FlyBC "Site of the Day March 2009 Archive Page "
"If you haven't found something strange during the day, it hasn't been much of a day." - John A. Wheeler
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Santa Barbara Report - I landed and hour early at LAX on the early flight due to strong NW tailwinds, pretty cool getting in first class somehow? Maybe my seniors discount kicked in?. I rented a car and found out that the economic crisis has caused car rental companies to raise their walkup rates significantly. Avis was $99 a day for a Chevy Aveo! I got out the iPhone and was on expedia.com and found a car at Enterprise for $59, still high but worth the roaming charge to get a car. Nice weather, west winds, 23C temps, no snow or rain . . . although the hills are pretty green so it must have rained here hard in February. Now on the road, I stopped in at Camarillo Airport to review the float installation on the Falcon Light Sport aircraft we are going to be selling and training on.  Nice clean installation that only reduces the carrying capacity by 60 lbs - photo by JPR I had lunch with the designer, David Saunders, and he is excited about everything except the economy. Used airplanes in his hangar have been for sale for 9 months and despite price drops, just are not moving. There was some folks burning up avgas in the circuit, but he said that traffic is even down. It is my belief that more airplane pilots are going to look at paragliding, paramotoring and Light Sport Aviation as a cheaper way to get in the air to get their fix. General Aviation was developed when avgas was $0.25 a gallon, not $3.50 a gallon. After lunch I raced up to Santa Barbara thinking the west winds at Camarillo looked too strong except for speedfliers. When I arrived at Elings Park, the entire Ozone Team was there . . . in lawn chairs watching a student fly circuits down the hill. Not even enough wind to kite properly! I snoozed in my car watching for the wind to improve before heading to the Hotel for our first meeting. We had drinks at a local Brewery, then on to a French Restaurant, catching up on stories. Tomorrow, we meet early and then on to Alternator or some other launch to get our flying fix!
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no pilot reports, but it was pretty bad in town. |
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Woodside Report - we waited at the bottom kiting and chatting until we saw Derek and Martina launch. It took them almost 2 hours cause it was so catabatic. | We filled up the 'Mog and followed a previous load in Alex W's rig. When we arrived launch was loaded with pilots and not great cycles but we only had 2 students to get launched (Mike and Tom), and one tandem for me to complete but it was taking a while. Derek was back on launch having top-landed in a down cycle near the ramp so he could drive down to retrieve Martina and head to Bridal. Al had driven straight down to launch too fast and high centred the FJ Cruiser so we had to pull it out with the Mog while we were waiting for the spring clusterf*ck to clearout at launch.  Al's parking job went a bit wrong today! - photo by JPR Al was flying the Mantra R09 today, and was off and climbing trying to catch up to everyone else at 1800 meters and in the clouds over Woodside. Coleen launched Mike and Tom and soon had them outsoaring the pro's. I believe the grins may have worn off by now after they had 35 and 45 minutes respectively getting to 1200 meters or more. As we were getting ready to launch tandem (my passenger less than willing to load), the cycles were pretty cross from the North and getting 20 kph+. The sky was pretty clear of gliders as most headed east to Agassiz and Bear Mountains to cross over to the Bridal Side to try a triangle flight. The sky was popping with CUs out toward Chilliwack. Hmmmm? Maybe we can go straight to Chilliwack, hang a left and fly to Bridal? Nah too easy. We launched finally with Colleen keeping Brian on his feet, and we soon were climbing through 1450 meters as Brad and Brent L launched. I flew us out to PegLeg Island and Redneck Recreation area and we hit a +6 m/s climb to 1750 meters and cloudbase. We stayed outside the clouds and climbed past 'base and couldn't see anyone to the east.  At 'base looking towards Little Mountain - photo by JPR We circled over PegLeg and the drift was taking us to Chilliwack Airport, probably more cloudsuck so we took the drift and were way south of Peg Leg now.  At base driving towards Cultus Lake - photo by JPR We were still between 1500 and 1700 meters as we flew towards Chilliwack and under a nice cloudstreet beeping all the way, smooth enough for "hands-off" picture taking.  We found a good cloud between the Airport and Rosedale - photo by JPR At this point when we started circling, Brian said he was feeling "queezy". Great! So I stopped circling and made him focus on Bridal launch and we flew towards the Bridal LZ. Still at Saddle height.  