FlyBC "Site of the Day" - May 2002 Archives

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Date	Site	Forecast	Precip.	Winds Aloft 3000 ft.	Lapse Rate	Comments
May 31	Woodside/Bridal Lower	cloudy, 40% chance of morning showers, sunny in the PM, high 19°	40% POP	290° at 9 knots	-2.6°/1000' (unstable lapse rate)	Woodside Report - Great flying all day, first flights at 10:30 am were soarable. Bev flew againfor over an hour, second flight of the year - GO GIRL!! Some students got 2 hours airtime today!! The Eagle Ranch LZ has been mowed and landing conditions were smooth - Jim
May 30	Woodside/Bridal Lower	cloudy, chance of morning showers, high 19°	40% POP	230° at 8 knots	-2.6°/1000' (unstable lapse rate)	Woodside Report - Bev flew! She had an early sledder, then Justin E-J launched and after scratching around for a while sky-ed out. Then it got windy as Carl and another pilot sat on launch until 5 pm. They finally flew. After all the rain I though more pilots would show up when the sun came out - Jim
May 29	Whidbey Island WA	cloudy, high 19°	70% POP	210° at 12 knots	-2.0°/1000' (stable lapse rate)	no pireps from Whidbey - Jim
May 28	Stay Home	rain, high 16°	100% POP	240° at 6 knots	-2.5°/1000' (unstable lapse rate)	Vancouver Report - it rained heavy all afternoon - Jim
May 27	Savona/Mara Lake (coastal weather skunky for 4 days)	cloudy with sunny periods, high 25°	0% POP	240° at 6 knots	-2.5°/1000' (unstable lapse rate)	Woodside Report - it was flyable and sunny for a few hours today. We towed in the Eagle Ranch LZ for a while but by the time we got to launch a storm cell started to pass through the area shutting us down - Jim Lumby Report - Had a final flight at Coopers in Lumby before heading back to Vancouver. Blue skies, hot temperatures (it was 25C and getting hotter when I left!) and lots of development after all the rain made for super unstable conditions. A definite XC day but I had to head back so landed early after 1.5 hours soaring over the back of launch. Passing by Bridal this afternoon met Trevor and Kevin A. who were just sled running in as it was starting to rain - Nicole McL Lumby Report - Norm reported a triangle flight from Coopers to the Saddle to Rowlands Cliff and back to the LZ to retrieve his car, didn't get cold flew for 2.5 hours,everyone else bombed out. Norm said he is enjoying the glide ratio on the Presta.
May 26	Woodside	cloudy with sunny periods, high 21°	30% POP	180° at 6 knots	-2.5°/1000' (unstable lapse rate)	Woodside Report - we flew a tandem and student sledders until 12:45 pm, then into the classroom for novice tests for Jeremy and Joseph who both passed with congratulations! It rained right 'til dark, not quite the forecast predicted unfortunately - Jim
May 25	Lumby	afternoon cloudy with possible rain showers high 20°	40% POP	light and variable	-2.5°/1000' (unstable lapse rate)	Lumby Report - many stayed despite the rain hoping for a glorious Sunday, but we headed to Eagle Ranch for chores and should fly Woodside tomorrow - Jim
May 24	Woodside	afternoon SUNNY, high 18°	0% POP	light and variable	-2.5°/1000' (unstable lapse rate)	PG Nationals Day 1 Report - We arrived into Lumby late after leaving Eagle Ranch at 7:30 am. Launch meeting was slated for 10:45 am and we arrived at 11:45 to learn of the task and that several pilots had sunk out already. ODed above launch and most of the area in shade, so no one was in a hurry. Chris Muller, Keith McC and another pilot launch and sunk out but were able to get back up and relaunch. Colleen launched after seeing Alex Raymont climb out nicely and was scratching around down low and decided to head out to land at the LZ. Seeing this I arranged for Margit to retrieve her to get a second launch before the start closed. I informed Colleen of the plan and she said she would stay