FlyBC's Site of the Day October 2004 Archive Page
Vancouver
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| /1000' (stable) | 3800 ft. |
Woodside Report - we drove down from Ashcroft early and we arrived to see gliders at launch! So we had lunch and watched until one PGer had launched and we raced up the hill to fly. A very nice one hour of ridge soaring getting up to 990 meters on the north cliffs. The picture below shows the traffic at launch.
Andy heading out to the Ranch, but he headed back and got up again! Elk Report - Alan reported 1:30 in ridge and thermals, despite a gloomy hike in fog & snow. Ivan, Eddie, Chris H, Lee and Carl all flew in moderately strong conditions. Chelan Report - The Halloween party went well, believe or not Norm dressed up as a woman and was the ugliest woman there lol. I was a mechanic in Norm's greasy coveralls and grease on my face. When asked who I was I pointed to Norm and said her husband. Got a laugh from that. Russ Ondeck was a geisha lady and he looked awesome! Lynette was a Samauri. Saturday was blown out no one flew, Sunday people flew but it became windy, The people were landing @ lone pine, and some got up extremely high and headed for the park lz. Although it became really windy, probably gusting 40 mph. Norm couldn't land, he was going up 6 meters and he pulled b-line and everything and still couldn't get down, He ended up landing across the river on top of the mountain, Gary Hatchey went and got him. Of course I didn't fly, I sort of don't like strong winds gusting to 40. Anyway Gary flew and top landed before it got too windy. Jack did not fly we were concerned with the cat paws on the river and the ripples, @ lone pine people were experiencing ugly landing with rotor and collapses upon landing. The only canucks that were there that I knew were Jack, Gary, Kevin Alt, Derick and Martina, and your student Ian. There was a guy there that dressed up in Victoria Secret style outfit, that really turned some heads. The tiger bunch were the Muppets theme and sang the Muppet show song, they were real good, we have to come up with a real great theme for next year. I sure missed you guys it wasn't the same without you. Norm got his new Subaru, we pick it up after it clears customs on Thursday. (Jim are you going to the states on Thursday by any chance "grin?) His new car is nicer than his old one, it has roof racks, and even power windows and power steering. He is happy with it. You will of course see it when we come out your way. We came home on the number 20. Snow higher up, slipped a few times but 4x4 was good. Pretty up there, we went through manning and up through the ok border and through manning there was a bunch of snow, one vehicle was flipped and in the ditch. I hate snow! Other than the people I saw out there at the Chelan party there were hardly no canucks :( Anyway going to bed I am so tired after driving from Chelan to the border then back to Russ's while we dropped off the new car at his house, and then homeward. I haven't driven so far in a long while and am bagged Talk to you soon - Love Bev
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| /1000' (stable) 5400 ft.
Woodside Report - rainy and windy.
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| /1000' (stable) 5400 ft.
Woodside Report - I received an early forecast which looked promising but it rained all day in Abbotsford. But I did see a view of Woodside from our webcam at 1:45 pm that looked promising, from my vantage point in Victoria.
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| /1000' (stable) 5400 ft.
Woodside Report - quite a few pilots out today. Norm and Alex W flew in around 1:00 pm after a sled ride. Andy and David S flew for about 45 minutes later on in scrappy lift. Ian H was out and did 4 student flights from 3:00 pm til dark! Not bad for late October.
