FlyBC "Site of the Day Archives" - November 2007
"The best part about flying is that you have no right to be there!". - from XC Mag June 2006
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Woodside Report - no flying here. Winds from the north at 50-60 kph all day. The steel pole I used to install the webcam windsock folded over within one day!|
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Woodside Report - it was windy as forecast, strong gusts from the NE all day at the Ranch. | Kirril was out fixing his QuadCat, Derek and Martina came by and drove up to Woodside, and Al was by hoping for a Horsefly Day, but it never happened. I worked on installing a windsock in front of the Woodside Web Cam so you can see how strong the wind is blowing at the Ranch. Hopefully it will survive the winter months. 
Woodside today, we drove to the top - photo by JPR 
Snow line on Cheam is well defined and very low - photo by JPR
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Vancouver Report - rain and cold all day. |
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Woodside Report - My truck tracks and footprints out at the ranch today. | I got out there around noon and cloudbase started to drop from launch to lower launch. Rain started falling lightly. The sun over Langley gave out about Sumas mtn and stayed that way on the way back home. Nice drive though - Ihor Ihor: You left too early! When I arrived at 2:30 pm, your tracks were still fresh and Denis was over launch. And the Eagle's were resting in the trees on the east side of Eagle Ranch. I took the Big Blue Van out and headed up the mountain, stopped to cut a tree off the road and drove straight to launch. 4-6 inches of snow on the road. Joe said he bailed just past the Lower Launch and made Denis walk the rest of the way up. As I arrived Denis was low and cycles were not guaranteed soarable so I waited a bit then drove down. Beautiful sun beams coming throught the clouds, but alas camera was at the Ranch - Jim 
Another broken Austria Alpine aluminum carabiner - photo by Gerry Wingenbach Looks pretty worn, I suspect 5 years old or more. These should be changed every 200 hours or 2 years at least.
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Richmond Report - heavy rain turned to snow by 4 pm. No flying except heavy aircraft at YVR. |
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Woodside Gloat Report - Norm reported seeing a glider above Woodside as he arrived thru Agassiz (Andy), so he drove very fast to Joe's to get up the mountain. | He reported getting low and high and enjoying an hour or more of "sweet soaring" before heading home. Santa Barbara Report - a lazy day getting ready to return home. No Ultralight Flying and the Santa Ana's were still there so it called for walks on the beach, hike thru a coastal State Park in Malibu and lunch at Venice Beach before catching a 6 pm flight home. Colleen tried to talk me into soaring the cliffs in Malibu but I wasn't sure of the laws governing this Park, so I declined.
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Camarillo Report - - we headed to the Camarillo Airport early to avoid the forecasted Santa Ana winds, so Colleen could fly in the A-16 Falcon. | She got her pre-flight brieing in the hangar and strapped in with Mark to head out for some flying on the Coast. 
Colleen checking out the A-16 Falcon - photo by JPR They taxied out to Runway 26 and into a SW wind (no Santa Ana's yet) and did a quick climbout and left the circuit to the east. As they climbed out they saw the huge 4800 acre Malibu fire as it got started and they thought it was mostly out by the time they returned an hour later. The flight plan was east to the Santa Paula Mountains, then out to the coast and north to Santa Barbara, then back low to check out the surfers. Cruising at 110 mph, you can cover a lot of ground in the Falcon. She was quite impressed by the plane and gave her "thumbs-up" for the project of bringing four Falcon's home as soon as they are built! Santa Barbara Report - - after flying and getting lunch at the Waypoint Cafe, we headed north to Santa Barbara to try to fly paragliders. Arriving at the new LZ off the 154, we saw no one in the air, or any evidence that anyone had flown and the Westerlies kicked in pretty strong. The glide out looks pretty long, especially in west winds. 
