FlyBC "Site of the Archive Day" - March /2008
"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." - Confucius
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Woodside Report - the day looked pretty good from Vancouver as I drove out to Chilliwack, Al and Martin were headed up to Launch but it started snowing in Chilliwack so I stayed working there until 5:00 pm when I met Doug M to deliver his new Addict II, which he was able to fly off before dark but all the thermals were gone by then.|
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Woodside Report - a slow day at the Ranch, pilots didn't start showing up until noon when cloudbase broke at launch. | Wiley flew the first flight showing his buddy how he launches, before his buddy went tandem with me at 2:00 pm. Smooth flight for Wiley into the Ranch. Later, a Van Load went to launch, and Wiley launched first again and I followed with the tandem. We had to play in ridge lift on the tandem to find a thermal to get us above launch and after that it was "idiot-lift" right to cloudbase. Alan and Denis (flying a new shiny Ice Peak XP comp ship) were already "duking-it-out" after hiking up. We soon climbed above them on the tandem making me think my passenger was light, but it turned out it was just really strong lift! We got to cloudbase near the antennas a few times but no evasive maneuvers were called for. Wiley was thermalling around over the construction zone and was looking good, while we flew all over the face of Woodside. More and more pilots filled the sky, eventually about 15 in the air at once. Wiley's friend had a flight to catch out of CYXX so we headed out to land after 40 minutes and the wind was picking up at the Ranch, go figure with the lapse rate and developing CUs? Our landings were smooth, as was Ihor's 15 minutes later but his animated and adrenalized reports of gusty winds in the Ranch LZ made pilots fly to Harvest. Wimps! About the time Ihor landed there were 3 Globe Swifts flying formation over the CYA above the clouds, WestJet came over just above the clouds and there were many choppers flying around the area, so it was a busy day for all. Denis went XC but didn't have much luck crossing the Valley, landing on a sandbar in the Fraser River. Everyone else headed out to land aroudn 4:30 pm, as an impending cell was on Sasquatch Mtn. and looked too close for comfort. My 3 newest students arrived at about that time and we headed to launch to check it out. The cell had gone to Hemlock and was no concern so off Matt J launched with flight plans to head to Harvest Market (he has been there 2 times). He launched and climbed out on the South Knoll quickly staying high, waiting for Jonathon and Matt S. Jonathon was off next and was soon climbing nicely at the Knoll too. As they got higher I was concerned about the clouds so I told them to head to Harvest. Apparently the briefing went right over Jonathon's head as to where Harvest Market was, because when we heard from him he was almost in Agassiz after flying past Matt J soaring Cemetary Hill? Matt S had a few aborts at launch and was finally in the air. Just after he launched he yelled that he couldn't hear the radio so I yelled "Head to the South Knoll", he did but too far east and was soon in the rotor behind the Knoll. He didn't run away rather stayed in the rotor trying to fight upwind and after several good surges which he caught, he headed downwind but too late and had to land in the clearcut behind the Knoll. Now his radio worked fine?? as he called to say where he was. I drove in to get him and he was on the last spur road before launch hiking out. We went to retrieve the others and back to launch to try again. Matt S was off first this time and he was on Big Ears right away to stay clear of clouds, and he had a nice flight landing at the Ranch. Matt J and then Jonathon flew off again using Ears to maintain VFR and they landed at the Ranch too. Maat J is up to 22 flights now, Jonathon about 12, and Matt S about 12 so they are progressing fast for starting in March! More flights and more launch sites and some testing and they will soon be terrorizing the skies! Incident Report - Mark F called me around 6:00 pm that he had just seen what looked like a paraglider deploy a reserve near Herling Island, and asked who was flying out there. Everyone was accounted for from our group after calls to Rob S. No one on the radio? If anyone knows anything send me an email to update this report.
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Woodside Report - I was renovating all morning and it was clear enough to fly for most of the day, except everyone stayed home or were otherwise occupied . . . except Norm. | We headed up the mountain at 1:30 PM, and as we arrived it socked in at launch but I got ready anyway (flying the Boom Sport today), and I kited until it cleared off. And when it cleared it was perfect, fat springtime air and nice cycles (strong enough to turtle me when I lost my footing on the new snow - 4" yesterday). I launched and was climbing for the clouds fast. Norm joined me but stayed lower as cloudbase was dropping near launch. I was in a few layers to the north that were higher at maybe 800 meters. So off we went cloud-surfing and we lost sight of each other many times depending on where the other was and the layer you were soaring. I saw Norm head out and I worked the South Knoll just below cloudbase waiting for launch to open up to top-land but it kept lowering and I was on "big-ears" many times to maintain VFR. It kept lowering and I got lifted up in some lift that had me white-out for a few seconds, no problem - on the GPS with a good track, "big-ears" engaged and the vario kept singing! Hold the SW track and I will eventually pop out, vario still singing. When I pop out I am at the bail-out swamp and 'base had dropped fast from 500 meters to 350 meters in a few minutes. Norm was still out boating around Harrison Mills and had climbed out from the last ridge to 'base as I came out. I noticed some wind at the 350 meter level and wasn't penetrating that well 10-18 kph on the GPS but lifty, so no problem making the Ranch but it was 25-30 kph from the South in the field so it was a rodeo landing with a good touchdown (Norm said he got dumped). After we retrieved the Van, launch cleared up completely as we headed to dinner at the Sasquatch Inn, but alas no pilots to join us.