| Looking for Chris Erickson: - Chris. Your new wing is here, but your cell phone is not working. Call me at 604-618-5467 and leave a message so I can find you. Women's Fly In Details - Hi Colleen & Jim - we're gearing up for the event - I know, why haven't I learned to say no regarding volunteering? Murdoch, who is getting roped into all sorts of little projects, has been asking me that question. Here's the article I wrote for the Flypaper talking about the Women's Fly-In - I used your picture, Colleen - Gumbie flys again: Fly Paper This year's event: October 30, 31. Costume party, as usual, Saturday night at the airport. Colleen, if Jim's wearing a skirt, maybe he should shave? I had to give a little speech about the Halloween Fly-In at our club meeting last night, and I said, "Okay, guys, the Canadians have been whipping our butts in the costume department - so get to work!" There were some muttered responses like, "Na-uh - Not this year!" "Wait'll they see what we're doing!" Hmmmm... I'm not in the know, but there's some new "party divas" who have been doing some really fun and tacky stuff lately. And I thought I was the queen of tacky. Changes Food: This year we're catering the event - it always seems like such a big hassle to bring food and costumes, especially if you're camping. Marilyn Raine's restaurant, (hangglider, Chelan Flyers) is going to provide a lasagna/garlic bread/salad meal which sounds good to me. She also understands the voraciousness of pilots. We'll do potluck deserts for those who feel inclined to be Betty Crocker. The Chelan Shuttle guys have quoted us a price of $15 per pilot for the full weekend! That will not be part of the registration cost, but sounds like a phenominal price to me. Our old Sub is getting pretty tired of all those ups and downs. Registration cost - $30. That price will include dinner, beer, beverages; cider and snacks in the morning, chance to win prizes, camping at the airport and site support. (Does Fly BC want to donate a prize? - have to ask, it's part of my prize-patrol job.) Music - someone's downloading a ton of dance music on a laptop and someone else is bringing big speakers - that should be fun. Pam Crabtree (who better) is going to be the D.J. Red Bull is bringing a tent and sound system and music to the LZ on Saturday - as a promotional deal. Jim, I don't know if they have cute little Red Bull girls in swim suits or anything, but I know we had to get our "hip talk" dictionary out to understand what the young man was saying when he said they'd love to come to our event. I think that's what he said. I guess it's all that sugar and caffeine. There will be a mini-Pumpkin-drop into a giant Pie dish. Hopefully no one will get hurt. It was my idea, so I'll probably get sued when some dodo doesn't look up at a shout of "INCOMING." Can you get this information out to the Canadian pilot lists? Can't wait to see guys and what you come up with. This is the first year Murdoch and I are not doing a team effort, but I can tell you now, our front room has some very odd stuff sitting around. Hi to your gang - kelly nichole and all and see you there! Jan Olsen
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| /1000' (stable) 5400 ft.
Woodside Report - very windy all day, 60-70 km/hr. Good logging conditions according to Alan and Derek.
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| /1000' (stable) 2500 ft.
Woodside Report - locally windy from the north.
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| /1000' (stable) 3800 ft.
Savona Report - Darren and Justin flew off the Lower Launch landing down in the valley before we headed up to the Upper PG Launch with the rest of the pilots. We set up wind ribbons down near the Subdivision right below launch, more airtime and smooth LZ with paved road all the way. We flew three flights with some big excitement on the last flight but everyone landed safely before we drove home.
| Woodside Report - Derek reported interesting soaring at Woodside with lots of para-waiting, several soaring flights were reported. Wings are drying now.
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| /1000' (stable) 3800 ft.
Savona Report - we started kiting on the Crash Pad early and Darren and Justin flew down to the Toilet Bowl three times, before heading to the Dump Ridge where we flew all day. These new guys were great, and logged 8 flights before we headed to the Savona Pub (where they ran out of Rye!).
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| Watch for logging trucks and skidders working this week on Woodside! /1000' (stable) 2600 ft.
Woodside Report - windy and rainy!
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| Watch for logging trucks and skidders working this week! /1000' (stable) 5100 ft.
Woodside Report - no pireps but Norm thought it looked weird in Hope earlier.
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| Watch for logging trucks and skidders working this week! /1000' (stable) 5100 ft.
Woodside Report - Andy flew in at 11:00 am, while I was kiting a repaired wing. We went up when Natalia, Alex and Ed showed up. Light launch cycles for the first flights, but by 4:00 pm it was soarable. | 
Rob S above launch! The new views from Woodside Launch are spectacular!  Looking towards Bridal Launch  Looking towards Chilliwack Elk Report - Ivan hiked Elk with a group including Nikolai (who logged 2+ hours) getting to Mt. Thurston. Ivan says the winter soaring season is here!
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| Watch for logging trucks and skidders working this week! /1000' (stable) 2400 ft.
Woodside Logging Report - only 12 logs left to skid out. Falling was completed a few days ago. Club should award Derek, Don, Alan, Rob and Andy honourary lifetime memberships for their efforts!
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| Watch for logging trucks and skidders working this week! /1000' (stable) 2400 ft.
Woodside Report - Alan, Derek, Don and Andy worked on the logging while Jim M soared. Occasional high winds and rain.
