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9/30/14 |
Agassiz BC Savona - Mainly sunny. High 18. UV index 3 or moderate. Clair & Tim have their campers too and we were staying in the Steelhead Campground roughing it with power & water even this late in the camping season.
9/29/14
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| Agassiz BC Increasing cloudiness. Showers beginning near noon. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 16.
9/28/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 22. UV index 4 or moderate. Sam was driving up at 4 kms when we drove down and he flew in as we were kiting so it was flyable. We set up Allan's new AirMax 220 Paramotor in the simulator and then took it out to the LZ for a test flight.
Barry was doing well on the training hill with the Gin Atlas with some pointers from Terry B. We headed back up and saw Martin & Mia soaring above launch. Colleen flew off with Kirk on the Gin Fuse Tandem and they soared around before I launched the students.
We headed back up to take Allan's girlfriend Candice for a tandem, but after hearing the reports from Colleen of Barry's landing we decided to drive down and do some motor setups. It was gusty and thermic with strong south winds over the LZ. Meanwhile, Martin N was still flying for another 3+ hours today on his Rush 4! Martin N has completed 30 hours of flying for the month. After installing the weight shift bar kit on the AirMax 220 motor, Allan was able to get off first try on the paramotor and he flew around hanging from his harness for the entire flight as he overtightened the shoulder straps.
Andrei took a group of 10 pilots up Tantalus Glacier today! Lions Bay Report - Greg, Thomas and I hiked up and flew off West Lion. Alpina probably saved my life as wing was a bit soft but flew me off anyway. Then it was soarable on the West Lion. Even tagged the East Lion and then went to Harvey and Brunswick. Took awhile but scratched up Brunswick said hi to the summiters there and got high again.
To top it off one of the residents was super nice and gave us mango juice with a sprig of mint just for flying in! Great fall day - Alex Raymont 9/27/14
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| Agassiz BC Mainly cloudy. Clearing this morning. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 21. UV index 4 or moderate. We then headed to Mission Heritage Park where we bumped into Tonya & Denis training with Bart. Quite cross conditions but when the cycles came up it was perfect and Chris got 5-6 flights on the new Gin Atlas and was doing well controlling the glider and landing very well.
It was clouded in until 2 pm, but we saw Tonya in the air soaring with ease as we arrived and got Colleen ready to go tandem with Chris while I got Barry & Lisa ready. Colleen launched and was soaring easily on the Gin Fuse tandem.
Barry was soon in the air on the Gin Altas S and he was climbing in smooth lift too as Colleen & Chris landed after 45 minutes and Chris had a "perma-grin". He says he and his Dad are coming back for lessons! It was quite South in the Eagle Ranch LZ and Colleen had to warn Lisa to stay ahead of the Goal Post Trees but she did well. Chris was a bit wobbly on final and lost a wingtip due to going up & down on his brakes getting out ot the seat but he landed with a full wing. Al arrived just after Kevin, Daryl & Norm had launched and soon the air was full of gliders (I counted 15 soaring as I replaced the wind sock at the Ranch). Al & group were denied at Benny due to logging debris & low cloudbase.
Martin N got another 2:45 today in his Rush 4. I saw Gary P driving down so he top-landed after 2 hours of soaring. Al top-landed several times but Bev drove his rig down so he could fly some more. Cloudbase was not more that 700-800 metres but the lift was consistent and pilots had to be careful not to get "cloud sucked".
9/26/14
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| Agassiz BC Showers. High 17. 250 kms later I was back at the Ranch and it had rained hard all day.
