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FlyBC "Site of the Day" - May/2010 Archives
Woodside until 4 pm, then Bridal
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Coaches Corner for May 31/2010 - nasty weather with sunny breaks around 3 pm. No pilots out. Then thunder and rain after 5 pm The Van is repaired with a reinforced coil mount and back on the road. An O2 sensor problem with the Suzuki that has plagued me for 1 year is now repaired too. Good day for chores!
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Woodside Report - Mother Nature and Mother Woodside provided for us today. | Gary P was here for ground school and we spent a few hours on the board and on the computer doing theory and landing approaches. First trip up the mountain at 1030 am, for me to take Gary P for his first tandem flight as he arrived for his first of two days of instruction. Martina & Cynthia were doing the first of Martina`s 3 tandems today toward her Tandem I rating. Nice inflow cycles early, and Martina was thermalling a bit on flight #1. Gary and I had a nice reverse launch and super landing just at the circle, where he flew the entire flight less landing flare. 
Gary P & Jim on final at Eagle Ranch - photo by Cynthia Martina and Gary spent a few hours in the Eagle Ranch LZ perfecting his launch skills and then we headed up with a truck load of pilots. Many pilots were already in the air, and I counted 6 wings above launch. Martin, Mia, Peter, Claudia, Thomm and a few unidentified pilots were in the gaggle. 
Martina & Cynthia heading toward Eagle Ranch - photo by Cynthia After an hour of cloudsuck Mia flew out, Martin decided to top-land for his first time at Woodside to drive down. Patience was the key today as it was ``lifty`` near launch. Martina and Cynthia finished off their second tandem with a nice launch and flight. 
Martina & Cynthia over Woodside - photo by Cynthia I drove down and collected the group for another round, but the Van croaked at the Lower Launch switchback. Dead as a doornail. Upon opening the hood I saw the coil mounting plate had broken and a few wires were pulled out. Some ``McGyver`ing`` later we were on the road again with a floppy coil assembly but we got to launch and Gary P got another solo just as it started to sprinkle rain lightly. Norm volunteered for Martina`s 19th tandem flight, and they had a nice launch and Norm took control for a few minutes doing wingovers before Martina grabbed the brakes away! A very productive day at the Ranch, Gary is coming back next Sunday for day 2, so pray for the weather to improve.
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Valley Report - We had a great day of projects and Chilliwack errands, as it rained all day. | Some folks headed to Woodrat, OR for the Starthistle fly-in, but no flight reports were sent to us?
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Le Vosges, France Report - Wouter was flying in France last week. | 
Wouter launching at Le Vosges, France - photo by Tim Woodside Report - it was clear all day at Eagle Ranch but windy from the SW. Good day for mowing and I took the riding mower on a trailer into Riverside and mowed a runway down 1/2 of the field removing ferns and blackberries. 
FlyBC mowing in Riverside - photo by JPR I also mowed a landing circle midpoint. If you land outside of this runway you will be taking some time removing the wing from the blackberries. 
FlyBC`s new runway in Riverside, too bad I don`t have a landing pass! - photo by JPR More tandem self-portraits - everyone wants to get into the tandem self-portrait game 
Lousie & Mike testing out their camera during their tandem at Lumbie - photo by Mike
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English Channel Crossing Report - at least someone got to fly yesterday. | Woodside was in low clouds all day with one window to launch around 4 pm, then it closed in again. More tandem self-portraits - everyone wants to get into the tandem self-portrait game 
Jim and Beckie testing out their camera during their tandem at Woodside - photo by Beckie
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Woodside Report - it was probably flyable . . . until the rain started falling around noon. | More tandem self-portraits - everyone wants to get into the tandem self-portrait game 
Louise and Mike testing out their camera during their tandem at Lumby - photo by LKB Ozone Gliders coming soon - a large order of gliders for FlyBC required our own transport company to be formed in Germany. 
Reich Transport truck with large Ozone Glider order heading towards Canada - photo by Wouter
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Woodside Report - it was flyable all day and Martina and Alan D knocked off 3 tandems in light conditions. | 
Martina and Alan testing out the Kodak PlaySport camera during their first tandem today (this is a still captured from a .mov file) - photo by Alan Derek insisted on driving rather than being a tandem participant? It got windy near 4 pm, but it wasn't long as I left for the city. Rolling waves and whitecaps on Harrison Bay when I crossed the bridge!
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Woodside Report - Woodside was hopping today, with the leeside conditions most pilots opted to fly here vs Bridal (except for Alan D, who reported several times during the day) . | Some pilots chose not to fly until later or not at all as thermals were rough and wind-blown? I took a large Van Load of pilots up at 11 am, then drove down to collect Colleen's gear for a flight. Kelly from the RCMP decided to drive her cruiser down into launch to check out the burned out Explorer. 
RCMP Cruiser may need to be towed out of launch today - photo by Cynthia I met her and we were looking for something to ID the rig, as ICBC won't pay for towing unless it is a confirmed stolen vehicle. I looked under the hood, getting pretty sooty. Then I found the remain of the license plate under the rear of the vehicle and she ran the numbers and it was stolen. Bingo! Now Modern Tire is called to remove the wreck, but before they arrived Kelly did her "Dukes of Hazzard" stunt getting out of launch at about 80 kph sideways, no video unfortunately. 
Modern Tire tow truck dragged the remains out of launch - photo by Cynthia On the next ride up, Monika decided not to fly the Gin Sprint S so I took it for a flight. 
Woodside pilots thermalling in front of launch today - photo by Cynthia I was thermalling for a bit with Alex, Nicole and Dennis and I went to the south knoll to follow Nicole and got flushed to where I thought Riverside wasn't reachable, but I made the Ranch. Much smoother than the R09, but I sure noticed the glide was a lot less than the R09! I was aiming for the Stonehenge circle and top-landed on the training hill instead? Many of the last pilots to launch after I landed made it over the back towards Bear. Some landed near Agassiz to join the "S.O. Club", started by Thomm McE a few weeks ago. Some pilots made it back to the Ranch from Bear: Alex R, Nicole and Norm. 
Alex and Nicole's tracklog today - photo by Google Earth Colleen and I did chores as we were waiting for our 4 pm tandems to arrive, while Martina launched for here second tandem today with Rob S. They managed to stay up as Rob was giving thermalling lessons to Martina. 
Rob looks scared! - photo by Rob We ended up getting back up the mountain pretty late with our tandems: Becky and Sheetal were pretty excited, but we had to cut the tandems short as a rain storm was approaching from Cultus Lake. They still had fun and are coming back for lessons! 
Sheetal & Becky in the LZ, safe and dry - photo by JPR Thanks to Alex & Nicole for driving and cleaning up the 6 bags of Explorer parts left behind by Modern Tire, I will take the stuff to the dump tomorrow.
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Woodside Report - the day started out okay, and I headed up the mountain around 10 am with new student Larry. We planned to go tandem as he has completed his ground school and 2 days of kiting, but has not yet done a tandem flight (our normal prerequisite before solo flight). | Colleen dropped us off on launch and we took off into nicely soarable conditions and we were getting above launch when we felt some raindrops. Out past Harrison Hill, a cell was developing and was headed our way. We headed out to the Ranch with Larry flying and I took some video with the new Kodak Play camera is 720P resolution that turned out very nice. We had a soft touchdown in the circle and we were just packed up when the rain started pelting down. We did some more ground school, and when the rain quit Martina took Larry out for some more kiting to get him ready for his solo flight (3 more hours for Martina's Instructor Rating). We headed back up the mountain with a full Van full of folks: Pavol, Derek, Martina, Colleen, Adrian, Norm, and myself & Larry. It was too strong for Larry's first solo so we went tandem again following everyone else into the soarable sky. Derek was "sky-pig" as usual staying high and avoiding the sink accompanying the shaded sky at around 40 minutes into his flight. Landing were a bit funky as Colleen dropped out of the sky from 10 meters when the winds switched. Larry and I got dumped on final too but managed to run it out a bit short of the circle. 