The view from the new Santa Barbara Soaring Association LZ towards launch - photo by JPR We decided to head to Eling's Park to see if it was soarable. When we arrived there were students doing bunny hops, but not soarable yet so we chatted with Chad and heard that earlier 15 gliders were soaring well above the mountains in one column of lift before heading out to the new LZ. We just arrived a few hours late. There was also a Paramotor Fly-In at Salton Sea but I didn't feel like a 3 hour drive each way in the iffy conditions. There is another one on Feb 7/2008 so I may get to that one if anyone is interested in a road trip.
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Camarillo Ultralight Report - after 10 years of not flying 3 axis, I still remembered how to fly! | The A-16 Falcon is an unusual design; pusher prop on a Rotax 912, tandem seating with tons of room for big folks, great visibility with a huge glass canopy, control stick (not a yoke), castering nosewheel and electric flaps for short field work. 
The A-16 Falcon in-flight - photo by JPR Camarillo airport is a busy place with a control tower, ground and mandatory ATIS so Mark controlled the radio while I flew the Falcon. First takeoff was into 5 knots crosswind and we were off in 500 feet with full tanks and 415 lbs of pilots. We left the circuit out toward Ojai and did some stalls and slow flight stuff. Easy to fly. Good cruise out to the practice area indicating 120 mph at 5500 rpm. Normal cruise is more like 5000 rpm and 110 mph indicated. First landing at Camarillo was no flaps and gusting 20 knots at 30 degrees cross, very thermic as the Santa Anas kicked in. I pinned it first time, and did a touch and go back into the circuit and there were 5 planes in circuit all with different landing speeds (we were doing fast approaches at 100 mph and slowing over the displaced threshold to keep the pattern working). An Islander got in front of us and was going very slow and messed up the circuit making the controllers cancel all "touch and goes" so we did a full stop and parked the Falcon after an hour of flight. The Falcon burns 4-5 US Gallons per Hour for approximately $20 per hour fuel cost at 110 mph. Good XC machine at that speed with 3.75 hours range with current tank setup. I went for lunch and over to Paratoys to look at some new paramotors for an hour and Mark called me back to the airport as the winds switched to onshore and we were going to fly again! Back in the Falcon this time was easier as I was familiar with locations of everything, out on the runway with flasp this time and light winds and we were off in 400 feet and climbing like a rocket at 80 mph. We did 4 touch and goes before sunset closed in and we were grounded by Light Sport Rules (Day VFR only). Colleen is coming in tonight to fly the A-16 and give her blessing to the project. More later. ps: no paragliding today, too windy from the NE and no Horsefly Launches here.
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Santa Barbara Report - someone decided to bulldoze the old LZ and turn it into a subdivision!
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LZ where we landed last March, now under construction - photo by JPR Fortunately the Santa Barbara Soaring Association purchased a new LZ which I didn't find out about til I got back online today. Thread on the SB Forum about LZs No one was flying, too light on the coast (I almost took a wing out) and too much turkey in the ovens, these folks take Thanksgiving seriously - not even a department store open today - Jim Horsefly Report - Rob S flew while Robin (the new WCSC pres) elected to drive. Good call apparently as Rob squeaked into the airport with one turn in 30kph winds! Another un-named pilot from SFO tried to launch and ended up with a tangled mess in the crap below launch, just his wing not him fortunately! Ozone Team PPGer! Ozone Team PPGer in Korea! This could not be done in Canada! At least without a few tickets written.
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Woodside Report - no pireps. |
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Woodside Report - despite the NOAA soundings forecast for NE winds to 15 knots, and clouds tilting over from the NE, we checked the windsock thru the telescope and it was blowing up at Woodside, so off we went to launch. Gary H, Alan, Andy, Derek, Justin and Jim all loaded in the Big Blue Van. Some snow on the road up but no problems getting to launch, very pretty with snow on the trees. | Derek launched first around noon, and scratched out 30 minutes getting above launch a few times. Nice CU formations all around Woodside with definite E drift higher up. But smooth. Alan launched next and as usual climbed above the South Knoll with ease and stayed there for 1:09. The rest of us launched and all stayed up for 20-30 minutes, with some of the best climbs further out toward the Ranch. Al, Norm, Rob and Robin headed up Horsefly while we were flying Woodside and Al got off despite West winds there??? He landed at Bill Best's on a sledder. The rest of the group drove down and rejoined with us for another flight off Woodside, and then one last one to retrieve all the vehicles, so it was flyable at Woodside right til 4 pm. About 15 pilots in all out on a sunny Tuesday, with some pretty nice airtime for November 20th!