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Woodside Report - interesting weather patterns today: snow in Richmond and Vancouver, as you went further east past Abbotsford it was cloudy but no precip until 7 pm. Other than the fact it was blowing 40-50 kph from the North it may have been flyable til dark at Woodside? | Tenancingo Report - We are wrapping up our stay at Casa del Piloto, Tenancingo and had a dinner party with the local pilots last night. The flying has been best at the end of the day 4- 5:30 pm, with easy altitude gains to 1000 + meters over launch, soft thermals and sunsets. The afternoons thermals are strong, so we usually avoid launch 1-3 pm, except yesterday when i decided to give it a go at 1pm, it was a roller coaster from 6 meters lift to 4 meters sink, cloud base then 200 meters from ground. Very active flying ,"top gun" flying stuff. The launch is being reshaped every day and is now suitable for top landing. Daniel Pedreza started to seed across the top half and once we are gone Daniel plans to groom the launch with 10 truck loads of fill. Looking forward to a grassy launch at the La Malinche fly in December 2008. Christine & I are home this sunday.....hoping to get some Fraser Valley spring. Take care - Brad H  Sign at Casa del Piloto, Tenancingo made by Daniel Villegas (Brad/Bernies/Bobs new digs) - photo by Brad
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Woodside Report - when I was in Chilliwack around 2 pm, Woodside looked like snow but Bridal was in the clear. More new snow on all the mountains, Mark F says he is getting a foot of new snow every day so he has had to suspend logging at Woodside. | By the time I arrived at Woodside it was clear skies and soarable winds, but no pilots out today.
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Woodside Report - I never made it out to the Valley today, but the Webcam looked like sun on Woodside around 3 pm. |
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Woodside Report - great progress on the reno project, and we kept working despite sunny skies and light winds after 3 pm. | No one was out flying but it would have been good conditions, and no rain until after 9 pm at Woodside.
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Woodside Report - the early forecast for Agassiz was bad, hence the sad face yesterday morning. | I left for work around 6:30 am, got to Mission and stopped at Rona for some reno supplies and when I came outside and saw the sun, I stayed in the Valley. Pilots started phining around 10 am, and soon a Van Load was heading up Woodside by 1:00 pm. Martina, Norm, Rob S, Thomm and I were soon trudging through more new snow and launch was covered with snow again. I don't think it will ever melt this year! I got ready first as it was strong from the North and I was flying the "cheater wing", the new Addict II Small. I still had to wait for a lull but got off clean and was soon ridge soaring the normal places looking for a thermal. No sun at this point, just CUs imbedded and black clouds everwhere with snow at Hemlock and Sasquatch. I got my first good climb to 1000 meters off the lower launch switchback, and ventured to the South Knoll but lost it all as Norm launched so it was me and him "duking it out" while others waited for a lull. About this time in the flight my vario battery konked out and I had to mooch off Norm. Soon that wasn't needed as it was lifty everywhere. Norm headed over the the golf course and was climbing, I went to the NE past the towers and the lift never stopped even far to the east. After an hour or so it was getting pretty cold as we hit 1400 meters at times, and I flew out to the Ranch and was still way above launch so I cruised back to launch to see if I could top-land and it was nasty strong at launch so out to the Ranch where Norm had just landed to thaw out. Flight time was 1:30 for both of us. Rob and Thomm got off launch, but Martina sacrificed and drove the Van down. Thanks. Later, Matt J and Jonathon came out for two student flights but all the experts had gone home (except Rob who wind-technicianed for us) getting above launch high again, as the students sledded to the Ranch. The forecasters were way off today, and it was hard doing renos while the sky was calling but I managed about 6 hours of reno work and several hours of flying solo and instructing so it was a good day! - Jim
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Woodside Report - heavy rain with mixed snow. | Savona Report - we heard that John McC flew from Kamloops to basils Bump near Cache Creek on Friday, on his ATOS, but yesterday we saw a HGer heading back to Vancouver around 1:00 pm as we headed to Spences Bridge, so I assume they got blown out today.
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Woodside Report - strong North Winds in the Eagle Ranch LZ made for good kiting but no one was crazy enough to launch in the odd up cycles, as it was mostly blowing over the back. | Mia had a kiting incident that put holes in her wing. Not a fence or blackberries or a tree but a mole! From Martin's description of the critter it had to be a mole. Mia was kiting and left her wing for a few minutes to go get her cooler from the truck and when she returned she did some more kiting and when she tried to pack up, there was an animal in her cell and it was chewing it's way out in three different places.  A mole - photo by Wikipedia From Wikipedia: A mole's diet primarily consists of earthworms and other small invertebrates found in the soil. Rip-stop nylon makes for a nice floss after eating. Woodside Report - Hi Jim, Some Prairie Ridge Flying. Wind was about 15-20 k's / S and then SE. Very narrow lift band in front of ridge.  Jim Teakles soaring a cold Saskatchewan Ridge - photo by ? Flight was about 5 minutes, when you get to the bottom, you literally float a long way, before landing. Walk back up the ridge is about 10 minutes - Fly safe, Jymmi Teakles Tenancingo Report - Hi Jim: Flew late yesterday evening at 5:30 pm cumulus clouds where still present and of course so was Daniel P working on launch. Alfred Carsolio joined us (also local pilot). We both flew the ridge to the south west for 5 K and topped 2700 meters. The sky was clear and and lift was glassy with soft 1- 2 meter thermals. We flew over San Desierto Monastery an pleasant evening Xcross triangle. Landed in the dark shade and this time I did not make it to Insurgentes.  Brad launching at La Laminche Launch in Tenancingo - photo by Christine Christine, Daniel and I went the local Good Friday Parade in Tenancingo called the "Procession of Silence", silent march to mark the death of Jesus. They dressed in purple and white suites that look like Klu Klux clan. Bob Vickars and his wife have joined us. With another Canadian pilot and we are off to Malinalco today.. Report to you later.