in the air as long as possible and started turning in a small bubble just west of the LZ, and next time I looked she was on her way to cloudbase (from about 100 meters AGL!). I lost sight of Colleen and waited for another 30 minutes as the launch line did not move because everyone that launched sunk out after Colleen got up. Finally a push was called and we had 30 seconds each to get in the air. I flew after Rob P and we ended up in a field below the west ridge with about 25 other pilots, and Colleen was still in the air. I hitched a ride up to retrieve my truck as Margit took Amir up to fly again and when I drove back down Colleen was headed to the fourth turnpoint "Cooper Start" before she headed out to land at the LZ. Colleen just did a super job leading Claudio around the course and they landed about the same time, all smiles as only about 6 pilots went on course. Then the bad news, Colleen turned in her GPS and later when we checked to scores she wasn't up in the top ten because she didn't have the tracklog turned on in her GPS12, although she had hit Mark/Enter at the 2nd and 3rd turnpoint (but not the 1st). She was still happy with the flight and the distance covered. Then a bit later I remembered her Etrex was in place as the backup GPS and I quickly got it to Mark and he verified the turnpoints from the Etrex even though it showed 99% full because we hadn't cleared the tracklog in it recently. So Colleen was now in the top 5!! Results at Canadian Nats Results Day 6 . It was kind of an APCO day, 1st, 2nd and 5th place finishers on APCO! Rob Pynaker hasn't flown much in the past two years, spending his time kite-boarding instead but he hasn't forgotten anything! Maybe we all should take a break occasionally - Jim
May 23	Woodside	cloudy with a few showers, afternoon SUNNY, high 18°	30% POP	light and variable	-2.9°/1000' (unstable lapse rate)	Woodside Report - Colleen and I headed to Woodside to escape the Lumby rain and we were rewarded with a nice 2 hour flight, landing cause we saw a gust front come over Harrison Bay (Allan, Russ F, Carl, Robin also in attendence). Others launched after we landed and had another 2 hours. Good lift even when shaded, and rodeo action when the sun came out around 3:20 pm! We may head back to Lumby as the weather shapes up, gotta get our $150 worth - Jim
May 22	Vernon Famous Players 7 Theatre	rain tapering to showers, high 9°	80% POP	light and variable	-2.5°/1000' (unstable lapse rate)	Lumby/Vernon Report - heavy rain all day with snow in the passes! We bailed and headed to Eagle Ranch until Friday/Saturday to get some chores done. ie: I got the WebCam back up and running last night. - Jim
May 21	Woodside	cloudy, high 15°	40% POP	270° at 19 knots	-2.5°/1000' (unstable lapse rate)	Famous Players 7 Vernon Movie Review - Star Wars Ii : Attack Of The Clones (we can't fly so about 20 competitors went to the movies) Synopsis Ten years passed. Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) has grown into the accomplished Jedi apprentice of Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), who himself has transitioned from student to teacher. The two Jedi are assigned to protect Padm� Amidala (Natalie Portman) whose life is threatened by a faction of political separatists. As relationships form and powerful forces collide, they will face choices that will impact not only their own fates, but the destiny of the Republic. Review: Much talked about but the most boring of the Star Wars movies, too much money spent on special effects (of course), and not enough on acting lessons for Hayden Christensen. And if Padm� didn't want to get kissed, she shouldn't have dressed like she did! Wait for the video to be released in a few months. It better get flyable soon, we are running out of things to do that don't cost money!