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Woodside Report - snow on the ground at Eagle Ranch! I hope it doesn't build up too much on the Horsefly side, cause we are going to fly there on November 20th (tomorrow). | 
Woodside snow - photo by Webcam Merritt Ultralight Video - a few weeks ago I was checking out Merritt for launch sites and came across a nice soaring hill next to the Quilchena Hotel on Nicola Lake. There is also an airstrip available for public use. See Ian J's video of landing there recently and you can see the hill on the left as he touches down.
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Woodside Report - Jan and Andy started flying Woodside early, despite east wind forecast. And we continued flying Woodside all day til around 4 pm. Note smoke in the picture below from the slash burns on Sasquatch had westerly drift. | 
Woodside Locals tracking a thermal NW of launch - photo by JPR Once we saw the birds climbing out everyone was motivated to fly, and a few stayed up for a bit but mostly 12-15 minute extended sledders happened. Light winds made for great glider speed systems testing. No dogs on launch today. Rob S says Tuesday will be a good day for Horsefly so clear your calendars! Ultralight Report - Ian J and a flying buddy dropped into Eagle Ranch today and hung around for a bit before taking off. Looked like they took off in under 100 meters even though it was light east wind. Ian has the yellow Rans S-6 Coyote often seen around Woodside. You can see his exploits on YouTube under user name "Big0Chimp". 
Shot of the Coyote taking off from Eagle Ranch (from launch at 2200 feet) - photo by JPR Holland Report - one of Colleen's work colleagues is in Holland and was bike riding down a farm road and saw some folks paragliding. I didn't recognize Wouter in the picture? 
Crazy "Dutch" Paragliders - photo by Jeannine
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Woodside Report - Andy hiked and flew 2 flights before noon. Martin N joined Andy on the second hike, but had to hike down as it was catabatic and started to rain. |
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Woodside Report - when we arrived the mountain was obscured but it looked flyable on the WebCam from 10 am on. When the mountain cleared around 4:15 pm, it would have been dark too sonn to fly safely. |
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Vancouver Report - heavy rain, but the Woodside WebCam showed it looked flyable at Woodside at times, no pireps. | PARAGLIDING OPEN DISTANCE WORLD RECORD BROKEN On November 14/2007, three of Brazil's most accomplished big distance XC pilots, Frank Brown, Rafael Salladi and Marcelo Preito, foot launched from Brazil's fabled big distance mecca of Quixada in Ceara state and flew a total of 461.8 km, landing 10 hours later! The team took off on Sol Tracer competition wings at 07:30 and managed to climb out under a cloudy sky. They were part of a group of seven pilots, but the other four quickly went down. The team of three flew the entire day together and only landed after night had fallen. The massive flights across the hot, dry northeast corner of Brazil finally takes Will Gadd's 2002 record of 426 km. The record had been broken by 5 km before by the Valic brothers from Da Aar in South Africa, but a technical glitch in the rules meant the FAI were unable to ratify it. Whether the team have their paper work in order and are able to get this flight ratified will remain unknown for several weeks yet. The new record has been brewing for a while now with the team having already logged three flights over 400 km from Quixada this year. With the record out of the way the team can focus themselves on what will be a massive milestone in the history books of paragliding: the first 500 km flight by paraglider. With other teams in South Africa and Australia waiting for conditions the race is on. Track Logs: Marcelo Prieto · 14.11.2007 · 467.36 km Rafael Saladini · 14.11.2007 · 466.79 km
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Horsefly Report - a non-flyable day starting early. after updating the Site of the Day page, I headed out to the Valley and I encountered strong easterlies after Mission. At the Ranch gusts to 40 kph sustained, so when Norm showed up we decided it wasn't worth a drive up. It kept getting stronger to the point of whitecaps on the Harrison River near the bridge. | Good News was I got the Woodside Web Cam back up and running after a 2 week hiatus due to a W32.Licum virus that required a Norton Upgrade, and I worked on the Big Blue Van so it should be ready for a roadtrip this weekend (looks like rain and wind for the Fraser Valley again).
