FlyBC's Site of the Day May 2005 Archive Page
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| /1000' (un-stable) | 2300 feet |
Woodside Report - windy and rainy except for a 30 minute window around 2:00 pm. Ozone Mantra Manual Report - a great training resource, has some pretty basic operational tips that may pilots suffering from Intermediate Syndrome could follow. Click here to download the Mantra Manual in PDF.
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| /1000' (un-stable) 5800 feet
Woodside Report - Andy and Ken flew a few flights, low cloudbase reported. Andy went up around 6:00 pm and soared until 8:00 pm all alone. | Plane lands on highway near Manning Park May 30, 2005 - 9:42 pm By: Ben Wilson/Bruce Claggett A small plane has made an emergency landing on Highway Three near Manning Park on Monday evening. The Cessna 172 came down on the highway at around 9pm. Witnesses driving in Sunshine Valley west of Manning Park saw the plane come down. They say there was a lot of room for a good landing, but there were still a number of power lines they had to watch out for. They say the plane appeared to make a safe landing. There are no reports of injuries.
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| /1000' (stable) 3800 feet
Woodside Report - some flew and landed at Harvest Market in rough conditions at landing. No student flights because it was just too windy until dark. No reports from Bridal either? |
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| /1000' (unstable) 3800 feet
Woodside Report - a busy day at Woodside with 8+ HGers and many more PGers. Three new students and Julie were flying and kiting, and I had two tandems for 1.5 hours of airtime in rough conditions. One flight Derek, Colleen, Norm and I landed at Harvest Market with downwind speeds of 70 kms! Even the last flight of the day yielded high winds and turbulence. | Bridal Report - Garry H flew 2 hours at Bridal, others were overheard at different times of the day. Mostly coordinating drivers to get cars down. Pemberton Report - Jeff Rempel, Kim Staus and Dan Keen flew the Pemberton Valley and went XC to Hurley Pass and back landing at the airport in 3 hrs. Maintained soaring altitudes between 6500ft and 11,800 with climbs peaking out at 1400 fpm. At the Pemberton airport, a sailplane pilot comes in for a landing after completing an out and return to Merritt and back!
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| /1000' (unstable) 3800 feet
Woodside Report - Andy flew Woodside a few times logging 3 hours, then over to Bridal for a flight. | Bridal Report - An un-named pilot flying an Zone Proton, did an amazing top-landing at the Saddle, then hiked up to Upper Launch to re-launch.
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| /1000' (unstable) 3800 feet
Bridal Report - Alan says it was east and hard to stay up earlier. He noted Rob and a few others still in the air around 7:00 pm. No pilots seen at Woodside. |
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| /1000' (unstable) 3800 feet
Woodside Report - "like a washing machine" - Andy thru Derek. | Bridal Report - "east winds made for choppy air" - Alan thru Derek. Nikolai made it to Laidlaw.
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| /1000' (unstable) 3200 feet
| Bridal Report - "It beeped . . . I turned" - Rob Samplonius after 3+ hours. Alan, Kelly, Alex R and many others flew Bridal all afternoon. Derek launched around 5:30 pm getting up to Upper in 10 minutes! Woodside Report - Yesterday, I arrived at the Ranch below Woodside around 5:00pm and looked into the telescope to check out conditions and there was a hangglider sitting on launch tipped over on its nose behind the windsock and it was wobbling in the wind for at least 10 minutes. Wind was crossing from the north at about 25 kms with gusts to 35 kms. This glider was white top with orange leading edge, older king-posted model (don't know which manufacturer or model). I got a bit concerned so I threw my wing in the truck and headed up thinking a rescue might be required, perhaps someone had top-landed and crashed on the nose on top. As I arrived the glider was gone, and there was a guy in a Dodge Caravan packing up some ropes and I asked who the glider pilot was. He replied "It is my buddy Joe!". I replied "I don't know anyone named Joe who flies HG". Buddy replies back "No, he just bought the glider and this was his first jump", quite proud of his friend Joe's ability to launch this new ship. I just about crapped myself and ran up to launch to see the mayhem, asking where he ended up. Buddy replies "Joe landed in a field near the bridge". I asked "How was the landing?". Buddy replies "It looked slow and soft". I looked all over for him but couldn't see a glider anywhere, and by the time I got back to the truck to ask which field Buddy was gone. Now the question has to be asked? Who sold this guy the glider? And without referring him to a school for at least some basic instruction on a training hill? Somehow Joe pulled off this feat of aviation wonder, and I am sure he will be back. Next time he may not be so lucky and it will reflect back on the entire free flight community. I flew later and the landing conditions were gusty and thermic even 1.5 hours later when I landed at 7:30 pm. Maybe Hanggliding is easier than I thought? - Jim Grouse Report - I had a great flight at Grouse today. My first flight there of this year. Launched at 4:30 and flew til 6. I had a few real nice strong climbs up to around 1300m, at times hitting 6-7m/sec up for a bit. They were abnormally strong for Grouse. On the downside, it was quite turbulent as well with lots of sink and weird air. The cliffs were abnormally turbulent as well and I got worked a few times. Landing was fine. Landed in the lower field in buoyant conditions while the base ball game was going on - Mark Dowsett
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| /1000' (unstable) 6200 feet
| Mara Report - despite bad forecasts, we flew all three days! SIV Day 1 - Saturday - everyone had a chance to fly. Some got wet landing in the tight Provincial Park LZ!  The water is very high at Mara Lake Note Barry kiting his Kantega in the park after an awesome helicopter stunt. Three revolutions with a super clean exit. 