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Woodside Report - we waited until 11 am to go up the hill, and as things opened up Justin launched and was soaring around. Off to the distance was a squall line from Sumas to Mission heading our way. | I suggested Rob C get ready and follow Justin and he too started going up everywhere up to cloudbase. The squall line got here very fast and we told the pilots in the air that we would chase them to Harvest Market. As we headed down the hill, a blizzard ensued. As we got to Harvest Market the boys were walking down the road towards Hwy 7 and the winds were strong from due west. These are the kind of conditions that make it nice to land at Harvest Market, well away from the rotor of Woodside Mountain. Everyone went to the Sasquatch for lunch and when the skies cleared around 3 pm, Justin and Darren flew getting little lift, and then back for a third flight but alas the students had headed home? Blanchard Report - Best yet Blanchard adventure. I arrived to find that as reported, there was very little coming up the hill, in spite of the cumulus clouds around. About 5 hang gliders were set up on South Launch. But the sun had just come out. I checked the cycles with my 50 year old wind meter. Yep, 10-16kph clearly launchable, but folks were hesitating. I went to check out the West launch, and sure enough, it was coming up there too, only steadier and more like 17kph. So I got my wing and set up as quickly as I could at West launch. I launched into a building cycle and didn't stop going up until I was at 1000m. Well over the top of Blanchard Mt. As I climbed out, others saw that it was good, but only 2 of the hang gliders and none of the paragliders managed to get out quickly enough to get into the better lift higher up. The hangs were buzzing about and exploring well to the East and North, but I noticed that the wind was much stronger from the South, so I didn't dare let myself get back any further. After about 45 minutes of following hawks and eagles around in strong lift and equally strong sink, I was cold and tired and the thin high clouds had moved in. Lift was getting weaker, and as we know, I need strong lift... I headed out high, hoping to find a thermal out over the LZ like the ones we had watched birds in earlier, but the sun wasn't doing its thing anymore. At about 300' suddenly everything changed. I had left the moving air. Landed in a dry spot with no wind. The looks I'd had at the RASP charts made me believe that it was very much like Tuesday, and it turned out that it was - TJ Tenancingo Mexico Report - Even though the rainy season is just around the corner, the flying in Tenancingo is still great. Two days ago Daniel Miller flew two tandems from La Malinche one at 11:30 am and the other at 2:30 pm, he gained heights to 3200 meters and 2800 meters respectively . Christine and I were in Valle De Bravo two days ago and the commercial side of paragliding is definitely winding down as they did not have enough pilots to drive the truck to El Pinion or Torre. As it turns out I got Montezuma's revenge in Valle de Bravo, first time ever for me and did not fly anyway. So Christine went horse riding with some friends at a world class ranch, the equestrian business is bigger than paragliding in Valle !  Christine at the Equestrian Centre in Valle - photo by Brad It is still flyable in Valle de Bravo except between 12- 3pm (this is when the freight train winds start, perfect for Al the Hammer!) There is a lot of work being done at the La Malinche, I have been working with Daniel Pedreza, sloping the hill so that it is linear to the prevailing wind, taking out trees and advising the best I can. The launch also has been extended to the left if you are looking south. All the trees for 75 meters to the left except one have been cleared to facilitate a top landing and to accommodate one more paraglider. There is alot of dirt, it is very dusty and what they need is grass. Work is slow as groups of pilots keep showing up, a group of French Pilots are showing up this week. I flew yesterday late at 5:10 pm, Is was light and soft and was just landing at San Antonio and I hit a glass off. I easily to lifted to 2800 meters for about an hour and boated around Crystal Rey and the town and landed at Insurgentes. Pretty nice I must say. Say hi to everyone - Brad Henry
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Woodside Report - it looked good in Richmond . . . until it overdeveloped and started hailing and the winds picked up to 30 kph+. The valley wasn't as windy apparently but no one called to say they flew. |
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Woodside Report - some pretty excited pilots calling to coordinate a flying trip up Woodside. Big Blue skies with towering CUs popping everywhere, huge lapse rate and all things looking good. | My plan was to leave the city around noon and head out, but as noon approached it got rainy in town. I decided a 4 hour round trip for a maybe flight wasn't worth it. Apparently it was a good call as Norm headed to the Ranch it ODed and started raining, so he too went home. I am sure pilots out there early at Woodside or at Blanchard, would have gotten decent climbs before the OD.
