FlyBC "Site of the Day May 2008 Archives"
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." - from Ferris Bueller's Day Off
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Woodside Report - we were up on launch by 10:30 am, and I took Dennis for a tandem on his first day of the Beginner Course. We took of into a nice cycle, I handed over the controls and Dennis was soon thermalling above launch. We flew down to the Ranch and Dennis did a great job getting us into the circle too! Martina, Kelly and Derek flew as did Delvin and Kirk from Bellingham. The first flights were pretty nice and by 1 pm it got too strong for students so we headed to Bridal. Duncan's are $60 richer due to three outlanders! Bridal Report - Dennis, Brent, James and Kelly headed to Bridal in the FlyBC Econo Shuttle (XL7). We drove up to launch to see Matt J and Jonathon soaring the Knob and getting pretty high amongst the traffic. Many pilots were in the air and doing laps to Elk already. Perfect cycles at the lower setup area.  Matt J and Jonathon - photo by JPR These guys were loving Bridal after just getting back from the Costa Rica jungles. See their adventures at: Matt and Jonathon fly Costa Rica . Both guys top-landed Bridal today, saying it was easy compared to top-landing in Costa Rica. Matt had to land cause he was getting airsick, and Jonathon had to "pee". Nice flying guys. We got Brent ready for his first solo flight at Bridal and Kelly was guiding him at the bottom. Perfect reverse launch into nice cycles and he soared for awhile getting above launch and landed pretty nicely too. Dennis was too aggressive on his controls and had several duffs and we decided to drive down to head to Woodside for his first flight. After Dennis first abort, an un-named Titan pilot was seen having a huge collapse just at the edge of launch and he did a 180 back into the face and was un-injured. He was pretty far down the slope too! When we drove down to the bottom, the winds had picked up pretty good and pilots were having some penetration issues so it was a good call not to send Dennis off in the end, so we headed back to Woodside. Woodside Report #2 - after extensive briefings with Martin H who was in the HG LZ. Jim: How many broken downtubes? Martin: Only 1. (pointing to a red Wills Wing being broken down). How many PGs in the trees? Jim replies. None while we were there! We headed up as conditions were mellowing. Brent had his second flight following Kelly out to the Ranch, arriving with a lot of altitude on his Mojo 2. Dennis had a really nice kiting session for 3 minutes before committing to aviation. He hit more sink than Brent and was forced to land short of the Ranch but he was giggling all the way to the ground loving his first flight on his Mojo 2. These two new students did an awesome job: arrived on time at 9 am, were out kiting til noon getting their reverse launches perfected on the training hill and were launching off Bridal and Woodside with perfect style by 6 pm!
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Woodside Report - Norm, Gary K and I flew Woodside at 2 pm, the strongest part of the day! Bridal was socked in and Alan D was flying at the same time just maintaining at 1000 meters in light lift. | At Woodside the lift along the ridge was violent at times, strong and narrow thermals that were broken up by south wind. We could climb to 1300 meters and lose it in a few seconds if you hit sink. I flew for an hour before attempting a top-landing, got setup on final and was soon at 900 meters without a turn. This happpened every time, Norm even tried an approach and same result. Very strong over launch! We flew until 3:30 then headed out to the Ranch high, there was a 20 kph headwind right to the ground. We setup south of Duncan's over the river, which is at the dike and it was smooth along the river treeline. I hung out there until I was the height of the tall trees bordering our property, then in on final. I got popped up three times landing near the training hill in front of the webcam. Robin was at home and saw Gary K's landing and asked if he was okay later at the Wildcat Grill! Bridal Report - as mentioned Alan hiked Bridal early and flew for an hour at around 1 pm, Derek and Martina drove up at 2 pm and waited for sun for awhile while we were getting pummelled at Woodside. Eventually, everyone flew and when Martina launched she got "rocketed to 200 meters over" without too much work. Derek and Kevin were top-landing Upper Launch (cloud base just above launch but enough to get in); while Brad, Rob, Robin and others were doing laps to Elk and back to the Butterfly. Martina got a ride up and was taking Derek's truck down when she heard something crashing through the brush near the parking lot, she thought it was a bear but the bear said "Hey!" and an un-named pilot crawled out of the bush carrying a blue and yellow Edel wing. They had a collapse and hit the trees in the bowl north of launch and fell all the way down through the trees landing safely! Derek landed just before dark making up for lost flying time while he has been away at Camp. Bridal was the place to be later.
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Woodside Report - I was out at 2 pm, orienting new students and cloudbase was below launch. They left and cloudbase lifted but no one flew. | The Big Blue Van is at Ralph's getting the power steering fixed, and may not be available this weekend so bring your 4x4s if you are coming flying.
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Bridal Report - Derek, Martina and Alan flew Bridal around noon. 1-2 hour flights before it threatened to OD again. | Woodside Report - Al flew flew Woodside around 7 pm thinking it would calm down as it got darker. 2.5 hour "hell ride" in the "roughest rodeo air" he has flown to date; he had to spiral, big ear, and everything else he could do to get down before dark! Daryl S and Tom were also out. BC Hydro lines planned over Harrison River By Michelle Vandepol - Agassiz Observer - May 28, 2008 Ever since the 2006 winter storms, a new line has been considered by BC Hydro to improve the reliability of service to Harrison Mills and Kent as well as east/north east of Mission up to Hemlock Valley Resort. They recently announced a proposed new Harrison River Overhead Crossing – 25KV Distribution Line. “As a result of [the storms], BC Hydro completed a review of the storm impacts and identified recommendations for improving our system resiliency. This is one of many projects that have been developed to improve our service, to reduce the number of outages, and to reduce the length of time power is out during outages,” says Charlotte Bemister, Community Relations Coordinator for the Lower Mainland South Coast Region. Cost estimates for the project, which are still under review, project the construction will be between $1 million to $1.5 million. Trees will have to be cleared to provide access to the pole towers, but BC Hydro is maintaining that the area will the clearing take place in is small. “A revegetation plan will be developed once the project design is confirmed and approved,” says Bemister. The revegetation plan will include a planting timeline and variety of plants being used. It will likely be the next planting season directly following construction. The project is in response to frequent power outages in the area. “There have been many power outages north-east of Mission out to Hemlock Valley in the past years mostly due to adverse weather and there has been fewer power outages in Harrison Mills. This project will improve service reliability to the region resulting in fewer power outages and when an outage does occur, the length of time the customer is without power should be reduced,” says Bemister. The project requires a traffic management plan which will be in place during construction. They are waiting for project approval and are tentatively planning construction for this fall “with completion planned to coincide with the winter storm season mid-November 2008,” says Bemister. They have received to date, two queries relating to property owners and potential project impacts. “We are meeting with these individuals to discuss the project in further detail, to understand and address their interests,” she says. The project’s next steps are consultation and approval completion and then finalizing construction plans. “We look forward to improving our service to the region,” says Bemister. these lines will be 125 feet high on the west side of the Harrison Bridge making approaches into the airport pretty tricky from the west!
