FlyBC "Site of the Day" - September 17/2019

"Confidence is the feeling you have before you understand the situation." - unknown author

Date	Site	Forecast	Winds @ 3000' in kilometers	Lapse   Rate °C/1000' Cloud Base in Meters	Comments
9-17-19	FlyBC is closed today due to rain showers and Savona is not looking good either	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. Rain beginning this morning. High 16. UV index 1 or low.	200° @ 10 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 500 metres	Coaches Corner - Woodside is getting rained out again today and Savona does not look good either.
9-16-19	FlyBC is open at 10 am, if the clouds are too low we may do some towing	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: 50% Precip. / 1.48 mm Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. Thunder possible. High 18C. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.	200° @ 10 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 700 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside was good for Greg's kiting practice but by the time the clouds lifted, he was too tired from running all over the Eagle Ranch LZ. We had the occassional spit of rain but overall the day was good for flying, just no lift despite the CUs. Linda and Josh came out around 5 pm for a HG flight but it was pretty short but with perfect launch and landing conditions at Eagle Ranch. The PWC has finished in Brasil and we were represented by Brett Hazlett flying his Gin Boom 11. PWC Task 4 video is excellent! - Thanks Phillipe! FlyBC is an authorized distributor for Ozone , Nova Paragliders , Kangook Paramotors, SkyBean Varios, Gin , SupAir, Flytec/ Naviter, Blackhawk Paramotors , Wills Wing. Used Gear List: Updated September 8, 2019 Harnesses for Sale: Supair Access Airbag harnesses (new) - $650 without reserve (great lightweight harness) Supair Radical 3 reversible airbag harnesses - $800 without reserve SupAir Strike L demo harness - $1500 Gin Yeti Xtreme 2 - hike and fly - $400 Ozone Ozium S Harness - $1400 CDN without reserve SupAir Delight 3 Medium or Large harnesses - $1700 without reserve Assorted used harnesses from $350 CDN. Speedwings for Sale: SkyCountry 15 metre Descent Speedwing - 20 short flights - $950 Ozone Rapi-Dos 13 metre - demo with no flights - $2400 AirDesign Susi3 - 16 metre mini-wing - EN-B - 2019 Models - $3100 CDN Reserves for Sale: HA Beamer 3 Reserves - 130 kgs model - $1050 CDN HA Beamer 3 Light Reserves - 130 kgs model - $1400 CDN SupAir Shine Light Round Reserves - all sizes - $850 CDN Paragliders for Sale: Nova DoubleSkin - EN-B - new for 2019 in 17 & 20 sizes at FlyBC - $4000 CDN - besides the 2.1 kg weight and small pack volume, a 2 year warranty/replacement plan is a key selling point - damage is covered for a full 2 years once registered with Nova Protect. Nova Prion 4 - EN-A - new for 2019 in all sizes in stoc here at FlyBC - $3500 CDN - A 2 year warranty/replacement plan is a key selling point - damage is covered for a full 2 years once registered with Nova Protect. Ozone Atom 3 Medium - $1900 CDN - EN-A demo wing 2018 model AirDesign Eazy 2 - EN-A - 2019 Models - $3200 CDN AirDesign Susi3 - 16 metre mini-wing - EN-B - 2019 Models - $3100 CDN AirDesign Rise 3 Demo - XS - 60-78 kgs - Orange - one season old - $3200 CDN Gin Sprint XS (75-95 kgs) - EN-B - $1000 CDN SupAir Step M demo - Blue - 2 hours - 85-105 kgs - EN-B - $3000 CDN Ozone Swift 5 MS - 2019 Model - $4500 CDN inc taxes - still in plastic bag from the factory - owner broke his ankle hiking and can not fly for this season. Ozone Alpina2 MS - 2016 Model - $1400 - good shape with under 70 hours Ozone Alpina2 ML - 2016 Model - $1800 - great shape with under 90 hours Ozone Magnum 2 Tandem with 80 hours - 41 metre size - $1500 CDN SupAir Taska S - Red - 30 hours - 75-95 kgs - EN-C - $3000 CDN SupAir Taska M - Blue - 80 hours - 85-105 kgs - EN-C - $3000 CDN Paramotors for sale: Custom Stainelss steel frame with HE 125 power - 20 hours - $4995 Kangook Lite Frame with Compact Radial MZ100 power. High hang point harness with option to add swing-arms for extra cost. $5500 CDN including taxes with only 4 hours of run time. Kangook Lite Frame with Cors-Air Black Bee (125 cc). High hang point harness with option to add swing-arms for extra cost. $7000 CDN including taxes with only 1 hours of run time. So excited to soon see the new Kangook Lite Frame with Corsair Black Bee 125 power. The factory is building it now. BlackHawk 125Lite Paramotor the new 125Lite Paramotor, 5 lbs lighter than the previous model - $7995 CDN for our Demo with 2 years warranty with Core glider of your size. BlackHawk 125 Lite Paramotor
9-15-19	FlyBC is closed due to rain	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Showers at times heavy with risk of thunderstorms. High 16. UV index 2 or low.	200° @ 10 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 400 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside had heavy rain in the AM, and low clouds in the PM.
9-14-19	FlyBC is woring in Savona this weekend	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. Fog patches early this morning. High 21. UV index 5 or moderate.	200° @ 10 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Savona Report - I joined Tony in Savona where he had Martin, Mark and Nora but we added in Derek & Dylan who just started today. It was a light wind day on the Dump Ridge so Tony went to the Elementary School to kite with everyone where it is less snaggy. When I arrived at 11 am, the newbies were launching like pros! I took Mark and Martin up to the Dump Ridge and they got a few flights before the winds turned. Martin was trying out the Nova Prion4 to compare it to his Ozone MojoPWR.
9-13-19	FlyBC is open today in Savona BC	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy with 30 percent chance of showers. Fog patches early this morning. High 21. UV index 5 or moderate.	200° @ 10 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Savona Report - Woodside has a rainy forecast so Tony took the students to Savona for a few days. Martin, Paul, Nora all headed up there and had a great day! Martin got 12 flights off the Dump Ridge, Paul got 10 flights and Nora decided to wait for a better day? Martin & Paul now have more than 25 flights but need to write the P-2 Exam. They stayed overnight in the Steelhead Campground which was ful this weekend, campers are still enjoying the fall weather and maybe fishing in the Thompson River.
9-12-19	FlyBC is open today after 10 am	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy with 30 percent chance of showers. Fog patches early this morning. High 21. UV index 5 or moderate.	200° @ 10 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside had clouds in the AM, but cleared by noon. Tony was wrangling the students and they got some nice flights in and the winds were calm all day.
9-11-19	FlyBC is open today after 10 am	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy with 30 percent chance of showers. Fog patches early this morning. High 21. UV index 5 or moderate.	200° @ 10 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside looksed like clouds in the AM, but clearing by noon so we hoped get in a few flights. Cloudbase lifted by noon, and Tony was already up there with students and managed to get three student rounds in. Students included Martin Z, Nora, and Josh.
9-10-19	FlyBC is open today after 10 am	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. Risk of thunderstorms this afternoon. High 19. UV index 4 or moderate.	200° @ 15 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - Clouds were low in the morning so more flight school and simulator work. It finally looked like it was clearing and so we drove up without Josh who of course was not there for 1st round. We arrived on launch at 12:15 to find it still in cloud but we waited it out and started launching around 1 pm. Martin and Paul took a couple attempts to launch and Nora had particular trouble needing 6 shots at it. I think it was nerves as the conditions were good for launching but the low clouds were ominous. All three used big ears and speed-bar all day to escape cloud-suck. Nora got hoovered up on 2 of her flights and had to immediately use big-big ears. The other Martin N and Jeremy also came by for a ride up. Most of the landings were in or close to the circle, although again. Nora struggled to stick to the plan. On one approach she came in on downwind high, did a 360 over the corn-field and then flew back east to the maple tree then circled north and landed north of the goal post trees downwind. Josh came up for the second and third run which had better (and safer) conditions. He's done his 25 flights!! They all had a great time. Nora, Paul and Martin will be back tomorrow at 10am - Tony
9-9-19	FlyBC is open today after 10 am	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. Risk of thunderstorms this afternoon. High 19. UV index 4 or moderate.	200° @ 15 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - So it was Martin, Nora and Josh that showed up today. Josh of course was fashionably late and Nora was the last to arrive around 11. Paul texted me and said he was going to come around 3 and I told him not to bother. We headed up to launch shortly after 11 and found the winds favorable. But the cloud base was still at launch level. Actually the clouds were pretty cool as they were forming and dissipating super fast. Great weather discussion up there. Martin practiced reverse kiting while we waited for some good visibility and then he forward launched perfectly when the window opened. He had a good short flight and landed close to the circle. Shortly thereafter launch was socked in and it started to rain on us so Josh and Nora packed up and drove down with me. Nora decided to take off and do some work. Martin stayed and did some more kiting practice while Josh and I went for lunch. After lunch Martin and I worked on a bunch of ground school topics while Josh wrote his P2 test. He passed but I was surprised he didn't do better as a commercial pilot . . . anyway we reviewed and educated him - Tony
9-8-19	FlyBC is open today after noon	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. 40 percent chance of showers early this morning. A few showers beginning early this morning. Risk of thunderstorms this afternoon. High 18. UV index 3 or moderate.	200° @ 15 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside looked like rain in the AM, but clearing after 1 pm so we hoped get in a few flights. It was Day One for Noah & Gabe so the rain did not interrupt their ground school and simulator sessions. After noon, Tony took the students out kiting and the wind was nice and the grass dried up quickly as the hay was just taken down. By 5 pm, launch had cleared and Tony & Colleen took two students up to fly. Colleen launched first and had to stay out front to cloud surf. Colleen flew for 45 minutes waiting for Martin to launch. I was busy brush-mowing blackberries on the east side of our LZ and got to see Martin fly off and I was in the LZ to guide him in. It was very bouyant over the flats with multiple sheer layers but his Ozone Mojo5 was very stable and brought him in for a soft touchdown. Colleen followed him in and had to do multiple turns over the corn to get down.
9-5-19	FlyBC is open all weekend	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 29. Humidex 32. UV index 7 or high.	180° @ 5 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 1100 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside looked lame today but we had many students. Tony was doing launch chores and Jacek was the landing coach and we had 3 good runs today. Colleen & I took a nice couple tandem and we climbed high above Woodside. My passenger got a bit sick and unloaded over Harrison Highlands, the HG LZ and over Harrison River on the way to the Golf Course for beers to re-hydrate. There is an interesting line along Hwy 7 that can float you all the wayto the bridge as we were only at 400 metres over the Ranch but we actually climbed on the way to the Bridge. The bridge is where the river is the narrowest and there are bailout fields close to the bridge iof one gets nervous about the crossing. We had good height on the downwind leg staying away from the airstrip until the final leg. Lots of golfers so we landed on a path behind the swimming pool to stay off the green. Nice landing winds and Nicole laid there for some time as I packed up. Colleen and Richard came to join us for a beer to celebrate the flights.
9-6-19	FlyBC is open at 10 am	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 29. Humidex 32. UV index 7 or high.	180° @ 5 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 600 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside worked well and Tony did 5 runs with students and they had great launches and landings.
9-5-19	FlyBC is closed today as it looks so lame, but we are back on Friday at 10 am	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 29. Humidex 32. UV index 7 or high.	180° @ 5 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 600 metres	Woodside - Woodside looked lame today so no lessons, but restarting lessons at 10 am on Friday.
9-4-19	FlyBC is open after 9 am for training	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. High 27. Humidex 29. UV index 6 or high.	220° @ 6 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - what a great day. Tony started training students at 9 am and it paid off for Buzz as he got his last 5 flights in today and some great soaring and alternate LZs too. New student Paul got 3 flights in today for a total of 4 flights in a 2 day span. I took Sherry for a tandem for an hour and we had a great time soaring with Norm, Frejya, Greg and a few others. Lots of CUs popping off to show us the way. We had intended to fly for ice cream but I never felt we had enough height to make it comfortably and stay out of the CYR. But we had a great flight and a great landing in Eagle Ranch despite the thermic conditions down low. Some others had fun flights at Bridal as the days get shorter and the sun sets lower.
9-3-19	FlyBC is open after 10 am for training but it looks windy later today	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. Risk of a thunderstorm late this afternoon. Fog patches early this morning. Gusty winds. High 27. Humidex 29. UV index 6 or high.	220° @ 20 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 1100 metres	Woodside Report - Woodside looks good early on with gusty SW winds later, so we are started lessons at 10 am. Tony took one round of students up and they had nioce flights. I went up with the group to take Kyle tandem and it was already gusty by 1 pm. We had a good takeoff and climbed high but over the Harrison Highlands we were parked and going backwards at times. This with a heavily loaded EN-C tandem! We came over the Ranch and were high behind the goal post trees and it looked ugly in our LZ with strong gusts through the corn and every wind sock pointing differenct directions. Time to head to the HG LZ, where it was still gusty but farther away from rotor-producing trees. We did a few turns and came in soft as a feather allowing Kyle to turn right and run towards the wing to avoid getting dragged.
9-2-19	FlyBC is open after 10 am for training	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. Becoming sunny this morning. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 27. Humidex 30. UV index 6 or high.	220° @ 20 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 1100 metres	Woodside Report - We had 5 students with mixed experience and it was very busy at launch with other pilots having many difficulties launching. Folks . . . go do some kiting before coming to fly! Tony got only one round of flights because it got too strong for a second flight even at 5 pm. I took Dina tandem at 3 pm and Jacek radioed to me that it was "spicy" near the South Knoll. We had a good takeoff and climbed out immediately in front of launch and joined Jacek at the South Knoll before heading east as planned to the Farmhouse Cheese Factory for ice cream! We had +5 m/s thermals and we climbed with Jacel to 1100 metres before flying east. Jacek commented afterwards that he thought we were on open trims because we "walked away" from his Alpina 3. We were in fact on neutral trims for thermalling and had a slight bit of brake on and we were much faster and Dina is light. We found a nice field just north of the Farmhouse Cheese Factory and just east of the CYR so it was legal. This is my first landing here. Thanks for the footage, Jacek!
9-1-19	FlyBC is open after noon due to outflow winds	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mix of sun and cloud with 40% chance of rain. High 30. Humidex 32. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 5 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 1100 metres	Woodside Report - it was quite windy in the morning with over-developing clouds. A few showers near 4 pm. Then at 6 pm the winds calmed down and the sun came out so we headed up to Woodside. Derek, Kirk, Colleen and Andrei flew and it was mostly an extended sled-ride, so I drove down.
8-31-19	FlyBC is open after noon due to outflow winds	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 30. Humidex 32. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 5 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 1100 metres	Woodside Report - I was doing paramotor training with Bill and Andrew this morning while Tony worked with 4 new students. The new NOVA fleet is working well for Paragliding and Paramotoring too. The NOVA Prion 4 is an easy launcher and has good into wind performance for afternoon flights. The NOVA Prion 4 is also a very good paramotor wing with good speeds and very stable for afternoon PPG sorties in rough conditions (not a tip tuck or ruffle). By 2 pm Tony said the new students were all ready for Mission Heritage Park flights. Meanwhile Derek, Martin, Dennie, Linda and Karen were soaring around at 1000 metres enjoying the thermals. Martin top-landed to drive Linda's truck down as she was HGing today.
8-30-19	FlyBC is closed due to winds and showers	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy with 40% chance of rain. High 24.	200° @ 25 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - I had to leave the Skymaster in High River as the AMEs had to order some parts for the turbocharger system. Westjet got me home but we were bucking 50 knot headwinds so it was not a flying day at Woodside.
8-29-19	FlyBC is open after noon due to outflow winds	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 30. Humidex 32. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 5 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - Tony and Dennie were working with students all day at Woodside.
8-28-19	FlyBC is open after noon due to outflow winds	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 30. Humidex 32. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 5 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Travel Report - I worked with students til 1 pm, when Colleen took over while Tony was launching students at Woodside. I headed to the Chilliwack Airport and pre-flighted the T337B and headed to High River AB. Quick flight direct to CEN4 over the Rockies. Slocan Lake looked beautiful and it started getting thermic there as it was 3 pm. Near Fairmont it was still sunny with just come punchy CUs. I was averaging 204 mph on the GPS so it was a fast trip with good tailwinds at 11500 feet. As I got over the Rockies and into the Foothills it clouded over and I had to maintain 10500 to remain VFR. At High River the clouds opened up and I did one fast 360 and landed to the north in gusty winds. Total trip time was 2:14 to the pumps.