SIV Day 1 - Sunday - a few pilots flew before the forecast 50+ km winds blew through. Derek, Andy and Norm had a "cloud-suck flight", while all the others did manuevers over the lake. We did a road-trip to Baldy, Vernon Mountain and ultimately only Norm flew by himself at Mt. Middleton new Kalamalka Lake. We had a great pot-luck supper back at Whispering Pines. 
SIV Day 1 - Monday - the rescue boat was working overtime with more pilots in the water, some due to cravattes or other malfunctions. No reserves required, gentle splashdowns away from the LZ. In the end most pilots did all the required maneuvers, with nice style and good exits. SIV Courses offer a safe chance to find the edge of the flight envelope and brings new confidence about your wing and it's ability to recover from collapses. 
The shore at Willow Shores is none-existant, wait for August to find it again!
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| /1000' (unstable) 2500 feet
| Woodside Report - Eric said there was a monsoon over Harrison Mills late afternoon. Very windy.
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| /1000' (unstable) 2500 feet
| Woodside Report - Derek and Jack flew after 4:00 pm, when it opened up. Rough thermals took them to 1500 meters.
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| /1000' (unstable) 2500 feet
| Woodside Report - Jack called to gloat that he and Andy flew three times, with Andy making Agassiz twice and Jack soaring Cemetary Hill. Kevin A joined them on flight #3. Rough air at times and windy, but you could stay up as long as you wanted. Odd, because we had east wind in town all day?
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| /1000' (unstable) 4000 feet
| Grouse Report - as I was crossing the Second Narrows around 6:00 pm, the clouds had parted and the Peak was clear. No one seen flying however, probably discouraged by the monsoon that occured earlier in the morning! The GMFT meeting was the lowest attended one in years. Apathy or is everyone just busy on other projects, thanks to Russ for putting the effort in. Discussion on how to rectify the trees for the HG approach was undertaken and Steve Thoss is Project Manager.
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| /1000' (unstable) 2340 feet
| Woodside Report - good day to plant a garden. It cleared up late in the day but no pilots were out. Please scroll down to May 12 for Garry's Williams Lake report, and May 8 for the latest from the Honduras.
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| /1000' (unstable) 2340 feet
| Woodside Report - a great day for the Instructor/Tandem Course. We ran a Risk Management Seminar, chaired by Claudio in the early morning. 
And then we flew all day in light winds and even a few thermals popped out to help us stay up. Rafet logged 6 flights hitting the spot several times. And a great BBQ hosted by Colleen later as it turned dark. 
Will G's new Boomerang 4, Keith on Colleen's Vulcan S, Claudio on the orange ship
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| /1000' (unstable) 4820 feet
| Woodside Report - a great day for the Instructor/Tandem seminar! We flew all day, many great soaring flights. It got windy in the afternoon, and the students had to go tandem with the senior pilots, which they enjoyed. One pilot had a great 3 hour flight until she had a "brain-fart" and landed downwind into a fence, causing a 911 call and an ambulance had to attend. Thanks to Will, Keith and Kim for getting on scene first. A call from the hospital reported pulled ligaments and a few stitches caused by broken sunglasses, but otherwise okay. Eat the carrot!