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Woodside Report - it was flyable from 8 am on til 12:30 pm, when it over-developed and shot down rail and hail. | After 4 pm, it cleared up and had nice cycles at launch but everyone had gone home, so I did reno work.
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Tenancingo Report - Al "The Hammer" and Kevin had a fantastic three days here in Tenancingo. | We did an xc north 19 km on our first flight with altitude gains over over 4000 metres and Al had some moments where he got to almost 5200 m! Unheard of. On our second flight we flew across to the big statue of Christ and back to launch. Day 2 saw some more big elevation gains as we were joined by Brad and Christine. Brad skied out to over 4000 metres and quickly got a headache as his body was not used to the high altitude life yet. Kevin had a great flight in the late afternoon of day 2 after sinking like a rock off launch on La Malinche and found a bunny fart as he was on final and worked it eventually getting back to 3200 metres and flying almost to the town of Malinalco in sweet air. On day three we went out to El Picacho launch near Malinalco where it was very strong. Al decided to give it a try and after pulling off a dynamic cobra launch he flew around for over a half hour in pretty rowdy air which was getting very rowdy on the ground. Eventually he landed in one of the top fields and had to jump on his wing to prevent it from relaunching!  Cobra Launch by the Hammer - photo by Kevin  Hammer Launching in Mexico - photo by Kevin We took a four hour break and toured some magnificent Aztec ruins returning to launch at about 5 pm for what they call a restitution flight. Kevin hit the big one right off launch and went up to 3000m in smooth lift bobbing around for about a half hour while Al had to work with the rapidly calming air eventually flying out to fight a big headwind down into a field beside an orchard. Kevin top landed and the day was over as well our time in Tenancingo. Tomorrow we move over to meet our wives in Yelapa to sample some coastal air. One more note: On day one our friend and host, Daniel Miller landed after a big air flight in the regular LZ. Just as he dropped his wing he saw a huge dust devil approaching. Daniel grabbed his C-risers but the dusty lifted his wing up ripping it and then dragging him into a barb wire fence finishing off his wing! So if anyone has a line on a good used DHV 1-2 wing, Daniel would love to hear from you. Finally huge thanks to Daniel Miller and Daniel Pedraza who drove us to and from launch four times and showed us muchos mexican culture. Wonderful gentlemen who we will look forward to seeing again! Thanks also to Brad, Bernie and Bob and Gerry for putting together a fantastic paradise place for pilots to bunk down after a big day in the air - Kevin Ault.
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Woodside Report we started early with Bill and Eric from Horsefly showing their buds how to fly, and they were soaring at 9 am. | On the next cycle Blair and Juan had their first flights and Juan was pretty vocal about the adrenaline rush! They both had great launches and landings. Blair lives in Harrison Hot Springs and will be around lots, maybe even landing at the Sandpiper where he works. Colleen got to try the new Addict 2 Small, and flew for about 30 minutes in light lift (her favourite). First flight since Dec 31/2007 in Tenancingo! My first tandem with Davin from Horsefly went flawlessly, despite the fact he weighs in at over 320 lbs. We had a great launch and landing and even hit some lift along the way. I wish my second tandem went so well, it was gusty and my passenger kept falling over and dragging me with her. Without Norm saving us we would have surely dragged off launch! This twice before I had her boyfriend ballast her and hold her up, and we soared nicely heading to Harvest with Matt J, Rob C and Justin and Alex W, out-running a squall line. We found a stuck Tracker on the way to launch. Apparently the un-named driver just had to go a few feet further than the Big Blue Van and was high centred? Some shoveling and then a good jerk from the Van got them out!  How to park a Tracker . . . not! - photo by JPR The last try at flying was kiboshed by strong winds and impending rain, but we managed three flights and some good soaring by the advanced students. Al's Gloat Report from Tenancingo, Mexico - Awesome 1st flight. Got to 5200 meters. 19 kms. Woooaaahhhhh! - Al
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Woodside Report - great kiting conditions for students at Eagle Ranch. | When launch cleared around 1:00 pm we went up for flights and to start tandems for the day, but it socked in for over an hour and we froze, so back to the Ranch. More kiting, reserve talk as 38 pilots came to test deployments and get repacked (best turnout in years), a bonfire at Stonehenge, and as we watched the fire off came Derek K, Doug M (without dog), and another un-named pilot who was coming out toward the Ranch behind Doug when he disappeared into cloud and went missing! After about 15 minutes, we got a call from Delvin's wife who relayed from un-named pilot's wife that he was in the trees, safe and lost. Delvin and Martina launched a search & rescue party with Bill and Eric from Horsefly and they went searching the front face of Woodside. Later communications via cell proved he was in a clearcut in the fog, with 15 foot trees. The only place like this is the backside of Woodside at 4 kms. A truck was dispatched in the dark and he was found and later he bought all the searchers dinner. Lessons learned: wear a charged radio, charge the cell phone, don't lose your GPS in a crash, don't fly into clouds, dress warm. Everything that could go wrong went wrong, but a happy ending ensued.
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Woodside Report - rain all day until 4 pm. when the sun came out and the clouds were lifting, nice thermals popping out all over the slopes. But no pilots were out. |
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Woodside Report - Alan said it looked pretty tame so he stayed home. | Woodside Report from 03/12/08 - Denis's flight yesterday off Woodside, launching early with Norm, but disappearing over the back sooner. No report on how he got back to Woodside.