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Bridal Report - tough day on vehicles, with James ripping off his exhaust at Bridal and me losing my power steering system on Woodside! | But we got some flights in at least. Bridal looked good when we arrived at 3:30 pm, so I decided to stay on the ground to guide while James flew off for his maiden Bridal flight with Al watching him launch - Matt J and Jonathon were wind technicians (back from Costa Rica).  Bridal just before the guys launched at 4 pm - photo by JPR via cellphone Matt and Jon launched and no sooner were in the air for 15 minutes when it started to OD, and we heard thunder from Upper Launch. I advised they should get down soon so they flew out of perfectly good lift to approach over the Driving Range in case it got windy. Good landings for their first Bridal flights. Al and James drove down. We decided Woodside looked better as all the development was east of Woodside.  Towering CU over Agassiz Mountain from the Bridal LZ - photo by JPR via cellphone We loaded up the Van with all the gear and met everyone at the Kettle, then up the hill (this is when my power steering lost all the fluid and it was arm-strong steering after 3 kms. We got to launch and set up Al as wind tech and he flew off while the clouds started growing over launch. Fortunately, it only blocked the sun and never OD'ed. Matt J, Jonathon, Al, James and Jason all got two flights in light lift and little wind before heading off to the Sasquatch Inn for dinner. Martina and Derek's Starthistle Adventure - We're back from Starthistle and had a great trip! Sunday we woke up to low clouds, but were able to do a few sledders off Mid til cloudbase rose over top launch. We flew the rest of the day & enjoyed a great BBQ afterwards courtesy of the local club, where the awards for the fly-in were given out. Only a couple of pilots took the time to write their miles on the sheet (all on the honour system), so at the ceremony people would yell out their XC distances until no one could claim flying further, then cheer madly for the winner! I came in 3rd in the bean bag drop...so watch out if you land in the circle at Eagle Ranch & I'm above you - I'll be tossing down bean bags practicing for a first place trophy next year! They had tons of sponsors for the event so lots of swag was given out - we won 5 awesome prizes. Monday morning was Memorial Day in the US, so lots of pilots were still out. We did a sledder after heading up in the first shuttle, then by the time we got back up it had started OD'ing. I chose to watch for a while and Derek launched. Those of us who stayed behind grew deep roots as the launch monitor announced, "If you aren't comfortable with descent techniques and BIG lift & sink, then don't launch". That was enough for me to volunteer to drive a car down! Derek had fun doing spirals & goofing around and still maintaining his height. Looking forward to getting back in the local sky & shaking out the last of those chicken feathers, ha ha. - Martina Get Ready For THE THIRD ANNUAL LUMBY AIR RACES June 13,14, 15, 2008 For Hang Gliders and Paragliders in conjunction with Lumby Days. $50.00 advance entry fees before May 15th includes dinner and dance and the MEGA FIRE OF LIGHT Saturday night. Entrants after May 15th will be $75.00. This is a fund raising event that helps the Lumby Air Force ( L.A.F.) to improve Coopers Launch and Saddle Mountain Launch. Maximum 50 Pilots $2500.00 in cash prize money has been secured so far for this year. More may follow as in past years. $2000.00 was awarded in 2006 and $5000.00 was awarded in 2007. The Lumby Air Force Eagle Trophy will be Awarded again to the winners and their names will be added. Other prizes will also be awarded. This will be a fun filled event with multiple flights allowable per open window as last year. Two classes for Hang Gliders and Two classes for Paragliders. Best flight per day will be used for scoring. Saturday and Sunday starts allowed for people that cant make the Friday start. The format will be valley triangle and rectangle racing around the town of Lumby and spot landings, Friday, Saturday and Sunday in conjunction with Lumby Days. Helmets, Parachutes, HPAC liability insurance and GPS will be required. 10 hours minimum airtime and foot launch ability required. Maximum 50 entrants. $50.00 advance entry fees before May 15th includes dinner and dance and the MEGA FIRE OF LIGHT Saturday night. Entrants after May 15th will be $75.00. On site camping with fire, sauna and wireless Internet and cell coverage only $10.00/night or $20.00 for 4 nights of Race. Please make cheques or money orders payable to the Lumby Air Force and send to: #249 Mabel Lake Road Lumby BC, V0E2G5 To pay by credit card go to www.PayPal.com and send to randy@boldpath.com For online banking use interac email transfers and send to randy@bebold.com For more info on flying in the Lumby Vernon valley and past Lumby Air Force events go to www.LumbyAirForce.com Contact person Randy Rauck 250 547 6841 Contact: Randy Rauck
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Woodside Report - despite a dismal forecast, the new FlyBC Woodside Video Webcam looked good all day, but I saw no pilots flying? | Ex-MLB pitcher Gonzalez killed by lightning from Yahoo CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Former major league pitcher Geremi Gonzalez, who won 11 games for the Chicago Cubs in 1997, was killed by a lightning strike in his native Venezuela on Sunday. He was 33. Emergency management official Herman Bracho said Monday that Gonzalez was struck by lightning at a beach. Gonzalez pitched for five major league teams from 1997-06. The right-hander appeared in 131 games with 83 starts, compiling a 30-35 record. This is for Norm who said Sunday "You are more likely to win the lottery than get struck by lightning" as we got off Woodside launch quickly when we heard all the thunder!
