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What's new around the Vancouver Flying scene. | Date | Site | Forecast | Precip. | Winds Aloft 3000 ft. | Comments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| May 31 | Bridal | Sunny all day | 0% POP | 190° at 8 knots | Bridal Report - sled rides for all. Very stable - Ian J.
| May 30
| Bridal
| Rain in the AM, with dynamic sunny periods | (lapse rate of -3°!) 50% POP
| Light and Variable
| Bev's Bridal Report - Jeremy, Allan and I went up to Bridal. Jeremey and I flew. I did a forward and flew a sledder and tried a spiral (small one but it worked and something new
for me). Jeremy flew for about 24 min milking what lift he could. Allan drove the Blazer down, (says alot for how soarable it was).
As I was coming in for a landing I almost got whacked with a golf ball, someone had a good swing, so I dodged the ball and headed for the sign and had to dodge the
sign landed fine but whew, golf balls that far up? Maybe I should get a face mask protection? Anyway I needed the flight and it was fun - Bev
| May 29
| Bridal
| Cloudy with dynamic sunny periods | (lapse rate of -3°!) 10% POP
| 270° at 6 knots
| Bridal Gloat Report - PIREP - 2:15 airtime. Up to Cheam. grin/LOL - Ian J | Jim's Bridal Report - I wanted to dry out my tandem after the weekend so Nicole volunteered to be ballast for me at Bridal. Launch conditions crossing from the left (usual). It took several tries to get the glider overhead due to the wet wing and conditions, but I chose a big cycle to go in and Ihor pushed us off at about 6:15 pm (thanks for the help, Ihor). As we moved away from launch a big gust hit us and we lost 40% of the wing, but it kept flying straight and as it re-inflated we started the climb. We headed toward Upper Launch and found a tight thermal that took us up over Upper Launch as Ian joined us from his excursion to Gloria. We flew back with Ian to Lower Launch and spent some time climbing out with Ian and Alex R. They took the thermal we were in to Cheam! We grovelled around for a while heading east over the road and then headed out for some spirals over the LZ, but still ended up at Launch height (the lift in the valley was strong! Landed at about 7:20 pm. ps: No one else launched after the 40%-er we took off launch?? May 28
| Savona | (the coast looks windy and wet) Cloudy with dynamic sunny periods
| 40% POP
| 220° at 8 knots
| No one flew on the coast, way too windy!
| May 27
| FlyBC is in Savona, but the experts are heading to Pemberton
| Cloudy!
| 30% POP
| 220° at 8 knots
| Savona Report - a fairly productive day at Deadmans. We got 6 students off lower launch before it switched to east winds, (Brian from Seattle soared above launch for 15 minutes before heading out because it got too bumpy), and the wind at the Dump Ridge was clocked at 50 kms+, so we headed to the school to kite our wings. At 3:00 pm we headed up to lower launch and Norm, Jeremy and JF took off and soared for 2 hours. Norm was flying his new wing and did lots of stunts to try to get down. | The students finally flew again before dark and did well. May 26
| FlyBC is in Savona, but the experts are heading to Pemberton
| Sunny!
| 0% POP
| 190° at 11 knots
| Pemberton Gloat Report - Lots of out and returns to Hurley. Sweet lift all afternoon. Valley winds kicked in later and as it went catabatic it got choppy and windy with huge lift out in the valley. Nicole did a full manouvers clinic in one flight at the end of the day. Excellent flying all day - Ian J | Savona Gloat Report - Ed, one of the students, got 8 flights and his last flight he made it to 6500 feet and had a one hour flight. Colleen flew her new Simba to 7500 feet and practiced all the moves. Bruce McG had a great flight off lower launch and logged 2:15 getting waaaay over upper launch (yes Jayson, that's 2 hours and 15 minutes!). MC had her last signoff flight and was able to practice big ears, b-stalls and a number of other techniques to get down. May 25
| Bridal
| Sunny!
| 0% POP
| 290° at 9 knots
| Bridal Report - Lots of wings soaring the knoll at Bridal yesterday, conditions looked a bit breezy earlier but soarable - Jim
| May 24
| Whidbey Island
| Sunny!