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Woodside Report - I didn't get to the Ranch til 1:30 to deliver Al's new Addict II, but we didn't miss much. Norm had just launched and was climbing out. Ihor arrived as did Alan, so there were 4 of us on launch soon in the Big Blue Van. | I was flying the small Addict II (about 25 kgs over the top), and launched first. Alan followed me, then Al and Ihor. Good climbs to 1300 meters at +4.5 m/s up with associated sink of -5.6 m/s down! After a half hour at 1300 meters I was frozen so I tried to top-land but it was too rowdy, so back to climbing out to the cold levels. Derek and Martina arrived at this point and launched into the crowd. After 1:30:00 I finally top-landed followed in by Alan. No one else got in so one retrieve was required for Kevin's rig. After I landed, Derek and Al climbed out near the South Knoll when we thought it was shutting down.  Derek was higher than Al at this point - photo by JPR
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Vancouver Report - good day to pick up gear at Fedex, cause it didn't look too flyable. |
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Eagle Ranch Report - in our ongoing effort to maintain a safe LZ for our faithful crowd of clients at FlyBC, I contracted an excavator to remove trees along the NE approach into the Ranch. |  Excavator starting the work, too late in the day and just before it started raining hard! - photo by JPR The trees we are removing are mostly new growth from the last seven years. We did remove most of the trees when we first purchased the Ranch but because it is so close to Chimp Creek, the poplars grow like weeds. There is still some bits of wood debris that needs to be piled up before we can roto-till the ground and reseed grass, but that needs to be done after it quits raining. In the meantime the piles can dry in anticipation of a big bonfire in the summer.  After 2 hours, the NE approach was pretty well cleaned out with a new view towards Woodside Launch - photo by JPR Because the low bed truck was parked near the pond during the project, and it rained heavily from 3 - 8 pm, the truck got stuck. The operator had to pull the truck out to the parking lot with the excavator making a mess, so we have a big cleanup with the harrow to smooth out the field. But I got to drive an 18 Wheeler out onto the road!
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Woodside Report - we started training at 11 am. | Wayne spent last weekend kiting and doing Ground School in the Barn but didn't get a solo flight, but he was rewarded with 2 great flights today landing at Eagle Ranch in both SE and NW winds for two different approaches. Conditions at launch were lee at times but pilots flew all day getting extended sledders. I managed a SE facing launch which works pretty well if it is strong, kiting the wing towards Agassiz and turing a 180 degree turn once off the hill. I was playing around with spins over the bailout and stuffed a nice cravat into the left wingtip, which took a while to dislodge!
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Woodside Report - Matt, Jonathon and Steven arrived too early for the clouds to clear so it was video time and some test writing for Steven. | We went up to launch around 12:30 and it was too strong for my liking for students, and Ihor wasn't liking it either so when Justin arrived to test the air we were happy. He got yanked off launch and was going vertical with liottle forward speed on a Rush, so perhaps waiting was a good call. Soon many others arrived and were out soaring and it actually calmed down enough to have decent student launches, for a couple of flights. Matt and Jonathon headed out to a hockey game early, so I went up for a flight with Steven and Rob C and it was soarable and I was able to top-land, kite the glider for 30 seconds and relaunch in smooth air. Nice landing conditions all day too! Later reports from Alex and Nicole claimed the "flights of the day" getting to 1300 meters way back. Norm said he was soaring "VFR over the Top" when he popped out over Cemetary Hill at 1200 meters and flew back to land at the Ranch!
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Woodside Report - it was flyable but no one risked driving out.
Later it got very windy before dark so it would have been soarable too!. | Definition from Wikipedia: A pilot report or PIREP is a report of actual weather conditions encountered by an aircraft in flight. This information is usually relayed by radio to the nearest ground station. The message would then be encoded and relayed to other weather offices and air traffic service units. Although the actual form used to record the PIREP may differ from one country to another, the standards and criteria will remain almost the same. At a minimum the PIREP must contain a header, aircraft location, time, flight level, aircraft type and one other field.
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Woodside Report - many hopefuls at the Ranch around 12:30 pm, but it didn't work like the previous days. | Matt J and Matt S arrived and bagged three flights after 1 pm. Inversion layer at 500 meters kept it quiet in the air. Light south conditions for the first two flights and then soarable winds for the last flight at 5 pm into Bill Best's field for a change in pace, keeping them away from CYA138.  Matt S, Robin S and Matt J (clipped in and ready! . . . but where is Jonathon?) - photo by JPR
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Woodside Report - I had to work til 11:30 am, but got 6 hours in before flying. | When I arrived at Eagle Ranch, Norm was just landing to go to work. He drove me to the bottom of Woodside, and I met up with Eric and Bill from Horsefly and went up with them, weird not driving someone else up? I was supposed to meet up with Martina as Derek hitched a ride up with Mark F earlier and she also had to work. She caught a ride earlier with Ihor and I saw her right after she launched down in the cutblocks low and I thought she was done for. But she pulled out all the stops and climbed out and showed us how to thermal with 3 of us converging on her thermal. She held her place and stayed high the rest of her 2:05:00 flight. Lots of folks in the air when I arrived and many more arrived after I launched. I launched and was scratching for a bit when I found a nice leeside thermal near the South Knoll, and took it up past launch for my first top-landing attempt. After many attempts, either hitting a bullet on final or huge sink I decided my legs were more important than a retrieve of someone else's rig! Ultimately; Derek, Rob and Al top-landed safely and the retrieves worked out okay. Nice air. + 4 m/s up, some scary -6 m/s sink near launch. Topped out around 900 meters, landed after everyone but Kevin who started late at the Ranch with 2:00:12 on the clock - Jim Bridal Report - Alan D flew Bridal after many frustrating attempts to get off in the deep snow, getting down to 300 meters then back up many times for 2 hours plus.