Happy flying to all - Derek, Monica and Klaus
Photos by Klaus Dune Du Pyla 2014 from Christian Koschutnig on Vimeo. 9/25/14
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. High 19. A quick Google Search found a ford Forum that said to check the stereo hookup as the light circuit goes to the stereo to dim the display. Sounded easy and sure enough that was the problem. Someone had done a poor job insulating the wire bundle and it is now working ready for this weeks roadtrip to Savona. I had to take a bunch of shipments to Greyhound and it was drizzling on the way there but it got sunny and flyable at Bridal & Woodside later but alas Derek the Desperado is in Europe or else we would have been heading up the mountain. But we can take time out to watch Richard's flight off Mt Robie Reid last week! Fabulous edit! 9/24/14
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers this morning. Periods of rain beginning early this afternoon. Amount 10 to 15 mm. High 19. We got to Savona in the rain and headed up to the Toilet Bowl where it was dry and coming straight in at 15-20 kph! Clair got ready and was doing some nice kiting on his new Gin Bolero 4, so I suggested he fly down.
We bunched the wing into the Van and drove down to get Clair where it was not raining. Back on top the winds were now blowing from the NW and the rain stopped as the cell moved North over the lake. We headed to the south face of the Toilet Bowl and Richard had a perfect reverse launch and he floated off the edge and landed in the clearing below. Clair also had a perfect launch in lighter wind and followed Richard's flight path into the same spot.
We arrived to launch at 6 pm and it was blowing north & down but we waited and after 20 minutes we got a trickle up the slope and Richard reverse launched and flew away into the sunset. No pictures as my phone had died on the way up. Clair decided to sit one out as his wing was already damp enough! 9/23/14
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers this morning. Periods of rain beginning early this afternoon. Amount 10 to 15 mm. High 19. When we arrived on launch Clair got set up in light winds and had a great reverse launch on his Gin Bolero 4. Then Richard got a great cycle and was off and climbing flying our Gin Atlas demo.
9/22/14
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy. 60 percent chance of showers late this morning and this afternoon. High 21. We arrived at launch at 4 pm and it was in cloud but we could see faint outlines of the land below so we waited in light SE cycles. When the skies opened up we had very light inflow cycles but I did not want Clair & Richard to have to run too hard so we waited but all we got was more down cycles so we finally packed up and drove down as it was not meant to be. Cache Creek would have been a better call but they were forecasting strong SW winds so we decided to wait out the weather here. 9/21/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 30. UV index 5 or moderate. When I returned to the Ranch everyone was excited to get flying, so I loaded everyone up after a long weather briefing that told us that it was going to switch to SW inflow here & up in Cache Creek so we were better to stay put as the sittes up there are North facing. We decided on the Agassiz Rec Centre fields for kiting and it was a perfect 20-25 kph from the North at 11 am and we kited until 1 pm when the winds started to calm down.
Apparently, while we were kiting in strong North winds in Agassiz, pilots were flying Woodside in perfect conditions??? Denis, Tonya & Andrei were flying Chris & Luke Miles on tandem to drop Joe's ashes over Woodside as mom Sheila looked on in tears, and I gave her a big hug as she said "Joe would have loved to be here today! The mountain was his life." Joe ran a shuttle service for many years before his back got too sore to drive, but he continued to be around to welcome pilots until he succumbed to health issues last year. After the ceremony we launched all the students and they all did pretty well, especially the new guys on their first high flights. We got all 7 students off in record time and Colleen guided them in with precision at the bottom. The more experienced students & pilots jumped in between the newbies to allow for some spacing in the LZ. We raced back up and the cycles were not as strong but we repeated the process and everyone got one more flight except Clair who decided to head back to his camper to visit with his wife as he is here all week. Mt. Cheam Report - Delvin, Pam and a group of US Pilots braved the heat and hiked Mt. Cheam and flew off today landing at Brad & Christine's house on Ford Road. So I guess outflow was not an issue there either? Fly Hills Report - Doug N had a brilliant flight from the Fly Hills Launch west of Salmon Arm town last June and flew the north side of the Shuswap to Sicamous and beyond. We boated around the Shuswap in August and marvelled at the ridge lines north of the lake. Obviously it worked for Doug this day!
9/20/14
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| Agassiz BC Mainly sunny. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 26. UV index 5 or moderate. We then headed to Woodside and got a flight at 2 pm, smooth for the students and Mark C won the day with a 40 minute flight on his new Gin Carrera.
Klaus & Monica's Italy Tour Report - Klaus & Monica are back home in Italy and enjoying nice flying conditions.