8-27-19	FlyBC is open after noon due to outflow winds	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 29. Humidex 31. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 5 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we did not fly until after 3 pm and it was quqite stable. Low hanging smog at launch height, no birds but I had a tandem to fly and good cycles so off we went and I worked the front side thermals for 15 minutes and just stayed at launch height. Martin N had launched 15 minutes before us and was working down low . . . and I mean low! Degas took off on his Ozone Delta 3 and worked some north side thermals and got quite high. Meanwhile Martin was still working down low as we headed out to the harrison Highlands area and thermalled there maintaining and sometimes climbing while I watched Martin's shadow down low close to the trees. Martin landed in Riverside and we had a nice landing at Eagle Ranch in South winds.
8-26-19	FlyBC is open after noon because of the outflow	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Clearing near noon. High 28. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 20 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we had no students but we did two tandem rounds. The tandem at 1 pm was excellent as I took Kim to 1000 metres right away while we were waiting for Gary to launch. Excellent thermals right in front of launch and out over the Harrison Highlands area. Kims Tandem Launch Folks were flying Bridal and had good flights, as did a group off Woodside for the glssoff last night.
8-25-19	FlyBC is open after noon but it looks doubtful we will be able to fly	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Clearing near noon. High 22. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 25 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we never flew today as it was too windy. The hangies flew though and had great to 1.5 hour flights. One un-named hangie crashed on landing and had to be carted off to hospital by BC Ambulance. Tip of the Day: - never do 360s close to the ground, it is too easy to build up speed and sink and you may not be able to round out before you hit the ground.
8-24-19	FlyBC is open after noon but it looks doubtful we will be able to fly	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Showers in the am, then clearing. High 21. UV index 5 or moderate.	200° @ 5 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we did some paramotor training with Bill & Greg, and they had nice long flights. Winds were perfect for Bill's first flight and landing. Mark was flying his Scout Paramotor early on and burned up a tank of gas exploring Harrison Mills. After noon we did three tandems and the wind really picked up as I flew the last tandem with a light passenger on the Ozone SwiftMax 41 metre ship. We got some ridge soaring in and despite the cloudy skies there was some cloud suck even with no sun. I had to open the trims to push out to the Ranch and even when I was spiralling we did not go down. After 15 minutes orbitting over Duncan's farm we came into land and it was rowdy with strong southerly gusts. We had a nice soft touchdown though. The last set of tandems could not be done as the winds got too strong.
8-23-19	FlyBC is open after noon but it looks doubtful we will be able to fly	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Showers at times heavy ending this morning then cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. High 21. UV index 5 or moderate.	200° @ 5 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - not much action here at the Ranch as the weather was not really flyable, odd August this year . . . rain and not hot and no smoke.
8-22-19	FlyBC is open after 10 am	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy with 30 percent chance of showers this morning then a mix of sun and cloud. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 22. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 5 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we were open today with a beginner class for a Father & Son Team. Sergey & Anatoli were doing great when I left for Chilliwack to do some truck shopping. The FlyBC Shuttle Bus is getting recyceld as the cross ditches are back on Mother Woodside yet again. There was a big crowd of hopeful pilots today: Alex R, Igor T and others. There was a big black CU over Woodside around noon as they went up in Turpin's Suburban. Apparently Alex said he launched and got "hoovered" to 1200 metres immediately. Martin N and a few others were observed around 2 pm trying to top-land but I did not know of the drama unfolding as I was off 146.415 MHZ. An un-named pilot was thermalling below Alex when something went wrong (too deep in the venturi or too far back in the thermals) and his wing lost pressure and he tried to throw his reserve but it was too late or too low and they landed in the brush near 3 kms. They were able to pack up their gear and walk out to the road where John W had gone down to find them. Thanks John! The un-named pilot had some soarness in their ribs but otherwise checked out okay so they got a ride to the Chilliwack Hospital with Alex. Tip of the Day - if you are not current . . . do not fly mid-day thermals! Enjoy the morning sleddies and afternoon glass-offs and get re-acquainted with your equipment before tackling the big air. There is a shiny new 2012 GMC Sierra 2500 Crew Cab with high top canopy awaiting shuttle duties at Eagle Ranch and maybe even Mexico!
8-21-19	FlyBC is open but the weather did not cooperate	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Becoming cloudy this morning with 30 percent chance of showers late this morning and this afternoon. High 24. Humidex 26. UV index 4 or moderate.	200° @ 20 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - It was very rainy today so no one flew off Woodside.
8-20-19	FlyBC is back in business	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 27C. Humidex 29. UV index 5 or moderate.	200° @ 10 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - Tony had Liam and Ricardo again today for lessons. Colleen and I took the boys to the training hill and both Reny (11) and Brandon (8) were flying down the hill like "pros". Remy was on the NOVA Prion4 XS and Brandon was on an Ozone Fazer3 10 metre. Brandon tried the NOVA Prion4 as well and was floating down the hill. Later we took them tandem and we had floaty fun flights with little lift. Brandon did not want to fly but despite his worried look, he did have fun. After our tandem flights we fed them and we headed to Chilliwack Airport for the flight back to Williams Lake. This was one of the fastest flights there in just and hour! Very windy and bumpy as we headed north at 10,500 feet. Of course this meant the flight home would take much longer and it did and there were reports of "severe turbulence" near Pemberton. My bumps were more like light chop as I stayed on the windward side of the peaks. Of course this made me a bit late on arriving back to Chilliwack and Flight Services called me as I rolled into the taxiway because I was overdue on the flight plan because the winds were much stronger than forecasted. When I got back I heard there was some drama due to some "lookie-loos" on launch that thought Nelson had gone into the Fraser River, so they called 911. Nelson was in fact in the Eagle Ranch LZ and they just mis-read where he was at last glance, and they over-reacted. The RCMP took Nelson back to the bottom of Woodside where he retrieved his truck and the RCMP met the callers and debriefed with them. All's well that ends well.
8-19-19	FlyBC is closed for a few days as Woodside looks wet and windy this weekend so we are on a road trip heading east, back Monday	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 27. Humidex 29. UV index 5 or moderate.	200° @ 15 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - Tony was wrangling the students today and got three runs in for Liam and Ricardo. Ricardo is back and getting finished soon as he is at flight 15 now after 2 months hiatus. We were enjoying the kids playing in the pool and taking Brandon to the hospital when he fell on the bike requiring two stitches under his eye. He was back in the pool within a few minutes of returning home.
8-18-19	FlyBC is closed for a few days as Woodside looks wet and windy this weekend so we are on a road trip heading east, back Monday	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. High 22. Humidex 25. UV index 5 or moderate.	200° @ 25 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Williams Lake Report - I flew north to Williams Lake & back today to pickup the grandkids in the Cessna T337B. Chilliwack was clear but as I headed north over Harrison Lake the clouds were built up to 11,000 feet so I was VFR on top for most of the flight and it was very lifty so much fuel was saved. Total flight time was 75 minutes, much faster than driving and way more fun. At the pumps in Williams Lake, BC. The flight back with the boys was somewhat clearer but we still had to maintain 11,000 feet plus to be VFR.
8-17-19	FlyBC is closed for a few days as Woodside looks wet and windy this weekend so we are on a road trip heading east, back Monday	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. 30 percent chance of showers this afternoon. High 22. Humidex 25. UV index 5 or moderate.	200° @ 25 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Sun Peaks Report - we planned on going to the CanAm in WA State, but the weather looked wet and windy so we headed to Sun Peaks to check out some flying there but it was way too stormy there. Reports from the CanAm said some pilots flew but mostly it was just a camping party.
8-16-19	FlyBC is closed for a few days as Woodside looks wet and windy this weekend so we are on a road trip heading east, back Monday	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. 30 percent chance of showers this afternoon. High 22. Humidex 25. UV index 5 or moderate.	200° @ 25 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we were closed for the next few days as Colleen & I are away on vacation. It was wet and rainy as I made a trip to Vancouver for errands.
8-15-19	FlyBC is closed for a few days as Colleen & I are vacationing at Points East	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. High 26. Humidex 29. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 20 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 1100 metres	Sun Peaks Report - today we went e-biking out to McGillvary Lake with the inlaws. Maybe it was flyable, but the winds were strong West today. On the way home on the #5 it was gusty and strong. At Woodside it was very gusty til 9 pm. No fliers spotted at Woodside.
8-14-19	FlyBC is closed for a few days as Colleen & I are vacationing at Points East	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. High 26. Humidex 29. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 20 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 1100 metres	Sun Peaks Report - Colleen and I headed east to Sun Peaks for a reconn trip. Sun Peaks Management wants to restart paragliding as an approved activity and welcomed us with "open arms". Registration is with Guest services. You must have a current HPAC Membeship and be at least a P-2 rated pilot. Tram Tickets are $40 for two days or $100 for the summer season. You have to hike from the top of the chairlift to Top of the World Bowl, about 30 minutes and it is worth the hike! I flew in dubious conditions with cloudsuck and strong SW winds but overall the air was smooth. The forecast and cloud movements said 20 kph of SW winds. I launched in 20 kph of SE winds? Maybe it was rotor? Landing is in the main parking lot near the camping area. Camping is $15 a night and close to the lifts and action.
8-13-19	FlyBC is closed for a few days as Colleen & I are vacationing at Points East	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. High 26. Humidex 29. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 20 kph	-3.0°C (unstable) 1100 metres	Woodside Report - we were closed for the next few days as Colleen & I are away on vacation. A few people flew but it was not very good for lift.
8-12-19	FlyBC is closed for a few days as Colleen & I are vacationing at Points East	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. 30 percent chance of showers this morning. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud near noon. High 24. Humidex 28. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 700 metres	Woodside Report - Norm & Bev went for a flight around 1 pm and they did not stay up as the thermals were too small and rough (too much moisture). We all went up around 3 pm: Kevin, Derek, Norm, Bev, and Blake. I launched first and the air was weird on launch with strong cycles and then cross or nothing. I climbed out to 1200 metres fast and waited and waited (it felt like spring thermals yet it was August 12th). Finally Kevin launched and joined me. Kevin was soon gone east towards Agassiz Mtn., so I followed. There were nice CU on the ridge heading east but not many climbs until Agassiz Mtn. I had no radio, no phone and no camera so not a single picture today. The views were spectacular towards Harrison Lake. We got to 1300 metres at Agassiz Mtn but no higher and when I went further east towards the powerlines and a waiting CU, I got drilled with sink and no leeside thermals. I ran towards Green Hill but got only a few beeps so I headed straight to the Crossroads Esso (and beer!). I watched Derek, Norm and Kevin hook up with Green Hill and they scratched around for 15 minutes before heading out to land. Bev flew out to the Ranch and came to retrieve us. Thanks to Bev & Thomm for driving today!
8-11-19	FlyBC is closed due to wet conditions	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: 70 percent chance of drizzle early in the morning. High 20.	200° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 700 metres	Woodside Report - it rained all day and quite heavy at times. Good day to arrange the Barn and work on chores. It does not feel like August! A big shout-out to Simon B and Mukunda and Bill G as they flew from Revy to the Golden Trench last week, Simon's track log says 200 kms + on his Gin Explorer. Big Revy Flight
8-10-19	FlyBC is closed due to rain	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: 30 percent chance of drizzle early in the morning. Clearing late in the afternoon. High 27. Humidex 32. UV index 5 or moderate.	200° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 700 metres	Woodside Report - wet and rainy all day, good grief it is wet in August but better than smoke.
8-9-19	FlyBC is open today for ground school at 10 am, and flights soon as the clouds lift enough and Tony is running the show for the next few days as Colleen & I are vacationing	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. 30 percent chance of drizzle early in the morning. Clearing late in the afternoon. High 27. Humidex 32. UV index 5 or moderate.	200° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 700 metres	Woodside Report - Silke got her last few flights in today before heading back to the Yukon. She is heading home with a near new Ozone Atom 3 paraglider!
8-8-19	FlyBC is open today for ground school at 10 am, and flights soon thereafter and Bev is running the show for the next few days as Colleen & I are away	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 32. Humidex 37. UV index 6 or high.	200° @ 22	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - Colleen and I stayed in Revy overnight and had a great day: Hot tub at 8 am, breakfast buffet at 9 am, up on the mountain at noon for some thermalling. I launched first out of 10 pilots and it was easy climbing and light winds. We flew for an hour landing at the RC Field/Splashville. Brad came to pick up up and we all packed into the T337B Skymaste and we flew to Chilliwack in 1:20. We flew over Woodside to descend into Chilliwack and no one was flying PG or HG as it was blowing +25 kph and gusty. Nice lunch at the Airport before heading to the Ranch. Reports from the Revy Crew of flights to Invermere and 200+ kms logged today! Meanwhile in Macedonia the PWC is running.
8-7-19	FlyBC is open today for ground school at 10 am, and flights soon thereafter and Bev is running the show for the next few days as Colleen & I are away	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 32. Humidex 37. UV index 6 or high.	200° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - Silke was the only student today with three more flights and Bev & Derek guiding her (star treatment). Colleen and I flew the T337B up to Revy to see some condos and hang out with the Revy Crew. Big flights to 3100 metres today.
8-6-19	FlyBC is open today for ground school at 10 am, and flights soon thereafter and Bev is running the show for the next few days as Colleen & I are away	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 32. Humidex 37. UV index 6 or high.	200° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - Dylan & Silke were flying today and Dylan logged his 25th flight. Unfortunately his 26th flight ended up in the bushes to the south of Launch (intermediate syndrome).
8-5-19	FlyBC is open today for ground school at 10 am, and flights at 11 am	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 32. Humidex 37. UV index 6 or high.	200° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - Colleen and I arrived back at Eagle Ranch at 12:30 pm to find the Ranch over run by pilots! Seven students, some old and some brand new! We had Bev, Tony and Jay working with the students and despite the heat everyone survived the day of kiting and flying. New student Jeremy got his first two flights today and did very well. Scott got his 25th flight today despite a new job and some bad weather in early July. Scott just has to write his P-2 exam this week and he is ready for his new career as a P-2 flight junkie. Happy recently minted P-2 and hopeful P-2 pilots debriefing with the Instructors at the Sasquatch after flying.
8-4-19	FlyBC is open today for ground school at 10 am, and flights at 2 pm as it looks like outflow til 2 pm	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 32. Humidex 37. UV index 6 or high.	200° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - Flights started at 2 pm after the outflow ceased or so Bev thought. Bev was launching advanced students and flew off after them and she did not like the air (still leeside). But they got two flights in before shutting down. Colleen and I did something completely different . . . a first year birthday party for Niece Emelia in Rayleigh, outside of Kamloops. It looks like a nice SW facing hill with a gravel road to the top awaits some flight testing there.
8-3-19	FlyBC is open today for ground school and flights at 10 am and it looks good all day	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 27. Humidex 31. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we had a great training day for the students. Tony was busy with 5 new students o the training hill with Jay W helping. Bev was hucking Tanyss, Scott & Dylan and they got between 2 and 5 flights depending on their stamina in the heat. Derek & I did a set of tandems at 1 pm with some prospective students and we got to 1000 metres with ease. And I had no vario as it was charging and I forgot to put it in my pack. We all went up in Lee's truck at 5 pm and conditions were a little gusty on launch but easy climbing to 1100 metres all over the mountain. I flew for 45 minutes struggling to adjust my harness after it was lent out to a pilot at noon who changed every strap. Tip of the Day: If you lend out your gear, setup your harness in a simulator before going on a long soaring flight! Dylan got his last flight today as Bev drove him up to soar with the big pilots (his tip today was more outside brake, and he did really well on his new Sky Fides 2).
8-2-19	FlyBC is open today for ground school only at 10 am and it looks windy all day	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Showers with risk of thunderstorms. Gusty winds. High 20. UV index 3 or moderate.	200° @ 40	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - it was a scary day with SW Winds up to 40 kph and thunderstorms forecasted, so no flying paragliders. It did calm down just before dark but too late to bother going up.
8-1-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons at 9 am and it looks flyable all day	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. High 28. Humidex 30. UV index 8 or very high.	200° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside WOW Report - forecast said a normal day with "SW Winds up to 15 kph". It was a perfect training day with lightwind launches early, juicy thermals after 1 pm, and glass-off conditions later in the day. The last flight had hour long flights for students and pros. Justin & Cheryl were out flying and his new Ozone Delta 3 with special logos looks great. Colours on top match the Tanzanian flag. Malcolm managed to complete his 25 flights this week and is now signed off with P-2 exam passed with 90% and a new Nova Prion4 glider to fly with.