At base driving towards the Saddle - photo by JPR Brian was pretty quiet at this time and I was expecting "chunks" but none appeared.  Over Rosedale looking for LZ's - photo by JPR We saw a few people launch and land at the Swamp as we pulled in and landed at the Driving Range. Brian still "chunk free". Total flight time - 35 minutes. Later Colleen took Annette on her new Magnum 38 tandem and had a 45 minute soarfest on Woodside.  Colleen's new Magnum - photo by JPR Other note-able flights from Woodside! Nicole - 2000 meters over Bear, made it to Ludwig at 1700 meters and then got flushed to land east of Herrling Island. Robin - got high too over Bear, was also east of Bridal. Nikolai - made the crossing to Ludwig, made it to the Waterslides. Kevin A - launched Bridal, climbed to 1800 meters, missed the flushfest and made it to Harvest Market. and the winner: Greg H made it to Hope Airport, no wind landing there. Matt's WA Gloat Report - James and I had a great day at Whidbey today. Some nice soaring and touch and goes. Bit of a lull which made for an interesting scratch fest for me when I was the only one to launch. Flew with a bunch of Americans and some Canadians including Miguel and Kent. Flight times over 2 hours. Got to fly James's Addict 1 for about half that and it is a very nice wing. Very agile and fast. Had to make it back for dinner plans or so I thought as when we were about 30 mins out of Whidbey I got a message from my fiance that dinner was next week. To Blanchard we went . . . Met up with Kent and Miguel once more and got a hiker prepped with directions to the LZ to drive my truck down as it didn't look soarable. Had a nice smooth 19 minute flight after launching near 6 oclock and maintained above launch for a bit in very light lift. Whidbey Island, WA from Miguel Bertello on Vimeo. Some very nice Americans around both sites. It was a great day. 2 new sites for James. We got some video at Whidbey so will have to link youtube once I upload. See you at Woodside soon, Matt J Valhalla's Report - Phil, James and I have been back from the Valhalla's for a couple of weeks now. It was a great trip lots of clear blue sky days, but also really cold minus 24 during the day a few times. We had katabatic winds almost every day but with the skis on we could out run the tail winds when they were light. Phil had one of the best flights of the week flying out around Mt. Woden - Stephen.  Phil over Mt. Woden - Photo by Andrea
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Bridal Report - when we drove past Bridal last night around 6 pm, the snowline was down to 400 meters and it looked like a heavy dump of snow all day. Later I received a call from John in Vedder saying it was snowing on the ground there! |
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Woodside Report - Derek said he was thinking about heading up Woodside but the clouds were moving pretty fast, so he tried driving up Bridal to see how bad the road was. He made it about 2/3 of the way up, and estimated 25 minute hike from where he stopped. | Revelstoke Flying has been great  Chris with Mt Begbie in the background - photo by Derek Marcinyshyn  Alan P just off launch - photo by Derek Marcinyshyn
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Bridal Report - Launched at 4:20pm, flight time 1:10, maximum altitude 868 meters ASL, max lift 2.8 m/s, light inflow -> strong inflow, light thermals mixed with ridge lift, Robin and I top-landed - Rob S. |
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Woodside Report - I arrived to a mixed bag of weather: rain, hail and snow . . . but in the end Denis, Mike, Rob, Eric and Bill all flew. Very leeside with only the occasional cycle to launch into but smooth once launched, no turbulence just nice lift. The snow is almost gone on the road, just a few deep spots at the flats past 3.5 kms, and the spur road in to launch. | Rob's Gloat Report at Woodside - Woodside, March 25, 2009, Launched at 5:40pm, flight time 1:08, maximum altitude 960 meters ASL, max lift 4.0 m/s, very light outflow -> calm -> light inflow, upper air (above 900 meters) still had north east wind, last strong climb after 6:30pm. Kevin's Gloat Report - Al the Hammer, Matt J. and Kevin Ault scored a huge soar-fest at Fort Ebey on Wednesday. They started flying at 3:30 pm and completed numerous top-landings, ground-handling exercises, glider exchanges, and short out and returns to the north until 8:00 pm. The winds were steady at 20-30 km/hr from the WNW the entire time! Kevin got to try the R09 and except for the risers, loved it the speed and handling. Al flew Kevin's M2 and enjoyed it as well. Matt flew his Vulcan and was like a kid in a candy store staying up until 8:05 pm, long after sun set. Pictures were taken by a local but due to traffic followed by burgers and beers in Bellingham, the boys didn't get home until midnight, so I'll have to email the guy to send his photos tomorrow. This day was dedicated to Alex and Nicole who thought the border line up would preclude a good day at Whidbey and opted not to join Kevin!