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Bridal Report - we got to Bridal at noon and there were already 9 pilots waiting for rides up, and Alan was already hiking. | The plan was to take James' two friends tandem with Kevin's help, but they were late and we headed up to get a load of pilots in the air. Halfway up the hill we got the call that there were 3 tandems and they had arrived at 12:45 as we continued up the hill with a full Van. As we arrived at Launch, Alan D was just getting ready to take off. I drove down quickly to get the tandem passengers and Kevin and I were ready to go quickly as everyone else had taken off by the time I got back. Kevin took Alison, and I took Alazhar (brother #1) and off we flew. Good launch conditions and we both got off first try and were soon soaring and getting high. If you left the good lift at the Knob and tried to go past the Bowl, it was sinky and turbulent in places. I watched Kevin enter many times and was soon at launch height, so we just played around with my passenger taking lots of pictures. After 45 minutes, I saw Kevin head out to land and I was busily calculating the logistics of getting back up the hill for Mo (brother and tandem passenger #3), when a top-landing made sense! I watched Norm's interesting launch - wing came up, overshot him, then collapsed 50% on the left. He stopped and jabbed the brakes a few pulses, the Rebel opened up and off he flew! We did some fast spirals to get down as Alazhar wanted some stunts, and on the second approach we landed just past the fire pit. Interesting sink after the treeline, but I assumed we would get popped up and there was no lift only sinky air and we touched lightly at the bottom of launch and kept the wing out of the ashes (still hot from last night's party). I clipped Mo in and we were soon off with a good launch into a strong West wind as Jeremy flew back from the East. He was doing some interesting "porpoising" as he flew through the lee behind launch and we were both climbing over the Knob. I saw Jeremy enter the "washing machine" in the Bowl and it just wasn't working very well still? Alex R had launched and although he climbed fast, he headed out pretty quickly to the highway after topping out to 1200 meters. We were lightly loaded on the tandem and trims were set at 50% and we could penetrate fine but it was getting windier and the Black Monster behind us and towards Hope was starting to suck lots of air. Reports were going out on the radio of 20+ kph gusts in the LZ and Kevin said earlier it was challenging getting down even 30 minutes before. We were directly over Alex R when he threw down some SATs and we followed him down with a spiral dive and it was Alex, Martin N and us all approaching at roughly the same time but we all landed smoothly. Mo had a big grin on his face despite the flight being cut short. At times were not penetrating above the LZ. Some later approaches were not pretty as we saw shadows coming over the treetops very close to the trees as pilots forgot the rule to stay in front of the trees at Bridal. As we packed up, reports of a glider in the trees went out by Nataliya. A dark blue glider past the second gulley. I quickly figured out is was Greg H, who flies a dark blue Twister acro glider. No radio contact as his batteries were dead. I ran over to Alex who was talking to Greg via cell. All was well depite being in a 60 foot high tree. After 30 minutes I got a call from Greg and he had climbed the tree, bagged the glider and was on the ground ready to hike down. We had Search & Rescue, and the ambulances and fire dept. there but they stood down with the report that Greg was ready to hike down. Post Flight Analysis from Greg: He was flying along when the Twister frontalled and fell back into a cascade of events that he got sorted out as he touched the trees. Not too dramatic, but these acro gliders are trimmed pretty fast for dynamic moves like the Tumble/Infinity so sh*t can happen fast! Woodside Report - as it was blown out at Bridal and we had two more tandems to do, we raced over to Harvest and left cars there. Then up the mountain as it was light here. Al launched first to test the air and had just launched when we heard thunder from Hemlock! Big Thunder. We waited and the Black Monster over Hemlock was soon on top of us as Al approached the Ranch. Soon we saw lightning and heard thunder very close as we packed up. As soon as we got in the Van it started raining hard. The tandems had to be rebooked for next Sunday, better safe than electrified!!  On the road back to Harvest Market - photo by NWL
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Woodside Report - we had Matt J, Jonathon (both back from Costa Rica with lots of tales), Matt S, James and a host of others flying at Woodside. | Brad H took off test flying his new Geo II, and completely "skied out" in the leeside air; motivating Darren K, Alex W, Arik and Martin H (flying his VR). Everyone got high in that group and I took off on tandem with Chantelle (a Armed Forces Officer based in Chilliwack for the summer). We quickly climbed out topping out at 1400 meters, not quite in the clouds, but that is a good thing as Alex W was not happy when he got above that height due to the strong east layers above. Martin H was already up Stave Lake on his Atos VR at last report after climbing to 7000 feet at Woodside. We flew for 45 minutes over the mountain watching others launch as the sun shaded the hill out. Chantelle was enjoying the ride and even the bumps and was not even close to uncomfortable for the entire flight.  Chantelle after 45 minutes, not even green yet during a strong flight! - photo by JPR When we headed out to the Valley at 1200 meters it was smooth as silk so I snapped a few pictures.  The view north of Harrison Mills shows the water levels rising quickly on the Harrison River - photo by JPR Later, Colleen gudied Matt S for a great thermal flight getting him to the "top of the stack" with some great guiding before she launched and flew out with him. She decided it was time to land when they saw lightning over Harrison Lake! Bridal Report - we loaded up the crew and headed to Bridal. Pilots were flying the circuit to Elk and back, Kevin had top-landed at Upper Launch but some headed out as it OD'ed and was threatening to rain. We got to the Bridal LZ just in time to see an un-named student pilot flying a U-Turn glider badly misjudge his approach (no instructor in the LZ?) and plow into a tree near the Stop Sign. He slid down the tree and landed okay in the swamp but his wing was hung up in the tree. Some others ran over to help him while traffic stopped on the road to watch. Conditions were light out of the West with no turbulence - just a bad approach from our angle.  Un-named U-Turn pilot being extricated from the trees in the Bridal LZ - photo by JPR We headed up to launch but got there too late for any notable flights but the main goal was to get Stephen off on his Nano speedflyer but we had catabatic conditions so he had to take out the Ultralite 23 instead and he and Alex W had nice flights into the Swamp LZ. After getting back to the Ranch to unpack we headed to the Sasquatch Inn to see "Head Over Heels" play another night.  Colleen and Monica dancing at the Sasquatch Inn, on Friday Night - photo by JPR Woodrat OR Report - First day at Starthistle was crazy! The weather didn't look too great this morning so we went up for a morning sledder & threw our beanbags for the bullseye contest (stay tuned...mine landed somewhere in the circle!). Around 1pm there was rain reported on launch, but being from BC that didn't stop us & we went up in the shuttle. Everyone else drove back down, so back to the LZ for hotdogs & coffee. We convinced everyone to go back up, and launched at 3 after seeing the hangies & some paraglider pilots ridge soaring. After about 20 minutes we got a call over the radio advising all paraglider pilots to run to the alternate LZ due to increasing winds. Just like going to Harvest...except the valley is much more narrow & the winds pick up much faster.  Sky overdeveloping over Woodrat before the call to run came over the radio - photo by ML I landed short of the vineyard LZ, and Derek and Pat (yes, Pat "dude!" Pat) followed me in. Much adrenaline upon landing after fighting the rotor to the ground, and we just made it into the retrieve vehicle before the rains caught up to us!  Martina kissing the ground after landing! - photo by DK  Moments later in the retrieval shuttle, looks just like home! - photo by JPR
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Woodside Report - too much east wind aloft to attempt to fly, but later as dusk rolled in it looked flyable, but we went to the Sasquatch Inn to see ``Head over Heels`` play. And play they did, very well until 1:00 am. |
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Woodside Report - great tandem conditions for Rob and Fran, and excellent for new solo student Jason (who flew two flights (#4 and #5) landing in or near the landing circle after perfect launches on the Mojo L. He is ready for Bridal next week. | Derek is back for a few days and flew his first flights in 2 months, soaring above the South Knoll before heading to the Starthistle Fly-In at Woodrat OR. Martina also flew 2 flights. Sasquatch Inn Update - Kevin Ault and his band "Head over Heels" is playing the Sasquatch Pub Friday and Saturday from 9 pm - 1:00 am this weekend. Come out and support a local band/pilot! Sasquatch Inn is an economical place to stay when flying, cheaper than filling your tank for a trip from Vancouver.