May 20	Vernon Mountain	cloudy, high 18°	40% POP	240° at 5 knots	-2.7°/1000' (unstable lapse rate)	Vernon Mtn. Report - no task was called so we went up to Vernon Mtn. hoping for lift, it started to rain a bit but we got a flight into King Eddie LZ, Greg tandeming Colleen and I soloed - Jim
May 19	Coopers Launch, Lumby BC	cloudy, high 18°	40% POP	240° at 5 knots	-2.7°/1000' (unstable lapse rate)	Lumby Report - no task was called so everyone sledded down to Lumby before heading to Vernon Mountain for more sledders, about 40 gliders landed at King Eddie LZ at one point! - Jim
May 18	Woodside/Bridal	sunny, high 18°	40% POP	240° at 5 knots	-2.7°/1000' (unstable lapse rate)	Woodside Report - I flew a tandem sledder before noon, then headed to Lumby where they had light conditions for a practice flight - Jim
May 17	Woodside, may be too southerly for Bridal	sunny, high 18°	0% POP	180° at 9 knots	-3.0°/1000' (unstable, dynamic lapse rate)	Woodside Report - it was a very good day at Woodside, strong thermals, no drift and no wind! Allan managed 4.5 hours, I logged two tandems and about 2.5 hours, Kelly flew her new Gin Oasis for at least 1.5 hours, Jack flew way above launch for a few hours, Rob S flew a couple of late flights for similar air time. It was rough at times causing a few large assymetrics on the tandem but overall great flying - Jim Lil Nic Report - this report from Ivan T is a day late. Mark F and Ivan hiked up for a flight after leaving Mark's truck at Eagle Ranch cause they were gonna go XC. Mark launched first and headed east but promptly sunk out, but Ivan saw another paraglider above Big Nic (we don't know who it was) and got aggressive trying to catch him thinking it was Mark and went negative. He then threw his reserve which came out immediately and he settled down into some small bushes unscathed! Because Mark has no radio, he had no idea what had happened and started to hike up the front of launch thinking he had a short cut figured out (Rob P and I did this same route a few years ago). Anyway, 2 hours later Mark is stuck in a swamp all cut up and very tired and finally gets to launch where he soars for 1 hour before landing below because he was too tired to go XC. Ivan has now earned 2 bottles of champagne each May for the past 2 years, one reserve toss at our Maneuvers Clinic in Mara Lake 2001, and now at Lil Nic.
May 16	Sumas	sunny, high 20°	0% POP	160° at 12 knots	-3.0°/1000' (unstable, dynamic lapse rate)	Bridal Report - Flew Lower Bridal today with Keith between 4 and 6 pm today. Light west winds slowly increasing, high cirrus bands, smooth lift up to 4 m/s, 1400 m max, 1:40 flight time - Rob S
May 15	Woodside, Bridal	sunny	20% POP	270° at 7 knots	-2.7°/1000' (unstable lapse rate)	Bridal Report - we arrived at Eagle Ranch at 2:00 pm to hear that Ivan and Larry had rough flights at Woodside so we bailed to Bridal. "Strong valley winds reported at Chilliwack airport but okay in the air" says Alan. So I launched tandem with Jeremy and we climbed quickly, but there were some very bumpy spots. When we got cold I took us back to launch for a few passes but it was quite strong at launch +6 m/s, we flew out over the valley to let Jeremy fly and it was bumpy out there too, after about 1.5 hours we landed at the Driving Range in windy conditions. Others flying included Allan, Mark, Ivan, Rob S, Nicole, Nicolay, Amir all getting lots of airtime - Jim Woodside Report - we returned back at Woodside at 7:00 pm and the valley wind was less than 6 knots so I launched Jeremy and he had a sweet 35 minute soaring flight getting well above launch in smooth lift, I also launched with a top-landing in mind after watching Jeremy have such a nice flight but the sun was disappearing behind Sasquatch Mtn. and the lift was short lived and I missed my approach and we both landed at Eagle Ranch - Jim Grouse Report -After work I headed up Grouse, launched at 6:05 pm and had a nice flight, a few good climbs 4 m/s. Duration 40 min. - Glen T.
May 14	Whidbey Island WA	scattered showers, strong SW winds	30% POP	280° at 18 knots	-2.8°/1000' (unstable lapse rate)	Whidbey Report - it was soarable at 10:00 am lasting all day til dark, no pireps - Jim Lumby Report - it was snowing at launch height and the day was called, and got sunny around 3:30 pm - Jim
May 13	Woodside	Rain Developing in the PM, fly early	100% POP	210° at 14 knots	-2.5°/1000' (unstable lapse rate)	Woodside/Eagle Ranch Report - it was flyable and soarable at 10:00 am, but the rain was coming as it was wet in Vancouver after 6:00 am, an early window of opportunity - Jim Lumby Report - I arrived at the bar to hear stories of light lift and no wind landings from the HG comp guys, it was rainy and windy but Tuesday looks a bit better in the afternoon - Jim
May 12	Woodside/Eagle Ranch (for the Grand Opening Weekend)	Sunny. High 20.	0% POP	280° at 8 knots	-2.8°/1000' (rodeo lapse rate)	Woodside/Eagle Ranch Report - for the first time in history, we planned an event and the weather cooperated. Sunday's flying was extraordinary at Woodside. Upper Level winds were forecast to be 130° at 8 knots . . . right over the back at Woodside! I took the first load of students up at 9:30 am and it was definitely leeside but cycling up so I launched to test the air. Perfectly smooth buoyant air all the way to Eagle Ranch, but launch conditions were not excellent, so the students went for breakfast and then watch a paramotor demo by Ian J and Leon :-) Back at launch after 12:00, we started flying students and they were getting great buoyant flights and the odd advanced students were thermalling under radio control in smooth lift. Then the hoards came from Bridal where conditions were crap! Everyome that launched had super flights after 2:00 pm. Colleen, Rob P, Ian J and Martina (tandem) and Norm flew to Sea Bird Cafe, Russ F flew past Lil Nick, as I was still launching students for a total of four flights. I snuck a flight in around 5:30 and climbed to 1600 meters and watched Ian and Martina head east to Harrison on the way to Sea Bird Island, and then spiralled my way in to Eagle Ranch to take the last load up. Total guests at Eagle Ranch was over 60 this weekend, thanks for the turnout. All the beer was finished as was the food. Eagle Ranch is there for pilots that support FlyBC.