7-31-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons at 9 am and it looks flyable all day	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly Sunny. High 24. Humidex 25. UV index 6 or high.	200° @ 18	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - Tony was busy with three students today, Malcolm (22 flights), Ian (20 flights) and Dylan (12 flights). They had three flights in by noon and Andrei & I went up to do a set of tandems for the Irwin's (the folks that own the airstrip at Hopyard Hill). The plan was for the students to launch first, get them to climb out and we would follow with the tandems over to the airstrip. Dylan went first and climbed high and fast on his Sky Fides 2, followed by Ian on his Gin Bolero 4. These guys thermalled like pros, and got to about 1000 metres before heading east. I launched with James Irwin on board and we got some lift on the South Knoll but we did not get as high as the students before heading east. No lift along the sandbars so we made it into a field just short of the airstrip. Andrei landed near the dyke and Malcolm landed in s\the same field as I did. The other Irwin's drove our cars to retrieve us so the logistics were perfect. I was working in the garden on the forth flights and captured Malcolm's landing in fairly strong south winds, but he handled the bumps well. Justin K flew Grouse Mtn tonight on his new Ozone Delta 3 with special Kilimanjaro Logos!
7-30-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons at 9 am and it looks flyable all day	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy. Clearing late in the afternoon. High 24. Humidex 25. UV index 6 or high.	200° @ 18	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we started flying at 10 am as it looked like a normal day with SW Winds up to 18 kph. But even during the first flight the winds got gusty and several pilots did not make the Ranch due to high winds. One flight is all that Malcolm got today but he is closed to getting signed off!
7-29-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons at 9 am but it looks like stronger winds in the PM	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 28. UV index 8 or very high.	200° @ 24	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - Tony was taking care of the students today. He ony had two students, Jack & Malcolm, and Jack was finishing his 25th flight and P-2 exam today. They had two normal flights with some thermalling and then one XC flight to the new Harvest field mid-day as the winds and thermals picked up quite strong. Jack said he launched and went straight to 800 metres without turning before heading over the back. Later folks went to Bridal and had spicy flights. Congratulations to Jack who aced his P-2 test and is now a rated P-2 pilot! Alex had a super day in Pemberton with a 9 hour flight and 200 kms of XC fun. Alex had a big flight today! So, This just happened . . . after launching his paraglider at Mount Seven in Golden BC this afternoon, Will Gadd Headed northeast to the Rockies. Relying only on thermal up drafts, he crossed the great divide north of Lake Louise and kept on going, crossing over some remote roadless terrain. He eventually landed in the Alberta foothills beside the Panther River in Sundre AB. I wonder if he saw the bison heard that now lives in that area? It was a straight-distance flight of around 130 km and He landed 30 km to the southwest of Sundre, Alberta. He crossed over 2 national parks! - Stewart Midwinter
7-28-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons at 9 am but it looks like outflow in the morning	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly sunny. Gusty winds. High 27. Humidex 29. UV index 8 or very high.	200° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we were open for lessons at 9 am. Looked like a normal day despite the Environment Canada Forecast of Gusty Winds, which did not materialize. I had a big crew today and thankfully Colleen was here to guide the 5 new students for their first solos (the rest of my Instructors are on vacation). Lots of action as graduating (or soon to be graduated) students took to the sky for some personal bests. Jack got 3:30 of airtime in two flights! Derek, Andrei & Colleen took a tandem each and it was nicely soarable for all of them. I had the chance to take Ben tandem today in the special chair. Ben has cerebral palsy and can't walk or talk but dreamt of flying and arranged a trip out to see us to go tandem. This was my first time flying the chair and I had great help from Derek, Colleen and Andrei ballasting us off. Spicy launch conditions for a forward launch which is all you can do with this setup but we pulled it off after one abort. launching with Ben in a special chair We climbed on the South Knoll and got above launch for a fly-by to wave at Mon & Sis. Good climbs everywhere but Ben was getting kind of aggitated and I could not tell if it was excitement or fear so I flew out after 30 minutes to a soft landng by the training hill in South wind. Later in the day I took a load up and found George sitting patiently on launch as Colleen drove down before he got launched as he only has 9 flights. I launched George and he and Dom soared around for 45 minutes and it just got stronger and stronger on launch and we had to drive down. The Canadian Nationals PG Comp is officially over in Pemberton. Final Results from the Canadian nats
7-27-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons at 9 am but it looks too windy all day	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Showers ending early this afternoon then mainly cloudy. High 23. Humidex 25. UV index 6 or high.	200° @ 25	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Eagle Ranch Report - we were open for lessons at 9 am. It was quite windy early on so we did Ground School with 5 eager new students. Then around 1 pm we braved the winds and started kiting sessions. By 5 pm everyone could forward and reverse launch their wings but they were looking pretty tired, so we went back to the Barn for a landing briefing. Even after 7 pm it was howling on launch so no evening flights. Dave A came down from Pemby to drop off the PG Nationals Shuttle Vehicles and pick up some gear and reported in that there were two more reserve tosses in the Last Task today.
7-26-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons at 9 am and it looks pre-frontal by 3 pm	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly sunny. Becoming windy late this afternoon. High 28. Humidex 32. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 27	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we started flying at 10 am, and we got two rounds in before it blew out around 1 pm. Some pilots had no problem getting to the Ranch but the last group that stayed in the air opted for Irwin's Air Strip or the HG LZ. Then Dennie and I decided we needed to do a roadtrip up Sylvester Road where it seemed less windy. We parked the students cars at Durieu School and headed up the secret Dewdney Bench Road. It is gated and has signs saying "Authorized Vehicles Only" . . . good thing we have signed the authorization papers at the logging company when they gave us keys last year. Thanks to John W for supplying the geo carpet on launch. I will bring back a torch and weld it together so it is not such a tripping hazard. Dennie flew off first and climbed out nicely. He kept climbing out above launch and was soon at 1200 metres. Liam launched next on his Nova Ion 5 Light and was soaring his way up to meet Dennie. Dennie and Liam headed north toward the school field LZ and overshot it somewhat but it was not that windy in Durieu so they made the field with lots of height for an exciting lifty approach. I watched Daryll and Kaveh launch, Daryll caught a sink cycle and just had a sled ride to Sylvester Road. Kaveh was able to get above launch flying his new SupAir EONA2 for a bit so I drove down . . . he is now at 22 flights in only a week with FlyBC. I think this is going to be our "go to site" for windy days. Better than hiking up Lil Nic to find it is too windy or too cross. Other pilots decided Bridal was too windy and it looked like it would "OD". The Canadian PG National Comp had a cancelled task day too due to the wind forecasts.
7-25-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons at noon after the rain clears	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Showers early. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this afternoon.High 25. Humidex 28. UV index 8 or very high.	200° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - Dennie was the man in charge and he took good care of 7 students on launch while I worked with Sunni on the ground for her first day of lessons. Dennie made 5 runs up the mountain and most students got 4 flights with some great thermalling and some teachable moments. Tip of the Day: - even when you are high over the Maple Tree area, do not do a 360 turn in high winds as you will lose all you have gained coming out to the LZ. Good news is that there are landable fields downwind of the Maple Tree . . . try that in Riverside and you will be hanging in the trees! Sunni did get her first high flight late in the day and almost made the field except she "zig-ed" when she should have "zag-ed". Pilots at Bridal were still flying at 7:30 pm so it must have been good there! Secret Sea to Sky Site Report - James & Alex were flying off their secret Tunnel Bluffs site today and they had way better air than the Canadian PG Nats apparently! Somehow Alex caught the SkyTrain from Coquitlam home. Odd tracks on XCFind from the Canadian PG Nationals today? It was a short 42 km task to Camel's Hump and back to a goal field mid valley but it looks like no one made goal maybe due to lame conditions so the day was quite devalued. Canadian PG Nationals Results Page for Task 5
7-24-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons at noon after the rain clears	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Showers early. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this afternoon.High 25. Humidex 28. UV index 8 or very high.	200° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we were here at 12:30 pm and the rain was light all the way from Maple Ridge to the Ranch, and here no rain. We started flying at 4:30 pm, after a quick 3 flight session at Heritage park for Chris. Liam and Chris got one nice flight to Eagle Ranch at 5:30 pm. Then Scott, Derek and Anna joined us for the last flight which turned out magical for Scott and Derek after Anna flew through a big thermal as she headed to Riverside. Here Scott followed Derek and they had 45 minutes of magical thermals to play in.
7-23-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons at 9 am	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this afternoon. High 22. Humidex 24. UV index 8 or very high.	200° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Woodside Report - we were here at 12:30 pm and the rain was light all the way from maple Ridge to the Ranch, and here no rain. We went up with Dylan, Kaveh & Chris. Dylan has 13 flights and was test flying a Sky Fides 2 and did really well on it. Kaveh is flying a SupAir EONA 2 and is completing his Canadain P-2 after starting with a P-1 course in Iran this year. The first flight was just a sledder to the Ranch. John W joined us for the second flight and it was getting stroner so a plan was hatched to head to Irwin's Air Strip at the foot of Hoyard Hill. Dylan took off first and climbed all the way and turned east after just one pass of the South Knoll. Kaveh launched next and hit no lift, in fact it was very sinky so he had to fly Hwy 7 all the way out to the Ranch. John did better but left the South Knoll heading east quite low. Chris was not ready to launch off the mountain despite having 100 paramotor flights, so we drove to Irwin's to get the XC pilots. Unfortunately the pilots did not do what we said in the briefing, which is to follow the North Bank of the Fraser River, because if you follow the highway or railway tracks you are in sinky leeside air and you won't make to the airstrip. They found a field that was not in crop and were waiting by the tracks. Meanwhile in Pemby, Kevin was filming a secret project taking a cameraman with an exotic high def gimballed camera for a long flight chasing the comp pilots in the PG Nationals. The PG Nationals now has had three tasks. The second task was cancelled due to wind but the results are posted here. Canadian PG Nationals Results 2019
7-22-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons at 9 am	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly sunny. High 28. Humidex 30. UV index 8 or very high.	200° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Woodside Report - we got only one student round of flights today before it blew out at 1 pm. But Jacek took the students to Pioneer Park in Agassiz for a 3 hour kiting session to sharpen their skills, so the day was not a total waste. And then we had a nice Birthday Bash for Normando who turned 60 today, thanks to Colleen for cooking and to Derek for the salmon and corn.
7-21-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons at 9 am	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly sunny. High 28. Humidex 30. UV index 8 or very high.	200° @ 7	-3.0°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Woodside WOW Report - we were open today at 9 am for PG and PPG lessons and we were not disappointed. CanadaRASP showed some NE wind forecast early on, but Endre launched off Woodside at 830 am having camped on top last night with his girlfriend. He said it was light inflow and easy launch conditions on his Ozone Ultralite 4. Devon did three more paramotor flights on our demo Blackhawk 125 Lite Paramotor and is flying very well with perfect reverese launches. Mark was also out motoring today and flew 6 XC missions on his Scout paramotor. At 10 am Jacek took a full busload of student pilots up and they launched quite quickly in light inflow conditions. The current crop of studens are at 10-25 flights and all landing well focusing on spot landing in the 100 foot circle we keep mowed for them. At noon Andre, Colleen & I did a round of tandems and the thermals were just starting to pop. But it was quite inverted so the flights were fun but short. The student flights kept happening until 4 pm, when I launched with Mark and started climbing with the one lone HGer that stayed in the air. We climbed through 1100 metres and there it started to get cold so we broke through the inversion or the inversion itself broke up. We were in the air over the top of Woodside and it was smooth and lifty and we could see Black Tusk, Mt. Baker and Harrison Lake . . . what a view! I flew out over Harrison Mills and arrived over the Ranch at 800 metres and I gave the controls to Mark and suggested he fly us to Sandpiper Golf course for a beer, which he did gladly. No wind on the ground at the airstrip but we had a nice standup landing just beside a T-box. Mark's wife cme to meet us and we had a beer out on the patio and Mark had to explain how we got there to the other patrons. When we got back to the Ranch after an hour of rest, there were many students in the air on their 4th and longest flight today with Thomas (29 flights) & Jack (15 flights) racking up 1:40 of airtime soaring above launch. No other schools were out today so launch was quite uncrowded, too bad for their students missing out on this great day! Meanwhile in Pemberton the Canadian Nationals had their first task. Task 1 Canadian Nationals A 70.69 km task with many in goal. A few reserve tosses but no reports of injuries.
7-20-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons at 9 am	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 26. Humidex 28. UV index 8 or very high.	200° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside WOW Report - we started flying paramotors at 9 am and Devon got two flights and Mark got 6 flights working on his landings and reverse launches. Then Jacek took all the other students flying off Woodside at 10 am. Devon & Jake joined them after paramotoring and they all got 5 flights each by 7 pm. Bev was working with Octavio & Ilbert and they were ready to fly in the afternoon and Octavio got two flights off Woodside while Ilbert had some launhing issues so he had to drive down. after debriefing him he understood the impotance of brake action to control angle of attack. What a great day with light winds and mild thermals.
7-19-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons at 9 am	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this morning. High 25. Humidex 28. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we started flying off the mountain at 10 am. Devon, Jake & Kaveh all flew three flights and when it got too strong (Martin N landed at the HG LZ du to winds), Jacek took the guys to Pioneer Park in Agassiz. Later in the day we took the paramotors out and Devon got two more motoring flights on his new Nova Prion4, which works well for motoring and free-flight.
7-18-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons at 9 am	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this morning. High 25. Humidex 28. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - it was clearing up from yesterdays rains but not enough to see launch. We headed out to do some paramotoring but the winds were all over the place, so I suggested kiting practice for Jake & Devon to test the air. I went back to the Barn to look for some radios and by the time I got back the cell over Sasquatch Mtn. overdeveloped and it started raining. We packed up and headed back to the Barn and new student Kadeh arrived to start his P-2. We headed to Mission as the radar showed good conditions there. It was too strong and cross to attempt hill practice but the condition on the flats. The local tree surgeons were working on one of the small tress near the launch spot, so I went to talk to them. A woman was sitting in the shade the day before and got attacked by black wasps and was taken to hospital, so they came to get rid of the nest and trim the branches higher in case they came back. Note the industrial texture of the sky! We kited in strongish +20 kph winds for several hours and headed back to the Ranch to check the winds on launch, but it was decided that it was too windy for safe flights.
7-17-19	FlyBC is rained out today	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Heavy Rain. High 19. Humidex 28. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Monsoon Report - heavy rain and low clouds all day so no lessons.
7-16-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons at 9 am	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this morning. High 25. Humidex 28. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we were open today at 9 am for PG and PPG lessons but we were waiting for mid-day winds to get above 20 kph. And they did until late. New student Jake is here for PPG lessons and it a natural. he was reverse launching in 2 hours with skill and grace. He flew a flight before the winds picked up, landing perfectly.
7-15-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons at 9 am	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy. Clearing early this afternoon. High 25. Humidex 28. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we were open today at 9 am for PG and PPG lessons but the mid-day winds got above 25 kph quite fast. Mark had a great early morning with two long paramotor flights on his Scout PPG/Ozone Roadster 2 before coming back to the Ranch. Lots of kiting for the students while we were waiting for the winds on launch to come in. And by the time the students got packed up and on launch it blew out! Dan from CA was here on his 19 metre mini-wing and he could not make the Ranch, so no students got launched fortunately. I had to fly to Squamish in the Turbo Skymaster T337B to pick up a new Kangook paramotor for our fleet, a Moster 185 powered unit. Nice flight up with Vancouver Arrivals rerouting airliners around Stave Lake where the TCUs were growing fast. The only way there was over Grouse Mountain and out to West Vancouver as all the valleys were obscured with CUs. There is new clearcut above Brunswick Mines and it looks like roads all the way to the top. No more hiking for James & John! Some rainshowers just before Squamish but the Chief was clear and there were no basejumpers or PG pilots as the south winds were kicking in. Nice landing conditions on Runway 15 with wind straight down the centreline. I bumped into Captain Jack at Glacier Air where he is gettting checked out on the 172. I loaded up the paramotor into the backseat and was off and climbing south with ease as the thermals were no about 1000 feet/minute all the way home. Quite bumpy along the North Shore and into Harrison Bay with about 20 mph SW winds at Chilliwack so a short landing before the turnoff onto Taxiway A. We waited until 6 pm and had to call the day for flights but good ground school sessions and great kiting until it blew out as Tony got "hoovered up" to 8 feet above the windsock pole while demonstrating for the students. Two new Nova pilots as Art chose the Ion 5 Light and Malcolm got the demo Prion 4 XS glider. The 2 year warranty/replacement plan is a key selling point - damage is covered for a full 2 years once registered with Nova Protect.
