FlyBC "Site of the Day" - November 2008 Archive
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." - from Ferris Bueller's Day Off
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Woodside Report - no ne came flying, but around 3 pm the skies cleared and launch was wide open. It may not have been soarable but it was flyable on the last day of November 2008.|
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Woodside Reno Report - worked hard inside the house, as the Barn was just too cold and damp. | Martina's Mexican Gloat Report - We're having a great time in Los Cabos, even without our wings! It's nice to wake up every morning knowing the forecast is going to be for sun. Not doing much but lying by the pool working on our tans for the FlyBC Christmas party. We saw an internet cafe yesterday that Norm (Mr. "Beer-io") must have helped name..."Cyber Spacio". We went into town last night for a fiesta at the main square, they were giving out samples of Premium El "Jim"ador tequila. We had a shot for you. Well the Sea of Cortez looks pretty calm out our window so it's time to head to the beach. See you Thursday (it better be flyable)! - Adios! Martina & Derek  The pool at Derek and Martina's condo - photo by ML
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Woodside Report - heavy rain all day, nasty driving conditions . . . and no flying locally. Cloudbase was down to the ground most of the day, even driving over Woodside to Agassiz, I was in the clouds and fog. Fun day at the Chilliwack dump getting rid of all the renovation waste, and I picked up the lumber for the joist reinforcement project to happen Saturday Nov 29. | Miguel's Summer Flying Video - it is all a distant memory (sigh). Ozone's Colours for 2009 of course, custom colours are available for an extra $150 CDN. 
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Woodside Report - Jason went out at lunch, but no one was in the area, so he declined flying alone (smart call). The winds seemed favourable and in the SW direction, not windy as forecast. |
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Woodside Report - the winds looked pretty strong from the NE, no pilots out yesterday.. |
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Woodside Report - it was soarable until the rain started at 10 am, when I was starting a meeting in Abbotsford.
No one was out that early, I guess because it started raining in Vancouver at 6 am. | Rob Whittal in a recently posted You Tube Clip flying an Octane New military uses for ram-air parachutes
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Woodside Report - desperados: Martina and Jason flew a sledder around 3:30 pm, thanks to Jason's dad for driving them up. Downwind run required for Martina, but Jason says he got a puff of inflow to launch into. |  Jason lands near Stonehenge in no wind - photo by JPR  Martina playing with wingovers over Duncan's, nice sunset showing on Woodside - photo by JPR Ozone R09 Pictures released today!  Pre-production prototype seen in France during testing, nice shape with 7+ aspect ratio - photo by ??? This looks like custom colours as there are only two colours available stocks seen below. We ordered Red/White/Black/Red similar to the Marta I stock colour scheme. Easy to see and very durable colours for UV. 
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Woodside Report - quite gusty around Sumas on the way out, and ridiculous at the Ranch . . . for flying at least. Kiting was okay for Martin and Mia. |  Martin kiting his Zulu at the Ranch - photo by JPR Elk Hike & Fly Report - while we were keeping warm in the Barn, an email came in from Brad H direct from Elk via Blackberry. Strong and Gusty SE at launch!  Dedicated Elk Hikers in the snow on Elk - photo by Brad  Holding on to Carl's 6907 during the gusts - photo by Brad  Larry is up "on deck" with his Ultralite - photo by Brad
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Woodside Report - I was working around the Ranch doing chores when I looked up at the windsock on launch and noticed it might be marginally soarable. Sumas was reporting 240 @ 8-10 mph. | I loaded the Mojo2 L into the truck as it has the most surface area for light days like this, and told Colleen I was heading up. She decided to come up too, so in went her Addict II and we were off to launch. Arriving to light launch conditions, Colleen was not motivated to fly until she saw it was soarable so one of us could top-land to drive down. So I had to sacrifice myself for the team. I launched pretty quickly and was almost soaring the north ridge and sinking slowly when I caught the first thermal off the Lower Launch switchback, which took me over launch. Good cloudbase and I was able to get higher and maintain on the north side. When that lift got light, I went over the clearcut near the road and it was rising there and at the South Knoll.  Woodside Launch from a helmet cam video grab, while climbing out near the South Knoll - photo by JPR I was moving across the face of Woodside testing the air and I noticed cloudbase was lowering as I climbed out. The South Knoll was clear when I launched and now it was closing in?  South Knoll disappearing in the clouds - photo by JPR I was circling in the gulley and climbing nicely when I started getting "whited-out". Cloudbase was falling as I climbed and a few turns made it clear I had to head out or top-land. I chose the top-landing so Colleen could fly and headed in through some light cloud formations.  IFR approach onto Woodside Launch - photo by JPR I dropped in from the normal south approach and landed on the carpet as Colleen was getting ready and as I bunched up launch became obscured totally. Total airtime less than 15 minutes, but cold and sweet. We waited for a bit for the clouds to part, but instead it got darker and it started to spit. Quickly loading up the wings we were on the way down to the Ranch. Jason and Dennis B arrived to hopefully fly, but got commandeered to help move furniture upstairs in the Barn. We left around 12:30 pm, to go to an office party in Richmond, but the sun was coming out again over Woodside. I hope someone else got a flight later - Jim
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Woodside Report - despite the warnings, Woodside was flyable until dark. Not soarable, but flyable. | Scott called from Everett around 11 am, and it was raining hard there and looked like a hurricane was headed his way!