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Rain. |
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Vancouver Report - I am still soaked from walking around downtown Vancouver yesterday. |
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Woodside Report - when I assessed the conditions at 8 am, I knew I had to get Judy to take care of the Booth again at the Great Outdoors Show! | By 11:30 am, we were loading up the 'Mog with a bunch of paragliders and 3 hanggliders were being slung on the side (Charles, Jon and Cecilia) and I was taking Dan for a tandem hopefully, Derek was taking a load up in his truck. We chained up at 3 kms, and Derek was waiting there after dropping off some hikers at 4 kms were it was slippery. We got to my favourite corner and slid a bit but after everyone bailed out I made it with one pass. We are going to take up some salt and gravel to prep this section next trip up on Wednesday. When we arrived at launch Martin H was already down at the satellite dishes working hard on his Zulu, but he kept getting back up and then losing it. He was pretty determined, but had Riverside on glide at all times. Annette was in the launch slot and was waiting for a lull as the cycles were pretty strong at times, and she nailed a perfect launch and was soon sinking fast towards the constructon site, on full bar when she took a "whack" and was flying with 60% of a working Rush II for a few moments before pumping it out and then climbing fast out of the construction site, until she hit her 10 turn limit and was soon heading to the Ranch from 800 meters. It was a safe call in the end! John launched next on his new Addict II following his "sweety", and was rewarded with the same sink but refused to turn in the same thermal Annette had found, and landed nicely at the Ranch too. Wiley was off in front of us and took some nice shots before landing at the Ranch.  Eagle Ranch in the sunbeams - photo by Wylie The 3 hanggliders were off and soaring when I readied the tandem for Dan and I. It was getting pretty brisk at launch but Dan weighs 225 lbs and I was happy to have the ballast as we brought up the Magnum tandem. A few steps back and under the wing and we were "hoovered off", soaring the north ridge before heading to the house thermal SW of launch. We were climbing pretty fast but when you lost the windy core, you were sinking fast. We made it to 800 meters a few times and then headed to the South Knoll where it was pretty spicy, as Nicole was the last to launch after us. Apparently Stefan was ready but fiddling with some gear when Nicole stepped in and launched and after that steady 40+ km gusts were reported for the balance of the day past 4 pm. The strong wind was making the thermals hard to work at the South Knoll, very tight cores and huge sink holes. After 35 minutes of that Dan was getty "queezy" so I gave him the brakes and had him fly us to the Ranch. As we approached the construction site it got bumpy as expected with the -3C lapse rate, and I took the brakes and I noticed we were getting 22 kph ground speed. As we crossed over Duncans at 400 meters, we were getting down to 19 kph, then 14 kph, then parked over the Maple Tree (this with a 425 lb payload and normal trims!) as the wind was getting strong lower. We made one turn over the corn field perimeter where the "nasty thermal" usually kicks off when you are on final and sure enough it hit us and we had to make a quick turn to lose height and as we came back over the treeline we took a full frontal which re-opened spontaneously (hands up) before coming straight in on final to a stand-up landing. It was very strong south at this time and packing up was a bit difficult as Dan was lying down getting his stomach back in order. Derek came in a few minutes after us, or at least tried to and even on full bar wasn't penetrating and felt the same winds increasing near the ground (the reverse of what normally happens). Martina had warned Derek that she had to be "full bar" to make it out. He was hovering over the goal post trees and then started getting pushed back so he bailed back to the HG field for a quick turn through the trees. Bert makes more money! Nicole was at 1450 meters without a radio but quickly figured out she wasn't going to make it out, so headed to Harvest Market where she had the same experience as Derek, 300 meters over the Harvest Market LZ and going backwards forcing a bailout to the north side of Hwy 7. Charles had landed his HG and was packed up at the Ranch, Cecilia had barely made it cross the last ridge and landed short of the Ranch downwind north of the goalpost trees, but no damage with big wheels and Jon had a faily nice apporach as it cycled down as he turned final with a minor flare mistiming that caused him to drop the nose (no damages). As the folks congregated at the Ranch who either flew and survived, or who got stuck at launch and were forced to drive down (Rob got his first UniMog lessons from Colleen via VHF), we started a bonfire and were yacking about spring conditions and whether it would mellow out when I left the group to break down the booth at the Tradex. Judy did a fantastic job and we have many excited new student prospects. Bridal Report - Alan was reportedly at 1450 meters and having no penetration issues, so we thought he was the smart one as were getting pummeled at landing at the Ranch. But later we heard he was going backwards into the Swamp LZ but made it down safely. Revelstoke Mountain Resort would like to encourage paraglider pilots to come and enjoy this awesome flying site. The mountain will be open to paragliders from the 25th of March until they close for the season (April 13th). Visitors will be able to ride the lifts to the top for a discounted rate. Pilots need to have a P2 rating as well as HPAC insurance (bring your membership card). All visiting pilots will have to sign an 'exclusion of liability/assumption of risk' form available at the guest services desk at the base of the gondola. All this is to promote the sport at the resort and get feedback from other pilots about the site.  Chris flying his new Rush over Revelstoke Anyone interested should contact: Steve Parsons parsons@revelstokemountainresort.com ph: (250) 837 8711 Allan Polster alan_polster@telus.net ph: (250) 814 4468 Chris Delworth cdelworth@yahoo.ca ph: (250) 814 8250 Please pass this information on to anyone who may be interested. Hope you are all doing well and that some of you will be able to find the time to come and fly here - Regards, Chris Delworth
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Woodside Report - thanks to Judy Becker-Ault, I was able to stay at Woodside while she ran the FlyBC booth at the Great Outdoors Show. | I was able to drive the UniMog all the eay to launch with chains. A few tense moments for the passengers in the back as we slid towards a cliff near the top but we backed up and took another run at it and made it through for the balance of the day. Students John L and Tom C were out and got four nice flights with some soaring. It was definitely leeside, as Martin and Mia were kiting in 15-20 kph NE winds at the Best Field for a few hours. Launch was getting good cycles up the front and no turbulence in the air. Other pilots did pretty well too later in the day. Every time I considered flying down a sink cycle would hit and everyone was being flushed so I kept driving and it kept happening. Clouds covered the sun when pilots were up to 1000 meters and within minutes they were heading down. On a serious note: A new student pilot was out with a non-instructor today and after many botched attempts, they got in the air and were being guided to land on the sandbar in the Fraser to avoid paying the Club Fees and the student overshot the sandbar and landed his feet in the Fraser River but the glider fortunately landed on the sandbar. This is unacceptable to have a new pilot being guided from the top to a river landing. Even landing a student at Riverside has had a share of incidents, even with instructors in the LZ. This could have been a fatality if the wing had hit the River as the current is very strong there.