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| /1000' (stable) 2400 ft.
Woodside Report - heavy rain all day, very windy, good renovation day indoors. Happy Birthday to Kelly, she just turned 29! but she was in Toronto so we couldn't celebrate :-(
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| /1000' (stable) 2400 ft.
Woodside Report - great cycles at launch at 10:30 am, but you couldn't see the ground due to cloud. We went back up when the clouds lifted but it started blowing over the back. By the time we arrived back at Eagle Ranch there was a full on 50 km gale blowing from the north. So we cut some fire wood instead of flying after sending everyone home.
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| Watch out for the skidder on the road in and logging trucks on the road up! /1000' (very stable) 2400 ft.
Woodside Report as of 5:00 pm, low cloudbase and rain.
| Skidding will stop for the weekend, and restart Monday morning. No work party this weekend. Derek might work for a couple hours one morning, so launch should be 'open' most of the time this weekend. Some equipment is on the move for the 'Canfor' cutblock, and that should also be in full gear by Monday, so next week it might get a little hairy getting into launch with logging trucks continually going up and down, machinery, and skidders. Also a nice mud pit is forming where we are stacking our logs, so someone might just get stuck this weekend.... Rob S (Site Guru).
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| /1000' (very stable) 2700 ft.
Woodside Report - the logging is progressing on the south side of launch. Much work needed to clean up the slash below launch, if people have time Saturday waiting for the rain to clear. Call Rob S at 604-854-0412 to volunteer. Bring chain saws to buck up smaller logs that can not be harvested (under 6").
| Oh, and it was flyable for a 3 minute period only due to low cloudbase all day.
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| /1000' (very stable) 2700 ft.
Woodside Report - despite warnings about the closed road, many showed up to fly Woodside. Very stable with a clear inversion, except Andy managed to squeak out 1:30 near the south Knoll.
| The logging started yesterday thanks to volunteers Andy, Rob S, Don, Alan, Derek and the skidder operator. Most of the trees were gone by 6:00 pm. And the volunteers flew down to Eagle Ranch wih the exception of Alan who was looking pretty tired. The air looked so nice that I decided to fly down too after guiding Natalia through three flights, but all I had was the tandem?? Oh well, off I went without a passenger and it flew very nicely into the parking lot at Eagle Ranch. A bit slower than a normal flight but great sink rate.
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| /1000' (stable) 2700 ft.
Woodside Report - Ed, Rodric and Natalia all had three flights starting at 2:00 pm. Natalia and Ed were thermalling on the first flight and did well. Alan D logged close to 4 hours, along with Alex R and Ian J. Andy had 5 flights soaring on the last three flights. Barry and Jim M flew a few times too but we kept missing them as they were in the RideGlide shuttle truck.
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| /1000' (stable) 2700 ft.
Woodside Report - we started flying at 10:30 am, with tandems for new paramotorists Ed & Rodric. Good cycles with no lift but good for preliminary approach training on tandem. Later we had another flight around 1:00 with Colleen showing us the weird air before retiring to Eagle Ranch for ground handling sessions for everyone. Later in the day Ed & Rodric got their first solo flights completed (they were very happy). Nice launches and landings!
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| /1000' (stable) 2700 ft.
Woodside Report - a quiet day at Woodside, just 5-6 pilots came out, but the conditions were good. Soarable at 1:00 pm. Barely soarable around 3:00 pm (says Norm). But everyone flew 3 flights with great reversible launching conditions. I flew nephew Dylan tandem and he made the mistake of asking for a fast flight! He didn't like the spirals too much judging from the screams :-)
| Woodside Road Report - the road work in to launch looks great, but the drainage needs some work. Big mudhole at the old gate, requires good tires and 4x4 low range.
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| /1000' (unstable) 2700 ft.
Woodside Report - I flew a tandem around 10:00 am, with a new student and we soared until it started raining. Thermals with two eagles imbedded in the core! Colleen flew another tandem around 4:00 pm, wing is now drying in the spare bedroom.
| Eagle Pics - from last Sunday. 
Andy flying off Eagle Launch 
Picture from my flight looking toward Eagle Ranch 
Looking east towards Harrison Lake 
Looking towards Woodside Mtn. New Trike - we demoed a new trike from Paralight on the LaMouette ZR250. Fit perfectly, it is light and stable and we were zooming around the yard in the rain with it. 