Woodside today at 3 pm - photo by JPR We had to go back and retrieve and Derek was still in the air after finsing a thermal at 400 meters that took him above launch. Norm volunteered to drive so Larry could get his solo flight in. Colleen flew off to test the air, Martina was waiting on the ground to guide Larry, and Larry was setup in perfect 10-15 kph conditions. A few duffs and he was off and climbing all the way out. I guided him to the construction zone, and then handed him over to Martina who did a fabulous job getting him to do: 360's left and right, figures 8's, slow and fast flight and several other manuevers befor landing him in the circle. I just got down the hill as he was landing so he had a good 15 minutes in his first flight. He was pretty excited and thanking Martina for "saving his life"!
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Woodside Report - As usual on the first May long weekend, local paraglider fliers were denied. | Bridal didn't look much better with virga and possible snow at times. 
The weird CU over Agassiz today at 5 pm looked like a spaceship - photo by JPR We kited in the landing circle all afternoon; Rob S on his R10.3, new student Larry on his Mojo3, James on his Gangster, Phil on his Buzz Z. Strong cycles and switchy winds made for great practice sessions. Jan K flew his hangglider after replacing the bungies for the battens, but it was too strong for my liking . . . even tandem. The forecast 19 knots was right on for strength, and throw in some sunny breaks for really strong cycles. This video was taken with a new Kodak Play video camera, small & light & waterproof for $159 at London Drugs. Pemby Report - Doug M called to say they were denied by low clouds and rain. Put on an event and Mother Nature will ensure it doesn't go well.
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Woodside Report - I was doing chores around town, and arrived at the Ranch at 2 pm, to find an empty parking lot. | I got my gear ready and had dreams of XC triangles until I got to Launch. There was a great CU formed above Woodside that stretched to Agassiz, but it was howling at the top of the thermic cycles! 
The CU over launch today at 3 pm - photo by JPR If one could launch safely, there was abundant lift all the way to Bear, and the Bridal side looked lifty, and there were CUs all over the Valley between Elk and Woodside. But there were no birds and the cycles were way too strong! I waited until 4:45 pm to launch, after Andrei. I was having a tough time getting the R09 to inflate and stay solid, in fact when I did launch it was unintentional as I got sucked off the ground. Andrei flew around Woodside for 40 minutes before heading out to Riverside. I stayed in tha air and tried a few top-landing approaches but it was too wild near launch, explaining the turbulent kiting I was experiencing earlier. At times the just felt parachutal as you fell out of lift, followed by a strong upeard/backward pull as you hit the thermals! Yahoo! Wally was flying Bridal and reporting rough flying too. It was a pretty strong day. Colleen brought a Van load of hopeful pilots, and Derek was first off the hill and wasn't getting much penetration. The R09 was fine for speed, getting 19-20 kph upwind without bar. I flew out to the opposite side of the river east of the South Knoll to catch a developing thermal marked by a black CU. I lost nothing either direction. I was maintaining at 1200 meters wherever I flew. I noticed Harrison Bay starting to "froth up" and Derek was reporting 8 kph ground speeds, so I headed out towards the Ranch arriving at 860 meters and the wind in the Eagle Ranch LZ was quite strong from the SW. After a few spirals I was setting up landing in the circle softly and safely. Derek landed 5 minutes after me looking parked at times over Duncan's. No one else flew after hearing Derek's groundspeed. Flight Specs: +5.7 m/s up, -7.8 m/s sink, 1:20 airtime. The new FLYTEC 6015 Integrated Variometer/GPS and the display works well even for older eyes. Everything is on one display panel: Vario, GPS, Time. This instrument sells for $649 plus tax here at FlyBC. We take trades on older varios.
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Valley Report - psychotic weather out there. Definitely windy until 7:30 pm, cells would develop into hail, then sun, then rain, then sun, then hail. Repeat 3-4 times and you get the picture. | Some folks have already headed to Lumby to practice their XC skills before Lumby Days
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Woodside Report - I thought I had made a bad call as the weather looked great on the Webcam from here in Vancouver as I ran errands, but around 4 pm the storms hit here. | Massive power outages and downed trees hitting cars on major routes. Traffic was bad all around Vancouver as we headed to Richmond for dinner.
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Woodside Report - Woodside actually got flyable around 3 pm, sunny and calm winds but no pilots. | Good day to do glider repairs and accounting work.
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Ozone Delta Report - Normando was very excited to order his new Ozone Delta today, after reading the PGForum post that it was on the Ozone Order System. Oddly, no one at Ozone told us that it was available? Only Medium sizes are certified at this date 80-100 kgs. | Woodside Report - Matt S came out for his second day of solo training and bagged 3 flights before it started raining around 2 pm. There was a new parking lot addition today, ``fockers``. 
Some little darlings torched an Explorer on launch last night, cops were called but hadn`t attended by 5 pm - photo by JPR When we came back from lunch at the ``Squatch``, Delvin was in the air over Woodside experiencing cloudsuck and it took him quite awhile to get down as the front hit Woodside. Landing with a minor cravatte after a collapse over the LZ. 
Delvin landing at Eagle Ranch today in the rain - photo by JPR We did some ground school, re-packed Delvin & Pam`s reserves and then went back up top to try a last flight but we were denied by tailwinds. Louise`s Gloat Report - What a weekend!!! The flying was amazing and the views beyond stunning. Good to see so many out over the weekend enjoying the superb conditions. 
Brad Henry near Mt. Cheam on his Ozone Mantra M2 - photo by LKB Friday allowed us to soar to new heights and enjoy the views offered by the hidden southern valleys. 
Louise got to see the Chipmunk Creek Valley for the first time - photo by LKB 
Louise got above Upper Bridal to see the message to Martina - photo by LKB Steady lift, several passes and with a bit of coaching and a lot of patience from Gabby and Brad I was able to make my first top landing at Upper :) 
Louise on snowy Upper Bridal Launch for her first time top-landing - photo by Brad Great to have such a supportive flying community, thanks guys :) 
Louise near the Saddle on her Ozone Rush II - photo by LKB More pictures from the valley are posted on Louise` Picasa Web Albums - Cheers, Louise
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Woodside Report - Woodside delivered again today for students (3) and tandems (9) alike. | The students started at 9:00 am, and were done by 4 pm, too tired to carry on after 4 great flights! Dan M, Brock and Boyko all did amazing launches even in calm morning air. The tandem group today was super-keen, and very athletic and they all got to soar Woodside. 
Tandem Group out today at Woodside - photo by JPR Kevin got the highest flight today soaring the towers to the North, but there were no complaints from any of the passengers. It never got windy, which is nice. The inversion started to bump around 900 meters, and I didn`t break thru it even in nice climbs. But super soaring conditions with little air traffic as most stayed home due to the dubious forecast. Sorry for them. 
The inversion layer today looking towards Elk Mtn. - photo by JPR Collen and Brad did the last tandems around 3 pm, and had no problems staying up as long as they wanted. Great passengers for all of the flights. 
Colleen and Pippa climbing out to the North - photo by JPR 
Brad and Sandy above launch today - photo by JPR My last tandem with Inga took us above launch with a family of Eagles: mom, dad and young eagle were soaring with us and the young eagle was chasing paragliders as part of the flight training. 
Flying with eagles and Norm and Thomm on my tandem with Inga - photo by JPR Brad was flying his tandem today with the new FLYTEC 6015 Integrated Variometer/GPS and the display works well even for older eyes. Everything is on one display panel: Vario, GPS, Time. This instrument sells for $649 plus tax here at FlyBC. We take trades on older working varios. t even tells you where to find the last thermal you fell out of! St Benny Report - Al and Rob were up St Benny again today. Al flew off and hit -5 m/s sink immediately and had to head out the the LZ. There he hit +5 m/s lift and stayed around there for a bit. 