9/19/14
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| Agassiz BC A few showers ending near noon then cloudy with 30 percent chance of showers. High 19.
9/18/14
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| Agassiz BC Periods of rain ending near noon then cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. High 19. Cheam Report from September 14 - despite the NE forecasts, Richard T, John & Martin D hiked up Mt Cheam and had beautiful flights getting high above the summit.
9/17/14
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy. 40 percent chance of showers in the afternoon. High 23. UV index 3 or moderate. One unnamed pilot flew off around 1 pm, but only got a sledder in light winds. Mt. Robbie Reid Report - During early hours of September 13th I left my truck on a remote logging road located on the ridge separating Stave Lake from Alouette Lake and began my solo paragliding adventure with Mt Robbie Reid. This prominent summit north of Mission, BC has been visited by paragliding pilots before, including myself.
This time I decided to take easy way to reach the top: flying to its highest summit from lower reaches of the mountain, bypassing difficulties. Launching my wing on a snowfield at 1800 m ASL only 4 hrs after I began my ascent, I was immediately lifted to the new heights.
9/16/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 27. UV index 5 or moderate. I had no students today but did take a load of pilots up around 3 pm, and Martin N showed them all how to get above the inversion layer which was just at the height of the South Knoll.
Martin N has logged 24 hours this month - what outflow? 9/15/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 31. UV index 5 or moderate. Lisa was the only student out today and she "bagged" 4 solo flights with 3 landings in the circle on her own guidance. and all landings were on her feet!
I had a tandem at 5:30 pm with Dallas from Chilliwack and he was an awesome passenger with solid running skills at launch and zero wind landing at the Ranch. We even scored a field goal with a pass thru the goal post trees! Try it sometime! 9/14/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 29. UV index 5 or moderate.
Lucian is in the last days of his lessons achieivng 25 high flights, 5 different launch sites including a flight at Cornwall a few weeks back, about 7 hours of airtime and an 86% on his written exam. He logged 3 flights today. Denis, Colleen & Kevin helped with tandems today and we managed to do 7 tandems in less thermic conditions than yesterday but all the flights were beautiful.
We went up to fly the last flight and Kevin and a few others went solo, while Colleen took Trudy for tandem #2 and it was pleasantly soarable still.
9/13/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. Windy this morning. High 28. UV index 5 or moderate. The sawdust pile was on fire and the neighbouring logs were also burning and the firefighters were spraying water on the flames but most of the fire was on the north side and not accessible.
The noon tandems were late, but we were not likely to fly until 2 pm anyway according to the IBIS reports. When the tandems arrived we loaded all 7 passengers and 3 pilots into the Big White Bus and we headed up the hill. We arrived to perfect inflow cycles and the smoke on the fire was still showing North. Colleen launched first and was climbing nicely in front of launch and it was smooth.
I launched Lucian on his 20th solo and he was climbing and soaring well, so I clipped in Meta (in a pterodactal one piece suit she designed), and we flew off and were soon above launch and through 1000 metres within minutes. The new Gin Fuse Tandem is proving to be a good wing, and launches are super easy with a fast inflation and easy to stop overhead.
Lucian logged 4 flights today and prbably 2.5 hours of airtime. Lisa also got her first solo floght and was above launch most of the way to the Ranch where she did an "Axam Landing". Ask her what that is? We went back up for one last flight just before dark and Lucian launched first, followed by Derek who was still thermalling until legal dark. Lisa decied not to fly the last flight as she was getting tired so I flew the Gin Bolero 4 down and had a nice flight landing at the ProCircle. It was too damp to packup so I just rosetted the wing into the Barn. What a nice day. The fire was still blazing when we went for dinner at the Sasquatch Inn. 9/12/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 25. UV index 5 or moderate. We did some ground school and then at 10 am the winds at the Ranch calmed down, I checked the windsocks on launch and it looked perfect so we went up. We arrived to inflow winds on launch and the wind on Harrison Bay was calm, so Moto got set up. We had no outflow at all?? Moto launched forward and flew out in very smooth air and was heading to the south when he started climbing and fast. He then hit a layer of north wind but he was still climbing heading out to the valley, he climbed above launch and was out over the Ranch for another 30 minutes in smooth lift landing at the Ranch in the normal pattern.