7-14-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons at 9 am	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy. Clearing early this afternoon. High 25. Humidex 28. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we are open today at 9 am for PG and PPG lessons but the mid-day winds got above 25 kph quite fast. We had a great early morning round where 4 new pilots got their first solo flights with great lift all the way to Eagle Ranch. If you scroll in you can see a student just launching. Tanyss was also out flying her new Nova Prion4 and it looks so bright and pretty in Red/Pink. She is at 18 flights now and heading to Europe in August so we have to get here signed off soon! Once it was clear that not even Derek or Martin N could fly we knew we had to head to Mission to fly. Tony loaded up a group and when they got to Heritage park it was "over the back" so they headed to Cherry Hill. They had a great seesion with the four newbies, lots of flights. I went to Heritage Park with two stragglers and they got five good flights there, so the winds were all over the place today. We went back to the Ranch and around 5:30 pm we gathered up three remaining students, Derek, Colleen, Bev, andrei and we headed up the hill. We watched an un-named pilot have many aborts and near crashes which may have unsettled some, but not our students! I got Art and Devin off while Colleen and the others soared around for over an hour going up everywhere, easy lift to 1000 metres. Zolt was having some inflation issues so we worked on top for 15 minutes and he finally got off the hill. Student flights were about 35-40 minutes long tonight! Meanwhile two very good pilots were having fun flights closer to Vancouver. John R launched off his secret Brunswick site and landed in West Vancouver near the Upper Levels and Capilano Road (outside YVR airspace). Peter launched from Grouse Mtn. and flew out to Cypress and then back east to land near Capilano College (also outside YVR airspace). Nice flying guys!
7-13-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons at 10 am	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy. Clearing early this afternoon. High 25. Humidex 28. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we started flying students at 10 am and conditions were light winds and cloudy. We had a group of six students kiting in the LZ as the first group of P-2 hopefuls headed up Woodside. Mark & John W were a great help as they helped the new PPG students kiting, thanks guys! I was working with Scott on the training hill getting him tuned up for the afternoon solo flights. Derek, Colleen and I took a group of tourists for a nice tandem and I stayed up for 20 minutes with Meg. We were hovering over the LZ in fairly strong East wind and setting up a nice approach into the damned circle when we hit sink and swooped into a group of bags left by the sge of the circle sending them flying! Great entertainment for the next round of tandems! Next round of flights I took Mary for a birthday tandem and we had a front row seat watching Colleen launch some of our more advanced students into some nice lift. Mary and I circled around for 30 minutes getting to 1000 metres and then it shaded out near launch so we headed north into the bowl where there was sun. Despite the sun there, we just maintained and it felt windy there so we ridge soared back towards launch and watched Martin N launch and we scratching a long time just maintaining, sometime going up. The sun finally came back and we climbed back above launch. Eventually all the scratching came to an end and I realized the sink we were in was not going to allow us to get over the Construction Zone so we headed to Riverside in -3 m/s sink. Good landing conditions, a bit thermic as the grass is short. We hiked up to the bus at the Woodside Inn and drove home after a glorious hour long flight. After that the day blew out for more student flights but we had great kiting for the newbies. The US Open Paragliding Comp wrapped up in Chelan WA today. US Open Paragliding Comp Final Results A clip from 2016 that just showed up in my feed.
7-12-19	FlyBC is open today	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. High 23. Humidex 28. UV index 7 or moderate.	200° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 700 metres	Woodside Report - Bev & Jay ran the show with the students while I was doing some landings and taking care of finacial business. The students got 3 flights and when we went up for the last flight at 6 pm it was deemed too windy when Colleen took off and was going 4 kph and went straight up to 1000 metres before heading to Irwin's Airstrip (the only landable field now). Reports from Bridal that someone was doing spirals over the Bridal LZ when a bystander called 911 and several ambulances, a fire truck and an RCMP cruiser arrived in the LZ. Spicy conditions reported near Gloria.
7-11-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mix of sun & cloud. High 23. Humidex 28. UV index 3 or moderate.	200° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 700 metres	Woodside Report - Bev & Jay had quite a few students and they all got 3-4 flights in mixed conditions. Good work folks!
7-10-19	FlyBC is closed today for lessons due to rain but back on Thursday	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Rain ending this morning then cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. High 23. Humidex 28. UV index 3 or moderate.	200° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 700 metres	Woodside Report - we were closed today due to rain and low clouds.
7-9-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons after 10 am	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this morning. Fog patches early this morning. High 24. Humidex 27. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 8	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - paramotoring lessons started at 9 am with Andy getting 3 flights on the Blackhawk 125 Lite, Mark was flying his Scout PPG and Jerry was finishing up lessons on his Blackhawk HE220 Quad. Bev was guiding the other 5 students and Andy started flying PG after his paramotoring lessons and he got 5 flights on the paraglider as well as his 3 paramotor flights so a good day for him! During the last flight Andy flew off first and got pinned in the wind and had to land at the HG LZ, and unfortunately Art also got launched before we could radio that the conditions had gotten windy. Art was flying one of our new Nova Prion4 XS gliders and despite being at the top of the weight range he was fetting "hoovered up" as the front approached Woodside and it came in fast. Art climbed to 4000 feet before heading east. Bev had done a Harvest Briefing earlier but as it was Art's first venture east he overshot the LZs by a country mile and landed just north of Hwy 7 outside of the CYR Art wisely headed east as he saw the rain approaching, and this is what it looked like as Art was packing up. Meanwhile in Chelan at the US Paragliding Open they had a second task - 132 kms north to Oroville WA just short of the Canadian Border. Task 2 Open Results A bunch of the Canucks made goal too: Guy, Jim O, Dan V, Igor.
7-8-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons after 10 am	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this morning. Fog patches early this morning. High 24. Humidex 27. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 8	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - Paramotoring Training early with 3 paramotorists and good wind conditions in the Eagle Ranch LZ. Andy, Mark & Jerry were all flying with Jerry doing the Blackhawk Quad with Ozone Magnum 2 38 wing. Meanwhile Bev took time off from her vacation to come and guide the paraglider P-2 hopefuls. Thanks Bev! It got windy in the afternoon but not before Martin N took Clark & Turpin for a mini-XC flight east. FlyBC is the only school with paragliding & paramotoring in our own private airstrip with full certification by HPAC and Transport Canada. Meanwhile back at Mara Lake, Norm and Jacek flew off Skyline Launch and headed South. Jacek flew back to Lumby and Freedom Flight Park over Silverstar Resort on his Ozone Alpina 3! Norm had a great flight too but dirted it in Armstrong. Jacek's Flight in Animation
7-7-19	FlyBC is closed today for lessons as the forecast says 70% chance of rain and a possible thunderstorm this afternoon	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. Becoming cloudy near noon with 70 percent chance of showers or thunderstorms this afternoon. Wind becoming north 20 km/h this afternoon. High 22. UV index 6 or high.	200° @ 8	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we had heavy rain start around noon. Then cloudbase dropped to 300 metres. So no flying here. But the US Open Paragliding 2019 Comp started today and we had 7 out of 8 Canucks in Goal after a 99.9 km task! Some of the Canucks averaged 50 kph overall speed, so windy and lifty all the way! Chelan Blog
7-6-19	FlyBC is closed today for lessons as the forecast says 60% chance of rain and a possible thunderstorm this afternoon	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. Risk of a thunderstorm this afternoon. High 20. UV index 5 or moderate.	200° @ 8	-3.0°C (unstable) 600 metres	Woodside Report - we were NOT flying today unless the precip held off. So it was a chore day, repacking multiple reserves and testing gliders. Then at 5 pm Derek came over with Martin N with hopes of flying. Colleen & I packed our gear in the truck and we headed up the mountain and it looked good until we got on Launch and it was gusty and NW. Martin N got ready first and after a few duffs he was off and going backwards! I was flying an Ozone Alpina 2 ML so I have a slightly higher wing loading than Martin on his Swift 5 L, so after he reported he was getting +8 kms into wind I got ready and waited for a lull. And waited. And when it lulled it was too light to even bring up the wing (partly because it went so North). But as the cycle built, I was able to get a solid wing overhead and step off launch without getting "hucked" like Martin. I was geting +12 kph on the A2 into wind and I caught up to Martin quickly after launching. There was a great lift band all the way to Harrison Highlands and beyond. We boated back and forth between the Highlands & Launch at 800 to 1000 metres for 30 minutes. I ventured out to the Valley and was not losing any height so I radioed that I would meet everyone at Sandpiper Golf Course for dinner. All the way to the Harrison Bridge I only lost 200 metres and when I crossed the Harrison River I started climbing again? I spent 20 minutes or more over the river trying to find sink and figured out that the lift was coming off the Dry Sort Yard upwind of me so "big ears" and some spirals got me below that lift area and I had a nice touchdown near the swimming pool, just a short walk to the Restaurant. Martin reported in over the Sandbars headed east to the new Harvest LZs and also found good lift along the way. His car was parked there as planned. Derek, Colleen and Rio drove down as they thought it was too wild on launch (which it was in retrospect). A belated video by JP of fun at Revy! Revy Fly-in!!! from Jonathan Pettersen on Vimeo.
7-5-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons with Bev & Tony manning the fort while I do some errands	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. 60 percent chance of showers early this morning. High 20. UV index 3 or moderate.	200° @ 8	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - SpotWX said no rain, but Environment Canada said 60% chance of precip and they were right. Colleen and I were in town leaving Bev & Tony in charge and they did ground school, some exam writing and other indoor activities and finally called the day after 2 pm when it started to rain heavily. It was odd because at 7 am, I could see launch in the webcam but by 9 am the mountain had clouded over. In Vancouver, the clouds were down to the ground in places.
7-4-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons with Bev & Tony manning the fort while I do some errands	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. 30 percent chance of showers early this morning. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this afternoon. High 20. UV index 3 or moderate.	200° @ 8	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - lots of students (8) and they all flew including Ellen & Tobias from Bellingham who just started today! Tony and Bev were managing the PG students while I was working the PPG guys in the LZ. Mark flew his new Scout with Moster 185 and he had two great flights. Jerry flew his Blackhawk Quad three times and had great flights until we tried the fourth flight and he spun the wing on takeoff forcing the cage into the prop, and toothpicks were made. Bev did such a great job getting the last students off launch that they all landed a minute apart, with Mark passing Malcolm on the way to Eagle Ranch.
7-3-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons with Bev & Tony manning the fort while I do some errands	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy. High 23. UV index 6 or high.	200° @ 8	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we had a great day with 3 student rounds paused mid-day for the SW winds aloft. Norm launched around 1 pm and got 1:40 of soaring fun. But the students took advantage of the afternoon downtime to kite and perfect their launch skills. And it showed as the last launch at 7 pm had all four students in the air within a minute of each other thanks to Bev's Launch Management skills. Martin N & Derek flew around 6 pm and got over an hour of cloud-surfing. Maybe one more day before the July rains hit us. Our friend Brett was flying Grouse Mountain last week and captured some nice scenery as he did a triangle over West Vancouver. Lost in the Garden II | BMPCC4K from Brett Hazlett on Vimeo.
7-02-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons with Bev & Tony manning the fort while I do some errands	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. A few showers beginning early this morning and ending this afternoon. High 20. UV index 3 or moderate.	200° @ 8	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we planned to be flying new students today but cloudbase was too low. And when cloudbase lifted around 2 pm, and the sun came out it got too windy for even the pros. But great kiting conditions getting the required maneuvers completed including reverse launches. The rest of the week looks damp some days including up in Savona so not sure what we are going to do?
7-1-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons with Bev manning the fort while Colleen and I are at the Revy Fly-In	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. High 28. Humidex 26. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Woodside Report - we got up late and decided to pack up and head home at 10:30 am rather than flying. CanadaRASP showed up to 40 kph of SW winds, and the Foreflight App showed up to 10 knots of headwind at 10500 feet, so we elected to takeoff early. We had a nice 1:20 flight home with clear skies and lots of CUs to bump us up to altitude (some with sustained 1500 feet/minute climb). We arrived over Woodside to descend into Chilliwack and saw some HGers setting up but no PGers, due to the forecasted strong winds. Nice landing in Chilliwack, getting my STOL skills back after 30 years. As we unloaded the plane the gusts got stronger and it was blowing +30 kph from the west. Reports back from Revy said the winds did not pick up til after 6 pm, so they had a good last day of flying.
6-30-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons with Bev manning the fort while Colleen and I are at the Revy Fly-In	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. High 27. Humidex 26. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Revy Report - we were in Revy for the Wild West Fly-In. We had a nice mellow morning getting our free breakfast at The Regent Hotel. Folks started flying early, mini-wings landing at Catherwood LZ. After noon the pilots were skying out and some ambitious XC pilots flew to Meadow Creek some 120 kms away. We got into the Tram after 3 pm and then into a shuttle vvan at 9 kms to the top launches. When I opened my bag I found my coat was missing and I was in a T-shirt. Damn! It was cold on top, maybe 5C, but I was okay standing there but the flight would have to be short with no coat. Fortunately Dave U saw my plight and offered me his coat cause he was layered up. Thanks for that Dave, as when I launched between tandems I got plucked and went straight up to 3000 metres without a turn! Everywhere I went was going up and not much forward speed despite being overloaded on a nice Ozone Alpina 2 ML. There was a big black-bottomed cloud right above the North Launch and it was sucking hard. The tandems and solo pilots had to stand down for an hour while I was flying as it blew out strong just after I launched. Colleen was stuck on top but at least she had a coat and flight suit. I flew out and back to the mountain for an hour and watched folks doing SIV and acro into the Splashville LZ. Colleen and I dressed up as Cowgirls and we won the costume prize of 2 T-Shirts. Reports from Pemby of epic flights by Vlad & Igor. Epic Tracklogs from Pemby to Squamish to Pemby!
6-29-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons with Bev manning the fort while Colleen and I are at the Revy Fly-In	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy with 30 percent chance of showers early this morning then a mix of sun and cloud. High 24. Humidex 26. UV index 7 or high.	200° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Woodside Report - Colleen & I left for Revy for the Wild West Fly-In at noon, leaving Bev in charge of only one student Tanyss. It took us just 1:30 to get to Revy and landed navigating through some cloudy sections down Mabel Lake and into Revelstoke Airport in the Cessna T337B aircraft. First time ever landing an airplane at CYRV, what a nice runway! Meanwhile back at Woodside, Bev got Tanyss 5 flights today on the Ozone Atom 3. Jacek flew a nice out & return XC Flight to Benny and back to the Ranch! Norm & Martin N flew from Benny towards the Ranch, Norm made it but Martin N caught some sink near Harrison Bay. Jacek's Flight in animation
6-28-19	FlyBC is closed today for lessons due to the rain forecast and preparations for Revy Fly-In	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Rain ending early in the afternoon then cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers. High 16. UV index 3 or moderate.	200° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 700 metres	Woodside Report - we are closed Friday for PPG and PG Lessons as thee forecast looked wet. I did fly over Woodside and Harrison Mills in the Cessna T337 getting it ready for the Revy Trip Satuday and it was dry and lifty but turbulent near Harrison Knob. As I tied down the bird around 3 pm it started to rain all over the valley but heavier near Bridal Falls and Hope.
6-27-19	FlyBC is closed today for lessons due to the rain	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Rain ending early in the afternoon then cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers. High 16. UV index 3 or moderate.	200° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 700 metres	Woodside Report - we were closed Thursday for PPG and PG Lessons. But jay & I got our paramotors out for a quick flight around noon. I say quick as in "really quick" . . . my new Kangook with Corsair Sky Bee 125 ran great on takeoff but developed a high power stutter that I think is an air leak in the fuel system. An easy fix but I just did one cicuit. Jay's flight was longer after we finally got his Kangook with Corsair Black Devel 172 tuned-up. By the time Jay got into the air it was very turbulent with gusts and thermals and quite a bit of rotor in and around Scary Corner. But we both flew and I quite like the launch characteristics of the new Ozone Element 3 for motoring, it is not a light weight wing but it inflates and waits for the pilot to get on the throttle. Later in the day, Richard & Norm from the Okanogan arrive with 8 Japanese Pilots who are doing a BC Tour. One of them is in a wheelchair and flies his paraglider in a pod with no wheels, so his friends have to "huck him off the hill".