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| /1000' (unstable) 4820 feet
| Woodside Report - very windy. Must have been the instability causing it. Andy still helping another way-ward pilot get his glider out of a tree at noon today. Andy is building up karma points! Williams Lake Report - I checked out the Kauffman launch on the 11th and did some cleanup, setup some ribbons and removed some trees from the road as the wind was from the north. Today I hiked to launch behind Kauffmans ranch, got up to the top about 12:30. Nice cycles coming up straight from the South-East. Set-up and launched. Hit some big thermals right off launch that banged me up to 1150m from a launch height of 922m. I did not like the feeling of the thermals in the gulley so I went out front to a rock face area. Not much for lift in front so I worked back into the gulley a bit and the further in I went the stronger the lift got. It was very punchey and rocking and rolling in the gulley so I went out over the pasture to find some smoother air and ended up causing a stampede of about 150 head of cattle. The stampede was very dramatic! Big dust cloud with horns and hooves sticking out moving accross the feild. I ended up landing in the back pasture after 33 minutes of rocking and rolling. LZ - 569m - Garry Hachey
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| /1000' (unstable) 4600 feet
| Woodside Report - Trees - 1. Pilots - 0. Another tree landing at Woodside by an un-named pilot flying an Icaro glider! No injuries, no SAR Techs called. Turning too close to the trees in high winds. Andy spent the day helping the guy out of the tree. Bridal Report - Alan and Rob S were flying Bridal, good climbs with low cloudbase.
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| /1000' (stable) 2600 feet
| Woodside Report - some sun on the slopes at noon, but no pilot reports. Derek said it was raining later in the afternoon so he stayed home.
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| /1000' (stable) 2600 feet
| Woodside Report -it was rainy early on, but some sunny breaks hit around 2:00 pm. I am sure I saw Andy on the webcam later in the day?
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| /1000' (unstable!) 6200 feet
Woodside Report - we flew all day with a break for rain around lunch time. Andy was 200 meters over launch a few times before lunch. Wiley flew 6 solo flights hitting the spot landing circle two times! Rafet flew once before having to head to Vancouver because he thought the rain would stay, he missed the better flights later in the day. | Honduras Report - This was my best weekend so far in Yuscaran. The winds have shifted back to north-east from being south through the end of the dry season making the launch difficult or impossible even on days we could possibly fly if we could get off. This weekend however we had light wind from the east and on Sunday I launched at about 3:30 pm into cycles that I thought I would probably not maintain in. I hung in close to the mountain until I found a thermal and climbed over the ridge behind launch and evetualy over the cell towers at the top of the mountain. The launch is 1450 mts. and the peak aprox. 1700 mtrs. I ended up climbing to 2050 mts and flying over the towers for a half hour before heading out to find how far I could go late in the day. Ended up flying to el Llano which is only 4 kms. upwind into the valley but felt very pleased, arriving 800 meters over the landing field and spiraling in. This with a ground speed of 8 - 10 kmh. High point of the day however was to see my friend Ilish with the wing over his head in el Llano. He has become a constant companion in yuscaran, driving my truck down the mountain and retrieving for Christian and I. He will be the first Hondureno to fly Paragliders. This will of course not depend on my limited experience alone as Christian with ten yrs.flying will lead the teaching of Ilish. If you can open the pictures you will see something of the local excitement extended towards Christian and I for bringing the joy of silent flight to yuscaran. Paragliding continues to be completly central in my life, as usual going crazy when I can't fly and satisfiing my soul on thse days that I can fly.  Ilish on his solo flight P.S. I'll be back on the 29th june for my daughters grad, I'll be out to fly. I've been flying solo for a couple months as Christian waits for his new "zoom". I will keep the Tetra for a while but plan to purchase a zoom soon. Also, makes a big difference flying a real harness, I'm enjoying how much more responsive my wing is with the cocoon. Cheers to all! Think of you often, Jeffrey
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| /1000' (unstable!) 6200 feet