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Woodside Report - arriving at 10:00 am, it didn't look too promising as light tail cycles were seen at launch. Since I had Alan D, Bill and Eric (down from Horsefly BC) captive, I roped them into helping me demolition the top floor of the house
at the Ranch. Thanks for the help! | We were done by 11:30 and headed up the mountain. Bill launched first and was up for more than a hour, even coming over the Ranch at 200 meters and headed back to the launch as he saw us drive off. Nice CUs developed over the entire front of Woodside by noon. Eric got 4 flights, Bill 3. Matt J and Matt S showed up around 1:00 pm, and flew three nice flights. Lift was strong but smooth edges, some reported +4 m/s up. Cloudbase averaged 1000 meters. I saw Derek hit some stuff that looked like + 8 m/s up just below the clouds. Martina was seen getting "beamed up" before she left for work. Everyone who flew had great flights with many top-landings to retrieve vehicles (Stein, Derek, Rob S). Al got out a bit late but had some turns in before 5:30 pm. Alan landed after 4:00 on the clock, apparently dressed warm enough to stand the cold?
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Vancouver Report - very wet all day, a few rays of sun around 4 pm, but dark in the Valley. |
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Woodside Report - a great student day, if you could stay til later. | We had two brand-new students, Michael and Wayne, ground-handling and getting ready to fly working with Colleen in the Eagle Ranch LZ/Training Hill. Four others; Matt J, Matt S, Jonathon and Rob C, were able to get two nice flights before it got too strong for novice pilots. The second flight around noon yielded flight up to 1 hour long for Rob C (staying above the experts) and around 40 minutes for the others. Super launch conditions with 15-20 kph straight in cycles. Some interesting launch attempts by some signed off pilots! Strong smooth lift to 1000 meters everywhere, but later it just got windy with pilots reporting 5 kph ground speeds on DHV II gliders so we went for lunch. When we returned to the Ranch around 2:30 pm, Al was in the air and Jeremy flew back to launch to top-land and drive Al's rig down. We did more kiting until everyone went home early for other commitments.
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Woodside Report - it would clear up, then OD into hail and heavy rain . . . over and over again all day. | We headed to Rosedale Middle School to kite where it was sunny, but it was too spicy even for a Prima 22 with a heavy guy attached, but we had good ground school session in the barn for Wayne and Michael. Blanchard Report - Sweet Spring Soaring! The forecast was right for a change. After strong morning conditions enjoyed by the rigid wing crowd, Blanchard became its post-frontal best today. Plenty of sun and a brisk SW breeze made for lots of lift and long flights. I flew for an hour, many others, including Russ flew for considerably longer. Roger B had 45 minutes, but he had already had more than that at Whidbey before it got strong - TJ
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Woodside Report - the free Woodside Webcam showed sunny skies around noon, unfortunately I was running around Surrey doing errands and didn't get out to the Valley until the monsoons hit at 4 pm. | Derek called to say Silver Star Resort was sunny and the birds were soaring in moderate winds, No flight reports yet. |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports
January 2008 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years so we went to Mexico and logged many hours of airtime, while it snowed heavily in BC.
December 2007 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years so we went to Mexico on Dec 29th for three weeks.
November 2007 Site of the Day archives - Colleen and I went to California to fly the new Falcon A-16 Advanced Ultralight prototype and it flew very well. Some good soaring days at Woodside, some folks were still trying to fly Bridal but that is a waste of time this late in the season.
October 2007 Site of the Day archives - mid-air at Woodside caused Martin H some paraglider damage, some great soarable days. The Women's Fly In was a success with the Canuck Team taking top spot for the theme of "Celebrities in Rehab".
September 2007 Site of the Day archives - we re-discovered and flew 'Horsefly' Launch for the first time, some mayhem at Woodside due to tree-suck, lots of good soaring in afternoon glassoffs, a great Indian Summer until late in the month when the rains came early. Derek, Martina, Robin and Diane went to Europe. Kirill went to Australia for a paramotor Fly-In.
Augusr 2007 Site of the Day archives - fun two weeks at Mara Lake, followed by steady flying at Woodside and Bridal, making up for the dismal spring and summer.
July 2007 Site of the Day archives - good flights at Bridal, some mayhem at Woodside from visiting pilots.
June 2007 Site of the Day archives - more crappy weather on the weekends. Some awesome flights between showers as Norm and Thomm flew to Mission on the last day of the month.
May 2007 Site of the Day archives - flyable every weekday, but the Fraser Valley XC Comp got crappy weather on the weekends, although it was student flyable.
April 2007 Site of the Day archives - good flights are starting. Some complete triangles from Woodside to Bridal and back, some "musical triangles" from others.