6-26-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. 30 percent chance of showers late this afternoon with risk of a thunderstorm. High 27. Humidex 29. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 8	-3.0°C (unstable) 1400 metres	Woodside Report - I only had two students today so it was a light load, plus Bev arrived to spare me off after 11 am. I took Aiden up at 10 am, and he had a beautiful soaring flight for 20 minutes on his second ever flight. Lifty all over the mountain and valley. He is out over the farthest peak on the new Ozone Element 3 and he did a great job thermalling around. I am going to start adding a SkyBean to each harness to help students identify the lift, we have them in stock anyway. I even got to fly one of our used wings, an Alpina 2 ML, around noon and I was "dukin' it out" with Martin N for a bit. We both climbed to 900 metres a few times and the air was weird. You could stay up but it was rough in places. Easy soaring over the new Harrison Highlands excavation near the lake. Landing was bouncy but safe, although I felt the A2 go soft on final like it was going to frontal but I was just 2 metres above the deck. Grant arrived and joined us as he approached his graduation flight status (he was at 21 at the start of today and he logged two more flights while Aiden got three flights as he arrived earlier in the day). Grant is flying the new AirDesign Susi3 - 16 and it flies very well. Grant is around 70 kgs all up and that means the Susi3 is EN-B rated at this loading, most other mini-wings are not rated at all, just load tested. Grant is making the Ranch with more height than the normal gliders and into wind is no issue as the trim speed is over 45 kph. Bev managed the students for the latter part of the day as I ran errands. On the last flight around 4 pm, Delvin flew off, but after getting dragged a few times Aiden stood down. Grant agreed and they all drove down. At around 6:30 pm a huge thunderstorm hit the valley with lots of lightning and thunder and a gust front.
6-25-19	FlyBC is open today for lessons	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Sunny. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this afternoon. High 23. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 8	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - we were open at 8 am Tuesday for PPG and PG Lessons. Mark arrived and we got him up on the Blackhawk 125 Lite Paramotor (PPG) and Ozone Roadster 2 first try! Perfect flying conditions up high with smooth lift and light winds. After flying around for 30 minutes, Mark landed and we packed up and headed up the mountain for some free flights. The loggers are hauling from 10 KM, so monitor 150.080 MHZ simples and call out your KMs. Grant arrived for flight round #2 and picked up his new AirDesign Susi3 16 metre wing! Fun ship, EN-B rated mini-wing so it is legal with HPAC. Grant's is fire red and very pretty on the ground and in the sky. Last flight at 4:20 pm was pretty windy and strong but this little Susi3 was climbing, soaring and made it out to Eagle Ranch with tons of altitude. We have the identical glider here for demo in Lime Green. Brad was here for his second day of an Intro course and was flying the Ozone Atom3 which looks like a parachute but has surprisingly good glide and speeds. Here is Brad soaring on his second flight on the Atom3. Folks were flying from Benny today: Kevin, Claudia, Hammer, Martin N (who landed at the Ranch). It was OD-ing at Bridal and Hope so the smart pilots did not go past Agassiz. Claudia landed near Harvest Market according to her tracklog. Martin said the air was rough during the flight east. Balled up wings and lots of surges. While we were debriefing in the Barn around 5:30 pm, the thunderstorms started hitting Sasquatch Resort and Agassiz. Lightning and thunder all around the Ranch and quite closely spaced timewise. Gusts were over 50 kph during the storm. Good time to be on the ground!
6-24-19	FlyBC is closed today	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. Becoming windy this afternoon. High 18. UV index 6 or high.	240° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 700 metres	Woodside Report - we were closed Monday due to the rain and wind forecast. Colleen was home and said it did not get windy til 3 pm and the rain held off.
6-23-19	FlyBC is open today at 9 am to fly if the winds behave and the rain stays away	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers. Becoming windy this afternoon. High 18. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - Cancelled classes at 9 am. No rain but we did get low cloudbase til noon, then it became very windy all day. So windy that the main orange windsock is lying on the ground? From a past tandem day with Kevin on his new Ozone Magnum 3.
6-22-19	FlyBC is open today at 9 am to fly if the winds behave and the rain stays away	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. 60 percent chance of showers this afternoon. High 16. UV index 5 or moderate.	240° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Wind Report - it was too windy on the ground to try PPG but the winds dropped later for lots of great kiting action. We loaded up a bus full of pilots to try the Bench at Dewdney and we were almost at launch when Al was coming down saying it was too westerly and not launchable so we turned around. We tried a few times and the other guys went up and waited on top for about 45 minutes and even Norm said it was too windy to fly off Woodside. Meanwhile, epic soaring at Blanchard in WA State was reported.
6-21-19	FlyBC is open today at 9 am to fly if the winds behave and the rain stays away	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. 60 percent chance of showers this afternoon. High 16. UV index 5 or moderate.	240° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - nice cloudy start to the day and the sun came out so the students could thermal around. Seven students and all great flights x 3 rounds.
6-20-19	FlyBC is open today at 9 am to fly if the winds behave and the rain stays away	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. 60 percent chance of showers this afternoon. High 16. UV index 5 or moderate.	240° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we had a great day with 3 student rounds and lots of paramotor flights in the morning before it got too windy.
6-19-19	FlyBC is open today at 8 am to start P-2 exams but no flying is expected to happen due to high winds and rain	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers. Risk of a thunderstorm late this afternoon. High 19. UV index 6 or high.	240° @ 23	-3.0°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Woodside Report - we met at 8 am to write P-2 Exams and debrief on the awesome Savona Trip. We had rain, hail, sunshine, then more rain as the day developed and over-developed. The guys finished their exams and we marked them as a team, and then they went kiting as the winds dropped to sub-30 kph. After about an hour the rain started again heavy but all the wings were packed in the barn by then. Tomorrow looks like a possible Woodside Day if the showers stay away.
6-19-19	FlyBC is open today at 7 am to starton our Savona Road Trip	Woodside Forecast Savona Forecast: Mainly sunny. Wind becoming southwest 20 km/h this afternoon. High 29. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Savona Report - we left the Ranch at 7 am and arrived at 10:30 am to find perfect conditions in the Magic Bowl. Winds from the West at 10-15 kph to start. We had 8 students with from no flights to 41 flights, so a varied group but everyone flew! Many of the students are 15 flights plus so they were self managing and self launching with some occasional landing briefings. Highlight of the day included both Rod F and Jeff M getting high above launch with Rod top-landing one flight. This is the perfect site for repetitive flights in a day. New students Jody & Malcolm flew for the first time, with Malcolm rocking his landings on a an Ozone Atom 3! By 5 pm, the winds dropped to light east and we bagged up and loaded the Bronco for the trip home. I counted 46 launches and landings today with most students getting at least 5 flights, and Jeff M getting 9 flights because he kept hiking up. All the way back on Hwy 1 we encountered +35 kph SW winds and gusty all the way to the Ranch, but somehow the winds stayed away for us. Bob was not happy to be left alone all day and showed her displeasure on our return.
6-17-19	FlyBC is open today at 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly cloudy. Clearing near noon. High 24. Humidex 27. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - SW winds early! We plan for a 9 am Woodside run and still got only two student rounds. But we got lots of ground handling sessions completed and the students are doing very well getting all their requirements for the P-2 level. Rod had a solo flight mid-day and despite using lots of speed bar to get out here, he could only get to the HG LZ where he had an exciting 50% collapse.
6-16-19	FlyBC is open today at 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly cloudy. Clearing near noon. High 24. Humidex 27. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we managed three more student rounds and again the winds picked up by 1:30 pm. Monica was planning to follow Bev to the new Harvest LZ but found only sink so she landed in the HG LZ. Apparently the shortest distance between two points is not the ditch! A late try at flying yielded only one tandem flight by Rod.
6-15-19	FlyBC is open today at 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly cloudy. Clearing near noon. High 24. Humidex 27. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - SW winds early! We planned for a 10 am Woodside run. We made three student flights and by 1 pm it was too strong for even seasoned pilots.
6-14-19	FlyBC is open today at 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. High 24. Humidex 35. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 2000 metres	Woodside Report - a cloudy start to the day. We went up at 11 am when the clouds lifted and started launching first flight students. Instructor Tip of the Day: make sure your student radios are lanyarded to the harness. Buzz launched after an extensive briefing and did very well despite the fact that his radio fell off and was on the launch carpet after he launched. He did a perfect approach and landing! Second flights got cut short because it got too strong. Back to the LZ to kite in strongish S winds. Colleen, Andrei & I did one set of tandems and the lift was good but the forward progress out to the Ranch was slow. Interesting landing conditions for Bev apparently! I had one last tandem to do with Howard (who we had left on top) and we made up for his waiting with an awesome hour long tandem ride and a neat trip east to Limbert Road. This is the correct path to gain the most altitude heading east as the lift triggers off the sandbars. We spent 30 minutes circling over Cemetary Hill and Norm got to 700 metres at one point. We tried to run to Agassiz and beer but hit sink between Cemetary & Hopyard Hills and landed near the old Limbert Farm Market. Here is Norm on final to land with us. The ditches are high and we had to walk back to Limbert Farm to get out with dry feet. Don't land there! We went back up after 7 pm and the winds were fairly strong and we hatched a plan to fly the students to the new Harvest/Limbert Road LZ. Colleen and Ian (on his new Ozone Geo 6) launched and climbed out fast to 900 metres. I launched Andy, then Bradley, Jeff & finally Buzz and they all climbed out and headed east for Colleen to guide them to the correct field. Late dinner after getting everyone back to the Ranch at 9:30 pm jut as it got dark.
6-13-19	FlyBC is open today at 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. High 31. Humidex 35. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 2000 metres	Woodside Report - we only got one student run in before it got too windy ao lots of kiting at Eagle Ranch and then in Heritage Park Even later in the day was too windy.
6-12-19	FlyBC is open today at 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. High 31. Humidex 35. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 2000 metres	Woodside Report - Rod & Tony were mustering the students today. Runs to Eagle Ranch, Riverside and the HG LZ to round out their skills.
6-11-19	FlyBC is open today but it looks like NE winds til 1 pm, so maybe a Mission Morning	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Sunny. High 29. Humidex 31. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 900 metres	Woodside Report - we had slight outflow in the AM, but perfect on the training hill for students. We were flying by noon and there were some small thermals but it was warm and inverted on launch. Denise and I went tandem at 1 pm and had to wait for cycles as it was inverted but we got off finally and found some lift. Winds in the LZ were erratic but we had a soft touchdown in the middle of the Circle heading south as thermals were cracking off. Of course . . . the only good thermals were on the ground! The students were doing well, Ishmail & Richard got three flights in today and Richard got to soar with the pro pilots at 6 pm. Reports from Pemby that it was rough there and inverted below 1200 metres but that did not stop Igor T on his Ozone Zeno! Looked like a perfect 201 km triangle starting from Rainbow Launch and arriving back in Whistler many hours later. So excited to soon see the new Kangook Lite Frame with Corsair Black Bee 125 power. The factory is building it now.
6-10-19	FlyBC is open today but it looks like more wind is on the way this afternoon so we plan to fly by 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Sunny. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this morning. Gusty winds. High 21. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 900 metres	Woodside Report - we were down to one Paragliding Newbie and two paramotorists from Grand Forks. Bruce got his first three paramotor flights on his Kangook Trike after some very successful paragliding solo flights the past two days. Tom B flew a few times too and he is ready for his paramotor sign-off. Ishmail got his first two solo flights after a very successful ground school session with Rod. It got windy mid-day and the folks at Bridal cut their flights short as the air felt "lumpy & weird". A large group of HG and PG pilots went up around 5:30 pm to Woodside and enjoyed some nice soaring and Mantra M7 racing. Touching the Void from Cloudbase Mayhem on Vimeo. Team USA Training Days for the Red Bull X-Alps 2019
6-9-19	FlyBC is open today but it looks like more wind is on the way this afternoon so we paln to fly by 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Sunny. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this morning. Gusty winds. High 21. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 900 metres	Woodside Report - our plan for a 10 am launch time for the newbies was slowed down due to the many pilots on launch today. Over 50 pilots at Woodside and everyone flew a few times each. Our Grand Forks Group got two solo flights each while Tom B was paramotoring. Dawson got his first three paramotoring flights after 110 paragliding flights and he did very well trying the Blackhawk 125 Lite and the Kangook SyEngines 110 units. We flew til 6 pm and it was still soarable.
6-8-19	FlyBC is open today but it looks like more wind is on the way this afternoon along with possible rain	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. High 18. UV index 5 or moderate.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - the forecasted SW winds did pick up in the afternoon! We managed to avoid any rain despite for 60% chance forecast but it is Mother Woodside! We had new students kiting at the Ranch as usual and they were ready to fly by 4:00 pm but they did not feel comfortable flying off the top so they watched Martin, Jacek and a more experienced student Bader fly off. So back to the training hill for a few hours and we shut it down at 6 pm for dinner. Meanwhile Tom B was burning uo the sky on his PPG Trike with flawless launches and landings. Tomorrow we try footlaunch!
6-7-19	FlyBC is closed today as it looks like more wind is on the way this afternoon along with possible thunderstorms	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers and risk of a thunderstorm. High 16. UV index 5 or moderate.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 1900 metres	Woodside Report - I and another pilot flew. Norm was the driver. I launched first. Once in the air it was quite smooth. The wind wasn't overly strong at the time. It was raining around Chilliwack and slowly moving eastward. The private airport by Hopyard was out. The clouds were around 800 meters and black. Sasquatch was getting dark and not looking good. You could see rain between Sumas and Vedder Mountains. We had the "Mother Woodside Shall Provide Area" in which to fly. Lots of blue sky and smooth lift. After a half hour we headed out. I was encountering about 20 kph of head wind. I got to the ranch at 500 meters. That's where I encountered some stronger head winds. The final 200 meters were the usual rodeo ride with ground speed of 5 kph. Did a no step landing in the circle. The other pilot was coming in from Duncan's and doing well. At around 150 meters they did the right thing and peeled off to set up a beautiful landing in the field behind the ranch field. No issues and good piloting. I got 40 minutes of nice flying. Norm said it only got stronger and gusts pushing through launch. It was a good day. Possibly tomorrow Mother Woodside will provide again - Martin N
6-6-19	FlyBC is heading to Clearwater with 4 Jasper Pilots	Woodside Forecast Clearwater Forecast: Mainly sunny. High 24. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 4	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Clearwater Report - Rod and Tony took our students up to Clearwater as Savona airspace was closed due to the fire. I took Nathan to Ashcroft to fly the paramotor but it was too gusty there by 9 am. Reports of great lift when Alyssa flew Clearwater!
6-5-19	FlyBC is in Savona	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly sunny. High 20. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Savona Report - we started flying at 8 am on the Toilet Bowl with forecasted SW winds to pick up in the afternoon! We had some flights at the Toilet Bowl and then again it switched to SE so back to the Dump Ridge where it was sporty but the students were doing great controlling their wings and having short soaring flights. Here Alyssa is chilling and waiting her turn to fly. Nathan was flying when he noticed a small fire break out under a powerline across Hwy 1 from us. I was playing with a large Swift 4 and too lightly loaded and I was getting dragged by the gusts. I got to the edge of the ridge once and was standing there kiting when a huge gust picked me up about 30 feet and dumped me back down so I packed up and suggested we all should leave soon as the fire had grown quite fast at this point. The ground crews lost the battle and it looked like the fire would cross Hwy 1. Some of us could go straight down the ridge to the bridge but those not comfortable with the offroading had to head back to Sabiston Creek Road and then onto Hwy 1. When we got back to the campground everyone had videos of the mayhem on Hwy 1. Drivers failed to slow down going into the smoke and had crashed into the slow traffic. Alyssa and Tony picked their way through the crashed cars as the heat from the fire was felt in their cars. Luciano and Nathan went back to the Dump Ridge to drive down the hill following us. From the campground we got to see the firefighting efforts. There were spotter planes, heavy waterbombers and water skimmer floatplanes too. The highway was closed and ground crews were scattering to try to control the firelines. Photos by Rod. BC Wildfire Service posted this picture of the fire after some retardant lines were dropped in. The red square shows the Dump Ridge flying site we were on when the fire broke out.
6-4-19	FlyBC is open at 8 am and it looks like more wind is on the way this afternoonso we are heading to Savona	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly sunny. High 20. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Savona Report - we headed to Savona with forecasted SW winds to pick up in the afternoon at Woodside! Six students in tow, all flew Woodside and Mission this week and were ready for some Savona Air. We arrived to perfect winds at the Toilet Bowl (SW) and we flew there until it switched to East and we headed to the Dump Ridge. Good flying until around 6 pm when it got too gusty. By the time we got to the Campground it was hard to setup tents.