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Valley Monsoon Report - I was in the Great Outdoors Show at our booth at the Tradex from 11:30 am til 9:00 pm, so I didn't see the heavy rain but a few visitors were soaked. Power outages all over the lower mainland too, so the weather was pretty severe. | Normando's Road Trip Report - Norm left town 3 days ago heading south for drier weather and was spotted at Woodrat according to Facebook. Bev sent a message late yesterday that he got 1:10 in his first flight, so he needs to get another 8 hours to balance his driving-to-airtime ratio. Tiger Mountain Woes - Liz, Are there other nasty surprises? In a word, yes—although I wouldn’t characterize the situation as nasty quite yet. King County Parks and the King County Road people have been receiving complaints about the volume of cars parked on both sides of the street. Tuesday, I attended a meeting with NWPC and CBCC representatives to discuss next steps to alleviate the parking and congestion problem. We were told there will be a number of changes at Tiger to try and alleviate the congestion and what the county believes are safety hazards related to the parking. First, King County made it clear that we (the flying community) must take reasonable steps to ease the parking congestion. By way of example, the Director of King County Parks asked us to consider finding alternative parking for pilots and arrange for the shuttle to pick up pilots at an ‘off site’ location. King County planned to eliminate ALL off-street parking to avoid the hazards of doors opening and pedestrians crossing in a 45 MPH zone where gapers are known to be paying less than full attention to their driving when gliders are landing. With strong encouragement from our side, King County agreed to scale back their no parking plans and, for the time being, will only eliminate the parking on the west side of the street. Everyone (including King County) recognizes that much of the parking comes from the hiking community. We will reach out to the hiking groups and attempt to engage them in this problem solving exercise. King County also recognizes there is congestion every business day rush hour—whether we are flying or not. King County has asked us to encourage commercial vehicles (vehicles advertising tandems or schools) from parking in the LZ. They intend to ‘take ownership’ of the Kiosk and eliminate any form of commercial enterprise. We asked, and we will be able to keep information on getting into the sport on the kiosk, so long as it points to NWPC, CBCC and USHPA as non-profit entities. Again, no direct commercial promotions. Keep in mind, the County did not ask instructors to sign up and pay to be concessionaires if they operate in the LZ, which they could have. While the above measures may seem draconian or unfair, the alternative mentioned by the Director of Parks was closure of the site to flying. Although he mentioned it twice, this is not a direction the County wants to head. The County appreciates what we’ve done in terms of taking ownership of the site (to a point) and they aren’t trying to push us out. They are simply responding to reasonable complaints from neighbors and others and they are trying to be sensitive to ordinances that prohibit commercial activity on public property without a concession license. Fighting the County on this is not likely to result in a favorable outcome. There are a number of steps we can take that may help mitigate the problem in the short-term and hopefully result in a long-term solution that will secure our flying privileges for years to come. There will be a time for lobbying on our own behalf—hopefully to secure land for additional parking. In the short-term, we absolutely must avoid parking on the west side of the road. It is now posted and violators will be cited. More importantly, these citations will find their way back to King County Parks and defiance will make our situation all the more tenuous. So how about the hikers? Well, they have as much right as we do to park where we do and use the trail. We need to use peer pressure to ask hikers and pilots alike to respect the no parking signs. This will be a very important first step. At the same time, we are working on securing interim off-site parking for this season. With some luck, it will be close by. If its not within an easy walk, we will do our best to have the shuttle pick up and drop off pilots at the off-site location rather than the LZ. Yes, this will be a major PITA but it really beats the alternative. Long term, we will ask the County to help expedite expansion of the existing LZ parking by a combination of lengthening the lot and widening the lot so the parking is ‘double-loaded’. We will also ask to widen the shoulder of the road on the east side (where parking is still legal) to make it more safe. Other options, such as acquiring land for off-site parking will be explored. We will work with other outdoor groups and both NWPC and CBCC will work together on this challenge. Both Mark Forbes and I attended the meeting as your regional USHPA directors. We will provide whatever support we can through the national organization. Tiger is a landmark here in the NW for free flight. Our access to the site will only be jeopardized if we ignore the opportunity we have to work with the County to solve these problems and move forward. The biggest mistake we could make right now is to ignore the opportunity we have to solve the traffic and parking problems in a positive way and instead to resist the reasonable requests that are being made. The County understands we don’t control the hikers and we have limited control over ourselves (being optimistic). They are looking for a best-faith effort on our part and I believe we will succeed or fail base on how we measure up in this respect. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions or suggestions. I’m certain NWPC will be playing an active role in this as will CBCC and a workgroup will most certainly be formed to tackle this one. The meeting was just Tuesday and already the County has put up the no parking signs. Let’s move quickly to demonstrate our willingness to to participate in finding a solution. - Thanks, Rich Hass
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Woodside Report - I was in Abbotsford setting up our Booths at The Great Outdoor Show at the Tradex, and it was raining very hard this afternoon. | I decided a drive up Woodside to test the snow level was in order around 7 pm, and I got to 3.2 kms and it was getting slippery. It was still 5C at that level so the snow won't last long hopefully. A shocking outcome for Natasha Richardson after a minor skiing accident reported here on Yahoo shows that a helmet could save you life on even a minor crash. This is why we insist on pilots wearing a helmet while kiting in our field. It doesn't take much to damage a brain, so wear a good helmet!