| 0% POP
| 290° at 14 knots
|
Grouse Report - Brett, Thomas, Ian P. and myself flew in light scratchy conditions at Grouse today - Justin K. | Bridal Report - "Top Landings R' Us" A band of locals were on hand for late flights at Bridal today. Allan D, Carl, Norm (but no Bev), Ian J, Klaus, Monica, Alex R., Nicole and everyone flew at about 5:30 pm. We had no driver and one Suburban at launch so I left the keys under the bumper, and put out the challenge to see if anyone would top-land to drive down. Conditions looked very light as Allan launched. One by one pilots launched in typical Bridal cross winds. After 30 minutes or so, Ian J made a straight in approach downwind and nailed it into the launch. Then Norm came in from the back and pinned it perfectly too! His first top-landing! I launched after a few tries, and as I soared I saw Alex R. top-land, followed by Nicole so they could do a tandem flight (that is a committed passenger that top-lands so they can have a tandem flight). I flew for about 30 minutes and also top-landed, so I didn't feel left out. Norm drove down as Ian and the rest of us soared until 8:00 pm. It doesn't get any better than this at Bridal! "Top Landings R' Us" May 23
| Bridal/Lil Nick
| Sunny! Very stable with no lapse rate :-(
| 0% POP
| 190° at 7 knots
| Bridal Report - Bev said Roman, Alan, Jeremy and others flew Bridal. Roman made it to upper launch! | Grouse Report - Brett and I flew after 5:00 pm. I got about 45 mins while Brett explored Crown Mtn. and West Vancouver on the way to the LZ. We were met by Thomm McEachryn who is anxious to get back in the air (Lars, can you lend him a chair?). Baseball games have priority at Cleveland Park so land in the bottom field - Jim May 22
| Bridal
| Sunny!
| 0% POP
| 150° at 5 knots
|
Grouse Report - I was in the l.z. ( parawishing ) and watched some skinny but smooth lift taking Brett (Simba) way back along the northern spine with Thomas (Allegra) in hot pursuit. | Reports in the l.z. of 4500' if I remember correctly? Longest flight was Thomas (approx 1-1/2 hrs.) and earned the sky pig award! He boated over the l.z. for about 15 min. without losing any height and landed in the lower field ( all pilots did ) as there were two baseball games in the upper. I'm sure the pilots that were flying can give you a better report about the air but from where I was it looked like one of the best Grouse can offer. The other two pilots were Justin (Saber) and Ian Porter (Allegra - who said it was definitely an APCO Day at Grouse!) - Thomm McEachryn Bridal Report - Well as you already know it was quite a stable and hot day. Dean and I went up anyway and I launched forward and had a nice smooth sledder, Dean launched after I had landed and also got a sledder. He was trying to take me up in a all wheel drive but the vehicle couldn't do it. Not that Dean didn't try enough, anyway I got a ride from a young lad on a dirt bike just as I was getting prepared to hike up in this heat with my wing ( I will not leave my wing alone). So I and Dean got 1 flight each and no one else showed up - Bev May 20-21
| Lumby
| Sunny!
| 0% POP
| Light and Variable to 6000 feet
| Day 2: The meet is on! Call Ian at 1:00 am Sunday and he just completed 2 turnpoints landing with Mark F., Peter McL., Andrea G. and a bunch of others near Cherryvale. | Day 3: Started out cloudy and stable but by 12:00 the start window opened for PGs and it took about 2 hours to get everyone in the air. Lots of pilots made goal which was a triangle of about 17 kms. May 19
| Travel to Lumby
| Cloudy with a few showers mainly this morning. Afternoon sunny periods. Snow level near 1300 metres with local snowfall accumulations 2 to 5 centimetres over higher terrain. Northwest winds developing 30 to 50 km/h. High near 15. Maximum UV index 5. 5 or moderate.
| 80% POP
| 340° at 5 knots
| It's Colleen's Birthday today, wish her a happy one if you see her!
| Due to popular request, pictures of Colleen's Birthday Party this weekend.  Wallaby Report - took a walk on the dark side last night, two HG tandems with Malcolm and David. Managed to keep it on tow and on track, more to come if I can talk Mark and Randy into it! A bit bumpy on the last one as the sea-breeze kicked in as I launched. May 18
| Travel to Lumby
| Possibly windy in the Fraser Valley, onshore winds expected to be >20 knots!
| 10% POP
| 270° at 11 knots
| Lumby forecast doesn't look too promising for Saturday, gusty winds predicted :-( but the rest of the weekend looks great!
| May 17
| Whidbey Island
| Rain possible in the PM
| 40% POP
| 260° at 6 knots
| Fly safe and smooth, remember the Rangers may be at Ebey's Landing! | The weekend weather is shaping up nicely for Lumby! Keep the faith! May 16
| Whidbey Island
| Rain clearing PM
| 40% POP
| 230° at 10 knots
| Whidbey Report - Derek, Keith and I went down to Whidbey and had a great afternoon. Little light until 4:30 then it was on, soared until 7:00, then headed home. Derek did 8 tandem flights with me - Glen T. | May 15
| Coastal pilots stay home today
| Rain
| 100% POP
| 160° at 17 knots
| Savona looks flyable if you want a road trip, snow expected in Vernon area above 1500 meters!