When I got down to the Ranch the north winds had kicked in and we had to go to Mission for training hill practice with Lisa who is just starting training with FlyBC. We arrived on Heritage Park Hill around 1 pm, and we had perfect SW cycles and Moto & Lisa did 8 perfect runs each before they were too tired to walk up again, as it was 25 degrees in the sun. We came back to the Ranch at 3 pm and the north wind was still there even after dark, so no more high flights. 9/11/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 22. UV index 5 or moderate. It was howling from the North all day and at 3 pm, it went calm. Earlier in the day there was a forest fire on the east Vedder Ridge and it was showing outflow and strong. Hwy 7 to Mission was also very windy and all flags showed outflow. We went up to Woodside Launch around 4 pm and the smoke on Vedder was showing South now, and we had launchable cycles and Martin was off first.
Derek took off first and started a slow climb out front, I was a few minutes after him and was working the same thermal out front. Derek & Martin were on the north cliffs at 1000 metres and I was in front and above launch at 800 metres for some time. and the thermal I was in finally popped off and I was above the other guys. Not so nice above 1000 metres as you could feel the NE flow aloft (choppy). But smooth down low, so I flew out of the lift to descend. I was trying top-landing approaches, as was Martin . . . for 30 minutes and we just could not get in. Derek tried too for maybe 15 minutes and I decided it was more prudent to drive back up to retrieve Derek's truck and I headed out to land at the ProCircle in smooth light west winds. I was going to take Norm's bike up to retrieve, but as I was finishing packing up Martin & Derek both came in to land, so we retrieved with the Atlas.
Denis reported the same leeside chop at Grouse today. 9/10/14
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| Agassiz BC Mainly sunny. High 20. UV index 4 or moderate. 9/9/14
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| Agassiz BC Mainly cloudy. High 20. UV index 4 or moderate. I had to go to Vancouver to pick up some gear and left the Ranch around 4 pm, as Derek & a gang headed up to Woodside to do some grooming on the roadway & launch. Apparently, Nikolai was more interested in flying and he took off and got to 1200 metres while the guys were working. Later Martin N & Kevin flew off and got sledders. A big thanks to everyone that helped out today, we all appreciate it! 9/8/14
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| Agassiz BC A mix of sun and cloud. 30 percent chance of showers late this afternoon. Gusty winds. High 21. UV index 6 or high. I loaded up the Atlas and headed up to see them both heading out over the flats, and when Martin came back he was grovelling for some time as I considered my options as I had planned on top-landing but it was quite gusty.
When I arrived at Harvest, Kevin was still at 700 metres and heading east. Martin was focussing on getting to Harvest rather than seeing Kevin climb out and missed the thermal that eventually took Kevin to the Seabird Island Gas Bar. Spot his location in the next shot.
9/7/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 28. UV index 6 or high. We had third day student Jonnie here and he is progressing well, getting ready to try his new BlackHawk Paramotor which arrives today or tomorrow. Jonnie logged three more flights today with the last one after noon getting kind of windy and bumpy as forecasted, but he did a great job piloting the Gin Bolero 4 out to the Eagle Ranch LZ. Others stood down as we saw Alex R get high over the South Knoll and then take a 60% collapse right in front of launch with no warning (possibly a gust).
Colleen flew off after me on her Delta2 and could barely get to 600 metres on the South Knoll before heading out to the Ranch, testing my theory of landing at the training hill when it is gusty and it was smooth there. Meanwhile, Klaus had "bush-wacked" up to Mt Cheam from Bridal and launched from the meadows as he wanted to get in the air before it blew out. He had an uneventful flight on his new Ozone Geo 4 hiking kit landing at the Bridal LZ. Guy H was out bivi-flying in Pemby and reported he was camping at 7000 feet near Copperdome. Another epic adventure was reported as Richard T had hiked up Mt Outram near Manning Park and flew off at 10 am from about 8000 feet, also having a nice smooth flight.