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| /1000' (unstable) 3700 ft.
Woodside Report - rain all day.
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| /1000' (unstable) 3700 ft.
Woodside Report - Derek was up cutting trees again today and had a 10 minute sled ride into Riverside. Skidder road 1/2 done.
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| /1000' (very stable) 1900 ft.
Vancouver Report - after a rainy start the weather cleared up, with light winds. Leon said he was going motoring at Mud Bay, but no other reports. | Woodside Report - Derek and Rob S flew Woodside in windy conditions getting 2.5 m/s up! Slow progress out to Riverside due to the wind.
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| /1000' (very stable) 2900 ft.
Woodside Report - rain started by 3:00 pm, but I didn't get any pilot reports.
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| /1000' (very stable) 2900 ft.
Woodside Report - Hi Jim!
I got to Eagle Ranch at 11 a.m. this morning to meet Bev & Norm, but took off with
Andy at 11:15 when they hadn't shown yet. Perfect cycles coming up at
launch and glassy smooth sled rides down to the Ranch. The Lawlors arrived
just in time for the next ride up, and the 4 of us & our wings chugged up to
launch in Norm's subaru (yes, it is possible!) Derek showed up around 2, as
well as Alex and Natalia. Kelly came for a flight too as she was "working"
in the area. Everyone got in at least one flight before it started blowing
over the back (due to the forecasted impending rain?) and Derek, Barry and I
went to Glide Ride Joe's for some $2 sandwiches - Martina
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| /1000' (stable) 2900 ft.
Woodside Report - very crowded and sled rides for everyone who launched. We flew early at 11:00 am, and later at 5:00 pm.
| Eagle Launch Report - after a year of flying other sites, we decided to tackle Eagle before the snow falls. Andy, Ihor, Colleen, Kelly, Jim M, Emil (new student), Ian H (new student), Russ O, and I headed up in the trusty Suburban and the cross-ditches are deeper than ever! We arrived at 1:30 pm to great cycles and everyone launched first time, except me (I was surprised by how fast Kelly's Oasis came up and had to abort but next time was the charm). We had pilots scattered from the beach on the north side of the Harrison River to Bill Best's field but we all survived. Beautiful flights, great views, picture below taken by Ihor on the flight out.  Eagle Ranch Paramotor Report - after a 3 month hiatus, I hauled out the DK Whisper and went for a flight. A couple of aborts and leaning out the carb for more power and I was off and climbing in the thermal to the west of our field. I hung out watching Colleen, Ian H, Derek and Martina fly in to the Ranch and landed on my knees right nest to the Suburban (couldn't flare hard enough and my legs buckled but all was intact when I stood up, Bev missed it). ps: Bev found her wallet with all the money and cards intact.
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| /1000' (stable) 2900 ft.
Woodside Report - we started flying by 11:00 am, with good cycles at launch but little lift. Great student conditions with Colleen and I completing 4 tandems, and 2 student solo flights before 6:00 pm. Quite crowded at launch with some pilots not following the protocol of clipping in and sorting lines at the back of launch before coming to the launch slot. Many more flights could have been had, if others followed the protocol.
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| /1000' (stable) 2900 ft.
Bridal Work Party Saturday Oct 2/2004 - Last night we finally got the machines up to Lower Bridal launch to complete the launch re-shaping project. Today the machine work was completed, so all that is left is for us to have a work party this weekend to rake in some grass seed and to clean-up the few loose rocks lying in the grass. | The forecast looks fairly positive (sunny, light inflow winds and a 2.3 C/1000 ft lapse rate) for Saturday, so this might be your first chance to use the new launch. Meet at the LZ at 11:00 am so we can coordinate rides up. I think that if we get 6 to 10 people with a few rakes, we'll have it pretty much finished in a couple of hours, which should give everyone a chance to have a flight either at Bridal or Woodside. If you don't have a rake, you might be able to pick one up at Canadian Tire for $6!, like I did. After the logging work is done on Woodside, we're planning on doing a little finishing work on Woodside launch, which will give you a second chance to use your rake. Rob Samplonious
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| /1000' (stable) 2900 ft.
Woodside Report - howling winds from the North all day, at least 60 kms.
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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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