Al at St Benny launch today - photo by RGS 
Al just off St Benny launch today - photo by RGS 
Al at St Benny today - photo by RGS 
Al above St Benny today - photo by RGS
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Woodside Report - three solo students (Boyko, Dan and Brock) were flying as early as 9:30 am, getting some soaring in in 3 flights each, with some awesome kiting around 2 pm when it got strong. Kiting is better than flying at this stage in a new pilots flying career, as they get used to the brake inputs required to handle the surges in the air. | We had 11 tandems to complete today and thanks to Brad, Kevin and Colleen we were able to do them all safely and with good long flights. 
2 HGs and 2 PGs in the air and yet we still got this close thermalling (I am not sure Greg saw us) - photo by JPR Eight were friends of beekeeper Dan, and 3 more came out with Sharon for a family celebration so it was pretty busy in the LZ. 
Cranking it over the Fraser River near Eagle Ranch with Dan, who flew in to Sandpiper Airstrip in his Cessna 140 to fly with us - photo by JPR The new Van is fabulous for these big groups as we can seat 12 in seat belts keeping the gendarmes happy. Mt St Benny Report - Intrepid site finders, Al and Rob were up at Mt St Benedict clearing the road and launch. Thomm joined them to help and possibly fly off. Al launched and was doing well until he hit the Fraser Valley in mid-day and got his "ass kicked" near Deroche forcing him to land. Thomm got his wing wet from runoff and I don't think he got off launch, and Rob was driving Al's rig. Good potential as one can stay in the Miracle Valley on windy days and not hit the Fraser Wind Tunnel. Bridal Report - it must have gotten windy as we heard some pilots were missing the Swamp LZ landing on or beside the access road near the stop sign.
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Woodside Report - Woodside was the place to be in the morning and new student Boyko and I worked in the LZ kiting for a few hours while Steve D flew his first flight. | 
Woodside was hazy all day due to an inversion - photo by JPR Another kiting prodigy is here, doing flawless forwards and reverses in switchy conditions! We went up for his solo flight around 1 pm, but it was too strong by then so I took Sunny tandem while Brad took Holly tandem for her grad gift from her friends. Super lift out front with Brad, Louise and I climbing to 1100 meters but no more due to inversion. It was a bit bumpy at times with some drop-outs, and it took a toll on Holly as she "up-chucked" on Brad. We had been in the air for 30 minutes and I knew what was happening as their flight path went immediately straight to the LZ. Sunny and I stayed on the mountain for a bit longer and then headed out high towards PegLeg, arriving to nice river thermals and a great view of the eagles picking off mice in Duncan's field as they were haying. These eagles are the ones living in a nest just off Mill Road, look up as you approach Kilby Road and you will see them up high. Nice landing but Sunny also said she was getting "a bit nauseated" before we headed out, but no more than that. We packed up our gear after the tandems and headed to Bridal. I saw Jason picking Al up at the Swamp at Woodside after an epic flight from Shotgun (see below). On the way to Bridal I overheard Rob S flying this way from Elk, rejoicing that he had Woodside on glide at 1000 meters east of Little Mountain, so I told him I would chase him down. I needed propane do I stopped at OK Tire in Aggasiz and watched Rob landing at the High School. 
Rob landing at the High School - photo by JPR ShotGun Report - Great day for SHOTGUN May 14th. I figured I'd check out St. Benadict via Shotgun Launch and was not denied. Launched around 1 pm and flew to Dewdney then Landing at the foot of Woodside near Hwy 7 almost 3 hours later. The air was very nice out over Sylvester with smooth 6 meter climbs at St. Benny and Silvester. Then came the Fraser valley with it's windy blown out thermals. Way more work and not as good climbs. I managed to get to near the top of Sasquatch but still not enough for my trusty Addict 2 to push all the way to the top of Woodside. Jason Warner stopped along Hwy to pick me up as everyone who was at Woodside headed to Bridal for the 5 pm happy hour flight and I flew again top landing at Upper 2 time with a quick Elk run and finished off with some Sats and wing overs to get down quick as Rob S. was waiting for me to retreive my truck at Shotgun. We have been working on the trail/road to St. Benny to make it more access able for more pilots and are now ready to start some flights with a bit more clearing! St. Benedict Launch elevation is 1090 M. and has the best XC potential in the lower mainland BAR NONE! 
Hammer's flight log for May 14 - photo by Leonardo West Coast Soaring Club has taken out a road permit for the access and has secured very nice LZ's below in Sylvester Valley. At this time we at asking for a bit of help with clearing the road and Launch as it is now pretty much clear of snow. If you have a chain saw or hedge trimmer please call Rob or myself and come out and fly this great air! - Hammer - 604-309-7780 Bridal Report - after collecting Rob, I met Boyko on top of Bridal for his tandem flight before he can solo tomorrow. We had to drive the FlyBC Van up to get Rob's truck so it was going to be a long retrieve later. We watched some hairy takeoffs (Brad!) and then clipped in and we had super-cycles. Good thing as Boyko is 230 lbs so we had a fully loaded Magnum 42 today! Perfect inflation and acceleration and we were off and climbing. We hovered in the bowl for some time, then over to Alan's ridge, back to the bowl and there were some good thermals coming through and we got close to the saddle a few times then back to launch to check out the top-landing conditions. We flew for an hour and then came in for a perfect top-landing, good thing as Boyko's legs were cramped by a tight harness and could barely stand up let alone run! We packed up and drove Klaus's rig and the Van down. We watched some bottom-landings and watched Matt J and Jason W setting up top-landings too to get their trucks down (Matt is an old hand, but this was Jason's first top-landing and he replaced his divot after packing up.) Derek and a few others top-landed to get cars down, so no retrieves today. Matt J's Bridal Report - I top-landed Upper Bridal today for my first time with Derek and Al and had an awesome flight getting the highest I have ever been on Cheam (1900 meters) then made a flight to Elk and back to top-land lower to drive my truck down. What a great day - Matt
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Woodside Report - Woodside was perfect day for student flight til about 1 pm, when the big guns started flying. | New PPG student Dave has been thru his ground school, ground handling and we also had an awesome tandem flight where he could fly and thermal a few days ago. Today was his solo day! Dave was on the mountain with me at 8:30 am, and cycles were perfect and he did a flawless forward launch (paramotor style) and was in the air, where he flew a pretty fair approach until I had to get him into the LZ in a big rush as he was too far south when he lost height. Flights 2 & 3 were equally perfect, including a climb over the construction site back to launch height with no turns! Dave's landings are pretty good for a first day student. He was done by 2 pm, and off to do some errands. He will soon be clipped into a motor and buzzing around the sky burning 2 stroke oil. Ryan L came out with Alex and Nicole and he had a nice flight catching the early thermals. He is ready to write his novice exam and get signed off. I got a chance to fly the Ozone R09 after Dave and Ryan were taken care of; launching after Dennis, Al, Nicole and Alex. Interesting air at first, quite rough and spiky thermals and lift further from the hill like it was leeside? We were flying all over the mountain trying to find something to take us over 1000 meters but nothing was working, until a great climb at the South Knoll where all 4 of us were gaggle-flying in pretty tight to stay in the core. Suffice to say that a R09 doesn't turn as tight as an XS DHV2 glider, but I did my best. Al was scratching around down below and we headed out together after 45 minutes of fighting, as I didn't think and XC over the back would yield much distance and my truck was already at the bottom waiting to go to Bridal. Good climbs all the way out to PegLeg Island, where I caught a nice one to 700 meters while Al landed. The R09 loves to thermal even in rough air! I was directly over PegLeg but couldn't punch too far forward because of the headwinds, and after sometime I watched Al land at the base of the training hill and it looked turbulent coming in. I spiralled down when I found some sink, and setup to land at Stonehenge as a test for turbulence mid-day. We usually land in the NW back of the field in strong conditions, but lately I have tried landing further up the field with good results. I come along the west fence line, all the way to the training hill and then turned in to the Stonehenge