| Woodside Report - it took a while for the word to get out that it was good at Woodside but eventually there were about 18 gliders soaring at once. Gerry took a demo Zoom for a few flights and like everyone else, left with it in his car! We flew students until 1:00 pm when it got strong, I then flew tandem with Wiley and we "duked it out" with Norm for an hour touching cloudbase at 1200 meters. I flew out to a soft landing at the Ranch. Later it was hard for pilots to get off but they were rewarded with 3+ hour flights. Robin and Rob S showed us why you should not land in rotor, great learning experience for the students! A wee bit of Ranch Rodeo in strong South winds :-)  Jack Mar's flight doing S-turns at Eagle Ranch LZ During the last flight at 7:00 pm, Colleen was soaring at 725 meters when we got word from Derek and Norm that it was still "trashy" in the Eagle Ranch LZ, so we elected to fly to Harvest Market.  A Garry Hachey view of Harvest Market, just beyond the white hay bales near Hwy 7 Rafet was clipped in and the lift abundant so we briefed him on the Harvest Market flight path and off he went on his first XC over the back chasing Colleen. He made it with good height despite the lateness of the day.  An XC smile later in the Sasquatch Inn
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| /1000' (unstable!) 6200 feet
| Woodside/Bridal Report - very windy! We waited up on Woodside Launch for some time and it kept getting stronger, even Alex P didn't fly his HG! So off to Bridal, where it was very strong and cross from the south. We went down and went kiting in the swamp until 6:00 pm, and a load of us went up. Robin wind-dummied for us, and had an excellent flight getting up to Upper and beyond. Petr went next tandem and soared for a while, then I flew off with Max tandem and we flew for about an hour. Later Thomm M and Andy flew and Thomm top-landed to drive my truck down, as Derek drove Thomm's truck down earlier. Everyone had good climbs, up to 4 m/s. Some ratty air in close, some weightless moments but generally good air.
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| /1000' (unstable) 3100 feet
| Bridal Report - Andy hardly flies Bridal, but showed the locals how to do it! First climbing out to Upper and top-landing, his first at Upper Launch. Then taking off and flying to Elk Mtn., and getting above the towers on Elk. And then showing how to do the world's longest aircraft approach, Andy flew straight back from Elk over Highway 1, made one right turn onto base/final and landed in the Bridal LZ.
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| /1000' (unstable) 3100 feet
| Tappen Mountain Report - after a 3 km hike in . . . we found the "launch", just a clearcut with lots of slash and rocks. It was crossing from the south and I tried one inflation only to dragged through the slash. The jury is still out on whether this is worth the effort to clear as it faces NE, and when it is North or East winds it is usually bad weather on the way. But if it does blow in there, 3500 feet of vertical, landing on the beach below.
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| /1000' (unstable) 3100 feet
| Woodside Report - Jack and I left town for Mara Lake at 5:00 pm, and it looked just ready to open up at that time. We tried to fly Silver Creek near Salmon Arm but the road was blocked so we spent an hour clearing deadfall and by the time we got to launch it was catabatic.
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| /1000' (unstable) 3800 feet
| Woodside Report - Martina, Andy and Norm all soared between 20-30 minutes before it started raining at 4:00 pm. When it started raining at 10:00 am in Richmond, I thought "Oops, "bad call" for Woodside", but knew if it was flyable Andy would be out.
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| /1000' (unstable) 3800 feet
| Woodside Report - several pilots logged 2+ hour flights before getting bored and heading to Bridal. Bridal Report - the forecast South wind never happened, and it turned on after 3:00 pm, and pilots flew everywhere (Elk, Cheam, Ludwig). Some top-landers at Upper created a snow-man couple? Some graffiti spotted at Upper. We arrived late and Colleen bagged the last flight of the day.
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| /1000' (unstable) 3000 feet
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Chris Muller (1976 - 2005) A dear friend, was fatally injured in a hanggliding accident on Friday April 22nd, while competing in the Flytec Hanggliding Nationals in Florida. Chris was respected as a "kingpin" in Paragliding and Hanggliding in Canada and worldwide. We are stunned, and our hearts go out to Vincene, and friends in Calgary and abroad. "We are going to miss you . . . so much" - Colleen & Jim Kari Castle's Blog memories of Chris and a short accident report from a good friend. Muller Memorial Report - the past two days spent with Vincene and family and friends has shown us how hard Chris Muller lived and loved. Many touching stories from outside flying, many from fliers too. Some anger at the sport we all love, but mostly a lot of questions about the kind of flying some do (not Chris's flying). Will Gadd's Rocky Mountain Crossing memories of how well Chris Muller flew are contained in this article. |
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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