And not to be outdone by Richard . . . Edmond R, our favourite frenchman from Kelowna, reported to Kevin that he successfuly flew off Mt Baker after an overnight hike early this morning. The season is far from over, come out for some nice fall flying! 9/6/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 30. UV index 6 or high. We moved the tandems back to 1 pm. I headed up with a load of pilots and three tandems and Denis, Kevin & I were the tandem team today. I got to launch after waiting for a grader to come by the spur road (that never arrived) and by the time I got to launch Denis had already launched and was heading in to land at the Ranch. Good launch cycles after waiting for the winds to stop blowing over the back all morning. Kevin launched next with Alexis and they were soaring around out front and over Riverside for 30 minutes as I got ready and clipped Kayla in. But we had to wait for a decent cycle and we were soon off and thermalling with George, Martin & Andrew in front of launch. It was getting a bit crowded to navigate a tandem through all these pilots so we headed out to the Construction Zone and had some nice climbs there and over Duncan's too. Landing at the Ranch was smooth and predictable and we had a nice touchdown in the circle. When we got in to the Barn, Jonnie had arrived from bringing Amy back to the ferries and was ready to fly. I took another load of pilots up including Colleen & Jonnie and Jonnie got his first solo in today after 3 yesterday. Weaker conditions but he had a perfect launch, flight and landing. We went straight up again and this time it was soarable and Jonnie got some great ridge soaring in and was able to climb high flying the Gin Bolero 4 L.
We were finished by 6 pm to end a perfect day despite the morning outflow. 9/5/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. Fog patches over western sections early this morning. High 27. UV index 6 or high. The Agassiz and Hope reports were NE at 10+ kph. The windsocks on top were blowing down hard. Sumas was showing NE at 17 kph at 1000 metres. We were hooped, so I hatched a plan to load up the Atlas and head to Ashcroft where it was light NE and flyable all day. I started getting the students gear ready and in the truck and the student were watching the Ozone Ground Handling Video so I looked at the telescope one last time at 10:45 am, and it was blowing inflow at launch! Yes, we don't have to drive for 6 hours! NOAA was forecasting inflow by noon, and it was correct. CanadaRASP showed outflow all day as did TJRasp, but Woodside has a good shape if it is NE winds and it really aids in getting pilots out to the Ranch high for lots of maneuvering.
Jonnie was off next and had a great forward launch and was headed out for an equally long flight. Amy had one abort but nailed the second attempt and was above launch as she is very light. She "boated her way out" to the LZ arriving at launch height and did a good job on the approach and landed "soft as a feather" at the Ranch in light winds.
Women's Fly-In in Chelan WA for Halloween, Hedley Fly-In for Thanksgiving, more Cornwall Days before it snows, Savona for outflow days - lots to do this fall before Mexico Touring starts. 9/4/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 24. UV index 6 or high. Both did really well on the training hill nailing every inflation with perfect timing! Denis came out to help with tandems and at noon Patrick arrived but there was just him and I had booked for 2 passengers. Plan was revised and Denis took Patrick tandem and I took Amy for her first flight and we had a good one thermalling with a bald eagle above launch!
We went back to Woodside at 6 pm and Colleen took Amy for another tandem flight and Jon bagged his first solo flight on the Gin Bolero 4 L.
I went minimalist today with my Alpina 2 and thus had no instruments but I estimate that this photo was taken from between 2500-2600 meters judging by the views of the Cheam range below.
9/3/14
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| Agassiz BC Mainly cloudy. Clearing late this morning. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 21. UV index 5 or moderate. Richard worked all day Monday on the training hill, after a nice tandem flight with Colleen and he was ready to fly! Richard had a great takeoff on the new Gin Bolero 4 we just received and he had a brilliant approach & landing right in the circle! I had to wait on the ground so that Richard's wife could practice some inflations, and missed going up with Derek, Martin N, and a few others.