6-3-19	FlyBC is open at 8 am and it looks like more wind is on the way this afternoon	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 23. Humidex 25. UV index 9 or very high.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we went up Woodside early with a plan to fly students early, but Rod flew off on tandem and suggested it was too strong and bumpy already as he flew to the Irwin's Runway by Hopyard Hill. We then went to Mission to fly off Heritage Park for the rest of the day and we had 7 students all getting 5-6 flights each with solid launching and landing. Mission Parks has requested warning signs which we now have in the Bus and a phone call to Jason (Parks Manager) at 604-556-1848 is requested in case he gets any complaint calls.
6-2-19	FlyBC is open at 8 am and it looks like more wind is on the way this afternoon	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 23. Humidex 25. UV index 9 or very high.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - as forecasted the winds picked up by noon so we only got one student round in but lots of great ground handling at Eagle Ranch.
6-1-19	FlyBC is open at 10 am and it looks like more wind is on the way this afternoon	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly sunny. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 24. Humidex 25. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - Tanyss and Tim both flew today early off Woodside before noon and it was aready getting spicy for Tim as he climbed high before heading out to the Ranch. Good landing conditions but it was getting windy in the air by noon. Meanwhile a large group of four friends and a father/son team were kiting in the LZ and doing quite well for Day One of a P-2 Course. By 2 pm we had them all doing reverse kiting before heading to Mission. At Mission Tanyss & Tim got another 5-6 flights off the hill while the kiting below was perfect for the others. We flew at Mission til 6 pm and came back to do a Landing Briefing for Eagle Ranch. Derek, Colleen, Rod & James went up for a 7 pm flight and it took the solo pilots a log time to get out to the Ranch and the air was turbulent . . . good thing we did not take students up!
5-31-19	FlyBC is closed Friday May 31 for errands and mental health recovery after a busy May	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly sunny. High 26. Humidex 28. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Bridal Report - Martin N flew Bridal for 2 hours yesterday reporting that it was not too windy, but it was windy at Chilliwack Airport and at Eagle Ranch most of the day.
5-30-19	FlyBC is closed Thursday May 30 for errands and mental health recovery after a busy May	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly cloudy. Clearing near noon. High 24. Humidex 25. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we were not flying Thursday but it did look flyable til around 2 pm when the inflow kicked in. The road crews are causing big delays as they grind up Hwy 7 preparing to re-paved it. I was stopped by the Bailout Swamp (now a beaver pond) and the water level is dropping fast. Maybe the beavers left and the dam collapsed or maybe it has something to do with the roadwork?
5-29-19	FlyBC is open at 9 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly cloudy. Clearing this afternoon. High 23. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 9	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - Josh was the only student that showed up and got to fly two flights before having to leave for the third round. Conditions were sporty on flight #2 but smooth as silk for the last flight where Rod took Jay for a practice tandem. Report of some mowing and weedwhacking activities on Bridal Lower yesterday by some un-named pilots so it should look very nice for your net flights uo there. We are taking Thursday off and Bev/Norm have left for Lumby so you may have to hike if you want to fly Woodside.
5-28-19	FlyBC is open at 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Clearing this morning. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 24. Humidex 25. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we had to wait til almost 1 pm to get cloudbase to lift enough to fly, but by then it got too strong and gusty. Kevin did get a practice tandem with a CBC cameraman and they had a good landing despite all the exra gear onboard. The students went up at 6 pm to give it another shot but aafter they saw Rod oarked on his EN-C wing they decided to drive down. Apparently it got strong at Pemby too!
5-27-19	FlyBC is open at 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly sunny. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 26. Humidex 27. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside/Bridal Report - Monday looked good but with some strong inflow around 2 pm. And that is what happened! New student Jack was here yesterday for the first of a Two Day Intro Course and we did all the requisite ground handling, training hill and landing briefings and it was time to fly. Rod & Jay were here doing instructional duties and they went tandem first to check the air for Jack and reported back that is was smooth and light winds aloft. Off went Jack for his first launch with a flawless reverse launch! He even got to thermal a bit on the way out to Eagle Ranch. I guided him in on the approach from the top and he had a perfect landing. For Jack's next flight I was in the LZ waiting for him and it was quite a bit windier but the Ozone Atom 3 has a very decent trim speed for the small aspect ratio that it is and Jack made it int the filed landing in the circle with just enough height for an aircraft approach. If we did not go somewhere else the day was done. Either Lil Nic or Bridal, as a group was heading up Bridal at 2:45 pm. We opted for Bridal. I don't often take newbies to Bridal but Jack is a bit exceptional, so off we went. Rod launched first and climbed out and said the air was fine. We had to wait for cycles but Jack had a perfect inflation and launch and was out front soaring. Jack's excellent launch video My plan was to drive down and be in the LZ for Jack but Bev got in front of me in KVA's truck driving so slowly that Rod did the guiding from in-air and then climbed back out after Jack had landed. It was blowing +20 kph from the west but again the Atom3 cut through and Jack had a great landing near the cones. Back to Woodside after 6 pm, where it was still too gusty so we went to the Sasquatch Inn for dinner. Pilot's Advisory: Harvest Market LZ is now officially closed due to a new Brussel Sprout Crop, so plan accordingly. See attached picture for alternatives.
5-26-19	FlyBC is open but Woodside is not lfyable due to outflow	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. 60 percent chance of showers late this afternoon with risk of a thunderstorm. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 25. Humidex 30. UV index 7 or high.	040° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - we started the day out at 11 am with some great ground handling conditions for Tim & Jack, both first day students. We had light to medium strength SE winds, not at all like the forecasted 30 kph of north wind. By noon these guys were dialed-in with perfect forward launches and even got the "As&Cs" figured out for reverse kiting. And then the winds went squirelly from every directions o not very usable. We had lunch and then headed to Heritage Park with our safety cones. We had light inflow cycles and they both had 5 flights down to the bottom with little drama. When we got back to the Ranch, we were heading out for more kiting and maybe a tow session when the winds gusted through at over 40 kph from the north. More ground school for an hour and then magically the air settled down to 1-20 kph from the east so we kited some more befoe moving on to the training hill to touch up the rough edges. By 6 pm it was clear that we were not going to fly with the changeable winds, but we had a great frst day and these guys are ready to fly.
5-25-19	FlyBC is closed today due to rain	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Periods of rain ending late this afternoon then cloudy with 30 percent chance of showers. High 15. UV index 2 or low.	240° @ 7	-3.0°C (unstable) 600 metres	Woodside Report - we had rain all day so it was a good gardening day.
5-24-19	FlyBC is closed today	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Showers ending late this afternoon then cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers. High 17. UV index 3 or moderate.	240° @ 7	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we were closed Friday due to the rain all day. But here are some rainy day musings: Words from the first HPAC President
5-23-19	FlyBC is open after 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. Becoming sunny this morning. High 26. Humidex 28. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we did one flight for the students at noon, and I took Diane tandem for her first flight off Woodside. It was thermic and windy in the LZ by the time we landed so no more student flights off the top. As I was packing up and parking the Bronco in the barn, I heard rain drops on the tin roof. This is what I saw when I looked north, there was lightning and thunder all up near Sasquatch Resort. We took the students to Heritage Park where they did some flights off the top of the hill and lots of kiting. The big threatening cloud over Dewdney never got to us but I drove through heavy rain on the way home.
5-22-19	FlyBC is open after 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Sunny. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this morning. High 24. Humidex 27. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we were flying students at 10 am. We flew flights with Aiden & Hart while Diane & Brad were on the training hill with Rod & Tony getting "tuned up". Aiden is becoming a "thermalling guru" with some great lift out front on his Ozone Mojo 3. The last flight showed some signs of impending winds as forecasted but they both had nice approaches into the landing circle on the last flight. After we packed up Bev & her gang flew off Woodside and some got high and the reports came back the the LZ was thermic. Warning to east bound pilots: Harvest Market is now plowed up and looks like they may be planting corn. The alternate field is the runway at Peter Irwin's farm at the west toe of Hopyard Hill on the dyke. After our high flights we went to Heritage Park and flew there for hours before it started to rain.
5-21-19	FlyBC is open all day	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Cloudy. High 20. UV index 2 or low.	240° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 900 metres	Woodside Report - we were clouded in until 1 pm, when the temps finally rose above dewpoint levels. We had 2 P-2 students flying off Woodside and 2 P-1 students kiting in the LZ. Colleen took her friend Nadine for a tandem sampling the air at 1 pm. Aiden & Hart are doing well and logged three flights today and they got to thermal on their last two flights. Thanks to Rod & Tony for wrangling the P-1 students all day and guiding the P-2 landings. We had guest visits from Derek & Kevin and they got high above launch despite the hazy inversion. We were done flying by 6:30 pm, but it looked possible to fly til dark. There is no need to push students past their adrenaline level, and the guys looked pretty tired after 3 flights.
5-20-19	FlyBC is cloased today due to rain	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Cloudy. Periods of rain beginning early this morning. Temperature steady near 14. UV index 2 or low.	240° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 900 metres	Woodside Rain Report - we were closed all day due to heavy rain.
5-19-19	FlyBC is open today after 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. High 20. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 1900 metres	Woodside Report - We managed to get Matt one last flight on the Blackhawk 125 Lite Paramotor he purchased to take home to Edmonton, great launching conditions and he flew for about 30 minutes before packing it up to drive home. Hart & Aiden were practicing ground handling before we headed up for some free flights. They have their forward & reserve launches nailed after only two days! They both got two nice lifty flights before it was looking black & gusty over Woodside, so we did a ground school session on Lift Theory & Weather. The new excavation at Harrison Highlands Phase Two is kicking off some good lift now, not turbulent but great practice for beginner thermal pilots. Almost guaranteed to get a low save on the way to Eagle Ranch that can take you back to launch using "Raymont's 45 degree rule".
5-18-19	FlyBC is open today after 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Cloudy. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this morning. High 23. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 1900 metres	Woodside Report - we had a great day with some weird winds on the LZ. New pilots were kiting in NW, SE, S winds until noon and then we went flying. One paramotor flight for Greg and it got kinda windy and bumpy so we did some mountain flights. Bev did a great job with Aiden, Hart & Michael and got them ready for their first solos today! I did two tandems while Colleen, Derek and Andrei helped with a few more tandems too. We flew til 6 pm and probably could have flown some more as we saw Cheryl K coming in from her awesome 2.5 hour flight just as we started dinner. Big Day for those who flew Benny too! We had about 10 pilots who flew from Benny to Woodside and then landing at the Ranch. Tom G had his first big XC from Benny and here is his SPOT Track. Igor had a big flight on his Ozone Zeno from Woodside heading north to Mt Judge Howay and back down Miracle Valley to come back in the Fraser Valley to almost make it back to Woodside (FAI rules did not make it a closed triangle, so Peter S won the day with a shorter triangle that he actually closed on his Ozone Swift 5).
5-17-19	FlyBC is open today after 10 am but it looks too windy to even kite	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Showers ending late this morning then a mix of sun and cloud. High 17. UV index 6 or high.	240° @ 20	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - rain all morning, then gusty SW winds all day til dark. First day off for me since the beginning of May so we went shopping!
5-16-19	FlyBC is open today after 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud with 40 percent chance of showers. Risk of a thunderstorm late this afternoon. High 21. UV index 7 or high.	040° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 1400 metres	Woodside Report - we started at 9 am and Greg & Matt were paramotoring by 10 am. Two good flights each with good launches and landings and the air started to get thermic by 11 am over the west fields as they have just been hayed. We went up the mountain leaving new student Steven on the training hill where he was practicing his forward launches. Matt & Greg flew off with flawless launches and flights into no wind landings. Bev & Norm arrived with Clark & Neumann and they all flew off as I drove down. Norm got some light lift at the South Knoll but it was pretty shaded in. We all went up again at 4 pm and it was gusty on launch, we watched Neumann & then Clark get "plucked" into the air. Smart guys, Derek & Martin stood down as they saw what was coming. Neumann headed north but he had no radio to warn him to stay south. Clark & Neumann got up fast as it was thermic and strong ridge lift. Bev was out over Eagle Ranch and saw the strong winds on the ground and headed back to launch to fly over to Harvest. Unfortunately Clark & Neumann did not hear the radio calls to head to Harvest and spent the next 30 minutes trying to get down in the turbulence. Fortunately they are on rock solid Ozone Ultralite 4 gliders. Clark was over the Ranch but saw Neumann landing back north of Hwy 7 so he went over there to watch and got blown back almost to the Harrison River. Tip of the Day: Do not fly without a radio tuned to 146.415 mhz. We also stood down and drove to pick up the wayward pilots.
5-15-19	FlyBC is open today after 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Cloudy. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this morning. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 22. UV index 7 or high.	040° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we started the day off with a healthy dose of +40 kph NE winds at Eagle Ranch so no way to kite or tow here today. So off to Mission and Cherry Hill for some training hill practive even though these pilots had all flown off Woodside (except Ian the new guy). We arrived to wind over the back at times but we got nice up cycles and about 6 flights each for the five students today. New student Ian did very well for his first kiting day after a rainy ground school day yesterday, and he flew Woodside well for his first solo flight (quite different than the Air Canada A320 he normall flies). After 2 hours on Cherry Hill we headed back to the Ranch for more kiting and after a few hours of high wind reverse kiting, the winds dropped down to towing speed and I went to get the tow rig. By the time I got the Tracker moved the winds went to normal inflow winds in the LZ. After a quick check of the windsock on top, we loaded up the Bus at 3 pm and headed up to find beautiful straight inflow cycles and no wind on Harrison Bay! Everyone had nice flights and despite no landing coach everyone followed the approach to the letter and landed well! James & Kat headed home early leaving Greg, Matt and Bill to paramotor for their first time. Bill has his own unit and Greg & Matt shared my Blackhawk Paramotors 125 Lite unit. Bill had a few duffs but eventually got airborne only to have his throttle jam up in the "off position" as it has a safety lock (we are going to disable that!). And he landed on his knees but no prop or wing damage. Greg and Matt had nice flights with the 125Lite paramotor providing ample thrust for both of these big guys! Derek and Linda went up while we were motoring but the winds were NE on launch so no flights for them. What a busy day but very good progress for everyone!
5-14-19	FlyBC is open ddespite the rain	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Rain. High 20.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we had rain all day but we did some important ground school sessions and did some paramotor weight and balance work in the Barn. New driveshaft in the Bronco for sunny day shuttle missions, and a new Carb too to save gas at the current highway robbery prices at the pump.
5-13-19	FlyBC is open	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Sunny. High 28. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we had a busy day with 4 students. The students that started Saturday with Jacek & Tony as Instructors are continuing and got three flights in today. Conditions were perfect all day and it was a bit bumpy mid-day but not dangerous. We also did some towing with the Paramotor Students and they did very well. Two tows each with no drama. The last flight at 6:30 was Magic Air, floaty and no wind so everyone had nice calm flights and good approaches.
5-12-19	FlyBC is open Friday and also all weekend	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Sunny. High 28. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we had a busy day with 6 students and a tandem too! The students that started Saturday with Jacek & Tony as Instructors did very well at Heritage Park, so it was time to fly. We only got one flight off Woodside for them due to conditions but everyone was smiling at the end of the day! My tandem with Tim went well and we had nice thermic climbs before heading to harvest.
5-11-19	FlyBC is open Sunday but it looks very windy after noon	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly sunny. High 22. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we only got one flight for Ricardo, Ian C and Greg J as it blew out by noon. But we headed to Mission after a ground school session and lunch and we flew off the Heritage Park Hills for hours before heading down to the flats to kite. Five new students and three existing almost P-2 pilots kited hard all day. When we got back to the Ranch, a foreign pilot that I had taken up and given a site briefing arrived back at the Ranch . . . apparently by boat. He got too far back in the North Bowl and hit the ever-present rotor and had to land on a small beach on the Harrison River, where my neighbour picked him up and brought him back.
5-10-19	FlyBC is open all weekend but it looks very windy	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Sunny. High 26. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we started early because the forecast looked like a windy afternoon but it stayed flyable all day. Grant (newly minted P-2), Ricardo (P-1) and Mark were flying with me and a truckload of other pilots went up with Bev. Bev's group stayed up over the South Knoll for an hour as we arrived. Ricardo was trying the Rush 4 MS as he could not seem to get to the LZ on the EONA the past three flights (really it was the wind not the glider). Mark was flying the Rush 5 L. The first flight around noon was thermic all over the mountain and valley. The last flight at 4 pm was smoother and very lifty too as Ricardo "sky-ed out" on his way out to Eagle Ranch where he landed right in the circle Meanwhile a load of pilots went up Bridal at 4 pm and they enjoyed lots of lift and Kevin got to play on his new Ozone Mantra M7. Kevin got to 2200 metres over Ludwig on his way back to Bridal. Cheam looked good from above too on the tour/cruise of the Bridal Falls side of the Fraser Valley. Kevin got as high as 3000 metres near Upper Bridal launch area on his new ship!