| May 14
| Coastal pilots stay home today
| Rain
| 100% POP
| 210° at 19 knots
| Wallaby Report - several gliders were in the air when I arrived at 4:30. Then a gust front came thru that had a LiteSpeed parked over the field. Nice layout at Wallaby!
| May 13
| Bridal
| cloudy, with sunny periods
| 0% POP
| 200° at 7 knots
| Aerial Adventures Tow Park Report - The conditions were highly variable today so we waited until nearly 1pm before calling a straight-line task from Fort Langley to the new Deroche landing field- 33km. It was quite tricky getting away from the tow field. | Three pilots made goal: Brett Hazlett 44min 8s (45km/h) Barry Bateman 56min 8s (35km/h) Mark Dowsett 56min 52s (35km/h) Bridal Report - Colleen called to say conditions were light and everyone had sledders. Orlando Report - My jet had to stay in a holding pattern for 30 minutes as the Orlando airport was closed due to thunderstorms and heavy rain! By the time I landed, got my bags and was in a shuttle to the hotel it had cleared and I saw one lone paramotor pilot having a great evening flight near Walt Disney World. Gotta find where they fly from today. May 12
| Blanchard
| cloudy, with sunny periods, strong westerly winds expected in the PM
| 50% POP
| 270° at 14 knots
| Blanchard Report - Ben, Atousa, MC, JF, John P, Mark A, Chris W and a bunch of Seattle pilots flew Blanchard many times. JF had the longest soaring flight and managed to get one tandem too. The forecast winds never materialized on the coast but we had a productive student day with 4 flights for most pilots - Jim | Bridal Report - Bridal was a bit bumpy at times but easy to stay up. Rob and I flew about 1.5 hrs, Alex did two tandems and a solo, Ian top landed . . . twice, Nicole & Jeremy both had a couple of flights and Norm got one in before they headed out to celebrate their anniversary. The wind picked up before Trevor, Brent and 'Wade' could get in the air - Kelly May 11
| Bridal/Logger's Leap
| cloudy, with sunny periods
| 0% POP
| Light and Variable | Decent lapse rate, but not as good as the past two days. Mara Lake Report - first flight of the season at Mara Lake (Skyline Launch)! Emil drove me up and the road is better than previous years. Launched at 7:00 landed at 7:45. Not much lift just soarable! Landed on the beach at Willow Shores Resort. |  Bridal Report - Bridal was awesome. High cloud burned off and we soared for hours - Ian J May 10
| Bridal/Logger's Leap
| cloudy, with sunny periods
| 0% POP
| Light and Variable | (it's about time!) Bridal Gloat Report #1 - You probably don't want to hear this seeing as you were working but here it is! Alan got 4 1/2+ hrs. Ian and I top landed after a stellar flight. I got 2:45 and
most others got 1 to 3 hrs. Great day! Glen | Bridal Gloat Report #2 - All fliers seemed to have sweet flights. A few 3 and 4 hour flights and trips to Elk and back. Ihor 40 minutes, Bev soared a while at 300 m over launch. Top landings at 7 pm to retrieve trucks, an awesome day - Ian J Bridal Gloat Report #3 - Flight #2 off of Bridal, I did good and caught a 5 meter up thermal that took me above launch and I just had fun up there. Hands got too sore and was forced to land. But I still had an excellent flight and really enjoyed myself. Gee I must love flying! Stole Norms red flight suit (heehee) he has to wear his beige and green one til I get mine back - Bev May 9
| Bridal/Logger's Leap
| cloudy, with sunny periods this afternoon.