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Whidbey Report - 17 - 18 miles per hour all afternoon, good for a high wing loading like borrowing your girlfriend's xs wing!. | Guru Pitka Movie Trailer - Just when you think the movie industry is going down comes a new Mike Meyers Movie! Guru Pitka - The Love Guru Perhaps a new Women's Fly-In Theme?? DELTA (NEWS1130) May 22/08 - A small plane with three men on board went down in Burns Bog Wednesday night. Emergency crews used dune buggies to get to the men while the RCMP's Air One watched from above. Delta Deputy Fire Chief Brian Funnell says they still don't know why the craft went down, "Transport Canada will be investigating. Fire department, police department did a joint effort at retrieving these people, so everything worked out very well for everybody involved". The men were not hurt but were taken to Surrey Memorial to be checked out. Their names haven't been released. Landing on a Wing and a Prayer WELLINGTON, New Zealand - It seemed like an almost literal answer to their prayers. When two New Zealand pilots ran out of fuel in a microlight airplane they offered prayers and were able to make an emergency landing in a field — coming to rest right next to a sign reading, "Jesus is Lord." Grant Stubbs and Owen Wilson, both from the town of Blenheim on the country's South Island, were flying up the sloping valley of Pelorus Sound when the engine spluttered, coughed and died. "My friend and I are both Christians so our immediate reaction in a life-threatening situation was to ask for God's help," Stubbs told The Associated Press on Wednesday. He said he prayed during the ill-fated flight Sunday that the tiny craft would get over the top of a ridge and that they would find a landing site that was not too steep — or in the nearby sea. Wilson said that the pair would have been in deep trouble if the fuel had run out five minutes earlier. "If it had to run out, that was the place to be," he said. "There was an instantaneous answer to prayer as we crossed the ridge and there was an airfield — I didn't know it existed till then." After Wilson glided the powerless craft to a landing on the grassy strip, the pair noticed they were beside a 20-foot-tall sign that read, "Jesus is Lord — The Bible." "When we saw that, we started laughing," Stubbs said. Nearby residents provided them with gas to fly the home-built plane back to base. from www.yahoo.com
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Woodside Report - scuba weather according to the locals. |
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Woodside Report - the students flew two flights before noon, doing some soaring before it started to rain harder. Then mid-day it cleared up again but everyone went home by then. |
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Woodside Report - a few notable flights and one notable hike for Martina (who landed her first flight in Riverside and had no one to pick her up, so I suggested hiking back to the Ranch via the railway road - apparently it was a lot longer than I remembered so I was in trouble by the time she arrived!). | We had nice cycles all day at launch but strong south winds in the Eagle Ranch LZ made it a bit bouncy for new students (hell-rides according to Martina and Colleen) so flights to Harvest Market were the order of the day for James and Matty S. Bridal Report - Norm, Al and others were "duking it out" along the milk run from Bridal to Elk, good conditions with some eagles to guide the way for Al. Costa Rica Report - Hope all is well back home. Didn't have internet in the place but wanted to give you an update and will send some pics when we get home. Jon and I had 4 flights on a ridge soaring spot that we pioneered ourselves. Nice mini mountain with ridges off the grassy peak. We may be the first and last pilots to fly it as it is getting developed and in this part of CR there is really no Parapente. We were able to stay up until it got dark on two evening flights. AMAZING. I crashed into a tree right before dark one night as the landing is about the size of the circle with drop offs on all sides. Pretty crazy recovering my wing from trees with Jonathan and our other friend in the dark with howler monkeys all around. On our last flight we didn't have a driver so we both top landed. First time for both of course. It was kind of difficult because there was so much lift (ridge and thermal). Jonathan's went off very well and I had a sweet view of it on my approach. He hovered in a set down very smooth. Mine not so much as I started to get lift on approach and instead of pulling away for another attempt (it was getting close to sunset and we had to hike down, more to come with this story) I went hands up and piled into the side of the hill. Didn't hurt at all, thank you bump air). I'll have pictures and more details to the stories but just a quick update for you. Talk to you in a few days - Matt Jesson Contracting Fence and deck construction specializing in cedar carpentry and design. Jesson Contracting New video from Powered Paragliding for Morons! - we have absolutely no connection with these folks.
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Woodside Report - light winds, nice cycles all day until 4:30 when we got blown out fast. A couple of pilots in the air at the time, one made it to Riverside and the other made Burt Duncan $20 richer out by the HG field. | Lots of student flights, until it blew out. Sumas windtalker showed 35 kph gusts all night so it probably never calmed down, but we never went back up to launch as the WCSC Steaks were cooking on the BBQ. A few pilots who flew Bridal said it got "funky" over there too, when the winds kicked in. You can now drive right to launch at Bridal!
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Woodside Report - we spent a few hours in the classroom with the Instructor candidates while the recertifying Instructors were out in the field with brand new students kiting in light wind BH was doing very well with a brand spanking new Mojo2 L, Julie was kiting the Mojo2 Small and doing well for not being out for several months. We wanted to get the kiting done early with forecast highs of 33 degrees! | The east wind forecast was accurate and Thomm, Denis and Miguel waited at Woodside launch for several hours and were rewarded with 12 minute flights. We took the students up around 2 pm and James, BH and Ben both got 2 flights, while the tandem instructors took each other tandem to show me their skills. Bridal Report - a lot of hopeful pilots at Bridal. Rob S reported poor climbs and 30 minutes of scratchy airtime and a low save at 150 meters. Just too darn stable.
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Woodside Report - we had a great flying day at Woodside even though outflow was forecast. | Ben, James and Rob C flew many flights with differing wind conditions at launch but no downwind takeoffs required.