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Woodside Report - heavy rain all day, plywood taking flight early in the morning required a rescue effort before I could leave for work. |  FlyBC has pre-ordered an Ozone R09 Medium for demo flights, expected mid-December delivery in Harrison Mills. "Valley Crossings" should be easier now! November 4, 2008 - Ozone releases the newest Comp Glider the R-09 Dav's Designer's Notes: Mantra R09
The concept: Maximum Performance in the Open Class Competition Wing Category, in order to support our international XC / Competition team. The R07 was a well received comp wing with high performance and perhaps the best climb on the PWC and also highly comfortable – but we needed to improve on the top speed in order to have it all.
New Features: The airfoil is a completely new type. The thickness, camber, and the general shape have all been improved, with the aim to retain the positive features of the R07 while yielding higher top speed. Speed is a factor of wing loading: we have reduced the size to achieve a good compromise between climb rate and speed.
The arc has been revised in order to achieve the highest performance possible for this geometry. The planform remains the same except from the tip which has been redesigned to work with the new arc.
We’ve also managed to make a 15% reduction in total line drag, which translates into a straight benefit in performance!
The tension straps running across the span are now made with Mylar: This gives more cohesion to the wing, and guaranties longevity of performance.
New “shrink tabs” for the brake attachment makes the trailing edge even cleaner, and also creates more tension in the trailing edge during the turn.
Profile-enhancing rigid construction on the leading edge has also helped to give the R09 a 10kmh top speed increase! In order to maintain the shape of the nose, two types of reinforcements have been added inside and outside, at the front of the airfoil: the result is a cleaner airfoil shape, and the stability of the openings allows a higher top speed with less sail deformation – this helps prevent collapses and inefficient excessive sail movement.
The R09 is also the first model to have a new generation of trimmers. Pilots may choose either performance or stability while previously; the choice was to either set your accelerator system to one feature or the other.
Please find tech specs below. Please note that custom colors are available for the standard cost of 100 Euros extra.
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Woodside Report - strong NE winds all day, up to 60 kph at times. Richmond and Vancouver had light inflow winds at the same time as the front is trying to push in. | LANGLEY (NEWS1130) - Happy 150th Birthday British Columbia! We've been celebrating the milestone all year, but it was on this day in 1858 when Governor James Douglas proclaimed BC a crown colony. Later this morning, Premier Gordon Campbell will be holding a special cabinet meeting at Fort Langley where that proclamation was made. Langley-area cabinet ministers Rich Coleman and Mary Polak will be appearing in special Victorian-era dress for the occasion. FlyBC's Site of the Day Page Breaks 180,000 unique visits - we use a public domain counter that looks at unique IP addresses and counts only changed IP Address lookups to the page. Many users have static IP addresses when on Shaw or Telus, so we know the actual visits are much higher. Nice to know pilots and people are watching. The ClusterMaps picture shows the world map and dots where people have visited the page as well. Running total of visits to the above URL since 12 Jun 2006: 95,584 Total since archive, i.e. 14 Jun 2008 - present: 11,748 (not necessarily all displayed - see below). Visits on previous 'day': 71. This respresents the typical winter slowdown in PG Interest. The map shows individual visits to the web site shown at the top of the page, clustered within a given distance.