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Valley Report - I was headed out to the Ranch to pack up gear for the 2009 Great Outdoors Show running March 20-22 at the Tradex in Abbotsford, and it rained all the way to the Sasquatch Inn, but as I turned the corner to face Woodside, it was blue and flyable . . . only around Woodside. This lasted about 45 minutes before the rain came there too. Magic Woodside! | I updated the FlyBC News Page regarding APCO Reserves after the recent HG Tandem Accident in New Zealand, and our own recent reserve clinic with some failures to highlight some of the great features on the APCO Reserves. Take a look!
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Valley Report - there was 30 cms of new snow in the Chilliwack River Valley according to an un-named logger. | Hemlock reported 45 cms of new snow yesterday. Towering CU spotted near Aldergrove sent chills up some pilots spines . . . thinking about how fast the climbs would be near those clouds. Woodside was blanketed in snow from Lower Launch upwards that was still sticking in the trees despite high winds. It looks better for the weekend but chains will be needed to get to launch I suspect. Emergency Parachute Report from New Zealand - a recent tandem HG accident claimed two lives when a gider broke up doing wingovers, and when the reserve was thrown it seperated from the bridle at the lines. We saw some dodgy reserves at the clininc this weekend with substituted bridles (mainly older HG reserves on Saturday`s inspections). If you have any questions as to the integrity of your reserve FlyBC will do a free inspection of your reserve of the bridles at Eagle Ranch, please book ahead to be sure we are there.
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Woodside Report - looked at Woodside at on the FlyBC Woodside WebCam and it looked a bit strong but flyable with nice CUs above launch around 2 pm, but Derek said by 3:30 pm rain had developed. |  Woodside March 16, 2009 - photo by WebCam Revelstoke Report - while we were enduring rain and winds here, Chris was flying Mount Mackenzie in Revelstoke. He is planning a Fly-In supported by the Mountain Resort March 28-29, 2009. If you are interested email him at sherriandchris@telus.net   Revelstoke Flying - photo by Sherrie Lost Dog near Chilliwack Lake - Came across this on a hunting website. Some guy has lost his hunting hounds up a bench road out of Chilliwack Lk and I was hoping you could post this on the site of the day incase people come across the one hound that is still missing. Lots of PGers are hikers too and maybe they or someone they know has come across the one young pup still in the bush. I know he would appreciate it. Heres the link http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=32750 On another note... Jonathan broke his leg on Saturday playing rugby. He is down in the dumps about it going into our busy season for work. Maybe send him an email about getting more involved in safer sports like Paragliding... hehe. He meets with a surgeon today about the torn ligaments. Reserve clinic was good. Did 2 tosses and the other scenarios and even got into a HG harness on the wing. Pretty cool but I'll stay with PG. Thanks, - Matt J
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WCSC Reserve Clinic Day 2 - I had family commitments today so I was unable to attend, but 30 more pilots were booked and I suspect even more showed up as I talked to James R at 7:15 pm and Martin was just repacking his reserve to try to fit it into his vamp Harness. | My hat is off to all the volunteers: Eddie Desrochers (who loaned out the warehouse), Karin, Martin Henry, Nicole, Robin, Ivan, Nicole, Evelyn, Jon Orders (master constructor of ramps), Mark Tulloch (death drop designer), Christine, Kent (death drop coordinator), and of course Betty Pfeiffer who came all the way from California to run this seminar. I hope I didn't miss anyone except Jonathon Wreglesworth doing the graphics, printing and supplying the signs, and Shane Kjar for doing the high lift work installing/removing the lights and fans from the joists. I think they packed another 45 or so reserves on Sunday! Several pilots with both HG and PG reserves. It wasn't flyable in the Valley so it was a perfect weekend for this event. Attendance usually drops down on a sunny, flyable spring weekend.
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West Coast Soaring Club Reserve clinic Report - a great turnout with 28 participants today and more than 10 volunteer packers/coordinators. | Betty Pheiffer had many video presentations and there were many different scenarios to test deployments, "egress" situations where you had to get out of the trees/etc., launch ramps for launching HG and PG unhooked, and the "death drop" designed by Mark Tulloch.  Some of the participants of the WCSC Reserve Clinic - photo by JPR Summary of scenarios: Launching Unhooked - most "died" on the first try, and many were able to get safe after several attempts. Bottom Line - do not launch unhooked. Reserve Tosses - all worked pretty well, with only Samuel having pin-lock on an AvaSport harness as the pins were rotated into the velcro so he could not pull the last pin out. This was rerigged and it worked second time. Check your pins every launch. Al also "died" on his reserve toss as his self-pack from last August had a bungy-lock that would not come out. After a quick repack, his deployment worked well. I had loaned Tom my Acro3 harness to test deployments with and after inspection we noticed a frayed Y-bridle. Mark thought it was velcro "worn" from the hook side, but he then found the flattened body of a barn mouse in the reserve container! I suspect it climbed in looking to nest and a student had a hard landing and flattened it. Check those containers! The bridle is okay, mouse not so good. Go to YouTube and search "flybc2" to find the video I uploaded this morning to see the Death Drop apparatus or click here .