circle and touched down nicely just 1 meter short. Alex and Nicole continued flying over the back and Nicole landed at Herrling Island and Alex's triangle flight was almost to Woodside. Kevin's Bridal Report - Ah, at last. A friendly sky day at Bridal. Gone were the gusty thermal demolishing winds of the last few days, replaced by an inversion that still allowed for sweet flying if you didn't get too low. My flight was 4 hours and change. Best lift: 6.4 m/s. Got to 1960 m trying to get to the top of Cheam. Didn't succeed but did get one full frontal on the NW ridge, likely from the south rotor blowing over the top. Did go to the lakes but didn't carry on due to the inversion and Nicole's landing. I should have gone for it but just wanted to fly. Top landed at Upper Launch three times, once with Al and Derek. If we ever decide to make a full body profile statue of the "Hammer", the mold is all prepared in the snow at Upper Launch! Al, Tom C and I also went to Elk. The flying after 6:00 was absolutely stellar - Kevin/Biff Tom C's Bridal Report - I flew Bridal this afternoon and had the best day. When I arrived it looked like Elk may be the place to go. It took me a while but I climbed out and flew to Elk and back. This accomplishment is only diminished by the popularity of the destination. I hope this XCountry is the first of many this year. I'll be out again tomorrow, to out do this personal best - Tom C 
Tom's flight log to Elk and back - photo by Google Earth Rob's Sammy Report - Today at Bridal did the Elk to Butterfly and back to launch run via Upper Launch and Archibald. 3.8 m/s up and 1740 m ASL according to GPS. Al did a top biff into the snow at Upper that could be heard miles away. Some snow writing was done for Martina's sake. This was my sixth flight on the Ozone Mantra R10.3 With this flight I now have just over 10 hours on it. Good launches so far with only the smallest wing tip tucks (2 or 3 cells on one side max) if anything. Excellent straight line performance indicated by great upwind glides from Butterfly back to LZ (9 km glide with a 625 m loss of height in 23 minutes). Sure there was lift along this line, but I don't think that I've ever had to work so little to go so far, especially in a 15 kmph headwind. Only one quasi collapse so far (tip didn't tuck, but a few cells lost air pressure for a half second), so as collapse resistant or better than the R09. The best thing that I've experienced so far is that it really feels good turning. It climbs well and if the lift is a bit rough and disorganized it seems to feel best with good tight turning, but doesn't require an inefficient amount of bank to get this stability - Rob Terry's Kamloops Report - Derek and I headed up Lower Dome at about 3:30pm to cloud cover expecting an extended sled ride. Flags where steaming in and we launched for a 15 minute sled ride. Fun I guess when you are starving for a flight. We started up to retrieve and by the time we got to launch it was really coming in nice. We decided to take the vehicles down and come back up. Good decision! We both launched into nice clean long cycles and after 20 minutes of scratching we found lift away from the mountain directly in fount of launch. We rode them way up high with Ed joining us about 20 minutes in Ed scratched his way up over the mountain and all three enjoyed an awesome fight with Ed top landing. I got some great HD Video but I will have to post on VHoldR after some edits as it is way too big for Youtube. According to my Vario 1:56 minutes fight time 2444 meters altitude with max lift 5.2 and max sink 3.2. Yahoo! Spring has finally arrived in the Loops! - Terry B Chris U's Bali Report - a 5 year hiatus from Paragliding and I restarted here in Bali this year, flying a Gin Bolero 3. Mostly scenic ocean ridge soaring so far, 10 hours logged - Chris 
Chris soaring in Bali - photo by ?
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Woodside Report - new PPG student Dave went for a tandem flight to get used to flying a paraglider, but we went too late cause all we got was thermals. Shame! | We flew for an hour, climbing to cloudbase at 1100 meters in +3 m/s thermals that felt like +6 up cause they were so sharp. A few big collapses early in the flight but then it mellowed out into big thermals under the clouds. Monika, Steve D, Tonya and Klaus joined us and I flew out to let Dave fly the tandem and he did very well. I think he will solo fly today after 3 days of ground handling and ground school. Free flights first, then onto his motors. 
Tonya and Monika flying Woodside - photo by JPR Steve D made some tactical errors getting too far north on the north ridge and it was strong, and then he hit a wall of sink all the way to the bailout swamp where he squeaked over the ridge into Duncan's $20 LZ. Nasty collapses on final in the rotor, but he is on a safe Mojo3 so he survived. We stayed over the Maple Tree in strong south winds watching the trees "buck around" in the Eagle Ranch LZ waiting for a calm cycle to land into. We were hitting good sink over the Maple Tree and had to slide into the LZ in a strong gust, but held our line in front of the goalpost trees and had a nice touchdown into wind. Monika came in 10 minutes later and almost didn't make the field as she hit the same sink spot lower. Klaus did a fantastic job getting "thermal-ated" all the way into the spot! Not bad for his first flight in 1.5 years! A group of excited fliers showed up and went up around 2 pm, and it was gusting to 34 kph on launch. Ed R took the challenge and launched and was up for a few hours. Eventually everyone flew and most ended up in Riverside as it was quite windy. Pilots were also flying in strong winds at Bridal hanging out at launch mostly. Ed eventually made it to the Ranch around 6 pm. We were flying the tandem today with the new FLYTEC 6015 Integrated Variometer/GPS and the display works well even for older eyes. Everything is on one display panel: Vario, GPS, Time. This instrument sells for $649 plus tax here at FlyBC. We take trades on older varios.
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Woodside Report - She's back and flying at Woodside! Monika W joined me for a few flights in the morning leaving Klaus at home today, but it looks like they are coming back to fly again. She looked like she never left with good launches, great themalling even early and good landings even in windy conditions. | 
Monika flying out in front of Mother Woodside - photo by JPR Bridal Report - we had to leave to fly Bridal as it got blowwn out by 2 pm at Woodside, but Bridal wasn't much better. Alex R, Nicole and Dennis braved the air and unfrotunately an un-named Icaro pilot who is rather inexperienced got off the mountain before I got there and he survived the flight to end up top-landing late in the day (by accident apparently), and when he tried to re-launch he hit the trees near the stump to the right of launch. Good guys that they are: Kevin A, Alex R and Nicole went to help him in the dark and to read his the "riot act" about not flying strong conditions as a novice and especially without a radio. Some of the limitations we try to enforce are: A novice pilot has the knowledge and basic skills necessary to fly and practice without direct instructor supervision, within significant operating limitations. It is not expected that the attainment of an HPAC Novice Certification will be the end of formal instruction, but only the beginning of learning on one's own. The novice pilot has the knowledge to purchase appropriate equipment, understand it's limitations, and be responsible for it's care and maintenance. The pilot understands the HPAC rating systems and recommended operating limitations, the Transport Canada Air Regulations governing paraglider flight, and other flying rules applicable to his/her flying (ridge rules, thermal right-of-way, etc.). Recommended Operating Limitations: 1. Maximum base wind of 20 km/hr. 2. Maximum peak gusts of 25 km/hr. 3. Maximum gust rate of 8 km/hr in 5 seconds. 4. Wind direction within 30 ° of straight-in. 5. Visual contact with the Landing Zone (LZ). 6. Turns greater than 45° change in heading should be 200 feet above the ground. 7. Never fly alone. 8. Try only one new task per flight. 9. Always wear a helmet, ankle supporting footwear, and appropriate clothing. 10. Carry a reserve parachute on any flight where successful deployment is possible. 11. Avoid application of brakes beyond 2/3 of the way to full stall position. 12. Limits turns to 30° of bank angle, limit speed in turns to 1.5 times the brakes off cruising speed, and smoothly exit any spiral turn that has a tendency to steepen or accelerate. 13. If not current due to a lack of recent flying experience, seek an instructor's assistance for re-orientation. 14. Do not fly in thermals that exceed a peak climb rate of 1.5 meters/second or 200 feet/minute, or go anywhere near any cloud development until demonstrating to an instructor canopy control techniques such as big-ears, b-line stalls and correct surge control of canopy. 15. Always fly a canopy recommended by the manufacturer as appropriate for skill level (Novice, Intermediate, Advanced).