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Woodside Report - I got out very late and it was still raining at 8 pm, but the weather people promise clearing Thursday morning. |
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Valley Report - scuba tanks needed to go for a walk, very wet. |
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Woodside Report - Norm, Justin and I went to launch around 1 pm, and saw denis up there with his Ice Peak wrapped around his legs due to the tailwind. Odd, when we looked up with binoculars there were good up cycles? He waited for a bit and it turned north and he launched and it was a pretty turbulent ride. | Norm got ready as did I and we were soon bobbing up and down in the leeside lift, definitely north winds up high. Norm caught a good one and was soaring on the south side of the Fraser River. Justin launched and was also getting bumped around. We were in a good climb and I decided to try to venture north to the Harrison River slope of Woodside and hit nothing but -3 m/s down. Back to the leeside thermal with Justin. Later that path worked. No sun but strong thermals. Ihor, Tim P, Susan P and Martin N, arrived just as we launched and Martin flung himself in the air with us and was still soaring at 4 pm, so he got more airtime today than the entire Vancouver Island club will in a whole year! I flew for an hour or so following Norm out to the Ranch, where we had strong south winds on the way out?? I landed in front of the new Video Webcam and Bev apparently was watching to make sure Norm wasn't late for work cause she saw me land! Justin, Tim P, Susan P and I went for lunch to wait out the leeside stuff and it paid off. We went back to launch with Kevin A, and David S was out doing tandems with some visitors so I offered Susan (Tim's wife) a tandem. We had a great flight until 40 minutes and 1000 meters when she felt dizzy (Sasquatch Nachos will do that). So we tried to top-land several times getting within a foot or so, but it was too lifty so we flew out to the Ranch where we landed right in the cicrle despite windy thermic conditions. Martina and Al showed up on launch during our tandem and both got off fast in the strong cycles and were soaring around. Al top-landed and drove down around 6 pm, but had to be aggressive. Good flying later, idiot-lift stuff and smooth. Everyone had smiles! - Jim ps: Bridal wasn't looking so good today, as there was no sun but some gliders were seen above launch. Wouter's Holland Report - Hi Jim, finally the season kicked off in Holland with some paragliding towing. The last three days we've been towing with beautiful weather and a lot of tandems and students in the air. It feels good to be in the air again. Wouter in the air regards, wouter
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Woodside Report - although I called Blanchard for the best place to fly today, it was too complicated to get the gear and the students down there so we stayed at Woodside and it paid off for Matt S, Wiley and James. | Our first flight around 2:00 pm was a bit strong as I took to the air on the Boom Sport, nice lulls but big headwind in the air especially as I climbed through 900 meters to cloudbase. Wiley followed me out and was staying too far out and was sinking so I had to guide him to to some lift further out near the South Knoll. We decided it was better to fly to Harvest Market as Matt S and James hadn't seen it yet and Wiley had never landed there despite being signed off last year. We climbed back up to 800 meters at the South Knoll before heading over the River to Cemetary Hill where I arrived at 650 meters as two planes flew by us in formation. There was a CU forming SE of Cemetary Hill from the sandbars and we played in that for 15 minutes before Wiley decided to do some advanced maneuvers! Full stall, big surge into a cravatte, three spirals left until he stabilized the cravatte and got it out - big excitement for both of us as I talked him out of his ordeal. Good thing we had so much height or our afternoon would have been spent fishing him out of the trees. We landed at Harvest Market just as Colleen and James drove in. Flight time 45 minutes. Back to launch with Matt S, James and Wiley and it had mellowed enough for everyone to fly - James took off first with a perfect reverse launch on solo flight #2 and he was soon ridge soaring well above launch while Wiley and Matt S only got a few passes before heading to the Ranch.  James above Woodside Mountain soaring like a pro on his Sky ATIS - photo by JPR James kept getting higher without any coaching and was soon near cloudbase and I could see his forward speed was diminishing due to the faster air aloft, so I had him come back to launch before heading to the Ranch as it looked like it would take some time to get out from his altitude. I handed him over to Colleen to guide as he was still at 700 meters over the bailout swamp. Apparently he was having radio problems and didn't follow the instructions on landing too well and overshot the circle by a mile (as did Matt S with 16 flights under his belt, as there was no wind and they were coming in too high).  James on his way out to Eagle Ranch - photo by JPR The guys were packed up and back in the Van faster than I could say "Another Flight?" as Colleen headed to Vancouver for Mother's Day with Aaron. Again perfect launch conditions 10-15 kph out of the NW. James off first with another perfect reverse launch for flight #3 and he was trying to soar but it was too light so I watched him fly out to the Ranch with a perfect track and he landed right in the circle without guiding. Matt S took off and was soon climbing and quickly was above launch by 100 meters despite the lighter lift. He soared over launch a few times and I suggested he fly in closer and he did a few passes and came in for a perfect top-landing right in the middle of launch. He was pretty pumped but quickly relaunched before the cycles died down and was in the circle packing up when I drove into the Ranch later. Perfect student day and no one else out 'cause they all went to Blanchard. Blanchard WA Report - first reports from Blanchard came in from Doug M who flew early and had top-landed to warm up around 11 am. Norm headed down there but apparently the flight report was too much for Bev to type at 10:30 pm. I made contact with Delvin to get the gloat reports over the cell, and apparently 4 of them flew to Fairhaven in South Bellingham and had no car there but there was a Pub. Doug M, Ernie F, Delvin and another pilot all made it north in perfect soaring conditions. They had nice sun from noon on, while Woodside was cloudy and the odd drizzle blew through, so Blanchard was the right call for experienced pilots. I will update the Norm Gloat Report when I see him later.
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Woodside Report - I just didn't have the motivation to drive to Hedley and we stayed at Eagle Ranch and gardened while Robin, Dave (new Zealand Pilot recently moved here), Miguel B, and Alex R all flew Woodside early. No rain until after 2 pm and just light spits of rain got a few wings wet. Down-Wind Derek conditions with light tail to null cycles - not what the forecast called for. Strongish NW winds in the LZ made for nice landings. | New student virgin James "lost his cherry" and bagged a solo flight at 6 pm, after waiting for 45 minutes and doing 3 tailwind inflations for practice. Finally at 6 pm, we had a no wind to light up cycle and he was off on his new Sky ATIS. Perfect launch for the conditions and he had a nice smooth flight into the NW winds calling for an approach over the maple tree right into the circle. Welcome James to the addiction called paragliding when you see him. 
West Coast Soaring Club News - the first party of the year was held at the Golf Course at Bridal Falls and was attended mostly by Valley Locals. April 2008 Eagle of the Month winner was Matt Jesson - who flew his first XC flight at Woodside overshooting the predetermined Harvest Market Field and landing near Agassiz! He blamed the good glide on his Ozone glider and was all grins when he was retrieved. Matt is now signed off and touring in Costa Rica with Jonathon Fry and a group of 20 pals.
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From Yesterday: Coaches Corner - I will be at Woodside at noon after running some errands in Chilliwack, then on to Bridal in the afternoon!
