doing many tandems.

Denis & I did four tandems each finishing just before 6 pm. Not much lift today at Woodside with Martin & Mia barely getting above launch on the ATOS's. Similar flights for Norm and some other PGers, you could stay in the air but hit a ceiling and get stuck there no matter where one went.

Oddly today, everyone of my passengers landed on their feet including Chris who did an amazing job as I had to full stall high on final to avoid landing on Denis' wing and we came in almost vertical and he landed softly on his feet!

Reports from Bridal sounded similar with pilots getting 1-2 hours of airtime fighting to get high. We heard Alex R top landed on Elk to save the hike for the annual Summer Solstice Campout after flying there from Bridal! Nice flight.

Click here for more pictures from the FlyBC June Album.




Wood Rat Report - nice flyable task with Andrew making goal.

Results here.



Click here for the FlyBC Paragliding Facebook Page and click on the Like Button so it will become permanent and Public.

6/19/2012
Woodside may be soarable today

         17°C
230° at 12 knots -2.9°C (unstable) 1100 m Woodside Report - I headed out early to do many errands today: Transport Canada to renew my PPL License, new medical CAT3 forms, etc. Then on to King George Airpark for 2.3 hours of dual instruction as part of a instructor recert program for TC flying one of the Rans Coyotes. Good session over White Rock and Semiamhoo doing most of the required exercises in the Flight Instructors Guide.

The back to Woodside to team up with Alex & Kevin for a nice soaring flight. I was testing out the new SupAir Skypper Pod Harness today and it fit perfectly and the angles were exact on the first try. Much larger back protection than the Advance Impress 3 and some other harnesses on the market while still being sleek in the air.

I was also flying Jeremy's Gin Boomerang Sport which hasn't been flown for at least 2 years to make sure it was still airworthy. It flew beautifully for 45 minutes until I started sinking out so I headed to the construction site and sun but never got back up. Kevin and Alex hung in longer and got around 1:15 before heading out.

Flight stats: +2.6 m/s lift. -3.3 m/s sink. 1100 meter cloudbase, no perceptible winds in the air

Riverside is looking good after FlyBC mowed a strip on Monday night, about 5 times bigger than Bridal LZ now.

Click here for more pictures from the FlyBC June Album.




Wood Rat Report - nice flyable task with Frederic & Andrew making goal.

Results here.

6/18/2012
Woodside rained out one more day, Monday

         14°C
230° at 15 knots -2.9°C (unstable) 1100 m Woodside Report - it is wet out in the Valley with the rivers cresting this week, lots of puddles in the fields.

It looked flyable as I was mowing today, but a bit windy.



Wood Rat Report - nice flyable task with Guy H making goal.

Results here.




A Base Jumping friend of mine was flying in this ad - Matt Gerdes from Ozone
6/17/2012
Woodside rained out all weekend

         16°C
260° at 15 knots -2.7°C (unstable) 1100 m Woodside Report - we called the day early with the miserable forecast, so chores were accomplished - weeding, mowing, sorting out the workshop.

Later in the day I went to get fuel for the tractor and it was whitecapping on Harrison Bay from the west, with equally strong east winds at the Ranch? The low must have been right over Mill Road & Hwy 7.



Wood Rat Report - 175 pilots competing at Wood Rat for the US Nats & The Sprints Race. There is a UStream feed that was showing the launch and the start gaggle and I saw Tom C & Guy H flying today.


Video streaming by Ustream
6/16/2012
Woodside rained out all weekend

         16°C
260° at 22 knots -0.7°C (stable) 600 m Woodside Monsoon Report - wet and windy all day. Some smart pilots headed to Woodrat OR for the RatRace to escape the rains.

6/15/2012
Woodside all day

         22°C
260° at 10 knots -2.9°C (unstable) 1300 m Woodside Tandemonium Report - we were at Woodside at 10 am for students and tandems.

The noon tandem group did not show up, so we just took students Stefan & Matt and some pros up to Launch and several flew off and had nice flights until it went stable around 2 pm.

I was flying the new Paratoys tandem as my Magnum II is on order and won't be here for 2 weeks, and it flies as nicely free flight as it does paramotoring. The Paratoys Tandem is a bit harder to inflate as it has heavier material but we did a light wind reverse launch at 7 pm last night and it worked like a charm!