May 11	Woodside/Eagle Ranch (for the Grand Opening Weekend)	Sunny. High 20.	0% POP	280° at 8 knots	-2.8°/1000' (rodeo lapse rate)	Woodside/Eagle Ranch Report - Saturday was a great day, students learning new skills on tow, then getting tandems flights before soloing into Eagle Ranch. Many pilots flew Woodside in the morning, then headed to Bridal for evening flights before coming back for the party at Eagle Ranch. We had a great time with Mission Spring Ale on tap and burgers on the BBQ. Total student flights were 4 for the day plus 4-5 tows. Thanks for coming out to open the new facilities.
May 10	Woodside	Sunny with afternoon cloudy periods. High 18	20% POP	280° at 14 knots	-3.0°/1000' (rodeo lapse rate)	Woodside Report - several pilots braved the huge overdevelopment and were rewarded with rough flights, landing in gusty thermic conditions at Riverside. Bridal Report - Allan sat on launch until 6:00 pm with Hamish and Charles after hiking around noon. They eventually flew after Chilliwack calmed from the 14G20 reports they were getting.
May 9	Woodside	Cloudy with sunny breaks. High 14.	20% POP	280° at 10 knots	-3.1°/1000' (dynamic! lapse rate)	Woodside Report - Norm, Allan and Roman shared the air with a hangie. Huge lift 6.5 m/s, not too rough but it took Norm 30 minutes to land at Eagle Ranch as the air was very bouyant - Jim
May 8	Woodside/Bridal	Cloudy with sunny breaks, 30 percent chance of afternoon showers. High 14.	30% POP	light and variable, 210° at 6 knots at 6000 feet	-2.9°/1000' (awesome lapse rate)	Woodside Report - pilots got very high at Woodside, no one went XC. Rough Air! - Jim
May 7	Woodside	Cloudy with 60 percent chance of morning showers. Becoming mainly sunny near noon. High 14.	20% POP	280° at 12 knots	-2.9°/1000' (awesome lapse rate)	Woodside Report - the remaining tandem pilots stayed for a few more flights before heading back to snowy Alberta. Good thermals early on, and when it got shady students were able to fly in smooth air. Farmer Tim showed up after a 1 year hiatus and skyed out getting very near cloudbase 5500 feet, and was unable to penetrate forward to the LZ so he landed near Agassiz. Martin Henry was in the air at the same altitude for 2+ hours landing at the old Duncan LZ. I decided I needed a flight so I took off around 4:00 and climbed to 1400 meters/4200 feet avoiding the cloudsuck that Tim was drawn into and headed south over the Fraser River to the sunny fields creating a huge CU between Woodside and Bridal. My calculations were off for wind direction and I tried to stay SW and upwind of the CU, but the winds were blowing the thermals farther east than I thought so I only made it to Rosedale. Fun flight anyway! - Jim Bridal Report - Arrived at Bridal to mostly shady conditions. A bunch of us decided to do sled runs using other pilots' gliders and then go back up later. Turns out it wasn't sled rides but rather rough thermic flying! After a while everyone landed to get their own glider back and then we went back up. Launched again in almost OD'd conditions and flew in cloud-suck for a bit until it calmed down, then it got ridge-soarable for another hour! Overall, really nice flying with 2 flights for most pilots. - Nicole
May 6	Woodside/Bridal/Grouse	Cloudy with 60 percent chance of morning showers. Becoming mainly sunny near noon. High 14.	20% POP	light and variable	-3.0°/1000' (awesome lapse rate)	Woodside Report - interesting day! We flew tandem flights at 11:00 am, a little bumpy, then had lunch to de-brief. Then back up for another tandem after a snow storm blew through. Then back up for a thermic tandem flight (Greg H getting high over Woodside with Lucille) and a few student launches as conditions mellowed. Then up for one last flight after 7:00 pm. Lots of good tandems and progress made with students - Jim 2002 Instructor/Tandem Seminar Report - 11 Instructor/Tandem pilots were certified/re-certified this past week, with my special thanks to Colleen for keeping us all on track and for designing an excellent agenda/curriculum. Pictures and stories will be posted in a few days - Jim