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Woodside Report - I arrived at the Ranch to see Ian J doing an approach and landing with his Coyote. | Jeff arrived to start his motor training at noon, and by 1:30 pm, he was cruising the skies around the Ranch. He purchased one of our demo MZ100 units with about 10 hours on it and after some discussions and simulator setup we were in the LZ getting clipped in. He brought his low end ProDesign Accura, but I think he will be happier on his faster wing, but no problem getting off frst time with nice winds to launch into.  Jeff M on his new shiny MZ100 paramotor - photo by JPR Second flight was a bit more challenging as the winds dropped down, but the plan was to take off, climb to 250 feet then head to Woodside Launch. Jeff got off cleanly and was circling and got to a decent altitude and was heading east when Miguel, Kent and Nikolai drove across the Harrison Bridge . . . and they got all excited seeing someone climbing near Woodside Mountain. Until I told them it was a paramotor! The boys headed up to launch and were soon all in Joe's backyard looking for a ride. Jason arrived too from work, so I offered them all a ride to launch, as I was planning to glue down the carpet seams with some new solvent based outdoor carpet glue.  Nice evening sky, with rising mist at Mother Woodside - photo by JPR Nice cycles, but not much lift as the guys all flew down to the Ranch. It may be the last flight for a week so enjoy it.
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Woodside Report - Derek and Martina drove up to launch around 3 pm, but it was lame and they didn't fly. | World Record Report - local pilot had an amazing summer logging many record flights. Congratulations, Mia! ================================================ Claim number : 15075 Sub-class :O-5 (Hang Gliders with a rigid primary structure / movable control surface(s) without pilot surrounding structures and fairings.) Category: Feminine Type of record : Speed over a triangular course of 50 km Course/location : Mansfield, WA (USA) Performance : 25.4 km/h Pilot : Mia SCHOKKER (Canada) Aircraft : AIR Atos VS Date :01.07.2008 Previous record : no record set yet ================================================ and ================================================ Claim number : 15073 Sub-class :O-5 (Hang Gliders with a rigid primary structure / movable control surface(s) without pilot surrounding structures and fairings.) Category: Feminine Type of record : Speed over a triangular course of 100 km Course/location : Mansfield, WA (USA) Performance : 28.9 km/h Pilot : Mia SCHOKKER (Canada) Aircraft : AIR Atos VS Date :15.06.2008 Previous record : no record set yet ================================================ and ================================================ Claim number : 15104 Sub-class :O-5 (Hang Gliders with a rigid primary structure / movable control surface(s) without pilot surrounding structures and fairings.) Category: Feminine Type of record : Speed over a triangular course of 150 km Course/location : Mansfield, WA (USA) Performance : 28.9 km/h Pilot : Mia SCHOKKER (Canada) Aircraft : AIR Atos VS Date :02.08.2008 Previous record : no record set yet ================================================ and ================================================ Claim number : 15105 Sub-class :O-5 (Hang Gliders with a rigid primary structure / movable control surface(s) without pilot surrounding structures and fairings.) Category: Feminine Type of record : Distance over a triangular course Course/location : Mansfield, WA (USA) Performance : 150.5 km Pilot : Mia SCHOKKER (Canada) Aircraft : AIR Atos VS Date :02.08.2008 Previous record : no record set yet ================================================ and ================================================ Claim number : 15113 Sub-class :O-5 (Hang Gliders with a rigid primary structure / movable control surface(s) without pilot surrounding structures and fairings.) Category: Feminine Type of record : Speed over an out-and-return course of 100 km Course/location : Mansfield, WA (USA) Performance : 32.3 km/h Pilot : Mia SCHOKKER (Canada) Aircraft : AIR Atos VS Date :04.08.2008 Previous record : no record set yet ================================================ FAI congratulates the Pilot on this splendid achievement.