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Woodside Report - Derek and Andy were up the mountain three times and were denied every time. | First outing was too windy so they went down and waited. Second time was too cloudy, and the third time it over-developed and started raining and hailing despite nice cycles at launch. It looked great in Richmond and I was hoping for better for the valley but it was too unstable.
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Woodside Report - not as windy as Vancouver or Victoria, but gusts up to 70 kph were noted. Good day for car repairs and indoor renovations. |
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Woodside Report - we got to launch around 9:00 am and it looked good to go except for a cell approaching from Chilliwack that would have arrived by the time we all launched so we went for breakfast at the Sandpiper Golf Course to kill time. | Back to launch with Gary K, Vickie, Colleen, Derek, Martina and me. Pretty nice cycles when we arrived. We might all fly this time. By the time I was clipped in the cycles were 25-30 kph and gusty. I waited for a long time for a lull and when they came they lasted 2-3 seconds. I finally unclipped when some snow and rain started falling. When it calmed down I was back in the launch slot and brought up the Zoom and was lifted off with a tip collapse and strong climbs to around 800 meters where my forward speed went to 1 kph! Colleen commented that I was going backwards. No problem as I was still climbing and I could have blown straight for Harvest at this height. Then I started hitting sink, strong SW winds but no lift and no penetration over the cliffs north of launch. Also, the Zoom was walking around pretty good so speedbar was not recommended. I pointed towards the South Knoll and no penetration there either. I made a decision to head to Chehalis and the ball fields. I had no choice other than land out in some new clearcuts with a dubious retrieve, so I topped out at the Towers. Oddly, no wind up there and I could do huge 360s to climb (suggesting strong south wind and I was now in the lee). I left Woodside at 900 meters, should have plenty of glide to get to the reserve. And there are boats fishing in the Harrison River to pluck me out if I come short! As I crossed the Harrison River a float plane leaving Harrison Lake was flying under me and I waved, but he didn't see me. 
Crossing north from Woodside to the Chehalis Reserve, light winds on the ground - photo by JPR I expected huge rotors and sink after leaving Woodside, but all I got was sink and by moving east I found some lift to climb in and was higher on the north bank of the Harrison River that when I left. The wind at Chehalis was very light as indicated by the smoke from the burn piles north of Chehalis. Nice view of the Reserve as I flew over. There was two soccer fields before, but the one to the west has been filled with clean fill to raise it I suspect, so I was going to land in the field closest to the road and I could see players getting ready for a game but not yet warming up so I was no conflict (better than Grouse this time of year). 
Looking back at Woodside from the Chehalis Reserve, as I was circling the soccer field at 200 meters (long glide out) - photo by JPR There was a pack of three large dogs running around the field trying to figure out where the big bird was going to land (me). Where's BlackBox when you need him? I landed to the south as the mist appeared to have a northerly drift but still smoked in and had to run hard as I landed. The dogs didn't even come close as they ran off to another distraction. As I packed up the soccer teams started warming up and Colleen came and found me. Summary: the forecast winds were in fact 18 knots, there were no birds out (clue #1 that it wasn't good), I hit some pretty strong thermals at the 800 meter level that weren't pleasant with associated sink, and wasn't prepared to land in a clearcut so running to Chehalis was the safe choice. Andy had flown there a few years ago for fun and had a nice flight. I was always worried it would be stronger in Chehalis due to venturi effect but the smoke told me it was calmer there, in fact no wind - Jim
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Woodside Report - after a blustery night and morning, we went kiting to see all the new Ozone gliders come out of the bags. Merritt was already blown out by 9:00 am! | First up was Richard's new Geo II MS. It is the light version with Spectra risers, very cool design. 