May 5	Stay Home	Cloudy with sunny periods. 70 percent chance of showers. Locally windy this afternoon. High 11.	70% POP	280° at 21 knots	-2.5°/1000' (good lapse rate)	Woodside Report - while it rained for 4 days, we completed all the requisite indoor instructor seminars and went tandem kiting at Rosedale School (clipped into solo gliders as it was howling). After a couple of rowdy inflations we decided to go back inside. On the way back to Eagle Ranch it hailed heavily. Then as Colleen, Greg and I headed to the Sasquatch for dinner the sky opened up, the wind went to calm and we headed up to Woodside. When we arrived it looked soarable and by the time I set up it went light and I had a sinky sled ride. Greg followed me out as Colleen bagged it to drive down - Jim Chelan WA Report - Back from a weekend in sunny Chelan! Saturday was too windy for PGers but the HGers were having fun trying to hit the spot at Lakeside Beach. A bunch of us flew kites at the airport instead. Big party Saturday night, then more flying Sunday. Had a nice flight Sunday morning before it got windy again in the afternoon. Rough and turbulent above the butte but smoother lower down. After that more fun at the beach watching the HGers beak it in trying to miss a water landing (the beach was narrow :) - Nicole
May 4	Stay Home	Cloudy with sunny periods. 70 percent chance of showers. Locally windy this afternoon. High 12.	70% POP	230° at 12 knots	-2.5°/1000' (good lapse rate)	Yucch!
May 3	Stay Home	Cloudy with sunny periods. 70 percent chance of showers. Locally windy this afternoon. High 12.	70% POP	230° at 12 knots	-2.5°/1000' (good lapse rate)	Uggh!
May 2	Stay Home	showers, locally windy	90% POP	270° at 21 knots	-2.5°/1000' (good lapse rate)	Groan!
May 1	Woodside	sunny	0% POP	260° at 11 knots	-2.5°/1000' (good lapse rate)	Woodside Report - a little too windy on the ground 13 gusting to 19 knots, so I worked on the barn. Alan and Ihor were sitting on Bridal also waiting for the wind to die, didn't hear whether they flew - Jim
April 30	Sumas, may be good for an XC flight to Woodside	sunny	0% POP	020° at 11 knots	-2.5°/1000' (good lapse rate)	Sumas/Woodside Report - We got out to Woodside to find a north east wind. Not wanting to waste a trip out to the valley, we decided to see if we could find our way up Sumas. After a few wrong turns and a helpful phone call, there we were on launch. Jack flew, and I navigated back down to the new LZ. Alan radioed over that he and his friend Charles had hiked up Woodside and were about to fly, since the winds had switched to West. Off to Woodside for us! We picked up Roman at the bottom and each got a sweet half hour flight. Charles offered to drive for us so back up we went. 3 flights for Jack, 2 for me. Sure beat packing! - Martina Woodside Report - I flew from Edmonton on WestJet 82 past Woodside again and snapped these pictures to show how close they get to launch, someone was launching a turquoise glider at 6:00 pm, Martina?? - Jim Bear Mountain/Harrison Beach North Side of Agassiz Mountain Woodside Launch from the north Paramotoring Report - almost flew! - Ian J

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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