| This was pretty accurate, except that I decided hiking up Bridal with new students for their first high flights was probably not too smart, so we stayed at Woodside. Norm launched first while Colleen, Martina, Kelly and I watched him "get his ass handed to him" high behind launch. Big spiky thermals with huge sink and wind made it look rough. I had to go test the air to so out came the Boom Sport and I got yanked into the air even in a calmer lull. Good climbs to 1300 meters and we were exploring the Mountain mostly to the north over the towers. The girls drove down and the students kept kiting at the Ranch. After an hour or so at Woodside, I got bored and we weren't getting any higher than 1300 meters so I headed for Agassix Mountain and the CYR over the prison. I was at 1300 meters halfway there when I saw Norm climbing fast behind me so I slowed down and took some of that climb while I saw Al "the Hammer" coming in low, in the lee, and sinking like a stone with nothing but River if you don't make the Chehalis Reserve! He managed to get up in the lee a few times and finally just when I thought he was going to make it out to the Valley, I saw him come through the Saddle where Mark F is hauling timber and from my vantage point up high it was hard to tell how low he was until I saw his shadow and he was landing on the logging road. Unfortunately there is no place to relaunch there, but I told him to wait for a logging truck and he got a ride back to Woodside Launch. Norm and I didn't spend too long on Agassiz Mountain as we were already topped up there and Norm headed to the Harrison Gap and Bear Mtn. I heard about the strong south wind from others who flew and got flushed at Ruby Creek and Bear, so I stayed out front and was headed to Green Hill behind Agassiz when I got my best climb out in the Valley. Norm was still struggling in the Gap and I topped out at 1500 meters. Interesting climbs with speed bar 50% engaged to stay upwind but it worked well. I heard Martin coming in on his ATOS VR over Agassiz Mountain at 1300 meters after going to Mount Saiant Benedict near Stave Lake and I saw him at about my height when I aimed for Bear. Again the climb there was better out in front. Norm had climbed out in the lee of Bear and was heading toward us. I topped out in front of a big CU and witnessed an ATOS going weightless! I thought Martin was intentionally diving under me to swoop up, but he got slammed by a thermal making him lose the bar and hit the keel. I climbed to my highest altitude in front of Bear at 1700 meters and saw Martin heading to Ludwig (after he did some unintentional acro), so I followed him on 75% bar and arrived at the other side of the River at 800 meters, pretty low especially when it starts to shade over. Martin lost 300 meters on glide while I lost 1000 meters, and he still wasn't climbing above Ludwig, just a few bumps he said. I thought about my options and I could have made it back to Seabird Island Gas Bar for my height, so I played n the ridge for 15 minutes until I got a good climb out to 1000 meters to ridge soar upwind to Bridal. Norm unfortunately picked a bad line or didn't use enough bar, cause he hit Ludwig pretty low and soared down to the Highway landing on the median at Herrling Island exit. It was pretty black along the ridge behind Cheam but I was getting steady beeps and 20 kph ground speed so I only had to stop to "top up" three or four times and I arrived over Bridal Launch at 1000 meters (learned that trick watching Rob S soar the ridge at 700-800 meters).  Look for the dot above the Ridge near the slide as I head towards Bridal - photo by Martina From there to Elk, it was pretty much a straight shot under black bottomed CUs straight to the Annis Road exit where I hit 1500 meters before turning to Woodside. It looked good over Rosedale but no beeps and not going very fast crosswind and Kelly and Martina were going to bail back to Woodside. I decided the safer Fraser River crossing was directly downwind towards the Rosedale Bridge and I landed near Whelpton Road (actually more like a crash landing due to a crosswind blast from a thermal). After I got off the field, the farmer started spreading manure within 5 minutes. Good timing. Martin made it back to Woodside to tag his last turnpoint and into the HG LZ where his car was waiting. Helps when you have a 17:1 glide and a downwind run, but I was packed up much faster! His flight is found at Martin's track log from Friday  Flight Track on a simple topo map, from Jim's Flight over to Bridal - photo by CompeGPS After getting back to launch with the students, Colleen launched and started soaring followed by Kelly and Martina. Wiley had launched first and soared for a bit and I watched his approach and it was still pretty strong from the south. Reports from Riverside also said strong rough conditions for the last 150 meters. So I decided it wasn't student-safe and told the pilots in the air I would get them at Harvest and we packed up. At Harvest the landings were pretty much vertical.
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Woodside/Bridal Report - it was definitely flyable at Woodside but no one was out. A group was headed up Bridal after 4 pm, but it looked pretty dark over there and no other radio reports were heard. | Al was at Blanchard this afternoon where I am sure it was great. Al's Blanchard Gloat Report - Al spent a few hours on Blanchard watching the locals sink out until 6 pm, when most everyone went home. At 6 pm, the sun came out and the sky glassed-off and Al launched and was soon at 1200 meters flying as far back as Lake Samish. Apparently the last locals left couldn't find the same lift and were soon on the ground so Al flew until 8 pm, top-landed and drove home.
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Woodside and Fraser Valley Reports - very windy all day, the clouds were zooming by the Webcam and the windsocks were twisting about. | Thomm's Woodside Report - I was out there around 1pm and it was quite gusty on the ground but marginally do-able. No telescope to see what the windsock at launch was doing (binoculars are not quite good enough) Drove up "for the helluvit" and Denis was up there standing in the wind strong enough he did not hear me coming. After a very short observation (about 1 minute) I headed back down as it was blowing like stink with stronger gusts 30+ kms. I tried a bit of kiting out in the “World Famous Eagle Ranch” field and after a few inflations in progressively stronger winds, then getting yanked off the ground in the gusts , I thought about Nicole’s shoulder injury and packed it up.
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Woodside Report - Brad and Martina showed up around 4 pm, hoping for a flight but it loooked windy. We drove up anyway and missed Tom launching his hangglider, but it looked like a short flight as he was already in the HG LZ as his truck was driven down. | We picked up new Dad Justin as he was hiking up the road near 3 kms. He had a nice flight but top-landing was too turbulent so he flew to Joe's. After careful consideration, Brad laid out the Mantra I and launched into a cycle and was soon climbing straight up over launch, strong winds and stronger thermals made it look like a wild ride, and he wasn't even heading out yet. We radioed that we would get him at Harvest but his radio wasn't receiving us so he flew for 30 minutes before heading out to the Ranch. He could only penetrate with full bar, and as he got close to the ground tips were collapsing like "big ears" all the way to the ground where he landed fine. We were glad we didn't fly!
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Bridal Report - Rob and Robin were heading to Bridal around 2 pm, and the skies did clear up later so I am sure they were doing laps to Elk and back. |
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Woodside Report Trees - 2 Pilots - 0. | Two unfortunate pilots flew their gliders into the trees today - no tangles, no collapses, one just turned right off launch and settled into the trees next to launch and was lowered down. The second 2 hours later was turning too close to the hill and snagged a line on a tree top and was also stuck in a tree very high on the mountain near the cliffs north of launch - they had a tree-rope and lowered themselves down and hiked out to launch. Everyone else had a gloatful day with 2 hour plus flights in choppy leeside air. No one got very high, 1200 meters at Agassiz Mountain was the highest I heard. An inversion layer at Woodside capped the climbs to 900 meters. Some interesting sink and wind layers in various places. Even an ATOS VR couldn't break free of Agassiz's grip!  Jim and James forward launching the Magnum Tandem around 5:30 pm, note the inversion layer towards Bridal - photo by CMV Some rodeo action mid-day at the Ranch but the students managed it well, and Rob S even landed in front of the Web Cam to get his landing on video when it was rowdy and had a smooth approach.