Spectra Risers, very slim and functional, three riser design (ABC) - photo by JPR 
Geo II in the air, note upper lines are unsheathed kevlar, lowers are normal sheathed lines - photo by JPR We also took Gary K's new Rush out of the bag and he did some nice kiting before we decided to go up the mountain at 2:30 pm. Al was off first, then Norm, Alex W, Zdenek U, and then me (Jim). Quick climbs, going backwards at times on the Zoom. Lots of Bald Eagles. One tried to have a mid-air with me near the towers right at my eye-level (all I saw was talons and the eagle's tail feathers as it braked and dove off to my right! - very cool!). After that it was back ridge-soaring with me. Many eagles were surfing in front of other paragliders. Back on launch it looked like a "gong show" as an un-named Rush pilot tried to get off. Al and Zdenek top-landed in the middle of the "gong show" and Al relaunched as Zdenek drove down. Richard launched the Geo II around this time as it lulled a bit. 
Nice sunset for me on the way out with an Eagle flying with me, the camera doesn't do justice to how close the eagle was flying with me - photo by JPR Alex, Norm and I landed at the Ranch first after an hour of cold soaring. Interesting thermic layers at 200 meters, perhaps caused by the huge black cell over the golf course. Al and Richard were doing speed runs - Addict M vs Geo II MS and they were pretty close in speed and glide both coming out pretty high despite the slow ground speeds. The Geo II should be a great all around wing which will pack light and compact for travel or "hike & flying". Thanks to Thomm for driving as he had a "horse related injury" which meant flying was out for a few weeks, horses are dangerous. Bush Jumps from a plane COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- He's 83 and just had hip replacement surgery in January, but that isn't keeping former President George H.W. Bush from skydiving. 
Former President George H.W. Bush free falls Saturday with U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team member Sgt. 1st Class Mike Elliott. Bush celebrated the grand reopening of his presidential museum yesterday with a surprise jump. It was his sixth and the first since he celebrated his 80th birthday with a jump in 2004. As in that one, Bush was strapped to an expert from the Army Golden Knights parachute team. His first parachute jump was in 1944 when his plane was shot down over the Pacific island of Chi Chi Jima. The 69,000-square-foot museum has been under renovation. It opened a decade ago on the Texas A&M University campus about 100 miles northwest of Houston, displacing an Aggie hog farm. Across the museum parking lot is a broad grass field that Bush, now 83, used as a landing site for his parachute jump on his 80th birthday. Behind the library is the spot that will be the burial site for the former president and his wife, Barbara. The number of interactive exhibits has increased from 10 to 90, and dozens of large flat-screen monitors have been erected throughout the place to better explain exhibits. "There are all kinds of things we couldn't do 10 years ago," museum Director Warren Finch said. Among them is a recreated White House Situation Room, where visitors can sit around an oak table, make decisions and compare them to the decisions Bush made. There's also a replica of the Oval Office where visitors can get a picture of themselves as commander in chief seated behind the presidential desk. Among other new exhibits is a presentation about the Gulf War, where visitors sit in a tent supposedly in the Kuwaiti desert and experience jets flying overhead and bombs going off as soldiers who where there recall their experiences. Other video displays allow visitors to land a plane on an aircraft carrier like Bush did as a World War II fighter pilot. Another focuses on many of the pets the Bush family has had. And there's a mock-up satellite from the CIA -- an agency Bush once headed -- to show how spy surveillance cameras work. "This is a visual age, and people -- especially kids -- expect more," said Dave Asada, with Universal Exhibits Inc., the California-based firm that installed many of the new interactive devices. "Today, people don't just want to read something, they want to experience it." One display features a video clip of comedian Dana Carvey, famous for his impersonation of Bush saying "Not gonna do it," and a commercial the Bushes did for the Houston Astros. There's also a miniature White House for small children to crawl through. The money to pay for the renovations was raised privately. The museum and library draws about 150,000 visitors annually, ranking it in the top five of the dozen presidential libraries operated by the National Archives.