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Woodside Report - Dennis and Darren hiked up and were just getting in the air when Al & Matt J drove up to launch. | Dennis launched and went straight up and back on a comp wing, Darren was fresh from a great 2:45 flight yesterday and read for more airtime so he jumped into the air and was treated with some rough sinky air. They both fought there way into Riverside as Al drove down saying "it looked ugly". Al was driving west on Hwy 7 when we arrived at the Ranch at 2:45 pm, so we checked out the windsocks at launch and they looked okay now. Derek arrived and we had a shuttle with Colleen, Darren, Derek, Mike (10 flights), Martin N and myself. The road is getting better every trip, no chains required on the 'Mog. Colleen was up first and she launched her Addict 2 and went straight north and climbed fast with no penetration issues, so after everyone launched Mike kited a bit on launch to get sorted out, and then he was in the air soaring after the pros. He got to 1000 meters and was getting pretty smooth when I launched and started saoring with Al who returned from Sylvester Valley where he has a secret launch. Mike was doing well so I let him do his thing until we saw snow squalls on Sasquatch Mtn. I was telling him to head out but his radio wasn't receiving me, so I flew over to him in the North Bowl and guided him out of danger and out to the Ranch (he flew for an hour). Al was flying the Mantra R09 and got high on the Towers and then I lost sight of him, and when I located him he was way out front, having tested the speed system and seeing the difference a Comp Wing does vs a DHV 2 in an upwind glide. I soared for about 15 minutes more and then top-landed in a strong gust as it looked like it was getting stronger. Al also top-landed as he was due to arrive at a Birthday Party at 7:00 pm in Langley (his own Birthday!). Patience paid off today for Mike, Darren and Al, but some others were impatient and headed to Bridal which probably wouldn't have worked too well as it was so south in the air. Elk Report for Friday March 13 - I hiked up Elk solo with my heavy M2 kit arriving at 2:00 pm to observe "freight train" thermals of up to 40 km/hr. The Hammer had just called to say it was no good at Woodside so I had no expectations. I waited 30 minutes. The thermals mellowed out. I launched just as half the birds of Elk took to the air - hawks, raven, crows, and eagles. I joined them in the smooth air, climbed quickly (no turns) to 1700 m (from 1450) and worked the ridge going as far east as Mt. Thurston and getting to 1860 m. The air was great but I was glad I brought the full M2 rig. On the way to Eddy's I was doing about 9 km/hr on half bar with a glide ratio of 2:1! It took a half hour just get down for a total of 90 minutes. - Kevin Elk rewards the sweat hogs!
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Woodside Report - I arrived at the Ranch at 2 pm as planned and there were 3 empty trucks and no one around as Derek and martina left Hemlock early and picked up a crew and were on top already. Dennis was in the air and I watched Derek launch as I loaded up the Suzuki for a solo trip up. | I passed trucks parked at Lower Launch, 3 kms, 3.5 kms thinking when am I going to start hiking but the little XL-7 kept going all the way to the last parking spot near launch so I thought why push it and parked there. I can hike 100 meters surely? By the time I got on top, most had launched and were working hard to stay in the air. Derek and Al were working near the satellite dishes, Kevin and Alan were out front and while no one was on the ground yet they were pretty close. The sunlight was quite filtered. I watched Al land at Joe's, then Jason, and Derek was pretty low as Martina launched so I offered to drive his rig down to retrieve them. At launch we were discussing the house fire we saw in the distance by Annis Road. Kent said it was a meth lab because of the black smoke. I said it looked like asphalt shingles burning . . . we were all wrong. There was a 3 vehicle accident at Hwy I and Annis Road where a semi collided head-on with a small car and another semi on Hwy 1 and the whole mess ignited and four people were killed. Hwy 1 was still closed at 8 pm as I drove home. Agassiz Observer Story here . I went to get Martina at the Ranch, where Kevin ended up after 40 minutes of hard flying, and we loaded up the truck and went to the Kettle to collect many pilots for retrievals or more flights. When we arrived back on launch, conditions had improved and Alan was above launch now so we all launched this time as Al offered to retrieve us if we needed it. Al was now testing the Mantra R09, and Rob had Al's Addict 2. Both launched and climbed out immediately. Jason launched and had a great launch (compared to his previous one) and was soon climbing too with Rob shouting turn directions at him!  Gliders "duking it out" over Woodside, Kevin on top - photo by JPR Derek launched in front of me, did three passes and landed right back on the face of Woodside "to show it could be done". He then relaunched. I launched and was working on keeping above Launch to top-land and watched Alan make a few approaches and then landed nicely on Launch. I went to the South Knoll to top up and lost all my hieght and was struggling to get above again, so I just enjoyed the light lift over the clearcuts. When I saw Derek top-land too, I headed out to the Construction Zone for some lift. Most were now above launch in the evening glass-off. I landed right by Al, still glowing after his R09 flight. Then Rob, Jason and Kevin all landed right by us at the foot of the training hill. Most raced off to family commitments, but a few us went to the Sasquatch Inn for a road-pop. Best flight of the Day: Alan D. 2:30. With about 15 pilots in total flying. Good climbs at times +4 m/s, not huge sink today like other leeside days. Peru Report - I've recently returned from 2 mos. paragliding in Peru. The Mojo2 exceeded my expectations on every level. It reinflated spontaneously from a 90 percent collapse at 100m altitude (under severe rotor conditions). Also, the robust construction of the Mojo2 came out virtually unscathed in prickly landing conditions. (I broke only a single upper cascade line in 60 landings and, of course, none of the LZ's were groomed). You once mentioned to me on the phone . . . " there is a lot of hype out there about different paraglider models but the Mojo is a winner". I feel, when you factor in the safety factor, that it will be a long time before I fly anything other than a Mojo. (I'll leave the competition flying to others). Thank you for your help Jim, Doug Scott, Edmonton AB