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Woodside Report - as planned the weather cleared enough for us to fly all day. | Jason and Scott showed up at 11 am, as did Mia and Martin so a trip up to launch was organized while we waited for our tandem people to arrive at noon. 11 may have been a bit early as there was lttle wind but eventually everyone launched and flew into the Ranch.  Clear view all the way to Victoria, inverted down low - photo by JPR By noon we had a full Van with students James and Phil (flying his new Buzz Z), Stephen, Jacqueline and Aaron (tandem folks), Colleen and me, and a few others. And we were soon at launch with nicer cycles. Colleen flew off with Aaron and soon the air was filled with gliders on their way to the Ranch. Jacqueline and I drove down to retrieve everyone for another flight, and we repeated the exercise with Aaron driving down this time as we flew tandem.  A shot of the Ranch from over Duncan's while Jacqueline was piloting me - photo by JPR I took everyone up for one last flight as Martin, Derek, Chiu and I attempted to glue the seams of the carpet. I think it was too cold for the glue to set so another formulation must be found. We staked down more spikes and hope to finish the glue-ing on Monday. The guys got one last flight as Norm and I drove down.
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Woodside Report - we stained coat #1 in the Barn on the new panelling upstairs and headed into Chilliwack to get some wood and supplies with a plan to arrive back at the Ranch around 2 pm. | Brad H was at launch with his daughter waiting for the cloud layer to clear before taking her tandem. Ian J had flown by in his Coyote plane and estimated the cloud layer to be 1000 feet thick. When the clouds occasionally thinned it was catabatic winds, when the cycles came in the clouds reformed. This went on for 2 hours. Not to be discouraged Colleen, Jason, Scott and I raced up around 3:30 pm to try and fly as Brad drove down. We waited for about 15 minutes as the wind stayed at a steady 5-10 kph over the back.
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Woodside Report - the webcam showed clearing skies in the morning, and it didn't start raining until after dark so someone may have been flying, just no pireps at this time. It may have been calm conditions for sledders according to the Sumas Windtalker. |
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Woodside Report - I planned on heading out and doing some staining in the Barn, and Rick was helping me mask when Rob and Robin arrived, as did Kelly with her niece Natasha for a tandem. | It was strong at launch and we saw Dennis R at launch milling about, and we finally headed out from the Ranch at 3 pm. Picked Jason up at the Kettle and we were on launch setting up by 3:30 pm. Natasha and I went first, not waiting for lulls but waiting for a cycle. Dennis had launched just as we arrived and was already at 800 meters, soaring.  Natasha all bundled up for a November flight at Woodside - photo by Kelly We soared the north side and got above launch to watch the rest of the group takeoff. Thermals mixed with ridge lift. Nice CU in front of the mountain. Some aborts from Rick and Jason, perhaps rusty from no flying lately but we soon were all soaring around. No traffic issues with 6 gliders in the air. Rob, Robin and Dennis were "duking it out" by the towers. By the time they got there, my hands were already frozen so I did not want to go higher and I stayed near launch and the south knoll. My first attempt to head out to the Ranch was met with turbulent air and no penetration so back to the South Knoll to top up. I saw Rob heading out in rather smooth air higher up so we followed him and soon passed him (the Magnum tandem trims out faster than the Mantra M2 apparently). We had nice air but not much speed all the way to the River, and I engaged a fast spiral to get into the Ranch which Natasha loved! Typical turbulence in strong SW winds but a smooth touchdown on a high spot to pack up in the Eagle Ranch LZ. Jason, Robin and Rob all landed at the Ranch with Dennis and Rick landing at Riverside.  November Soaring Flight at Woodside, nice sky - photo by Kelly Our flight time 1:00 on the tandem. If I wasn't so cold we could have stayed up til dark. Hand warmers are to be added to the kit today. Tenancingo Mexico Report - The weather is already hot and dry(er) in the days, and colllld at night, and I am doing high altitude tandems with adults again. Here is one of my favorite photos from last year, flying on my old rag of a Boxtair. My 20 year old variometer was reading 17,300ft msl at the time, but I have since found out with GPS that it had been reading several thousand feet less than reality at high altitudes, so it could have been more like 19,000 ft, and a few times I flew even higher, but did not take photos - Daniel Villegas  Over Tenancingo at 18000 feet! - photo by Daniel Villegas
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Woodside Report - light rain all afternoon. |
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Woodside Monsoon Report - heavy rain all day. I got stuck on my front lawn moving scrap lumber and had to go into 4x4 mode to get off the lawn! The parking area is also very mushy, so park on the road or in front of the garage if you come by to visit. | More electrical work brought in 2 separate 20 amp circuits for the Band, and new lighting upstairs. The wood work was completed by Rob and the stain should go on as soon as it warms up above 10 degrees C. Reports from Spences Bridge said it was sunny and calm today, but we were in Harrison Mills.