Kelly brought out a WCSC BFAR Tandem from years ago, the Old Dutch Chip Man who donated so many gifts for past BFARs. Steve finally redeemed his tandem after 5 years!

Stefan and Matt logged 5 flights and Derek guided Matt through some thermals on his 3rd flight, while I was getting the tandem ready.

Mia was flying her birthday present - a new ATOS VRQ or something like that? She got to the top of the stack immediately and flew for 2 hours before landing at the HG LZ as Harvest Market grass looked too long for a safe landing.

Tonya did an amazing job on her two tandems as she took Alex (a Ukrainian now living in Vancouver) & Rick (a local) on their tandems - substituting for Colleen as she was away in Winnipeg at Annette's moms memorial service, thanks for the help.

Thanks to Derek for helping with students and the driving duties.



Lumby News - reports have surfaced that Michael Wood, the hanggliding pilot who crashed during a landing approach at Lumby last Monday has now died as a result of his injuries.

Folks may remember Michael as he hung around Woodside for some time last year in a Toyota motorhome, living "off-the-grid". He then moved out to Hope to help Dave run the tow rig for the HG towing there.

Thanks to Margit in some detective work she did in locating his family in Ontario, as he had been estranged from them and she managed to find a number and called it persistently until the parents were located.


Michael is seen here beside the fire pit he built for the Lumby Air Races (he is in the Gilligan Hat) - photo by Mark Carter



Click here for the FlyBC Paragliding Facebook Page and click on the Like Button so it will become permanent and Public.

6/14/2012
Woodside looks wet til Thursday afternoon

         14°C
240° at 20 knots -2.8°C (unstable) 900 m Woodside Report - Woodside and the Fraser Valley were wet & windy until around 7 pm, when it got sunny and calm (oddly).

A bunch of canucks are heading to the Rat Race in Oregon this week so expect some SPOT messages from Nicole, Alex, Guy and Tom Chromy.

6/13/2012
Woodside looks wet til Thursday afternoon

         14°C
240° at 20 knots -2.8°C (unstable) 900 m Woodside Report - Derek said Woodside looked flyable but very windy, I stayed in town as I am busy with Transport Canada on a new certification for FlyBC. Stay tuned.

6/12/2012
Woodside looks wet after noon

         16°C
240° at 12 knots -2.8°C (unstable) 1100 m Woodside Report - I arrived at noon to find Woodside flyable, if we had been organized I could have had students flying from 8 am on and bagged 3-4 flights by now, but everyone was busy today but Bill G.

Bill G was out picking up his new Magnum Tandem and harness and he will be looking for tandem practice partners around Horsefly and Williams Lake soon.

At 2 pm the rain started to come down lightly at Eagle Ranch so off to do some car repairs on the Suzuki (rear shock mount welding).

An un-named group was seen mowing Bridal Launch yesterday.



Whaleback CA Report - Alex and I flew Whaleback yesterday; it's right next to Mt Shasta in northern CA.

You are looking right at the volcano one mountain away as you sit on launch! Flew to Herd peak and back and then up the foothills of Shasta. Beautiful site!

Will fly Woodrat today; lots of pilots showing for the comp next week - Nicole

Click here for more pictures from the FlyBC June Album.


6/11/2012
Woodside looks flyable all day, soarable later

         23°C
240° at 9 knots -2.9°C (unstable) 1300 m Woodside Report - we started flying Woodside at 11 am, and it was soarable from then til 6 pm.

Denis, Martin N, Joe C, Normando, Chris B, Bill G were all out. I was guiding Joe C for a few flights and we actually managed to get him soaring above launch for 15 minutes or more. Bill G led Martin N over the back towards Seabird Island.

We overheard some radio calls from Bridal describing wild lift near launch, but it was all mellow at Woodside with decent landing conditions too.

Click here for more pictures from the FlyBC June Album.




Sad Note - we heard on the weekend that our longtime pilot friend Annette's mom Ray Browne had passed away in her sleep at a dance festival in Ottawa.

Ray had been out flying with us many years ago and she had a ball. Glad we made the flight with her so she could share our passion! You will be missed by all of us fliers in Harrison Mills.

Ray's obituary here.

RIP - Ray

6/10/2012
Woodside looks flyable all day, soarable later

         19°C
240° at 12 knots -2.8°C (unstable) 1100 m Woodside Report - we were at Woodside starting with tandem set #1 of 6 sets today.