March 2007 Site of the Day archives - fifth month of crappy weather on the Coast. We went to Santa Barbara for some flights, and to dry out. Some good days were also recorded locally.
Febuary 2007 Site of the Day archives - fourth month of crappy weather on the Coast. So we stayed in Mexico.
January 2007 Site of the Day archives - third month of crappy weather on the Coast. So we went to Mexico to fly Colima, Tapalpa, and San Marcos, while Brad and gang headed to Tenacingo, Mexico.
December 2006 Site of the Day archives - more ugly weather on the Coast. Severe winds damaged trees and property so not much flying happened. Some good flight reports from local PGers travelling world-wide.
November 2006 Site of the Day archives - the wettest November on record. We flew a few good flights but mostly we were rained out.
October 2006 Site of the Day archives - lots of good days with 3-4 hours airtime. The Women's Fly-In was on again in Chelan with about 18 Canucks, and a good day Saturday with 85 registered pilots.
September 2006 Site of the Day archives - still soarable in the Fraser Valley, little or no rain. Colleen is back flying! Some mayhem in the valley.
August 2006 Site of the Day archives - a great flying month everywhere, we had a super successful SIV clinic at Mara Lake with everyone SAT-ing and heli-ing.
July 2006 Site of the Day archives - road trip to Lumby, then on the 8th Colleen spun in below Gloria cancelling her summer plans (but she is recuperating well).
June 2006 Site of the Day archives - the Valley dried out, and we flew most days and every weekend.
May 2006 Site of the Day archives - more rain that ever imagined in the Fraser Valley. Very few soaring flights and even less XC.
April 2006 Site of the Day archives - the Easter Bunny was "run over" on Kilby Road, plus the train wreck on April 1.
March 2006 Site of the Day archives - a new pilot was born, Chloe. We also flew a few days between showers, some long flights up to 4 hours. A few Out & Return Flights to Deroche and Bear.
February 2006 Site of the Day archives - another wet month with some soarable days (2).
January 2006 Site of the Day archives - some flying on Elk and Woodside, smart pilots headed South for great Mexican or Chilean flying.
December 2005 Site of the Day archives - some flying on Elk and Woodside, smart pilots headed South.
November 2005 Site of the Day archives - rain, snow and not much flying.
October 2005 Site of the Day archives - Women's Fly In in Chelan yielded two soarable days before the snows hit.
September 2005 Site of the Day archives - dry most of the month. Some great 4 hour flights at Woodside getting to cloudbase most days. Three crash-landings in the same clearcut by pilots scratching too low, but no injuries.
August 2005 Site of the Day archives - road trips to the Interior gave us an opportunity to rag out some gliders at FlyBC SIV 2005 (Part II). Also a great road trip to Savona.
July 2005 Site of the Day archives - good flying all month, no rain but some windy days shut us down. The Willi started in Golden with a few good days, but one tragedy as Charles Warren perished in a crash near Harrogate.
June 2005 Site of the Day archives - too much rain, but good days to fly between showers.
May 2005 Site of the Day archives - our Instructor/Tandem seminar yielded some good flying. Our May 2005 SIV Clinic had a good turnout, with many wet wings/pilots! Many nice flights at Woodside and Bridal, with some long "out & returns" at Bridal.
April 2005 Site of the Day archives - some great soaring at Woodside and Bridal. Sad news from the US Hanggliding Nationals as Chris Muller crashes at goal.
March 2005 Site of the Day archives - we had to head out of town to Savona a few weekends due to wet weather on the Coast. Wetter than normal according to Environment Canada.
February 2005 Site of the Day archives - some good soaring despite early time of year. Flights as long as 3 hours at Woodside, some good flights at Whidbey Island for first timers, too!
January 2005 Site of the Day archives road trips to Mexico, not much flying locally due to strong north winds and rain. Record rain kept Eagle Ranch quite wet for kiting.
December 2004 Site of the Day archives a dry month with some good soaring including a fantastic day on Dec. 11 where we thermalled for 2+ hours!
November 2004 Site of the Day archives more record rain. We installed a fireplace in the barn to keep pilots warm between winter flights.
October 2004 Site of the Day archives more record rain, but sweet soaring between showers. Many new students signed up and making quick progress. We missed the Women's Fly In for the first time in 9 years, and there was some interesting flying on the Sunday!
September 2004 Site of the Day archives rainiest September on record for the first 3 weeks, made flying difficult. But Alan and others logged some pretty nice flights later in the month. Lots of student tandems for both Colleen and Jim.
August 2004 Site of the Day archives Great Maneuver/SIV/ACRO course at Mara. Jack got wet! Some great soaring at Woodside. Norm made it 68 km from Mara to King Eddie, Derek made it from Lumby to Enderby the opposite direction for 67 kms. We also did our BC roadtrip from Ashcroft to New Denver, and flew everyday.
July 2004 Site of the Day archives the Willi was on at Golden. We missed the mayhem due to work and school commitments but Norm did a great job representing the West Coast.
June 2004 Site of the Day archives Canadian Nationals came off with many great rounds. Pemberton-Whistler Championships were blown out most days so we headed to Cornwall.