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Whidbey Report - denied at Whidbey due to glider size. | I was picking up a GIN Sprint XS glider at the border today, so I decided with the small craft advisory in the Strait of Juan de Fuca that it would make sense to try it at Whidbey. No retrieve issues and if it blows hard the XS Sprint will handle it. I arrived at 10 am, to a nice 15 km breeze, and it never got stronger. I could kite the XS Sprint all day long, and if I got close to the edge I could get a 3 second flight. After 2 hours I got impatient and by 3 hours I decided to leave. All the way back it was light west wind until Sumas when it picked up strong? The Whidbey reports were still less than 10 knots. When I arrived back at the Ranch at 4 pm, it was howling strong from the SW. No flying here today as predicted, but no rain which is what I thought would stop us. Louise's Weekend Report - Here are some pictures from the flying this weekend. 
Thermalling out in front of Mother Woodside - photo by LB The weather cooperated and the flying was awesome. I know a number of pilots set personal bests, including myself for XC in this valley. 
Heading over the back towards the Mt. Agassiz cloudstreet - photo by LB Great to see so many come out and grace the skies, adds a bit of courage to have others along when setting off for further destinations. Until next time - Louise 
Climbing in front of Mt. Cheam - photo by LB 
Coming back from Elk Mtn towards Bridal Launch - photo by LB Miguel's Pemberton Report - I had some interesting flights in the Fraser Valley on Thursday thru Saturday, but decided to follow Nikolai up to Pembie this Sunday. I achieved a 60 km flight going to Hurley Pass and back and picking up a +9.2 m/s thermal along the way! 
Miguel's flight log from Sunday - photo by Miguel Nikolai made it to Meager Creek and return for 80 kms plus, Bastardo! - Miguel
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Woodside Report - Woodside was kind to us today offering up two solo flights for Dan M who is now up to 11 solos and doing very well. | New student Paul came out for a tandem today and he was treated to a nice 45 minute tandem, with us flying all over Woodside. 
We were at 1500 meters when we looked down at Annette thermalling in a bad place, she made it out of there - photo by JPR We headed to the South Knoll to try and get into the thermal that took Derek, Louise and others to 'base and got nothing there. So back to the launch thermal and we climbed out with Jeff on his HG with Bill above us on his green HG. Back to 1500 meters. 
We were back to1500 meters thermalling with Jeff R on his HG - photo by JPR We stayed around Woodside to save the retrieve as I heard pilots getting low on the Agassiz side. I saw a red wing land north of Hwy 7 almost to the Esso. We headed out to the Valley high so Paul could fly and it took 15 minutes to land, as thermals kept coming up off the Valley. Mia came back from Sasquatch low at 1200 feet and climbed out to 5500 feet before leaving east on her ATOS over the Valley. 
We were at 500 meters and climbing above the Fraser River and Pegleg Island - photo by JPR We descended over Duncan's maple tree, came in low by the goal post trees and could not come down. Kind of like landing at Grouse mid-day. I did a few figure-8's but decided on a long final straight down the path and we landed at the foot of the training hill in smooth air. Maybe this is the new approach for thermic days? Martin Henry was flying his "Carbon Cheater" again Sunday and flew a 274 point flight back from Woodside to Mt. St. Benny to Hope to Slesse Park and back to Woodside. Bridal Report - after everyone was retrieved over the back of Woodside a large group descended on Bridal to fly after 4 pm. I headed over there with Dan to give him a tandem so he could learn thermalling, but he forgot to put the tandem in my car, so we didn`t go up. But reports of pilots getting snowed on, climbing without turning sounded fun but I left for the city early for a change.  JOERG, ANDERS, AND THEIR R10S ON THE SWISS PODIUM - ON the Ozone R10.2 Ozone celebrates Luc's win in Italy on his own design - the Ozone R10.2 Ozone Delta News for those waiting for their 2010 wing refresh, it is nearing production status and worth the wait! Ozone R10 PG Forum Link - wow, interesting reading for those interested in Comp Gliders
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Woodside Report - Woodside turned out pretty good today! Many pilots went XC attempting the "Raymont Challenge" which is a triangle from Woodside to Ludwig to Elk and back to Woodside. | Martin Henry was flying his "Carbon Cheater" and flew a 90 km flight back to Woodside. Alex Wedensky, also crossed the river on his Advance Sigma 6 and made it to the Bridal side and almost home for a 78 point flight. I believe this is his first crossing, congratulations. Norm almost made the triangle on his Nova Factor, but landed at Harvest Market for some additional kms over Alex W. Louise was very excited after her awesome XC to Elk from Woodside and she landed at Bridal LZ. Some cloudsuck for some at Woodside, some at other points on course. A good day for all here. A few landing to avoid the rain as it OD'ed on course. We did many tandems at Woodside, and solo student Brock got his first solo landing at 7:30 pm after a hard 3 days of kiting and tandems. Perfect flight path and landing! Pemberton Report - Alex Raymont was flying his "Ozone Addict II" and flew a 39 km triangle out to Copperdome.
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Woodside Report - Woodside was working well around 1 pm. Brad and I took a nice couple tandem: Emilie with me, and Moritz with Brad.
Easy launch conditions and Emilie and I beamed up to 1240 meters immediately in +5.0 m/s lift with little sink and we were up there for 45 minutes waiting for the others. | As we flew out Emilie asked "can a paraglider do stunts?". I did some wingovers and a SAT over Duncan's and Norm could hear her screaming from the Ranch LZ! Bubbly landings on this unstable day. Later flights were getting a bit wild as thunder was heard up the Chehalis Valley around 5 pm. Most who flew headed to Harvest Market, even the D-team members who came over after getting flushed at Bridal. We were kiting in strong NW winds around 6 pm, prbably dumping from the storms up-Valley.
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Woodside ``Neener-Neener`` Report - a great day was shaping up and we headed up the mountain around noon with a full load of "keeners" . | As forecast cloudbase was pretty low, at 1100 meters at the start eventually climbing to 1350 meters in places. Dennis and John M launched first and although it looked like a `lifty`day, Dennis hit some sink and was grovelling near Joe`s. John launched after dennis and never got low for the time I was around Woodside. I was the first to launch from our group, on the trusty Ozone R09. Getting up pretty fast in the thermal to the north of launch. Good strong climbs and good sink too. Vario measured +6.0 m/s lift and -5.8 m/s sink on a 10sec averager. One by one, the rest got off launch as it got stronger. Alex R, Nicole, Louise, Al, Norm, Miguel, Nikolai, Ryan L (just signed off as soon as he writes his exam), and a few others I may have missed and there was lots of `silk` filling the sky. Logistics were flawed as many pilots drove up solo, leaving their cars on launch without a driver. The FlyBC Van was up there all day and never got driven down, despite a few extra drivers later in the day? It was ``yo-yo`` flying, getting to cloudbase and then hitting sink with some pretty rough air around launch, but no one bailed. I saw Alex and Nicole head over to Mt. Agassiz, just as I hit some sink so I took some time to top-out to join them followed by Al and Miguel ahead of me. Mt. Agassiz wasn`t as strong as usual but it was easy to top-out there to 1200 meters before going on glide to the Green Hill triggers. I was on the north end of Green Hill while Alex and Nicole worked the south end and we got to `base around 1250 meters and it was windy even on an R09. I saw them heading to the Butterfly across the Fraser fairly low and I tried another tactic: punch upwind to Hopyard Hill and climb there where I got to 1350 meters under a monster CU. That worked well and I had good speed to cross the Fraser to arrive at the Popkum overpass with 600 meters to tag the Bridal Ridge. Just one problem: it was howling windy from the West with gustlines on Cheam Lake and the lift was shredded at 600 meters. I spent too long trying to climb near Alan`s house rather than head straight to the ridge and I kept getting pushed back over the Fraser. When I finally tagged the ridge it was too low and too late as it shaded in. I landed in a big field north of the Popkum cloverleaf away from the rotor on the ridge. Thanks to Ihor and Martin N for retrieving me! Alex and Nicole flew over me on the ridge as I packed up just below `base, going slow. But they made it past Launch and on to Elk before attempting a crossing back to Woodside. 