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Woodside Report - after several hours on the Barn Renovation; Rob, Colleen, Dennis B, Rick H and I hopped in the Van around 3:30 pm and headed up to launch. We had many opinions as to the wind strength looking thru the telescope . . . but the sky had blue holes, it was inflow and no rain so off we raced. | I made pretty good time getting to launch and we ran to the top to see the carpet was separating at the seams and someone had placed heavy rocks on it to keep it from blowing away. Chiu's seam held well where he had used contact cement (and there is more to use as soon as we get a dry day).  Lovely Woodside sky post rain, but too strong for us mere mortals (even the birds were parked) - photo by CMV We didn't wait around for long as there were huge gusts in the trees, and we could see ourselves parked for an hour trying to get to the Ranch and it getting dark on us. Or ending up at Harvest Market in the dark and with a lockdown at Kent Prison not much chance of getting a ride back to the Ranch. We raced back down and headed to Chilliwack while the Mission boys headed home and Rob apparently kept working 'cause when we got back the entire Barn was organized and swept up! Rob: your new radio has arrived and you can pick it up later at the Ranch. Thanks for the help again Rob, Dennis and Rick. The last strapping will go on on Tuesday and barring electrical issue the barn is ready for "Head over Heels" to light up the place with music on December 13. Valley Gas Price Report - gas is down to $0.939 per litre at Rosedale and Chilliwack today. Fill up those gas-guzzlers before they raise the prices again.
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Woodside Report - we saw blue sky again a few times, but the wet grass and the Barn kept us inside. Rob was a fantastic workaholic, and we have only 3-4 sheets of plywood left to install and finishing work to complete to have the entire upstairs area as one big 2000 sq ft dance floor. |
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Woodside Report - we actually got some blue sky for a few hours, but it looked windy up higher. The ground was too wet to bother flying, as you have to land somewhere. | Instead of flying, we focussed on "pimping up" the hayloft in the barn for the Dec 13 FlyBC Bash. Alan, Rob, Thomm, Norm, Colleen and I slaved until 4 pm, installing the North wall and the double height West wall (including insulation and tar paper water barrier. It will be toasty warm at the Party. My extreme gratitude to these guys taking the time to help us get this project finished.  Working on the West wall, installing plywood feature wall to 12 foot height - photo by CMV
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Woodside Report - we arrived at 2:30 pm to heavy rain, I was too bagged to even start working on the barn, but hope to start in the morning after I get some lumber. |
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Vancouver Report - wet and windy all day. |
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Woodside Report - I was heading out to Woodside when I stopped at Rosedale Esso for fuel (down to $0.97 per litre) when I snapped this photo. The snowline was down to 900 meters but it is expected to melt quickly with the latest "pineapple express" bearing down on us. |  Mount Cheam from Rosedale, new snow down low - photo by JPR When I came around the back of Woodside from Harvest Market, there were many fires burning on the latest clearcuts and the smoke was showing light outflow winds. And a monster CU growing over Woodside.  Mount Woodside from Cameron Road, nice CU - photo by JPR Derek, Martina and Alan were heading up and picked up Kent and Miguel at the Kettle before heading up. Alan had one attempt to launch that snagged his glider line and ripped them on one of the spikes so he was out of the game, so he drove down while the others had between 20-30 minute flights maintaining nicely. I was waiting for a large load of plywood to arrive, so I offered up my wing to Alan and we drove up Norm to fly around 1 pm. Chiu was up at launch trying to glue the carpet, but it was too wet. It was pretty lame, even leeside at launch at times so Norm declined the flight and we drove down. Chiu also decided it was too lame to fly as we offered to drive his rig down for him. Later Derek, Martina, Kent, Miguel, Dennis R and Nikolai went back up and all flew but Miguel and some got above launch for another half hour or so landing at the Ranch, to help with the plywood installation. What a great crew, we had the south wall installed within 2 hours, even with the odd-shaped braces and endwall studs and power relocation. It should look fantastic when finished and stained, ready for the next party Dec 13 (and other events and training seminars). Now if I can just get the bats to relocate! Thanks to Chiu, Kent, Miguel (a mad-man with a nailgun), Alan, Martina, Derek for helping me with yet another project pimping up the Barn. More