5-9-19	FlyBC is closed today due to outflow forecasted winds, but back Friday and also all weekend	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Partly Cloudy. High 28C. Winds NW at 10 to 15 km/h.	040° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1400 metres	Woodside/Bridal Report - I cancelled the students today due to the outflow forecasts! But Terry B had to do one more tandem before heading back to Vernon, so we waited til 1 pm and after checking the webcam we went up the hill fo find great inflow cycles. Rob H was the tandem meat today and they had a nice thermic flight but Terry wanted to drive back today so he cut the flight short. After that I headed to Bridal to join Willy, Derek and Andrei for a solo flight . . . my first at Bridal in 2 years. Derek launched first and "beamed up" above launch. I followed flying a Swift 4 L and also started climbing fast but I forgot my coat and was wearing a thin hoody Derek lent me and did not want to get too high today (yesterday some folks got to 3000 metres). I topped out at 1700 metres and headed to Gloria where I saw someone in the bowl trying to get up. I was gaining altitude just flying straight and away from the hill. The person I was heading to join went east and I kept heading west and was over Hwy 1 at 2000 metres and it was beeping all the way to Annis Road where I turned back towards launch (rethinking my idea of heading to Chilliwack to shop). I made it back to launch at 1700 metres and it was hard to tell where the headwind was as it kept changing along the route. I saw Andrei topping out over Archibald before heading towards Cheam, but never saw any one else for an hour. Apparently, Brad H was flying with Kevin & Claudia as they all hiked up together. This is Brad's Spot Track, doing laps to Elk & The Butterfly at 2000 metres. It was a blue day with no CU but we were going up everywhere in light winds. Brad took this shot over Cheam area. It was blowing 15-20 kph out of the west in the LZ, but I need to donate a bigger windsock to the WCSC. The one there is a small Ozone sock and it was easier to see the wind in the trees than the sock.
5-8-19	FlyBC is open today and we are doing the last of three days of Tandem Instruction Clinic so come and be "Tandem Meat"	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. High 25. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Instructor Seminar Report - today was the last day of FlyBC's HPAC Instructor/Tandem Course but we only got one flight in due to outflow winds. It was not a problem as we had indoor work in the morning to complete. Conditions were nicely soarable, and James went solo with Martin N to check the air and he got to 1900 metres north of Woodside before heading to Sasquatch. Odlly later in the day when we headed up at 5:30 pm it went completely catabatic despite seeing SW winds down below. The folks flying Bridal got very high and had good launch cycles there. Derek sent me his gloat report after flying. Apparently he got pretty high for 2:47 hours. I am pretty sure he could have flown home to Agassiz? If you keep hearing about the "Butterfly", there it is in the shade as Derek heads east. Nice sunset at the end of the day.
5-7-19	FlyBC is open today and we are doing three days of Tandem Instruction Clinic so come and be "Tandem Meat"	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Sunny. High 26. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Tandem Report - we were Eagle Ranch today for the fifth day of FlyBC's HPAC Instructor/Tandem Course and we had three great rounds of flights after the morning indoor sessions. Most of the Tandem Candidates got three Pilot-in-Command flights, and the rest are going to finish off their five supervised flights on Wednesday. Here is Rod on final with his Magnum 1. As usual on these hot days, the outflow is strong in the morning and by noon it cancels out with inflow and then gets windy by 5 pm fom the SW. Derek had a nice top-landing to clear a tangle on the third round today, nicely avoiding all the tandems on launch. The last flight of the day had most of the tandems soaring together out front before heading out to check the air for Ricardo. Unfortunately the tandem pilots were so well loaded they did not feel any of the wind shear or turbulence that Ricardo go to fly through, but Ricardo is on a super safe SupAir EONA that is well loaded. New student Ricardo is doing well despite having another windy flight late in the day but he made the Ranch just barely with Derek's guidance at the end.
5-6-19	FlyBC is open today and we are doing three days of Tandem Instruction Clinic so come and be "Tandem Meat"	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Sunny. High 23. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - the fourth day of FlyBC's HPAC Instructor/Tandem Course went well with two practice tandem runs with 4 sets of tandems each. New student Ricardo got one short solo flight at 1 pm, and then sat in on the tandem discussions. At 6 pm we went back up for another tandem round and the winds were 15-20 kph on launch and steady and light ripples on Haarrison Bay, so I launched Ricardo. He had a nice forward launch and was heading out and up. He was followed by Kevin, Derek & Brad all on solo wings. As Ricardo got further out he kept climbing to about 1000 metres. I handed him over to Tony in the LZ but there was little forward speed for Ricardo but he was high. After 90 minutes we finally got him down in a field behind the HG LZ with big ears and speed bar. The tandems that took off after him had no trouble penetrating and most landed at Eagle Ranch in light winds after cutting through the windy layer. Big thanks to Freyja for helping guide Ricardo into the alternate LZ after she landed backwards into the HG LZ. The last tandem and the solo guys landed at Harvest Market in light winds too.
5-5-19	FlyBC is open today and the WCSC is having a May Fly-In this weekend at Eagle Ranch so it is going to be busy.	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. High 20. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we were doing ground handling in the Ranch until it got too strong and gusty and we knew it would not be good for first flights. Rod was working with Jaquie on the FlyBC Training Hill and she was doing well with her reverse launches. In the interest of safety we headed to Heritage Park with our new Safety Cones warning the public that we were flying, but the winds were too cross so we kited solos and tandems for 3 hours. Later in the day we went back to Woodside and the Instructors all launched to test the air and it was deemed to be too strong as Colleen, Jacek & Derek climbed from 300 metres over the Ranch to Launch altitude in a few minutes. Jacek & Derek headed t Harvest Market and Colleenlanded at the Ranch in nice conditions but it was now too late to launch the students as sunset was creeping up.
5-4-19	FlyBC is open today and the WCSC is having a May Fly-In this weekend at Eagle Ranch so it is going to be busy. May the 4th be with you!	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. High 19. UV index 6 or high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we were Eagle Ranch today the second day of FlyBC's HPAC Instructor/Tandem Course and the Instructor Candidates made good progress. The new students they were working with were doing well in fairly strong conditions in the LZ. Scott & Mike did a couple of tandems for us as part of the Recert Process and it was very lifty but then it got windy in the LZ. Unfortunately for two past P-2 Graduates with 50+ flights they got too far upwind of the LZ and encountered rotor (never go past the first or north third of the LZ if it is windy in any LZ). Sean had a small collapse when flying without any pitch control (ie. no brakes) and it turned him to the right and he landed on his butt going up the training hill. No injuries. Thiery was not so lucky, he took a 50% collapse according to his witnesses and did no active weight shift or piloting and the wing turned him in autorotation into the ground. 911 was called and the many Instructors on the ground took over assessing his injuries and he was then attended to by ambulance. Due to tingling in his legs they heli-vac'ed him into VGH where he was found to have a broken sternum and a couple of stable vertebrae fractures and he is recovering well. This is the first time in 20 years we have had to helivac someone out of the Ranch. We suspended flying until the heli departed and then Dennie, Andrei & I flew some tandems to Harvest Market. The WCSC had their Dinosaur Fly-In today and everyone had great late afternoon flights. Later around the campfire a few Dino's were spotted.
5-3-19	FlyBC is closed today for our Annual Instructor's Course	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly cloudy. High 19. UV index 5 or moderate	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - Friday was the start of FlyBC's HPAC Instructor/Tandem Course so there will be many Instructors here to help you get in the air this weekend. We spent the day indoors doing Lesson Plans for new students and experienced instructors took Katie & Mobeen out in the LZ for kiting, and Modeen got his second solo flight in perfect conditions, while I took Katie tandem and we climbed high above launch with several other pilots. Here Rod is doing an Aerodynamics Lesson to the group. We were rewarded with a beautiful evening flight after a long day in the classroom, as it should be.
5-2-19	FlyBC is closed today for errands and an awards ceremony in Vancouver, enjoy the day and call Bev for a shuttle ride	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly cloudy. 30 percent chance of showers this morning. High 17. UV index 5 or moderate	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - it rained most of the day despite a 30% chance of rain forecast. It did not dampen the UBC School of Nursing Centenary Celebration. Colleen was awarded a medal for service! Colleen's Bio and Award
5-1-19	FlyBC is open today it looks like it will get windy early this afternoon so maybe a Mission run after 2 pm	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Cloudy. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this morning. High 19. UV index 5 or moderate.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 2900 metres	Woodside Report - we were at Eagle Ranch today at 8 am, but it looked windy after 1 pm (from the SW) . . . so we started flying by 9 am. Just Darryl arrived so we started running laps and the cycles were good at 9 am for reverse launching. This was Darryl's first high flights after a full day of kiting and training hill exercises. He did very well and got three flights in by noon and it started getting windy and bumpy by then. Darryl had his landing perfected and was very close to the circle on the first two flights, but the increased winds on the ground surprised him as he landed short on the property line . . . fortunately there is no corn yet! Glen arrived too late to go flying at Woodside but we hatched a plan to do either Lil Nic or Benny. It was strong in the Fraser Valley so we nixed that Lil Nic plan and headed up Miracle Valley. The gates are open during the day as logging operations are going on at 6 km on Benedict. We got a bit lost and arrived at Lower benny and getting to the new deactivation which has been designed to keep quads and dirtbikes out, a huge wall of rock and debris. On launch we had nice cycles are Jay took off first on his new Swift 4 and he "went to the moon" without a turn he was soon 2000 feet above us and going backwards. He chose not to wear gloves as he thought it would be a sled ride. Mistake No. 1. He spent the better part of an hour on "big ears" and speedbar. He flew out west to Stave Lake and was still going up! Degas went second and after an uncharacteristically scary launch where he got dragged off north in a gust he was also going up but penetrating well. The gusts from the SW were getting stronger as the thermal cycles died off and we saw dark lines on the little lake out front so we headed down before the gates closed. Degas and Jay ended up in Danny's LZ and walked out to the Cascade Falls Parking lot as we left for home. Good radio reception today as we heard Tom & Alex soaring a secret spot on the ocean, it sounded like we ere next to each other despite our crappy Baofengs.
4-30-19	FlyBC is open today with inflow winds after noon	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Sunny this morning and early this afternoon then a mix of sun and cloud with 30 percent chance of showers this afternoon. High 20. UV index 6 or high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 2900 metres	Woodside Report - we were at Eagle Ranch today at 10 am, but it looked windy after 3 pm. A busy day with three students and three tandems. Thanks to Scott W for taking two of the tandems wwhile I was wrangling students. Here is JD flying his new Swift 4 today soaring in front of launch. We had two flights in good student conditions and then it got pretty strong from the north on launch for my tandem flight. We had to wait for a good cycle to cut through the N wind and my passenger was not very strong so I had to launch sideways to the south as the wind pushed us off the launch. Good climbs and the upper level flow was from the NW. After 30 minutes we headed out to the Valley expecting North wind in the LZ but it was strong South in Eagle Ranch??? We had some thermal bumps but a nice standup landing. We went up for the third flight and had to wait til after 6 pm and it kept getting strong. Linda & Ryan arrived and setup their hanggliders and I helped wire them off and they went straight up and were parked. I offered to drive their truck to Harvest market as it was clear we were not flying students in this wind. Meanwhile pilots at Bridal were getting to 3000 metres and doing laps from Elk to Cheam and back.
4-29-19	FlyBC is open today April 29th, but probably can't fly til 1 pm due to outflow winds so we are heading to Mission with students	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Sunny this morning and early this afternoon then a mix of sun and cloud with 30 percent chance of showers this afternoon. Risk of a thunderstorm this afternoon. Becoming windy this morning. High 20. UV index 6 or high.	040° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 2900 metres	Woodside Report - I had only one new student today and he was amazing! Josh is a floatplane pilot and has good eye-hand coordination and was kiting like a pro within a few minutes in quite high winds in Eagle Ranch today. We had 20-25 kph of NW wind most of the day. Kiting in Eagle Ranch We also went to Mission and checked out Cherry Hill but it was too cross from the East so we checked out Heritage Park where we got a few flights in. I am still impressed with the Ozone Atom 3 gliders for ease of handling and really decent glide into wind, these gliders make new pilots confident right away!
4-28-19	FlyBC is open today April 28th, but probably can't fly til 1 pm due to outflow winds	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 17C. Winds N at 10 to 15 km/h.	240° @ 5 after 2 pm	-3.0°C (unstable) 2900 metres	Woodside No Fly Report - the wind was very strong from the NE today in the Eagle Ranch LZ, but lots of pilots arrived hoping to fly. Both CanadaRASP and TJRASP showed the winds to abate by 1 pm, and Paddy's truck was loaded up and headed to Woodside Launch. I kept checking the webcam but no one even laid out a glider. Lots of down cycles with the odd short up cycle. A few brave souls kited in the Ranch and Scotty West was flying his Kangook Paramotor around, first on his 12 metre Ozone Fazer 2 and then on his Ozone Freeride 16. He said the air was quite turbulent. Eventually everyone came back down at 4 pm. Bev had left earlier to shuttle at Bridal and no one launched there til quite late but had good flights. Even braver souls went to Benny and had quick climbs and lots of collapses and the flights were cut short by turbulence. Photo by John W. The rest of the pilots drove down . . . wisely after seeing all the collapses.
4-27-19	The WCSC Party has been postponed for one week, as the RASP looks vey windy after noon	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers. Windy in the morning and early in the afternoon. High 11. UV index 3 or moderate.	240° @ 20	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Snow Report - I did a trip into Maple Ridge to get some new rims for the Bronco and it started snowing around noon . . . yes folks SNOW! Back to the Ranch for some cleanup chores and it was very windy and it was hailing and raining. Then the sun came out around 3 pm, the wind died down. Then we saw a yellow paraglider launch off Woodside and it was climbing well. Not even any penetration issues. Then they headed out to the Ranch with "big ears" and they had a good landing too. It was James from the Island on his Ozone Rush 5, all smiles. I took a load of scrap metal to the dump, getting ready for the WCSC Party next week and as I returned I heard Norm & Bev had left with Martin N to fly off the mountain. And then I saw a group of HGers congregating at the HG LZ, does no one read the forecasts? I saw Bev launch first and climb out followed by Marin N and Norm, and then the HGers launched too. Crowded skies over Woodside and all climbing out! I setup a BBQ for the fliers and cold beers were in the coolers as we celebrated the day with our own little WCSC Party since it got cancelled at the last minute due to the weather. OZONE MANTRA M7 from Ozone Paragliders on Vimeo. OZONE SWIFT 5 from Ozone Paragliders on Vimeo.
4-26-19	We are at Woodside today prepping for the WCSC Party, come by and help set up the firepit and chairs as the RASP looks vey windy after noon	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Sunny. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud near noon. Becoming windy this afternoon. High 16. UV index 6 or high.	240° @ 25	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we were at Eagle Ranch today at 10 am, and it was windy here but James & Blake did some kiting at least. I drove to Savona to retrieve my trailer and it was howlig in Merritt, Savona and everywhere else!
4-25-19	We are at Woodside today hoping to fly by noon if the outflow lets off	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly sunny. Increasing cloudiness this afternoon. High 17. UV index 6 or high.	240° @ 4	-3.0°C (unstable) 1400 metres	Woodside Report - thee was outflow as forecasted on top but nice kiting winds in Eagle Ranch for Josh's second day of training. He kited til 2 pm when we took a lunch break and some rest. We went up the hill around 3 pm and got Josh into the air for his second flight and then Norm, Bev, Carlos flew off and had some nice thermalling. It took some time to get Chloe (4.5 years old) ready for her tandem and by then the winds were light and switchy but we finally got off as the lift died off. Barely a beep on the way out lightly loaded on the Gin Osprey tandem. Dad Chris flew off after us and we all landed in the circle with Norm coming in last.