Nicole`s tracklog is yellow and Alex`s is white - photo by JPR/GoogleEarth Al, Miguel and Nikolai had flow the route from Agassiz to Hicks where Miguel landed backwards in Ruby Creek. Al and Nikolai headed across the Fraser to Laidlaw getting blown back there even on full bar. Tom C drove my Suzuki from the Ranch to Bridal and Al used it to retrieve Alex and Nicole from Rosedale and east Chilliwack while I drove a truck from Bridal Launch after Matt J and Jonathon flew. They flew for 2 hours and Matt J took Matt S for his first XC flight to Elk and back twice! When we got back to the Ranch we took a load of drivers and Derek and Ryan L to fly the glass-off. We got my trucks and Tom C`s truck down the mountain in the end, before heading back to Vancouver. 
Bridal and the development at 6 pm, taken from Woodside Launch - photo by JPR There were pilots all over the valley getting retrieved and trucks on launches on the opposite sides of the river due to poor logistics but everyone had fun. A late night for many. A recommendation to pilots driving out is to call on 146.415 mhz as you get within range of Woodside or Bridal to see if a truck is getting ready to head up, many trucks arrived minutes after our Van got to the top meaning they could have saved the drive up with a radio call.
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Woodside Report - Alan hiked up Bridal around noon, and the rest of us waited for Al to arrive. We had a small load of 4 pilots: Al, Andrea G, Martin N and myself in the FlyBC Van. | When we arrived up top, Alan was already in the air and working hard. It was cloudy and as pilots started to launch it was sprinkling lightly. Reports from Bridal said also not much lift so un-named students were doing maneuvers without a safety boat or lake?? Al launched, then Martin N and finally Andrea to join Alan. Alan had worked himself to the top of the South Knoll and Al and Martin were trying hard over there. Andrea went straight out and up above launch with ease and was in the air for 35 minutes landing at the Ranch. She has been on a flying hiatus for a few years but doesn't seem to have forgotten how to stay aloft. 
Andrea G over Woodside on her Airwave Sport 2 - photo by JPR It started raining harder so I drove down and Derek even decided to sit one out as Alan climbed through 930 meters above launch. It cleared later and pilots were seen flying Bridal but we didn't get it together to go over there until it was too late. Woodside also looked magical around 5:00 pm, but alas no pilots out. This video is guaranteed to make your palms sweat! - from the 80's in OZ.
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Woodside Report - Woodside looked great in the morning, and I was getting ready to head up when I saw Dennis in the air and he looked parked, but he was above launch. | I talked to John just after he launched and the going was pretty slow for him, but I had the Ozone R09 so I should be good. Just as I loaded the Van a cell came thru the Ranch and it was raining hard. I called the guys in the air, and they were soon landing to escape the rain. Later around 3 pm, the sky cleared and lots some of its Overdevelopment but I was getting ready to leave for the WCSC Meeting, and couldn't find any takers to come up with me. Airwave Testival in Holland - courtesy of Wouter and Johannes (FlyBC is now importing Airwave Gliders directly from Europe)
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Fraser Valley Report - Woodside and all parts of the Lower Mainland were blown out today. | Winds reported on the coast exceeded 50 knots (95 kph). It was a good day to pickup a new tandem Paratrike that is on consignment at the Ozone Canada Used Equipment Page . 
Skycruiser Paratrike now at Eagle Ranch for viewing - photo by JPR It is a unique unit designed and built by Skycruiser Mfg. from the US. It is powered by a Kawasaki 440 cc twin cylinder motor that was adapted by J&J Engineering for avation. Electric starter, super powerful with 3 blade prop. Comes with a Paraavis Duet 42 tandem wing that looks hardly used. There is 28 hours on the hourmeter. It starts right up and I took it for a ground spin to test the power and it looks ready for a test flight as soon as the weather clears. Deflation of B.C. Place to get underway and it will take up to an hour 
One of the last pictures of the current BC Place Roof - photo by News1130 VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - It's the end of an era and the start of another for B.C. Place. This morning at 11:00, the air-supported roof will be deflated one last time. Tourism Minister Kevin Krueger and PavCo boss David Podmore will do the honours when they turn off the fans that keep the roof inflated. The deflation is expected to last between 30 minutes to an hour. After that, crews will begin installing what is being called the largest cable-supported retractable roof in the world, which should be complete sometime next year. FlyBC had the honour of being the first paragliders to be allowed to fly inside BC Place for practice and real-time at a BC Lions Games featured at Indoor Paragliding . Rob Polack and Jim Reich were the pilots towed up by ATV by Nicole McLearn and Colleen Varcoe. A lot of hard prep work and fun, but the football spectators liked the cheerleaders better? SAD!
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Instructor Course Report - all the recertifiying Instructors were certified and had left last night, that left Martina and Ed to finalize the ground school portions and write some exams. Good thing as it rained and became windy later so no flying or ground work could be accomplished. |
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Instructor Course Report - an awesome group of talented Instructors and students today at the Ranch! | After in intensive morning indoor session, we went to the LZ to kite with new students and the tandem candidates, all on smaller gliders as it was quite windy. 
Ian J and Brad H watching the kiting action today - photo by JPR We had many great tandem launch simulations with a combination of experienced and beginner tandem pilots and they all looked really good at the end of the 2 hour session as the rains came in, getting all my gliders soaked. 
Tonya T and Brad H were the tandem kiting action today - photo by JPR We regrouped in the Pilot's Lounge and restoked the fire to warm up, and continued with the seminar until 5 pm, when some left to head home and others waited to fly. We headed up the mountain as the cloudbase lifted and we had a truckload of hopefuls wanting to fly. 
This is what Mother Nature gave us at Woodside today! - photo by JPR Alex R volununteered to be Wind Tech and he launch in a nice lull, and was going up pretty fast initially. He looked like he climbed thru 850 meters at which point cloudsuck was occuring. After 15 minutes of being "parked" out front he decided a run to Harvest prudent and we all packed up and chased him, as none of us were looking forward being stuck in the air unable to penetrate to the Ranch. 
Alex in the air at Woodside today on his Ozone Addict II XS - photo by JPR
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Woodside Report - good weather . . . if you had "balls of steel"! | We finished our Indoor Sessions after lunch and headed out to the Kiting area of Eagle Ranch to train the new students: brock and Lorne. Lorne is an old pro after 4 hours of kiting last week and 3 tandems but it as still hard work as the gliders got wetter and wetter and heavier. In the end of the 2 hour session both Brock and Lorrne looked pretty strong. We made a trip to the top with Alex R, Tonya, Ed R and myself but it was blowing pretty darned strong. And cold with clouds ripping by launch. We waited 30 minutes and drove down. Even around 6pm, it was still blowing hard on top. So no flying but great ground school sessions for the Instructor Candidates. Mexican HG Nationals Report - Last week we had the Mexican Hang Gliding Nationals. This year it was one FAI-2 comp of 7 days, held at the launch site of San Marcos, Jalisco State. It is a beautiful mountain take-off with a big dry lake in front and a spectacular view to "the volcano of fire" with its snowed peak at 4,200 meters. There were thirty pilots flying, with ten of them international pilots. 
HGers queued up on San Marcos Launch - photo by Rodrigo 
A competitor launches off San Marcos Launch - photo by Rodrigo Results: 1- Rodrigo de Obeso, MEX, Litespeed RS 4 2- Rodrigo Russek, MEX, Litespeed RS 4 3- Erick Salgado, MEX, Litespeed S 4.5 Mexican HG Nationals Location - this launch location is where our FlyBC Mexican Tours operates from in the afternoons on west wind days, but we usually only saw 5-6 m/s in the January-February timeframes (much more manageable than 15 m/s!!)