We arrived on launch to see Martin N having a nap after top-landing. Martin swapped me his Rush 4 L for my Gin Carrera M and we took off and thermalled for about an hour. Derek meanwhile had flown to the Sandpiper Golf Course to meet up with his tandem passenger Tonhya. I was only able to get to 1000 metres and cloudbase but it was good lift everywhere.
Martin & I headed out to the Ranch together after a tour of Harrison Mills, where it was lifty all over the flats too. Landing was the typical thermally ride in but I landed on my feet, Martin came in a bit lower and sooner and had a nice approach. It is all in the timing. We went to the Sandpiper to pick up Derek and a few other tandem passengers and headed up Woodside to perfect conditions for takeoff & soaring together for about 30 minutes, but we had to get down so Derek could take Leah for her flight before sunset.
9/2/14
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy. Showers beginning early this morning. Risk of a thunderstorm this afternoon. Becoming windy this afternoon. High 16. First trip could be this weekend if we get outflow winds, and then we may go to Savona again. Other trips include the Hedley Fly-In on Thanksgiving Weekend and other points east while the weather is still flyable. 9/1/14
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| Agassiz BC Mainly cloudy. 40 percent chance of showers this afternoon. High 18. UV index 5 or moderate. Colleen took Richard tandem for his first experience and they were soaring early.
I had left the Nissan Atlas on top and had to bum a ride from Andrei, as he and Elena were going up to try her new wing. Martin N tagged along. I am glad I am not the only desperado around here! Everyone got to fly, and the Eagle ranch LZ was too calm to kite so the students followed me to Mission Heritage Park for some practice flights. at Heritage Park the winds were catabatic, so we headed to Cherry Hill and got Richard set up on a new Gin Bolero 4. He had perfect infations but was not sure what to do with his hands so he was not getting off the ground. Eventually it all clicked after 5 flights. The winds changed here so we headed back to Heritage Park and Richard & Kelly shared the Bolero 4 and got some really nice flights. While we were at Heritage Park we overheard Martin N, Derek & Kevin flying Woodside. Martin had been up for 3:45 and still above Derek! We headed back to Woodside and sent the students home until Wednesday as a front is rolling through tomorrow and they are ready to fly. 8/31/14
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| Agassiz BC Cache Creek: Mainly cloudy. 40 percent chance of showers early this morning. Wind becoming southwest 20 km/h late this afternoon. High 22. UV index 5 or moderate. We started at 10 am with Gabe & Lucian and we headed to Savona's Lower Launch. Nice cycles with east prevailing winds and Lucian launched first and worked the lift all the way to the Toilet Bowl. Gabe was soon afterwards and rode the Bolero home to the same spot. Bill G & Juan arrived just in time to see the guys fly and they retrieved them while I drove down.
Rod had texted that he was on the way so Juan waited at the Hat Creek turnoff for 35 minutes and we then headed up to launch. The road is chewed up in a few places with some ugly cross ditches but Juan powered through in 2WD in his F350. We arrived to perfect cycles even though it was now 3:00 pm! Colleen launched first with Lucian & Gabe following her to the Ashcroft Manor where they arrived quite high.
Juan & Bill flew off next and Juan was getting some nice cloudsuck and they headed towards Cache Creek.
Then a patch of sunlight broke through, and I laid out the demo Gin Carrera and waited for the cycles to come in. After several minuted I got a puff up the slope and I yanked the Carrera into the air and was flying! By now all the sun was gone in the valley so I rode the ridge NE towards Cache Creek and was getting little bits of lift along the ridges and when I got to the Drag Strip where there was some sun, I turned towards the Ashcroft Manor.
I drove Juan back up in the Atlas with his mini-bike and dropped him off at the Cornwall Forest Service Road. We then loaded up and headed to Woodside but arrived to too strong winds and impending darkness so we drove down. A very productive & relaxing weekend for training and worth the drive, the season is far from over! |
Box 79, Harrison Mills, BC Canada V0M 1L0 Mobile: 604-618-5467 Skype: flybcpg E-Mail: FlyBC E-Mail |