May 2004 Site of the Day archives great flying at Woodside and Bridal. We held a very successful SIV Course at Mara Lake, and hope to run another one in August if they keep the forests open.
April 2004 Site of the Day archives good flying in the Valley. The Fraser Valley Cross Country PG Series was successssful.
March 2004 Site of the Day archives Nicole won in Brazil, otherwise the month sucked for flying time.
February 2004 Site of the Day archives some local flights extended to an hour with vigourous scratching above the trees. Good paramotor month.
January 2004 Site of the Day archives Mexican road trip yielded 20 hours of flight and a wet Canadian January kept most local pilots on the ground.
December 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew a few times but it got really cold at the end of the month as we prepared for a gala New Year's Party for 40 of our close personal friends and neighbours.
November 2003 Site of the Day archives windy and wet with the odd good soaring day, not many pilots out these days.
October 2003 Site of the Day archives Women's Fly In was great fun, some good soaring days mid-month, most of the students are signed off.
September 2003 Site of the Day archives good conditions until the last days of the month when it got stable. Most days were flyable at Woodside or Bridal.
August 2003 Site of the Day archives Forest closures made the end of the month a non-flying period unless you headed to Blanchard. FlyBC SIV 2003 was a great success with 9 stunt pilots and no deployments or crashes.
July 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew most days early at Woodside until it got windy, then over to Bridal. Good Golden flying reports from the "Willi".
June 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew most weekdays at Bridal, Woodside worked most weekends. Bridal Air Races had one great day with only two tree landings!
May 2003 Site of the Day archives not a great weather month on the coast, especially on the weekends but a few pilots managed to get some great airtime at Bridal. The Nationals were held in Lumby and it didn't rain!
April 2003 Site of the Day archives rain for 28 of 30 April days, but we managed to get a few flights in between showers. Even the golfers were complaining!
March 2003 Site of the Day archives some high spring flights in early March, but not a great weather month. Still no HPAC Insurance!
February 2003 Site of the Day archives some nice long spring flights in late February. HPAC Insurance expired on Feb 14, so many pilots stayed home instead of getting USHGA coverage.
January 2003 Site of the Day archives lots of rain all month in BC so we bailed and headed to Tapalpa Mexico for three weeks. Norm and Lucille had a great XC flight the first day we arrived.
December 2002 Site of the Day archives lots of rain all month.
November 2002 Site of the Day archives not a great flying month, lots of rain in the beginning and then super stable and inverted for the balance of the month. Even the Savona Road Trip wasn't that great. Looking forward to Mexico!
October 2002 Site of the Day archives Still soarable some days, great fun at the Women's Fly In 2002 in Chelan. Allan logged 15 hours and only flew a few days. Most of the students are ready for signoff soon to get ready for Mexico trips!
September 2002 Site of the Day archives Still soarable most everyday! Some scary incidents at Woodside. Fun flying at Ashcroft.
August 2002 Site of the Day archives More spring-like days with super lapse rates, great fun up-country at Revelstoke and Mara, with some good XCs for all.
July 2002 Site of the Day archives Some spring-like days with super lapse rates, but still rather wet at times.
June 2002 Site of the Day archives another rainy and windy month with great lapse rates, some great flights at Bridal with some getting above Cheam Peak. The Club Cup was nearly rained out but they got one valid task in on Sunday June 30.
May 2002 Site of the Day archives an extremely rainy month with the more spring mayhem, another reserve deployment at Lil Nick and a pilot crashed at the top of Deroche Mountain, uninjured but with a ripped glider and long hike down the mountain. Colleen placed 5th place at the Canadian PG Nationals in rainy Lumby!
April 2002 Site of the Day archives a rainy month with the usual spring mayhem, one reserve deployment at Woodside and a pilot hit a parked car at Bridal LZ, fracturing his leg.
March 2002 Site of the Day archives a few great days days with lots of snow and rain mixed in.
February 2002 Site of the Day archives two epic days already (4.5 hours and 2.5 hours!).
January 2002 Site of the Day archives Mexico vacation shots, some local flying but it was wet on the coast.
December 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, wettest December on record, some good days sprinkled thru the month.
November 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, had some good days at Woodside +2 hours, lots of rain later in the month.
October 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, but great flying at Chelan at the Women's Fly In.
September 2001 Site of the Day archives starting to get pretty stable, more sled rides forecast for October.
Aug 2001 Site of the Day archives Mara, Bridal, till some great flights locally
July 2001 Site of the Day archives Road Trip Month, Golden, Mara, points east!
June 2001 Site of the Day archives Great Month, 3 hours of airtime for some pilots every time they flew Bridal Lower! Some getting up to 6 hours in a single flight!
May 2001 Site of the Day archives Unstable Month, 2-3 hours of airtime for some pilots every time they flew Bridal Lower!
April 2001 Site of the Day archives Rainy Month, not as much airtime for some pilots
March 2001 Site of the Day archives Spring has Sprung!
February 2001 Site of the Day archives Spring is in the Air!
January 2001 Site of the Day archives - Mexico Flying Trip
December 2000 Site of the Day archives
November 2000 Site of the Day archives (great month for airtime!)
October 2000 Site of the Day archives
September 2000 Site of the Day archives
July - August 2000 Site of the Day archives
June 2000 Site of the Day archives
March - May 2000 Site of the Day archives
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