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Woodside Report - we waited until 1:30 pm to go up the mountain, as cloudbase lifted enough to see launch. Doug M, Colleen, Scott M (new student out for day 1), and I waited for either cycles or visibility for an hour and then Scott and I went for tandem #1. Not much lift but we managed 13 minutes landing in strong south winds at the Ranch. | Doug flew too while Colleen drove down, un-motivated by our flights. Back up for flight #2 as Thomm and Norm arrived. Again, Scott and I went tandem while Doug volunteered to drive as he was feeling a bit ill from an acro show he put on over the Ranch on Flight #1. Norm and Thomm flew after our tandem and had similar lame conditions . . . but we flew. Nicole and Alex showed up as we packed up and Alex wanted a flight; so it was Norm, Thomm, Alex, Nicole, Scott M, and I back in the Van motivated by a CU over launch but alas it was too late in the day and no "glass-off" occured so we have nice extended sledders into the Ranch. Not a bad day considering we had rain all morning and a mixed forecast. Scott is ready for solo flights as he kited between flights and mastered the forward launches immediately. Tegucigalpa Honduras Report - has been a long time! I haven't had much time to report recently but there has been good flying in the last month or so. I have had an average of two flights each of the last 5 weekends with every flight between two and three hours. I don't think I've ever flown so consistently. Every good flying season I seem to learn more about the cross country potential and the consequences. I have made crosses in several directions and last weekend came the closest ever to my present goal of flying from Yuscaran to Tegucigalpa, landing 10 kms short of Teguc. Here's a couple of recent pics.... Jeffrey. PS tell your friends who are in Costa Rica to get in touch if they have time. email Jeffrey Miller at jmillergoldsmith@hotmail.com  Jeffrey's view of Honduras - photo by JM
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Woodside Report - it looked flyable most of the day, no rain until after 7 pm, a few birds were soaring Woodside during the day but no gliders observed on the Video WebCam. | New Pilots heading to Costa Rica - Jonathon and Matt J wrote their Novice Exams yesterday and scoring the in the low 90's and are officially signed off as HPAC Novice Pilots, congratulations and fly safe in Costa Rica. Send us lots of pics of coastal soaring and jungle flying. Addict II Small for Sale - I ordered the wrong size in, so this small size is available for a great price $3200 total including taxes, will take U-Turn or other gliders on trade. Play Gravity DVD Released and available at FlyBC - Click here for the Trailer Cost is $45 CDN per copy.
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Woodside Report - WOW! | No sun, just big CUs around the are made for pretty easy flying. Climbs to 1300 meters and the "white room". Got down low when the vario batteires konked, but still stayed aloft for another 1:30. Rob made it to the west side of Harrion Bay, while Robin soared Harrison Hill. Only only unhappy "sink "by an unnamed Advance pilot :-) but he made up for it later.
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Blanchard Report - There has been some epic Ebey flying this week while I've been at work. People had as much as 6hrs air time both Tuesday and Wednesday. The RASP forecast seems to be doing a pretty good job with EBEY. | TJ's RASP link At least I got out Wednesday evening to Blanchard, it was fun today, I didn't get there all that early, but I still had a nice half-hour of smooth lift. One kind eagle led me to what seems to have been the thermal of the day that got me to 1800 ft. (Top of Blanchard is 2200) Only two other pilots in the air with me, both of whom had been the air for well over an hour when I arrived. Mark was at launch, having top-landed to keep from freezing - TJ. Woodside Theft Report - if someone hasn't taken the telescope home to clean and align it, it is not officially stolen. Sometime between Monday and Wednesday it went away, oddly nothing else touched?? This telescope has been a helpful fixture at the Ranch since Brent Pascall gave it to us for a house-warming gift in 2001 so it is a bummer to lose it. |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports
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.
Augusr 2007 Site of the Day archives - fun two weeks at Mara Lake, followed by steady flying at Woodside and Bridal, making up for the dismal spring and summer.
July 2007 Site of the Day archives - good flights at Bridal, some mayhem at Woodside from visiting pilots.
June 2007 Site of the Day archives - more crappy weather on the weekends. Some awesome flights between showers as Norm and Thomm flew to Mission on the last day of the month.
May 2007 Site of the Day archives - flyable every weekday, but the Fraser Valley XC Comp got crappy weather on the weekends, although it was student flyable.
April 2007 Site of the Day archives - good flights are starting. Some complete triangles from Woodside to Bridal and back, some "musical triangles" from others.
March 2007 Site of the Day archives - fifth month of crappy weather on the Coast. We went to Santa Barbara for some flights, and to dry out. Some good days were also recorded locally.
Febuary 2007 Site of the Day archives - fourth month of crappy weather on the Coast. So we stayed in Mexico.
January 2007 Site of the Day archives - third month of crappy weather on the Coast. So we went to Mexico to fly Colima, Tapalpa, and San Marcos, while Brad and gang headed to Tenacingo, Mexico.
December 2006 Site of the Day archives - more ugly weather on the Coast. Severe winds damaged trees and property so not much flying happened. Some good flight reports from local PGers travelling world-wide.
November 2006 Site of the Day archives - the wettest November on record. We flew a few good flights but mostly we were rained out.
October 2006 Site of the Day archives - lots of good days with 3-4 hours airtime. The Women's Fly-In was on again in Chelan with about 18 Canucks, and a good day Saturday with 85 registered pilots.
September 2006 Site of the Day archives - still soarable in the Fraser Valley, little or no rain. Colleen is back flying! Some mayhem in the valley.
August 2006 Site of the Day archives - a great flying month everywhere, we had a super successful SIV clinic at Mara Lake with everyone SAT-ing and heli-ing.
July 2006 Site of the Day archives - road trip to Lumby, then on the 8th Colleen spun in below Gloria cancelling her summer plans (but she is recuperating well).
June 2006 Site of the Day archives - the Valley dried out, and we flew most days and every weekend.
May 2006 Site of the Day archives - more rain that ever imagined in the Fraser Valley. Very few soaring flights and even less XC.
April 2006 Site of the Day archives - the Easter Bunny was "run over" on Kilby Road, plus the train wreck on April 1.
March 2006 Site of the Day archives - a new pilot was born, Chloe. We also flew a few days between showers, some long flights up to 4 hours. A few Out & Return Flights to Deroche and Bear.
February 2006 Site of the Day archives - another wet month with some soarable days (2).
January 2006 Site of the Day archives - some flying on Elk and Woodside, smart pilots headed South for great Mexican or Chilean flying.
December 2005 Site of the Day archives - some flying on Elk and Woodside, smart pilots headed South.
November 2005 Site of the Day archives - rain, snow and not much flying.
October 2005 Site of the Day archives - Women's Fly In in Chelan yielded two soarable days before the snows hit.
September 2005 Site of the Day archives - dry most of the month. Some great 4 hour flights at Woodside getting to cloudbase most days. Three crash-landings in the same clearcut by pilots scratching too low, but no injuries.
August 2005 Site of the Day archives - road trips to the Interior gave us an opportunity to rag out some gliders at FlyBC SIV 2005 (Part II). Also a great road trip to Savona.
July 2005 Site of the Day archives - good flying all month, no rain but some windy days shut us down. The Willi started in Golden with a few good days, but one tragedy as Charles Warren perished in a crash near Harrogate.
June 2005 Site of the Day archives - too much rain, but good days to fly between showers.
May 2005 Site of the Day archives - our Instructor/Tandem seminar yielded some good flying. Our May 2005 SIV Clinic had a good turnout, with many wet wings/pilots! Many nice flights at Woodside and Bridal, with some long "out & returns" at Bridal.
April 2005 Site of the Day archives - some great soaring at Woodside and Bridal. Sad news from the US Hanggliding Nationals as Chris Muller crashes at goal.
March 2005 Site of the Day archives - we had to head out of town to Savona a few weekends due to wet weather on the Coast. Wetter than normal according to Environment Canada.