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Woodside Report - possible flyable window around 3 pm, but no gloat reports. | Geo 2 Report - we delivered Richard T's new Ozone Geo II last night and it is a great design with super light risers made from spectra line. Hopefully we can test fly it tomorrow in Merritt!
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Vancouver Report - rain most of the day and low cloudbase (winter is here). |
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Woodside Report - no gloat reports from Rainy Woodside today, looks like Merrit or Kamloops is the place to be this weekend. |
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Woodside Report - Martina bagged a flight while Derek "brushed out" the front of launch. | Tenancingo MX Report - Sunny and 86 degrees F. Cloudbase calculator says 3100 meters! Light winds. Women's Fly-In Video - no names are revealed to protect the participants.
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Woodside Report - I headed out to do some work on the payout winch (looking for a donor boat to test it - something that can do 45+ mph with a solid hull for stability). | Strong east wind in Hope, Agassiz and Mission. Harrison Bay was rippled from the east too. but . . . Andy and Derek were "duking it out" on the South Knoll for over an hour when I got there. Norm was chomping to get up there but missed the ride with "Ten Buck Joe". Martina was on her way but I rushed Norm up to launch as Barry landed at the Ranch, then took both Martina and Barry up. Al just arrived with Joe at the same time. By the time they were launching the others had started to sink as the time between noon and 1:14 pm was peak heating time. Total airtime for Andy and Derek was over two hours over two flights, not bad for a day that looked stable and strong east wind everywhere else? 
Barry off launch and climbing at Woodside, still telling a joke on the way out - photo by JPR I headed back down in the XL-7 to finish the winch tuneup before heading in to Vancouver. It sure gets dark early with Standard Time! But no dogs biting pilots on launch today! New USHPA Mag Article - an un-named pilot flying a Sky Atis is featured falling out of his harness at Valle de Bravo failing to do up his leg straps in an article titled "Is 70% good enough?". Does anyone know who it is??
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Woodside Report - the day started out with low cloudbase, and high hopes. We got to launch to see Andy laid out, after hiking up. Obscured launch with light tail wind was not inspiring, but Colleen launched after it cleared and she grabbed a cycle. She disappeared several times but was still up over the construction zone eventually landing with 49 minutes on the vario (best flight of the day I suspect). | There was another 20+ pilots waiting on launch when I drove down to get Colleen and Stephen, and they were all launched and landed by the time we arrived back on launch. We had cross cycles, but everyone got off before it went to solid catabatic cycles. I had to try a new technique, kiting the glider facing the parking lot and launching to the SE. After many tries, it worked and I was heading to the Ranch. Not recommended!
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Woodside Report - heavy rain all day. | Woodside Report - We had to leave Utah Saturday morning to start the drive back home & prayed to the wind gods for one last flight. We got it, launching at 7:30 right before sunrise & soaring in the light winds for a couple of hours. It sure is different flying along with your butt a few inches off the ground! - Martina 
Martina soaring the South Side at Point of the Mountain, UT - photo by Derek K
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Woodside Report - Derek P and Andy flew two "hike & fly" flights into Joe's. Last flight of the day I took them up with Gary K and they all had extended sledders to the Ranch. | Martin H was out and retrieved the D bag and handle with a slingshot and some PVC pipes. He should be ready to fly by Sunday. Martina's Point of the Mountain Report - So . . . taking a week off to come to the Point of the Mountain after the Women's Fly-In was definitely the right decision. We've had great flights every day we've been here - Derek's benched up the North Side, we've soared the South Side in 'epic' conditions - but this afternoon was even more amazing! Derek was in the first group to launch off the North Side this afternoon, and of course the last one to land at sunset. He benched up quickly just like last time & stayed there the whole flight, in spite of the numbing cold up high! I launched a few minutes later but was unsuccessful on my first attempt to bench up, so I toplanded & the locals gave me some friendly advice on how to get up there. A few minutes after launching I found a great thermal away from everyone else on the ridge, but after a few turns a hang glider found a thermal nearby & cranked it in there. I followed his lead & turned as tight as I dared to avoid meeting him if our thermals joined up. My thermal drifted me back & I soon found myself 3/4 of the way up the mountain and was able to ridge soar the rest of the way to the top! I let out a loud holler and bumbled around the sky for a bit, top landing back at launch to warm up & celebrate. The locals who had given me advice before came over to high-five me, and who else should congratulate me on my nice flying but the creator of my wing...Rob Whittal! Sweet! Enjoy! - Martina 