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Woodside Report - Derek, Al, Rob and Miguel were all hoping for a flight without hiking and we all arrived at the Ranch around 2 pm. | A quick look at the windsocks at Launch made us hurry up Woodside despite the leeside forecasts as it was blowing up! It was switching around at launch and we saw a dust/snowdevil rip through launch that lasted several minutes before Al launched. It took everyone several tries to get off but everyone went straight up after launching. The thermals were tracking away from the mountain and were stronger out front. Al climbed through 1250 meters and was staying over launch. Rob was having trouble getting in his harness and went straight out and went up just as fast without turning and went immediately on straight glide to Sasquatch Mountain climbing all the way. Miguel was happy to get in the air and was rewarded with a rough ride to 1400 meters and he went towards the towers before heading to Sasquatch after Rob and Al. The concern had been landing in the Harrison Mills Valley as the winds were gusty from the NW. Al landed first after crossing over the Sasquatch and just made it back to the Ranch, followed by Rob who ridge-soared Harrison Knob on the way into the Ranch. I launched once I saw they survived and it took several tries to get a solid wing (I was testing a new line installation and wanted everything to be right). I flew out and started climbing all the way, coming out over the Valle at 1100 meters as I flew towards Horsefly Launch. I was on a good course until over the Harrison River where I started hitting sink so I went back towards Woodside and was going up immediately. For 45 minutes I boated around the Harrion Mills area going from 900 meters to 600 meters and hitting rough layers everywhere, even spiralling didn't get me lower? I found sink near Harrison River only in one spot but as I headed toward the Ranch I was climbing at 1.5-2.0 m/s steadily. Rob suggested trying Harrison Knob soaring, so I went that direction and once over the bay area I was starting to level out so I followed the trees south of the Ranch towards Duncan's and was finally allowed to land near Stonehenge. I went up to drive for the guys as they wanted one last flight, but only Al got off for a fast sled ride. Mother Woodside blocked the NE winds all day so we could fly! Certainly not student conditions: +4.2 ms up with -4.0 sink, the others got 1:15 while I forced myself down after 0:45.
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Woodside Report - brutally cold and 30-40 kph NE winds all this week, hopefully we can fly Horsefly this afternoon. |
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Woodside Report - more snow and wind for March (in like a lion out like a lamb). It makes the case for staying in Mexico for March too, as conditions in Manzanillo have been soarable everyday while we freeze in the cold north winds. | FlyBC has received the Ozone R09 Medium for demo flights, unfortunately it arrived December 29th after we had left getting delayed by FedEx over Christmas. "Valley Crossings" should be easier now! November 4, 2008 - Ozone releases the newest Comp Glider the R-09 Dav's Designer's Notes: Mantra R09
The concept: Maximum Performance in the Open Class Competition Wing Category, in order to support our international XC / Competition team. The R07 was a well received comp wing with high performance and perhaps the best climb on the PWC and also highly comfortable – but we needed to improve on the top speed in order to have it all.
New Features: The airfoil is a completely new type. The thickness, camber, and the general shape have all been improved, with the aim to retain the positive features of the R07 while yielding higher top speed. Speed is a factor of wing loading: we have reduced the size to achieve a good compromise between climb rate and speed.
The arc has been revised in order to achieve the highest performance possible for this geometry. The planform remains the same except from the tip which has been redesigned to work with the new arc.
We’ve also managed to make a 15% reduction in total line drag, which translates into a straight benefit in performance!
The tension straps running across the span are now made with Mylar: This gives more cohesion to the wing, and guaranties longevity of performance.
New “shrink tabs” for the brake attachment makes the trailing edge even cleaner, and also creates more tension in the trailing edge during the turn.
Profile-enhancing rigid construction on the leading edge has also helped to give the R09 a 10kmh top speed increase! In order to maintain the shape of the nose, two types of reinforcements have been added inside and outside, at the front of the airfoil: the result is a cleaner airfoil shape, and the stability of the openings allows a higher top speed with less sail deformation – this helps prevent collapses and inefficient excessive sail movement.
The R09 is also the first model to have a new generation of trimmers. Pilots may choose either performance or stability while previously; the choice was to either set your accelerator system to one feature or the other.
Please find tech specs below. Please note that custom colors are available for the standard cost of 100 Euros extra.
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Woodside Report - bad call for Woodside although we had some pretty intense kiting later in the day in the Eagle Ranch LZ. The forecast changed to "WINDY" after 10 am, and we had strong NE winds most of the day. We did make it to Launch around noon before the big winds in the Unimog, but it switched to catabatic before Mike could launch and then it blew down hard all day. | I finally finished changing the Boomerang Sport Lines and took it out to kite and assess the change in trim, it is now ready for test flights. Three 4 hour long sessions to complete the changeover, but I could do it much faster now that I have memorized the line layout.