| 10% POP
| 270° at 13 knots
| Bridal Report - Norm flew first landing at 2:30 pm to avoid cloud-suck from a big black cloud over launch. | Leon was in the air when we arrived and he was going straight up everywhere, he flew out to land without much penetration after 30 minutes or so. Cycles at launch were 15-30 km/hr. As the cycles subsided a bit, I launched from the old spot, and also went straight up. It was windy but smooth over the slide area south of launch. I penetrated over to the High Launch and experienced a nice flight getting above the ridge in straight flight. Thermals everywhere, with no sink in between (glides were -0.5 m/s) Then I moved back over launch, but wasn't penetrating much so I sped up and headed west and hit the "shit". There were cylinders of small thermals that kept turning the glider 45 degrees each way as I hit them and it was most un-pleasant. I was weightless at times too. I kept penetrating ahead of the LZ and was not going down very fast when I hit a boomer of a thermal west of the clubhouse (at about 150 meters) that made both tips deflate for a moment before taking me back to launch height. Smooth in the thermals, just not transitioning thru them. I finally landed and Brad picked me up. Everyone else finally flew, with Rob S earning "Fright of the Day" honours for a scary launch. It went from 25 km/hr cycles to catabatic in 5 minutes at about 6:30 pm. But Ian J managed to squeak out 24 minutes above launch. No incidents today, keep up the safe flying! - Jim Tow Park Report - I was watching the sky from a ladder while painting my house. I couldn't stand the pain of observing the juicy cumulus any longer, so a "lunch break" was in order. Mike O'Toole was already set up as Barry Bateman and Martin Henry arrive from skipping out from work. I catch a thermal over the town of Fort Langley and drift quickly to the north as a strong southerly flow builds. I work it up to 3400ft over the Langdale ferry docks and enjoy the view of the 3 sailing wait. The climb is only 2 to 400 fpm as I'm now over to the north dock. I cross the Fraser River 3 times drifting back in the lift, and show the poor earth bound motorists stuck in the ferry line up the incredible freedom our sport can offer. My lunch break was over and I finish the day painting the gables with a grin on my face - Dan Keen May 8
| Lil Nic
| cloudy, with sunny periods this afternoon. Windy near Hope.
| 30% POP
| 280° at 17 knots
| Alan said it was verrry windy at Bridal, some kiting but the upper level winds were as forecast - Jim
| May 7
| Sumas
| cloudy periods
| 50% POP
| 190° at 13 knots
| Bridal Report - Alan, Derek, and myself got short flights at around 6 pm. Glen and Ihor drove down. It went from Nukin' to sledders in about 15 minutes. | Glen Taylor raced a large black bear down the hill on his ATV (the bear was in front) - Ian J Alex and I hiked up Little Nick to find very strong west winds on launch. Waited a bit until the cycles subsided, then launched into rapidly lightening conditions; some ridge soaring but the wind had lots of holes in it - Nicole May 6
| Savona/Blanchard
| Sunny with cloudy periods
| 20% POP
| 140° at 8 knots
| Savona Report - very good day all around. Students flew from 3 different launch sites from 300 feet up to 1000 foot elevation. Colleen, Ian Porter, Norm and Bev climbed out from the PG launch to 700 meters over launch (+7 m/s lift). I got several hours of ridge soaring in the gusts on the Dump Ridge (lots of dirt-surfing). | Pemberton Report - Amir got 2.5 hours, rough air. Margit flew too. Bridal Report - we passed Bridal at 7:00 pm on the way home from Savona. Glen Taylor radioed us to say he got 3+ hours, Alan D got 4 hours. Jacques was still in the air high above launch at 7:00 o'clock. May 5
| Savona
| Sunny with cloudy periods
| 20% POP
| 190° at 8 knots
| Savona Report - Winds blew strong westerly in Savona but several students flew in the lulls between hail storms, rain and wind. | Whidbey Report - Yeah we flew. It blew 35-50k at the Fort all day, but it eased enough to get short flights in strong air at dusk. Alex Raymont launched first. Amir and myself got flights as well - Ian J May 4
| Savona
| Possible showers
| 40% POP
| 190° at 6 knots
| Savona Report - Colleen, Alastair and I flew the Dump Ridge several times yesterday. Hans K was getting his ground handling dialed in for high flights. A small shower or two but mostly high east winds made us stop for lunch and a few side trips to look at a new launch above the lake - Jim | May 3
| Bridal "Logger's Leap"
| Possible showers
| 30% POP
| 270° at 8 knots
| Bridal Report - Glen Taylor got 3:45 at Bridal. He said he had to fly out to land cause it was too cold!
| May 2
| Blanchard
| Westerly 20 to 30 km/h.
| 30% POP
| 270° at 5 knots
| Bridal Report - it sounds like it was very good! Mark Fraser flew to the Coquihalla Towing yard on the Coquihalla Hwy!! Ian J got 2:40 in moderately turbulent air, Bev flew Logger's for the first time showing off by landing in Dion's grandstand(?) LZ.
| Cochrane Report - Brett is back in town, he picked up his new Simba and was soaring at Muller's. I got a few short flights with Suja on the Fiesta Tandem. When I left at 7:30 they were still soaring - jim May 1
| Stay Home! Alternate is Blanchard if the winds lay down.
| Cloudy with showers. Wind northwest west 30 to 40 km/h.
| 30% POP
| 280° at 20 knots
| Blanchard Report - NOAA report showed good condiitions except for light rain at 1:00 pm local. No pireps.
| |
April 2001 Site of the Day archives Rainy Month, not as much airtime for some pilots