photos later of the project as we start again Thursday and Friday during the rain. Elk Report #2 - David S bagged a nice soaring flight logging 28 minutes earlier in the day, racing up quickly to fly off on his Ultralight. Cold and windy was his report. Elk Report #2 - It was "do or die" hike up Elk today after leaving school to hear about a tail wind on Woody. I started hiking at 3:00 pm, hit the snowline at 3:40, and reached the summit at 4:09. I felt light east wind all the way up and then it got calm just before the summit. However, on top it was blowing strong from the SE, up to 30 km/hr with lulls down to 20 and it was COLD. Although I was prepared to hike down in the dark, I could tell that a good launch would be rewarded with some nice smooth ridge lift. I was glad I brought the M2. I catapulted into the sky immediately and flew mostly with "a bit'obar" gaining about 100 meters. After playing over Elk for a while, I flew halfway to Thurston before hitting the stronger east wind wall and starting to sink out. Back at Elk I could have flown all night but my hands were already getting numb (and yes, I was fully dressed this time) and it was getting dark so I crabbed out to Eddy's, landing after about thirty-five minutes. Mr. Schuetz himself was there so I didn't have to retrieve my car on foot. We had a beer and a good visit before departing to Cultus and Maple Ridge. All in all, a fine fine call - Kevin A A-16 Falcon Progress Report - the A-16 Falcon was always designed with floats in mind, and here is the prototype #1 with amphibious floats installed. This will make the Falcon a perfect BC aircraft, take off from your paved or grassed strip, fly up to a remote lake to camp or fish, and be home quickly and safely.  The A-16 Falcon on floats - photo by Dave Saunders (designer)  The A-16 Falcon on floats - photo by Dave Saunders (designer)
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Woodside Report - rain at times heavy, a few clear breaks around noon with cloudbase just above launch but no gliders were seen flying. | Blanchard WA Report - 7 hangs and -- after it settled a bit -- 3 paras took to the skies above Blanchard this afternoon, and it was magically smooth. Between the lot of us we must have taken 300 pictures. I took around 50 myself, and maybe 5 are good. I'm still sorting through them and see how well they tune up - Chris HGer Blanchard Photos Election Report - there was a lot of elections happening yesterday: The WCSC elected a new Board or Directors and a smaller election happened in USA. Congratulations to Nataliya as the new WCSC President and Kent as Social/Comps Director, with many current directors staying on for another term. Also, congrats to Barack for getting in as US President. Ozone Octane FLX Video - "How easy is it to helicopter the Octane FLX?"
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Woodside Report - a few open breaks shown on the FlyBC WebCams around 3 pm, but it looked pretty lame and pretty wet. | Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Déjà Vu On the dayof the US Election, I saw this clip of Crosby Stills, Nash and Young . . . something to ponder.
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Woodside Report - hard rain all day and the roads didn't look too safe for travel to Princeton so I stayed at the Ranch. |
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Woodside Report - a pleasant day with little rain, but gusty NE winds kept us grounded. The only flying I saw was about 80 seagulls thermalling over the Bailey dump, and a few Cessnas in the circuit at Chilliwack Airport. | We did make it to Cultus Lake for the Halloween Hootenanny featuring "Head over Heel's", also a featured act at the FlyBC Christmas Party in the Barn at Eagle Ranch on Dec 13/2008. Please RSVP your attendance so we can plan food and logistics.  Head over Heels with Freddie Mercury on drums and Jack Sparrow on lead guitar - photo by JPR
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Woodside Report - we arrived just before dark and cloudbase was very low and it was raining hard, not a nice night for "trick or treating". The weekend looks bad everywhere in BC. |
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Woodside Report - a mixed bag of weather in the Fraser Valley. Early on Agassiz had howling NE winds while Woodside was sheltered and flyable, but no one was out and it looked very light at launch. Derek arrived around 11:00 am and helped mow the orchard, while I mowed the blackberries on the perimeter of the Eagle Ranch LZ. | By 2:00 pm, the 30% chance of showers became a 100% monsoon, nice to have a dry shop to work in when it gets wet out. Prepping the Van for a road trip weekend, but to where ???? Savona looks like a best bet so far. Another Women's Fly-In Costume Video - Ernie Friesen's Flying Wine Taster Outfit . |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports
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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