Colleen and I took set #1 while Martina spared me off for a few as I was still feeling a bit sick with a cold. We had Aaron driving so logistics were good, now all we need is a video editor to keep the pace going!

Really nice conditions all day, Chris Bake showed us how to get to cloudbase around 2 pm (leave your gloves at home).

We had some very nice people out flying tandem with us today, as usual and our very last tandem passenger Marijke was from Holland and she wanted to paraglide as her dream on her vacation and we managed to get her in the air for a beautiful Woodside Glass Off flight landing at the foot of the training hill where her hubby was videoing us. In the end we did 11 tandems (4 for Colleen, 4 for me and 3 for Martina)

Click here for more pictures from the FlyBC June Album.


6/9/2012
Woodside looks too windy for the sane pilot

         18°C
270° at 24 knots -2.8°C (unstable) 1100 m Woodside Report - we cancelled all our tandems and students due to high wind forecasts.

At 1 pm Thomm said it looked soarable, but the grass was pretty wet from a few days of rain. He kept looking but couldn't convince himself to go up the mountain even on his old Mantra M1.

In the end, we probably could have pulled of 10 or more tandems as it was not as windy as predicted (actually very calm on the ground).

Lots of chores accomplished instead of flying and we have a whole summer in front of us, so why rush a day?

6/8/2012
Woodside if the clouds lift

         14°C
270° at 12 knots -2.9°C (unstable) 1750 m Woodside Report - we were at Woodside in the sun but how long will it hold out? All day, apparently as we had rain all around us but Woodside stayed dry. I didn't fly as I was feeling a bit sick from cold & flu, but it looked good.

Click here for more pictures from the FlyBC June Album.


6/7/2012
All of BC is getting rained on today, did someone organize a competition?

         13°C
180° at 21 knots -2.7°C (unstable) 1100 m Woodside Monsoon Report - there no flying today as it is too wet at Woodside for anything outdoors so Aaron & I built a greenhouse in the Barn for Colleen.

It was a modular kit with 300 parts that looked like a greenhouse when finished but there was a lot of cussing in between the start and the final build!

It stopped raining enough to install it on the pad out back and Derek came and helped level it, just as the second monsoon hit us. But it is finished and screwed down tight for the winter winds.

Bad news again, this time I received word from Margit of a paramotoring fatality near Armstrong BC during a training flight. Odd to be teaching in the kind of weather conditions that were forecast but that may not have been a factor in this accident as new students can do just about anything but the right thing when training.

Reports of a wild flight by Frederic at the Lumby Air Races later in the day, wishing he was on the ground.

6/6/2012
Woodside is dry but windy today

         13°C
240° at 15 knots -2.7°C (unstable) 1400 m Woodside Report - we decided it was too strong at Woodside for Sunshine's 5th training day, so we headed to Mission's Heritage Park & Burnaby Mountain for some training hill sessions. Sumas was reporting 240 degrees at 8-10 mph, so soarable for more experienced fliers, but no one came out.

Heritage Park worked well with some extended flights and great reverse launch practice on the flats. After a few hours Sunshine needed a break so we drove in to Burnaby Mountain and completed 4-5 more flights there. Both sites were recently mowed and in great shape.

Click here for more pictures from the FlyBC June Album.



Maybe not as fun as paragliding but pretty cool formation here!
6/5/2012
Woodside is getting rain today

         11°C
240° at 12 knots -2.7°C (unstable) 600 m Woodside Report - no flying today as it rains but we had as few flyable windows around 130 pm?

6/4/2012
Woodside early

         17°C
070° at 4 knots -2.7°C (unstable) 1100 m Woodside Report - we met at 9:30 am, for a ground school session with Sunshine on her 4th day here. It was flyable but I wanted some wind techs to arrive so we had a sense of the air before getting her a flight this morning as it was forecast to be leeside.

Fortunately, Phil & Stephen arrived with Brook and we headed up the mountain.

Good news as Dorman Logging is starting work on the new cutblock north of launch and they repaired the spur road in to launch for us (for free).

We arrived to light cycles up the mountain and developing clouds out front signalling some trigger points.

Phil launched first and had a super smooth flight, followed by Stephen on my SCirroco as his Ultralite was down with a few broken lines during line stretching tests today.

As the air was perfectly calm, Sunshine launched first and had a great approach until she decided to do a reversing turn too close to the ground and hit rather fast but she was uninjured.