Gaggle Soaring on the North Side of the Point - photo by Martina 
Derek K finally landing after benching up the North Side - photo by Martina
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Woodside Mayhem Report - Woodside Nov 1st 2007, Midair...parachute deployment! | With my afternoon appointment cancelled and the sky was full of late season CU’s I was off to Woodside to sneak in a little bit of airtime to end the season. I stopped off at The Ranch but the bus had left so it was up to launch on my own. Up on launch there were a few unfamiliar faces and some of the usual out in front enjoying what looked like a fine day in mellow conditions. (very light on launch) It took me a few try’s to get my Gin Zulu glider up and looking good, but on my third pull-up it was clean and had a good launch. Away from the hill the air was lighter then expected so I was having to find my thermals and work them pretty good. Scratching up from below launch I encountered a person flying a what I believe to be a DHV 1 or 1-2 (I did not recognize the pilot). Later I was informed the pilot was a low time pilot with only minimal experience. This encounter was not serious, I just found myself being leery of how the pilot was mixing with others and myself on the mountain. (the pilot was flying a smooth ridge pattern well most of the others were thermaling. I lost the lift and ended up having to track down a new thermal. Out front, and below launch I started to climb out from the cut-blocks. The thermal again brought me backup north west of takeoff. At this point I was in a right hand thermal and slowly climbing. At roughly 500 over launch , I again encountered the same pilot. As before. This pilot continued ridge flying (they were heading in a southerly direction and were perhaps 100 feet overhead). It appeared to me that I was going to synchronize my turn slightly behind, so I decided to use “right of way” and continued to climb. I was hoping that the other pilot was paying attention and would yield right of way to the lower glider.(note, at this point in time, I judged that that we would be close, I did not expect any conflict) At this point, there may be some discrepancy as to exactly what happened. As I was coming around from the back side of my turn I suggest one of two things occurred: - the other pilot changed course, turned SW away from the ridge, encountered sink and ended up colliding with my glider (sitting on top of my left wing with their boots hanging over the leading edge). - or, my drift was greater then I calculated and I drifted closer to the other pilot then expected , resulting in the same situation. Regardless of how it occurred, we had a midair. My recollection of exactly what happened from this point on is probably not that good, but I know I took a few aggressive steps to recover from the impact. My glider had been turning right, with a mild bank. I guess you could say I was in disbelief that we had collided but I new I should be doing something to fix the situation . I weight shifted to the right and applied aggressive right brake and releasing all of my left brake trim. I was hoping I would simply brush off the other pilot and continue on. Unfortunately what appears to have happened was the combination of collision on the left leading edge and right brake application put me in a stall (I think?) Some how I separated from the other pilot and at this point my glider surged violently (perhaps with a bit of left turn?). I got totally out of sync with the surge and brake timing. From this point on, Jim who was above me (but did not know I had just had a midair) observed that my brake application for the surge was way out, the glider got way out in front of me, lines went loose, I swung under the wing, entered a second huge pitch and again I did not check the surge fast enough (probably not helping things that my lines were going slack!) I knew I was in trouble, so I did what everybody tells you to do… (Perhaps one surge too late) I went hands up. For a brief moment the glider behaved…. Unfortunately I knew I was getting low and knew I had to decide could the wing be flown? Was it damaged? Had I broken any lines? I looked up and got my answer.. cravat on my left wing, glider was turning left, I was turning towards the hill I was perhaps 100 to 200 feet above the trees. I felt the speed building, rotation increasing. As if it was the signal it was time to deploy I heard my sink alarm screaming, I dropped both brakes, reached down with my right hand pulled my Apco Mayday (Packed this spring by me!), got it out of the harness, held it for a second and tossed it out the back door. In 35 years of flying…. I was coming down under reserve, for the first time! Within seconds, I was crashing through the trees (you got to love them trees!). Part way down, I remember thinking… “cross your legs dummy” … followed by “I think I’m running out of branches?” Next thing I know, I’m standing on the forest floor, my Zulu, hanging by one wing tip a few feet above my head, the rest of the glider on the forest floor. My Mayday reserve was laying behind me. Of all the day’s to have forgotten to have brought my radio… I was obviously ok, so my next big concern was not freaking everybody out. Fortunately, Jim was straight overhead and calling down asking if I was Ok, he was able to relay that I was on the ground and ok. Of course, I was pumping with adrenaline so it took me a few minutes to assess things. Soon Martin (who says you can never find a cop when you need one?) and Ihor were down with me to assist in my retrieval (thanks guys). 