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Woodside Report - Woodside worked again after 4 pm, and the tandems and solos logged an hour landing at the Ranch. Another flight later was almost soarabe for some. | 
Tandems at Woodside today - photo by JPR |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports
March 2010 Site of the Day archives - Crappy weather in the US on my return trip from Mexico. But when I arrived back at the Ranch there were some great days soaring Woodside.
February 2010 Site of the Day archives - super flying in Mexico for the FlyBC Mexican Tours. Good XCs. The locals were already flying at Mother Woodside back in BC due to the warm weather!
January 2010 Site of the Day archives - nice flying in Mexico for the FlyBC Mexican Tours. Good XCs.
December 2009 Site of the Day archives - our first time in Mexico for a full December and we flew everyday. 40-50 km XCs from Tapalpa.
November 2009 Site of the Day archives - very few flights as we had record rains and high winds.
October 2009 Site of the Day archives - Women's Fly-In in Chelan WA with the Barbie Theme, took first place honours again! More good soaring flights of 2 hours plus on special days.
September 2009 Site of the Day archives - more decent flying weather with a few road trips to escape wind by heading to Savona.
August 2009 Site of the Day archives - best flying conditions in years with little rain. My first hike up Cheam with pals went well.
July 2009 Site of the Day archives - the FlyBC SIV in Revelstoke was a blast, 280 SIV flights and only one wet pilot intentionally that is. Jeremy wished he had landed in the water.
June 2009 Site of the Day archives - dry all month locally so lots of flying, Al has been test flying the new ShotGun launch near Stave Lake having great flights out to Woodside.
May 2009 Site of the Day archives - local flying is getting great with nice XC's! Bridal was working well. The new bathroom was installed in the Barn at Eagle Ranch enriching the FlyBC experience.
April 2009 Site of the Day archives - we escaped the local weather by flying in New Zealand for 3 weeks. We will be heading back soon!
March 2009 Site of the Day archives - we were flying locally in snow, relying on Derek's sleds and chains on the 'Mog to get up Woodside.
February 2009 Site of the Day archives - the Worlds PG Championships in Mexico was hard work for the Canucks, the tasks and speeds were unreal.
January 2009 Site of the Day archives - Manzanillo, Mexico was a BLAST, many new sites flown and we have a new tour Destination for 2010.
December 2008 Site of the Day archives - the annual FlyBC Christmas Party was a cold success with Head over Heels entertaining us all night. And we left early for Manzanillo, Mexico on Dec 28th.
November 2008 Site of the Day archives - some soaring between rain storms, and it was pretty dry in Agassiz.
October 2008 Site of the Day archives - we went ot the Women's Fly In on Chelan for the annual Halloween Costume Fly-In, great conditions there to offset the wet month on the West Coast. Steve Fosset's crash site was found in Nevada after a year of searching.
September 2008 Site of the Day archives - great student conditions at Woodside and Bridal all month, with 10 students getting signed off this month, a record.
August 2008 Site of the Day archives - our second SIV Course of the 2008 season went well at Sale Mountain near Revelstoke (except for a few water landings and minor injuries). Wet all month at Woodside except the weekends.
July 2008 Site of the Day archives - our first SIV Course of the 2008 season went well at Sale Mountain near Revelstoke.
June 2008 Site of the Day archives - a few good soaring days at Bridal, lots of new students this month.
May 2008 Site of the Day archives - the cost of gas is keeping pilots at home and the weather isn't helping either. One good XC in May for me, leaving Woodside with Norm and Martin H and ending up at Elk at 1600 meters before landing by Hopyard Hill. 3 hours and 85 kms later by the GPS.
April 2008 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years but we flew every day we could.
March 2008 Site of the Day archives - more snow and still hiking to launch at Woodside! But some major airtime for the locals committed to coming out to fly.
February 2008 Site of the Day archives - more snow in BC than I can remember in 25 years of living here. We are still hiking to launch at Woodside!
January 2008 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years so we went to Mexico and logged many hours of airtime, while it snowed heavily in BC.
December 2007 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years so we went to Mexico on Dec 29th for three weeks.
November 2007 Site of the Day archives - Colleen and I went to California to fly the new Falcon A-16 Advanced Ultralight prototype and it flew very well. Some good soaring days at Woodside, some folks were still trying to fly Bridal but that is a waste of time this late in the season.
October 2007 Site of the Day archives - mid-air at Woodside caused Martin H some paraglider damage, some great soarable days. The Women's Fly In was a success with the Canuck Team taking top spot for the theme of "Celebrities in Rehab".
September 2007 Site of the Day archives - we re-discovered and flew 'Horsefly' Launch for the first time, some mayhem at Woodside due to tree-suck, lots of good soaring in afternoon glassoffs, a great Indian Summer until late in the month when the rains came early. Derek, Martina, Robin and Diane went to Europe. Kirill went to Australia for a paramotor Fly-In.
August 2007 Site of the Day archives - fun two weeks at Mara Lake, followed by steady flying at Woodside and Bridal, making up for the dismal spring and summer.
July 2007 Site of the Day archives - good flights at Bridal, some mayhem at Woodside from visiting pilots.
June 2007 Site of the Day archives - more crappy weather on the weekends. Some awesome flights between showers as Norm and Thomm flew to Mission on the last day of the month.
May 2007 Site of the Day archives - flyable every weekday, but the Fraser Valley XC Comp got crappy weather on the weekends, although it was student flyable.
April 2007 Site of the Day archives - good flights are starting. Some complete triangles from Woodside to Bridal and back, some "musical triangles" from others.
March 2007 Site of the Day archives - fifth month of crappy weather on the Coast. We went to Santa Barbara for some flights, and to dry out. Some good days were also recorded locally.
Febuary 2007 Site of the Day archives - fourth month of crappy weather on the Coast. So we stayed in Mexico.
January 2007 Site of the Day archives - third month of crappy weather on the Coast. So we went to Mexico to fly Colima, Tapalpa, and San Marcos, while Brad and gang headed to Tenacingo, Mexico.
December 2006 Site of the Day archives - more ugly weather on the Coast. Severe winds damaged trees and property so not much flying happened. Some good flight reports from local PGers travelling world-wide.
November 2006 Site of the Day archives - the wettest November on record. We flew a few good flights but mostly we were rained out.
October 2006 Site of the Day archives - lots of good days with 3-4 hours airtime. The Women's Fly-In was on again in Chelan with about 18 Canucks, and a good day Saturday with 85 registered pilots.
September 2006 Site of the Day archives - still soarable in the Fraser Valley, little or no rain. Colleen is back flying! Some mayhem in the valley.
August 2006 Site of the Day archives - a great flying month everywhere, we had a super successful SIV clinic at Mara Lake with everyone SAT-ing and heli-ing.
July 2006 Site of the Day archives - road trip to Lumby, then on the 8th Colleen spun in below Gloria cancelling her summer plans (but she is recuperating well).
June 2006 Site of the Day archives - the Valley dried out, and we flew most days and every weekend.
May 2006 Site of the Day archives - more rain that ever imagined in the Fraser Valley. Very few soaring flights and even less XC.
April 2006 Site of the Day archives - the Easter Bunny was "run over" on Kilby Road, plus the train wreck on April 1.
March 2006 Site of the Day archives - a new pilot was born, Chloe. We also flew a few days between showers, some long flights up to 4 hours. A few Out & Return Flights to Deroche and Bear.
February 2006 Site of the Day archives - another wet month with some soarable days (2).
January 2006 Site of the Day archives - some flying on Elk and Woodside, smart pilots headed South for great Mexican or Chilean flying.
December 2005 Site of the Day archives - some flying on Elk and Woodside, smart pilots headed South.
November 2005 Site of the Day archives - rain, snow and not much flying.
October 2005 Site of the Day archives - Women's Fly In in Chelan yielded two soarable days before the snows hit.