February 2005 Site of the Day archives - some good soaring despite early time of year. Flights as long as 3 hours at Woodside, some good flights at Whidbey Island for first timers, too!
January 2005 Site of the Day archives road trips to Mexico, not much flying locally due to strong north winds and rain. Record rain kept Eagle Ranch quite wet for kiting.
December 2004 Site of the Day archives a dry month with some good soaring including a fantastic day on Dec. 11 where we thermalled for 2+ hours!
November 2004 Site of the Day archives more record rain. We installed a fireplace in the barn to keep pilots warm between winter flights.
October 2004 Site of the Day archives more record rain, but sweet soaring between showers. Many new students signed up and making quick progress. We missed the Women's Fly In for the first time in 9 years, and there was some interesting flying on the Sunday!
September 2004 Site of the Day archives rainiest September on record for the first 3 weeks, made flying difficult. But Alan and others logged some pretty nice flights later in the month. Lots of student tandems for both Colleen and Jim.
August 2004 Site of the Day archives Great Maneuver/SIV/ACRO course at Mara. Jack got wet! Some great soaring at Woodside. Norm made it 68 km from Mara to King Eddie, Derek made it from Lumby to Enderby the opposite direction for 67 kms. We also did our BC roadtrip from Ashcroft to New Denver, and flew everyday.
July 2004 Site of the Day archives the Willi was on at Golden. We missed the mayhem due to work and school commitments but Norm did a great job representing the West Coast.
June 2004 Site of the Day archives Canadian Nationals came off with many great rounds. Pemberton-Whistler Championships were blown out most days so we headed to Cornwall.
May 2004 Site of the Day archives great flying at Woodside and Bridal. We held a very successful SIV Course at Mara Lake, and hope to run another one in August if they keep the forests open.
April 2004 Site of the Day archives good flying in the Valley. The Fraser Valley Cross Country PG Series was successssful.
March 2004 Site of the Day archives Nicole won in Brazil, otherwise the month sucked for flying time.
February 2004 Site of the Day archives some local flights extended to an hour with vigourous scratching above the trees. Good paramotor month.
January 2004 Site of the Day archives Mexican road trip yielded 20 hours of flight and a wet Canadian January kept most local pilots on the ground.
December 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew a few times but it got really cold at the end of the month as we prepared for a gala New Year's Party for 40 of our close personal friends and neighbours.
November 2003 Site of the Day archives windy and wet with the odd good soaring day, not many pilots out these days.
October 2003 Site of the Day archives Women's Fly In was great fun, some good soaring days mid-month, most of the students are signed off.
September 2003 Site of the Day archives good conditions until the last days of the month when it got stable. Most days were flyable at Woodside or Bridal.
August 2003 Site of the Day archives Forest closures made the end of the month a non-flying period unless you headed to Blanchard. FlyBC SIV 2003 was a great success with 9 stunt pilots and no deployments or crashes.
July 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew most days early at Woodside until it got windy, then over to Bridal. Good Golden flying reports from the "Willi".
June 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew most weekdays at Bridal, Woodside worked most weekends. Bridal Air Races had one great day with only two tree landings!
May 2003 Site of the Day archives not a great weather month on the coast, especially on the weekends but a few pilots managed to get some great airtime at Bridal. The Nationals were held in Lumby and it didn't rain!
April 2003 Site of the Day archives rain for 28 of 30 April days, but we managed to get a few flights in between showers. Even the golfers were complaining!
March 2003 Site of the Day archives some high spring flights in early March, but not a great weather month. Still no HPAC Insurance!
February 2003 Site of the Day archives some nice long spring flights in late February. HPAC Insurance expired on Feb 14, so many pilots stayed home instead of getting USHGA coverage.
January 2003 Site of the Day archives lots of rain all month in BC so we bailed and headed to Tapalpa Mexico for three weeks. Norm and Lucille had a great XC flight the first day we arrived.
December 2002 Site of the Day archives lots of rain all month.
November 2002 Site of the Day archives not a great flying month, lots of rain in the beginning and then super stable and inverted for the balance of the month. Even the Savona Road Trip wasn't that great. Looking forward to Mexico!
October 2002 Site of the Day archives Still soarable some days, great fun at the Women's Fly In 2002 in Chelan. Allan logged 15 hours and only flew a few days. Most of the students are ready for signoff soon to get ready for Mexico trips!
September 2002 Site of the Day archives Still soarable most everyday! Some scary incidents at Woodside. Fun flying at Ashcroft.
August 2002 Site of the Day archives More spring-like days with super lapse rates, great fun up-country at Revelstoke and Mara, with some good XCs for all.
July 2002 Site of the Day archives Some spring-like days with super lapse rates, but still rather wet at times.
June 2002 Site of the Day archives another rainy and windy month with great lapse rates, some great flights at Bridal with some getting above Cheam Peak. The Club Cup was nearly rained out but they got one valid task in on Sunday June 30.
May 2002 Site of the Day archives an extremely rainy month with the more spring mayhem, another reserve deployment at Lil Nick and a pilot crashed at the top of Deroche Mountain, uninjured but with a ripped glider and long hike down the mountain. Colleen placed 5th place at the Canadian PG Nationals in rainy Lumby!
April 2002 Site of the Day archives a rainy month with the usual spring mayhem, one reserve deployment at Woodside and a pilot hit a parked car at Bridal LZ, fracturing his leg.
March 2002 Site of the Day archives a few great days days with lots of snow and rain mixed in.
February 2002 Site of the Day archives two epic days already (4.5 hours and 2.5 hours!).
January 2002 Site of the Day archives Mexico vacation shots, some local flying but it was wet on the coast.
December 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, wettest December on record, some good days sprinkled thru the month.
November 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, had some good days at Woodside +2 hours, lots of rain later in the month.
October 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, but great flying at Chelan at the Women's Fly In.
September 2001 Site of the Day archives starting to get pretty stable, more sled rides forecast for October.
Aug 2001 Site of the Day archives Mara, Bridal, till some great flights locally
July 2001 Site of the Day archives Road Trip Month, Golden, Mara, points east!
June 2001 Site of the Day archives Great Month, 3 hours of airtime for some pilots every time they flew Bridal Lower! Some getting up to 6 hours in a single flight!
May 2001 Site of the Day archives Unstable Month, 2-3 hours of airtime for some pilots every time they flew Bridal Lower!
April 2001 Site of the Day archives Rainy Month, not as much airtime for some pilots
March 2001 Site of the Day archives Spring has Sprung!
February 2001 Site of the Day archives Spring is in the Air!
January 2001 Site of the Day archives - Mexico Flying Trip
December 2000 Site of the Day archives
November 2000 Site of the Day archives (great month for airtime!)
October 2000 Site of the Day archives
September 2000 Site of the Day archives
July - August 2000 Site of the Day archives
June 2000 Site of the Day archives
March - May 2000 Site of the Day archives
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