Brook flew off next after a 8 month hiatus and he had a great flight & approach but he landed long as he was turning too slowly.

It started to rain by 2 pm denying us any more flyable windows til 7 pm, and everyone had gone home by then.

Mother Woodside delivers again!

Click here for more pictures from the FlyBC June Album.


6/3/2012
Woodside early

         13°C
260° at 14 knots -2.7°C (unstable) 1100 m Woodside Report - we were heading up Woodside for a 9:30 am start with students to beat the rain and we managed to get as many as 4 flights in today despite rain, backwinds and low cloudbase.

Student Matt got 4 flights and a mini-XC to Harvest Market following some tandem pilots (he was pretty excited), Student Sunshine managed 3 flights and some pretty good circle landings by herself (also very excited). Tandem Candidates Andrew & Frederic got 3 flights each in today too, getting close to certification.

Tonya & I got 2 tandems each in and had some fun with the giddy first group of blondes (Wouter would have liked them).

There was some good ridge soaring today too, and Gary P had a sweet glass-off thermal flight getting high above launch around 6 pm. Mother Woodside delivered again.

Click here for more pictures from the FlyBC June Album.


6/2/2012
Woodside early

         14°C
260° at 16 knots -2.7°C (unstable) 1100 m Woodside Report - we started early signing in a new student and getting gear selected for the guys that were here for the past 6 days, as launch was in the clouds.

We also cancelled our 4 pm tandems as the wind forecast looked too strong, and rebooked the 2 pms as it looked like rain and the 11 am folks arrived and we sent them home as we could not see launch.

Derek was working with Sunshine in the LZ practicing forward & reverse launching while the clouds were low.

As soon as they drove down Kilby Road launch opened up, and we started flying. We got a tandem flight for Sunshine, and a set of solo flights with the boys. Andrew took Frederic tandem on his new Magnum 2.

We raced back up and the guys got another solo flight as did Sunshine with Frederic guiding her in to the Ranch. It was already getting windy as forecast but good for experienced pilots.

Frederic & Andrew got another flight mid-day with Martin N and it was getting really windy as I showed everyone Riverside LZ and replaced the windsock down there. The pole had rusted out and was ready to fall over so we buried it in the same place with a new Ozone sock (XL).

At this point Bridal was clouded in and rain was coming down from Cultus to Hope.

We waited til 7:30 pm, and then headed back up for one last try as we saw Tom Clark driving down? Must be windy? Only Frederic & Andrew got to fly tandem (four for today alone), but the guys are leaving pretty happy with lots of experience and +17 high flights to their logbook over the past week and new gear too!

Click here for more pictures from the FlyBC June Album.


6/1/2012
No flying anywhere today

         17°C
280° at 20 knots -2.9°C (unstable) 1100 m Vancouver Report - on our way to Woodside but stopped due to low clouds and rain, so chore day in Vancouver.

5/31/2012
Ashcroft area

         26°C
190° at 9 knots until 3 pm -2.9°C (unstable) 2200 m Savona Report - we started by heading to Ashcroft at 10 am for today's fun.

The guys all got a short flight off Coyote Hill to start out landing behind the Ashcroft Manor.

The we headed to Savona and Oscar's Launch at noon, as the winds switched to SW. Arriving to find east winds so more Dump Soaring for a few flights, and then heading up to the high launch.

Perfect cycles as Terry flew off to sample the air, landing at the bottom LZ. Then off went Nathan for a perfect launch and flight into the clearing below.

Next was Sam with another perfect launch and he too landed at the Clearing wht his brother.

David launched after waiting for the strengthening cycles to subside and was climbing everywhere test flying Lee's Discovery 3, having to do many circles over the valley to find sink.

Last up was Tim and we had to wait a long time for a lull. When it lulled I said just kite it up and test the air and he had a nice solid controllable wing and he stepped off and climbed straight up about 300 meters over launch so I headed him to the Crash Pad and he was the only one to make it today.

After we collected everyone we thought a bit of soaring at the Toilet Bowl would be fun but it got quite strong. SO strong that I was kiting the SCirroco 15 and got plucked into the air and had a fairly long soaring flight at 100 meters over the hill trying to find a snag-free place to top-land and I finally gave up and landed at the bottom. It was frickin' howling when I landed, and all the way home too.

May is over and no Mayhem except for a few scary close calls in the valley!

Click here for more pictures from the FlyBC May Album.






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