Martin Henry's Landing Zone (nice forest) - photo by Ihor My Zulu, was pretty torn up on the right wing, probably tree damage. My impacted left wing had substantial tears but I’m sure all the result of surfing through the trees. No damage to the reserve, except the deployment bag was hanging up a tree… I left it there with my Profeel XC deployment handle. Jim will send the glider off to Gin to see if its fixable. Oh, if you were wondering, the other pilot suffered no apparent issues and was able to continue flying. So, what did I learn? Right of way is meaningless if not all the parties are playing along. I should never of continued my climb. My gut instinct gave me reservations about the pilot I was approaching. I should have listened to my gut and bailed out of the thermal. Well I seriously thought we were not going to collide, I obviously did not take into account the potential variables (what if…?). I have 62 hours in a PG, and judging how badly I got behind in my massive surges I know an advanced maneuvers course could have helped me. Perhaps had I found a way to managed the initial stall/surge… I could have had some nice airtime? What did help me was having thought through the deployment sequence. In my head I kept a very short list of things (lists have to be short when you get old!), Well throwing the reserve is not something I wanted to do, I knew the “list” dictated that I was in trouble. I lost control, I was low, my opportunity to regain control was minimal… time to huck the laundry. Bring a radio, no matter what. It should be part of your gear (no excuse). I wish there was a better way to have known the other pilot had hardly any experience. Had I not forgotten my radio, perhaps I would have been warned or would have been able to talk to the other pilot. Absolutely, I should have had a radio for just these types of circumstances. Funny thing about this incident (ok, perhaps not that funny). The other pilot was flying without a reserve. This astonished me. It also made me mad! When I met the visiting pilot we talked briefly. (and Jim can attest to the fact I was civil ?), Mind you, I did in no uncertain terms indicate before they flew again they better get a F&%$ing reserve. Well I had ended up on the ground without a scratch, things could have been different. The other pilot could have become twisted into my tip and tangled… had fate been unkind, they could have been hauled off the hill in a body bag. Now that’s the kind of thing that can ruin your day. Thankfully, its “Live and Learn” - Cheers, Martin Henry PS: I posted this as fast as I could… probably couldn’t beat Jimbo to the internet. I got this to the forum without a single drink… Speaking of a drink, I think I’ll just see if I can find myself a nice smooth single malt?. Woodside Gloat Report - other than Martin's unfortunate incident . . . we had a great flying day: Andy - 4 hours, Norm - 1 hr, the rest 2-3 hours in great leeside lift (+4 ms/- 3.8 m/s sink too) to 1200 meters! I was flying Norm's Zoom (still for sale) and he trained it well, it was finding the cores and staying in the best lift climbing through some Eagles at times - Jim Utah Gloat Report - we just landed from another "obnoxious flying episode at the Point!", started at 7 am and flew until 8:45 am. Then off to town for some other fun! - Martina
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Woodside Report - the Norweigan visiting pilot was out and unhappy no one was flying. Perhaps he missed Andy? | |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports
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. Derke, 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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