September 2005 Site of the Day archives - dry most of the month. Some great 4 hour flights at Woodside getting to cloudbase most days. Three crash-landings in the same clearcut by pilots scratching too low, but no injuries.
August 2005 Site of the Day archives - road trips to the Interior gave us an opportunity to rag out some gliders at FlyBC SIV 2005 (Part II). Also a great road trip to Savona.
July 2005 Site of the Day archives - good flying all month, no rain but some windy days shut us down. The Willi started in Golden with a few good days, but one tragedy as Charles Warren perished in a crash near Harrogate.
June 2005 Site of the Day archives - too much rain, but good days to fly between showers.
May 2005 Site of the Day archives - our Instructor/Tandem seminar yielded some good flying. Our May 2005 SIV Clinic had a good turnout, with many wet wings/pilots! Many nice flights at Woodside and Bridal, with some long "out & returns" at Bridal.
April 2005 Site of the Day archives - some great soaring at Woodside and Bridal. Sad news from the US Hanggliding Nationals as Chris Muller crashes at goal.
March 2005 Site of the Day archives - we had to head out of town to Savona a few weekends due to wet weather on the Coast. Wetter than normal according to Environment Canada.
February 2005 Site of the Day archives - some good soaring despite early time of year. Flights as long as 3 hours at Woodside, some good flights at Whidbey Island for first timers, too!
January 2005 Site of the Day archives road trips to Mexico, not much flying locally due to strong north winds and rain. Record rain kept Eagle Ranch quite wet for kiting.
December 2004 Site of the Day archives a dry month with some good soaring including a fantastic day on Dec. 11 where we thermalled for 2+ hours!
November 2004 Site of the Day archives more record rain. We installed a fireplace in the barn to keep pilots warm between winter flights.
October 2004 Site of the Day archives more record rain, but sweet soaring between showers. Many new students signed up and making quick progress. We missed the Women's Fly In for the first time in 9 years, and there was some interesting flying on the Sunday!
September 2004 Site of the Day archives rainiest September on record for the first 3 weeks, made flying difficult. But Alan and others logged some pretty nice flights later in the month. Lots of student tandems for both Colleen and Jim.
August 2004 Site of the Day archives Great Maneuver/SIV/ACRO course at Mara. Jack got wet! Some great soaring at Woodside. Norm made it 68 km from Mara to King Eddie, Derek made it from Lumby to Enderby the opposite direction for 67 kms. We also did our BC roadtrip from Ashcroft to New Denver, and flew everyday.
July 2004 Site of the Day archives the Willi was on at Golden. We missed the mayhem due to work and school commitments but Norm did a great job representing the West Coast.
June 2004 Site of the Day archives Canadian Nationals came off with many great rounds. Pemberton-Whistler Championships were blown out most days so we headed to Cornwall.
May 2004 Site of the Day archives great flying at Woodside and Bridal. We held a very successful SIV Course at Mara Lake, and hope to run another one in August if they keep the forests open.
April 2004 Site of the Day archives good flying in the Valley. The Fraser Valley Cross Country PG Series was successssful.
March 2004 Site of the Day archives Nicole won in Brazil, otherwise the month sucked for flying time.
February 2004 Site of the Day archives some local flights extended to an hour with vigourous scratching above the trees. Good paramotor month.
January 2004 Site of the Day archives Mexican road trip yielded 20 hours of flight and a wet Canadian January kept most local pilots on the ground.
December 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew a few times but it got really cold at the end of the month as we prepared for a gala New Year's Party for 40 of our close personal friends and neighbours.
November 2003 Site of the Day archives windy and wet with the odd good soaring day, not many pilots out these days.
October 2003 Site of the Day archives Women's Fly In was great fun, some good soaring days mid-month, most of the students are signed off.
September 2003 Site of the Day archives good conditions until the last days of the month when it got stable. Most days were flyable at Woodside or Bridal.
August 2003 Site of the Day archives Forest closures made the end of the month a non-flying period unless you headed to Blanchard. FlyBC SIV 2003 was a great success with 9 stunt pilots and no deployments or crashes.
July 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew most days early at Woodside until it got windy, then over to Bridal. Good Golden flying reports from the "Willi".
June 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew most weekdays at Bridal, Woodside worked most weekends. Bridal Air Races had one great day with only two tree landings!
May 2003 Site of the Day archives not a great weather month on the coast, especially on the weekends but a few pilots managed to get some great airtime at Bridal. The Nationals were held in Lumby and it didn't rain!
April 2003 Site of the Day archives rain for 28 of 30 April days, but we managed to get a few flights in between showers. Even the golfers were complaining!
March 2003 Site of the Day archives some high spring flights in early March, but not a great weather month. Still no HPAC Insurance!
February 2003 Site of the Day archives some nice long spring flights in late February. HPAC Insurance expired on Feb 14, so many pilots stayed home instead of getting USHGA coverage.
January 2003 Site of the Day archives lots of rain all month in BC so we bailed and headed to Tapalpa Mexico for three weeks. Norm and Lucille had a great XC flight the first day we arrived.
December 2002 Site of the Day archives lots of rain all month.
November 2002 Site of the Day archives not a great flying month, lots of rain in the beginning and then super stable and inverted for the balance of the month. Even the Savona Road Trip wasn't that great. Looking forward to Mexico!
October 2002 Site of the Day archives Still soarable some days, great fun at the Women's Fly In 2002 in Chelan. Allan logged 15 hours and only flew a few days. Most of the students are ready for signoff soon to get ready for Mexico trips!
September 2002 Site of the Day archives Still soarable most everyday! Some scary incidents at Woodside. Fun flying at Ashcroft.
August 2002 Site of the Day archives More spring-like days with super lapse rates, great fun up-country at Revelstoke and Mara, with some good XCs for all.
July 2002 Site of the Day archives Some spring-like days with super lapse rates, but still rather wet at times.
June 2002 Site of the Day archives another rainy and windy month with great lapse rates, some great flights at Bridal with some getting above Cheam Peak. The Club Cup was nearly rained out but they got one valid task in on Sunday June 30.
May 2002 Site of the Day archives an extremely rainy month with the more spring mayhem, another reserve deployment at Lil Nick and a pilot crashed at the top of Deroche Mountain, uninjured but with a ripped glider and long hike down the mountain. Colleen placed 5th place at the Canadian PG Nationals in rainy Lumby!
April 2002 Site of the Day archives a rainy month with the usual spring mayhem, one reserve deployment at Woodside and a pilot hit a parked car at Bridal LZ, fracturing his leg.
March 2002 Site of the Day archives a few great days days with lots of snow and rain mixed in.
February 2002 Site of the Day archives two epic days already (4.5 hours and 2.5 hours!).
January 2002 Site of the Day archives Mexico vacation shots, some local flying but it was wet on the coast.
December 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, wettest December on record, some good days sprinkled thru the month.
November 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, had some good days at Woodside +2 hours, lots of rain later in the month.
October 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, but great flying at Chelan at the Women's Fly In.
September 2001 Site of the Day archives starting to get pretty stable, more sled rides forecast for October.
Aug 2001 Site of the Day archives Mara, Bridal, till some great flights locally
July 2001 Site of the Day archives Road Trip Month, Golden, Mara, points east!
June 2001 Site of the Day archives Great Month, 3 hours of airtime for some pilots every time they flew Bridal Lower! Some getting up to 6 hours in a single flight!
May 2001 Site of the Day archives Unstable Month, 2-3 hours of airtime for some pilots every time they flew Bridal Lower!
April 2001 Site of the Day archives Rainy Month, not as much airtime for some pilots
March 2001 Site of the Day archives Spring has Sprung!
February 2001 Site of the Day archives Spring is in the Air!
January 2001 Site of the Day archives - Mexico Flying Trip
December 2000 Site of the Day archives
November 2000 Site of the Day archives (great month for airtime!)
October 2000 Site of the Day archives
September 2000 Site of the Day archives
July - August 2000 Site of the Day archives
June 2000 Site of the Day archives
March - May 2000 Site of the Day archives
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