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Woodside Report - very windy in the morning, then hail, then snow, then when it calemd down it got very cold and cloudbase dropped below launch. Good day to change Boom Sport lines except for it being so cold around 6 pm. We were planning a road trip but the interior of BC was snowed in, and windy too. |
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Woodside Report - I arrived at the Ranch at 2:15 pm and loaded up the Mog to drive up with Rob, Martina, Colleen and gear. Al and Kevin were already heading up in his old Toyota Land Cruiser and a bunch of others were hiking or driving up from noon on. A pretty busy day at Woodside as the forecasted winds abated. | Strong cycles at launch, big lift reported up to 8 m/s with sink recorded at -9 m/s so a pretty dynamic afternoon with strong SW winds. Everyone had nice flights with several top-landings to retrieve trucks from Derek and Al, I was flying Rob's Mantra M2 medium before putting it up on the Used Page, nice glider even in turbulence! Many pilots headed out early to warm up as it was very cold up high, Kevin probably got the highest altitude at 1260 meters. I was happy below 1000 meters were it was warmer. Even last launchers got good soaring later as the sun was setting. I guess you could say it was "pre-frontal"! Fort Ebey may close??
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Woodside Report - Garry H and Derek were both interested in flying Woodside as it looked pretty clear, I was stuck in the city, and I didn't get any pireps. | I looked at Woodside at on the FlyBC Woodside WebCam and it looked a bit north, but flyable with nice CUs above launch and the north ridge.
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Woodside Report - I was excited to break away from work today and try a flight and see how the road was, arriving at the Ranch at 4 pm. The winds were reported as "gusty and all over the place" at Cultus by Kevin A. | By the time Derek and Jason arrived, and we checked the windsocks on top . . . it was howling over the back. Oddly the upper level clouds were strong from the SW? There were imbedded CUs at all quadrants, and launch was just in the clear. So we didn't waste the trip up the mountain, instead Derek insisted we install the new leaf springs in the Van. With some help from Jason, we soon had everything installed and bolted together and went for a test run in the field. The new springs are much softer spring rate, and should give FlyBC Clients a nice ride up the hill. When I left the Ranch it was raining hard and felt pretty cold, so new snow expected on the hills. See how much snow fell on Woodside at the FlyBC Woodside WebCam .
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Woodside Report - I saw an un-identified pilot flying a sled ride off Woodside during the afternoon. No road reports after all the rain and warm conditions, but I know Al and the UniMog can make it at least! | I got word that the new rear springs for the Blue Van are finished, so we should have two shuttles running this weekend. Only $1000, what a deal!
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Vancouver Report - a mixed bag of weather here; monsoon conditions at 9 am, high winds, followed by sunny breaks, then overdevelopment til dark. Would have been an interesting flight off Grouse today! | Derek said he had errands so he didn't go up Woodside, but it looked pretty windy on the Woodside Webcam.
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Woodside Report - a nicer day than predicted, but too much north wind. | Derek and I dropped the broken springs off the GMC Van after grinding and hammering, on to Phase II of finding new ones this week. A group of us (Derek, Martina, Norm and Rob) drove up the Woodside to test the newly extended tire chains, and we can report a safe trip to the Launch Parking lot twice. We chewed up the road pretty good so dirt is showing and with the warm weather most vehicles should get through soon.  The 'Mog at Launch - photo by iPhone |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports
January 2009 Site of the Day archives - Manzanillo, Mexico was a BLAST, many new sites flown and we have a new tour Destination for 2010.
December 2008 Site of the Day archives - the annual FlyBC Christmas Party was a cold success with Head over Heels entertaining us all night. And we left early for Manzanillo, Mexico on Dec 28th.
November 2008 Site of the Day archives - some soaring between rain storms, and it was pretty dry in Agassiz.
October 2008 Site of the Day archives - we went ot the Women's Fly In on Chelan for the annual Halloween Costume Fly-In, great conditions there to offset the wet month on the West Coast. Steve Fosset's crash site was found in Nevada after a year of searching.
September 2008 Site of the Day archives - great student conditions at Woodside and Bridal all month, with 10 students getting signed off this month, a record.
August 2008 Site of the Day archives - our second SIV Course of the 2008 season went well at Sale Mountain near Revelstoke (except for a few water landings and minor injuries). Wet all month at Woodside except the weekends.
July 2008 Site of the Day archives - our first SIV Course of the 2008 season went well at Sale Mountain near Revelstoke.
June 2008 Site of the Day archives - a few good soaring days at Bridal, lots of new students this month.
May 2008 Site of the Day archives - the cost of gas is keeping pilots at home and the weather isn't helping either. One good XC in May for me, leaving Woodside with Norm and Martin H and ending up at Elk at 1600 meters before landing by Hopyard Hill. 3 hours and 85 kms later by the GPS.
April 2008 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years but we flew every day we could.
March 2008 Site of the Day archives - more snow and still hiking to launch at Woodside! But some major airtime for the locals committed to coming out to fly.
February 2008 Site of the Day archives - more snow in BC than I can remember in 25 years of living here. We are still hiking to launch at Woodside!
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.
August 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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