4-24-19	We are at Woodside today with new students	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: A mix of sun & cloud. High 16. UV index 2 or low.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1600 metres	Woodside Report - we were flying intermediate students Grant & Kalina today and we had a new student Josh start too. Grant & Kalina managed to get 3 really nice flights today and the last flight was very lifty as they flew out. At the last run up the hill Josh was ready to fly, and he was last off the mountain flying our demo Magnum 2 tandem (Josh is a big boy at 360 lbs!). He had a good launch and nice approach but his turns were a bit slow as Bev guided him into the LZ so he came in short into the west field. Big grins all around today! The XC Hounds did well today despite early cloud cover. Alex & Nicole made it over to Bridal. Norm and a few others got stuck on Green Hill in Agassiz for a few hours landing at Mark Fraser's backyard.
4-23-19	We are at Woodside today doing Ground School until it stops raining and then some ground handling	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Showers ending this afternoon then mainly cloudy. Becoming windy near noon. High 14. UV index 2 or low.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 600 metres	Woodside Report - we were at Eagle Ranch today for Ground School, but it was too windy for high flights. Meanwhile, our roving reporter/instructor Kevin is enjoying Nepal.
4-22-19	We are at Woodside today doing Ground School as the rain comes in	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Cloudy. Rain beginning this morning. High 12. UV index 1 or low.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 600 metres	Woodside Rain Report - no one showed up for Ground School, so I did some errands and chores. Last weekend a new pilot got too far back in the North Bowl at Woodside and got into the rotor behind the ridge and landed near "Martin's Cove" but in a new spot now named "Jerimi's Cove" on the south bank of the Harrison River. The best way to avoid this is to turn and burn downwind towards the Chehalis Ball Fields which are 3.5 kms and about a 5-10 minute glide to safe dry land. Go to Google Maps or Google Earth and search for Chehalis Reserve. Chehalis Bailout Fields
4-21-19	We are at Woodside for the weekend but today looks like strong SW winds later as the rain comes in	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Partly Cloudy. High 17C. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 km/h.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1300 metres	Woodside Report - we started flying early at 9 am, because the RASPs all showed +20 kph of SW winds. Matt & Riley got a very nice bouyant flight at 9 am. Then we were back up at 11 am and Colleen took Dave tandem to get over his fear of heights (it did not help). "Fear of heights" is illogical, it is "Fear of edges" people suffer from. The rest of the crew got a nice soaring flight on the 11 am round. We went back up one last time at 1:30 pm and only Matt & Riley flew as I deemed it too strong for the other beginners, but the experienced pilots that were flying Woodside had nice flights all landing at the Ranch after a few hours! This past weekend there were some amazing XC flights at Pemberton on April 20, 2019 Winner of the Day was Peter Spear on his new Ozone Swift 5 (EN-B glider). Why no score for Alex R?
4-20-19	We are at Woodside for the weekend but today looks like strong outflow til later	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Clearing this morning. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 19. UV index 5 or moderate.	040° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we were at Eagle Ranch today and it was quite windy until 2 pm. We did some kiting in the strong NE wind and then Bev took the students to Mission where the Heritage Park hill was working. After a few hours there and many flights the gang came back and we took them up the mountain. I had a birthday tandem to do and the air was punchy near the mountain and "idiot lift" everywhere, and nice NW winds to land into. Delvin was flying his new Swift 5 and went to the moon! So did Kirk flying Delvin's Swift 4. And then we took the students for their first flights. Colleen and BHev launched first to check the air and it was lifty so they stayed aloft as I launched Riley for his first flight. Riley got pinned in a layer of SW wind that was not there before and almost made Eagle Ranch and had a good landing. And then as Colleen and Bev approached the Ranch everything was going off and it was turbulent and windy from many directions so we suspended flights after that. Arash had launched after Riley and was at about 1200 metres for 2 hours before heading out and we had to get him to do "big ears" to cut through the turbulent layers. His landing was smooth and he was frozen as he was flying without gloves. Up in Pemby some big flights were had out to Hurley and back. Over 100 km out & returns from the tracks I saw.
4-19-19	Savona is our new headquarters today and early next week as another front heads into the Lower Mainland on Monday	Woodside Forecast Savona Forecast: Mainly cloudy. Showers beginning early this morning and ending near noon. Snow level lowering to 1400 metres this morning. Wind becoming west 30 km/h this morning. High 14. UV index 5 or moderate.	240° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Savona Report - we were in Savona for Friday but it was windy and rainy for the first day of the Easter Meet. Stewart, Ryan and a few others were working on the road into the HG Launch. We waited until 2 pm and then pulled out to head home as the weekend looks blown out there. We arrived back to the Ranch to find students kiting but the winds aloft were very strong on launch so no flying here either.
4-18-19	Savona is our new headquarters this week	Woodside Forecast Savona Forecast: Clearing early this morning. Wind becoming southeast 30 km/h gusting to 40 km/h this afternoon. High 19. UV index 6 or high.	240° @ 20	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Ashcroft Report - we got a slow start and by the time we got to the Dump Ridge at 845 am, it was too strong for beginners. We drove to Ashcroft and when I called Ashcroft Ranch for entry permission e were denied access until June. It was calm too so that would have been an ideal spot to fly. All around us the conditions were SE and strong but Ashcroft Park was perfect for kiting practice. The guys kited for 3 hours while I ran some errands. I left them to kite and I headed up to Williams Lake to pick up Colleen. When I arrived back to Savona the locals had commented that they saw the guys kiting in the Savona School later in the day. Nice work doing your homeworks!
4-17-19	Savona is our new headquarters this week	Woodside Forecast Savona Forecast: Clearing early this morning. Wind becoming southwest 30 km/h gusting to 50 this afternoon. High 19. UV index 6 or high.	240° @ 20	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Savona Report - Savona provided many great flights today with varied conditions from no wind to strong & gusty. Grant logged 8 flights and Greg logged 7 in SW winds at the Toilet Bowl and the SwitchBack Launch. Grant Laucnhing off a new location in Savona
4-16-19	Savon is our new headquarters this week	Woodside Forecast Savona Forecast: Sunny this morning and early this afternoon then a mix of sun and cloud with 30 percent chance of showers late this afternoon. Wind becoming southwest 20 km/h gusting to 40 this afternoon. High 17. UV index 5 or moderate.	040° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Savona Report - we were in Savona for the rest of the week cause it is raining on the Wet Coast. I only had Greg here today but it was a very productive day with 7 flights. 5 flights off the Dump Ridge and some soaring, then after lunch we went to the Toilet Bowl where it was light winds from the NW. The forecast had called for 40 kph of SW winds but we never got that until sundown at the campground fortunately!
4-15-19	Mt Woodside is forecast to have flyable conditions after noon	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy with 30 percent chance of showers early this morning then a mix of sun and cloud. High 15. UV index 6 or high.	040° @ 4	-3.0°C (unstable) 1400 metres	Woodside Report - Monday was student friendly after 4 pm when the sharp thermals quieted down. A group of ten pilots launched off Woodside and went to 1600 metres immediately. We were kiting in 20-25 kph NW wind at Eagle Ranch and the students were doing great with reverse and forward launches. I had 5 students and they had between 0 and 5 days of practice and all were getting 100% success by 3 pm. We went up at 4 pm and we still had good cycles despite all the outflow in the valley. Grant launched first and went to 1200 metres flying straight out, followed by JD who was on his first flight went even higher and was in the air for over an hour. By 5 pm I had everyone launched and thermalling around with Greg as the last launcher but we had to wait for cycles then, and he just had a sled-ride. Meanwhile Peter S had the flight of the day flying to Dewdney and back to Woodside before crossing straight over to Bridal where he soared a few more hours. Must be loving the new Ozone Swift 5! Alex R commented that when he got to cloudbase over Woodside (1800 metres) there was an Ozone Atom 3 there with him, must have been Sean T!
4-14-19	Mt Woodside is forecast to have rain early on but flyable conditions later in the day	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly cloudy with 30 percent chance of showers. High 10. UV index 4 or moderate.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Eagle Ranch Report - Sunday was student friendly after noon for kiting and a good ground-handling session for Greg & Grant. Changeable winds with white caps on Harrison Bay all day, and howling winds on launch so we stayed on the ground. Greg did very well for his first reverse kiting session when the winds cooperated. Our local Comp hero, Brett, just returned from Brazil and the SuperFinal 2018 and made a great video. Never Come Down II | 10th Paragliding World Cup Superfinal from Brett Hazlett on Vimeo.
4-13-19	Mt Woodside is forecast to have nice soarable conditions today as does Benny & Bridal if it gets too windy at Woodside later	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Rain ending early this evening then partly cloudy with 30 percent chance of showers. Windy this evening. Low 7.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 1300 metres	Woodside Report - it was not flyable today so Derek, Andrei & I went up to Woodside to replace the rocks that were pulled into the middle of the parking lot by some idiots this week.
4-12-19	Mt Woodside is forecast to have nice soarable conditions today as does Benny & Bridal if it gets too windy at Woodside later	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 14. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 1300 metres	Woodside Report - Friday was stellar at Woodside after all this rain! We went up around noon with some students and they had very nice flights with some great thermalling for Arash. John W took some great footage.
4-11-19	Mt Woodside is forecast to have rain today	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. 60 percent chance of showers this morning. Periods of rain beginning late this morning. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 10. UV index 2 or low.	240° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 700 metres	Woodside Report - SpotWX and WX-Underground were accurate showing rain all day, so it was an errand day. Even Savona looked wet.
4-10-19	Mt Woodside is forecast to have rain so we are in Savona today	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Showers. High 10. UV index 2 or low.	040° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Savona Report - SpotWX and WX-Underground were looking hopeful for early morning training in Savona. I arrived at the Toilet Bowl at 8 am to find eager students Jeremi, Dan & Rob waiting to go flying. Conditions were light SW as forecasted so Jerimi flew off with a forward launch. Dan tried a few forwards but was over-pulling the A's and frontalling the glider so we did a few resets. Then the wind switched to NE and got stronger? We packed up and headed to the Dump Ridge for a great session of kiting, flying and soaring. Jerimi logged 8 flights and a side hill landing to save the hike. Dan & Rob logged 5 flights each for their first times in the air! This place is certainly and advance landing site, due to obstructions and sagebrush but the guys did great. We stopped at 2:45 pm for lunch and as we came out of the cafe, a huge thunderstorm appeared and started "booming" and blowing hard from the SW. We did get 7 hours of training in though, and Dan & Rob had to drive back to Kimberley so they headed off as Jeremi and I also left to head South. What a great day! As I drove home on the Coquihalla it started snowing, yes snowing all the way to the summit.
4-9-19	Savona for new students	Woodside Forecast Savona Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. High 15. UV index 2 or low.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Savona Report - forecast was for morning showers and SW winds of 20 kph. We arrived to find strongish SW winds at the Toilet Bowl and we did some kiting but we decided it would be better to head to the International LZ away from the compression of the hill. We had 5 students and they were all doing really well for their first days handling a new glider. We kited for a few hours and then headed to Ashcroft where the winds were calmer and played in the park in town. Dennie was working with the students and I went to Coyote to check out logistics and found SW winds there and the bulls have been moved from the LZ. We packed up and headed back to the Toilet Bowl and 3 of the students got some soaring flights. It was amazingly soarable, with some thermals mixed in and Jon is pictured here soaring on the Ozone Atom 3. I didn't get shots of Jeremi's amazing flight on his Ozone Buzz Z5, but he was a few hundred feet above launch for 15 minutes. Super conditions!
4-8-19	Mt Woodside is forecast to have rain in the late afternoon	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. A few showers beginning early this afternoon. High 10. UV index 2 or low.	040° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - SpotWX and WX-Underground were hopeful for early morning training. I was working with a new paramotor candidate today and we did an extensive ground school session and then we went out to the Landing Circle for some kiting before it started raining. Patrick got in a few forward launches and then it started sprinkling, so I had him sprint to the Barn. Five great inflations later and he was at the Barn!
4-7-19	Mt Woodside is forecast to have rain until mid day	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Partly Cloudy. High around 15C. Winds light and variable.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we had a mixed bag of weather today. Over-development anytime the sun would shine til around 2 pm. We loaded up Derek's truck and the goal was to tape up the seams on the new carpet if it was dry enough and maybe even get a flight. We arrived to gusty conditions and some sun and the carpet soon dried out. Someone measure 10-27 kph on their windmeter. I tried launching a few times and the air was coming from the north, then the south and I stood down so Martin N could launch. He too took a few tries but was soon at cloudbase or above. I tried again and succeeded and was soon being "hoovered up" to the clouds too (but I stayed slightly ahead or on the edges of the clouds so I could see my position). My vario was not showing my groundspeed but it was pretty slow despite being heavily loaded on the SupAir Taska M. Oddly some places had stronger winds but big sink? I avoided those spots. I finally located Martin N way out over Harrison Mills on his way to Sasquatch Mtn. but he never got past the bridge. I followed his track out there because it was too spooky being closed to the mountain and going backwards. Harvest or Agassiz would have been a better call. I creeped across the ridge line and was barely making the Duncan's fields but still at 600 metres. As I got lower over the Maple Tree I started to get more groundspeed, as I watched Martin setting up to land near the HG LZ. The wind socks in Eagle Ranch were straight out either south or easterly and gusty. I slowly descended over the Maple Tree and did a short aircraft approach and landed next to the circle soft as a feather (wheh!). I packed up and went to retrieve Martin because the group was still on launch. Eventually Norm launched his new Ozone Swift 5 and was last seen playing in the clouds as everyone else went home.
4-6-19	Mt Woodside is forecast to have rain mid day	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Cloudy. Periods of rain beginning this morning. Risk of thunderstorms late this afternoon. Amount 5 mm. Becoming windy near noon. High 12. UV index 2 or low.	240° @ 20	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Work Party Report - FlyBC and local gang were installing new Woodside carpet today. The old carpet was looking pretty bad and was a tripping hazard as evidenced by last week's launches. Perfect number of workers for the task and everyone pitched in digging ditches, hammering spikes and cutting the new carpet into the right lengths. I got trained by the supplier on the new method of welding the seams using a blowtorch and it worked quite well. Bev, Norm, Alan D (who doesn't even fly Woodside), Martin N, Dennie, Arash, Andrei, Derek, Colleen (who lent us her Tacoma to ship the new fabric from Delta and up to launch), and John W who showed up later to help finish the last panels. We covered 4500 square feet of launch with new 10 oz material in a record 3 hours. The only old carpet left is in the NW corner where pilots should never be and it was still in good shape. Derek also brushed out the south side of launch and the top-landing approach with his chainsaw. A little hail and rain but otherwise a perfect day to install the fabric. Thanks to everyone.
4-5-19	Mt Woodside is forecast to have rain early	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Showers ending early this morning then cloudy. Showers beginning this afternoon. High 14. UV index 2 or low.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - I went into Delta to pick up the launch carpet and the rain was heavy and the winds got quite strong, definitely not a flying day. We are going to install the carpet in the morning if the rain stays away.
4-3-19	Mt Woodside is forecast to have rain early and winds later	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Periods of rain. Becoming windy this afternoon. High 14. UV index 1 or low.	240° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 500 metres	Woodside Report - we tried some towing but every time I set up the winch the winds would switch. It was a leeside day but a group did fly off Woodside and later off Bridal. Alex R headed to Sasquatch high and got flushed by the outflow. Everyone else got high in the Valey where it was hard to come down. Here is Claudia's Day at Woodside & Bridal. Great thermals at Bridal once everyone got off launch, over the top of Mt Cheam. We gave up on towing due to the switchy winds and went up the hill at 5 pm. Colleen flew off to check the air and it was leeside at times but good launch cycles and smooth air. Aiden, Lee and Sander all got to do their first high flights. Arash got his 8th high flight with a nice reverse launch despite a snagged GoPro line. All had nice landings to the west as it stayed outflow in the Eagle Ranch LZ.
4-3-19	Mt Woodside is forecast to have rain early and winds later	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Periods of rain. Becoming windy this afternoon. High 14. UV index 1 or low.	240° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 500 metres	Heritage Report - FlyBC was running a new Ground School Class this morning, and we did some kiting in the afternoon as the rain stopped . . . for a bit. Wet wings all around. There was a big cell over the Ranch and clearing to the west so we went to Heritage Park. The boys got some flights down the slope before it turned too west. Some local resident came and gave us "shit" for wrecking the trees. We assured her it was not us and she said "Yes, I know it is that blond guy who shows up and his people don't know what they are doing and they end up in the trees and they are breaking branches to get the wings out!". Hmmmm, who could that be? I told her FlyBC respects the trees and that is the last place we want our wings. She is going to start calling the city to complain if she sees this happen again. After the confrontation we moved down to the flats and they guys were doing excellent reverse kiting on their first day of training!
4-2-19	Mt Woodside is forecast to have NE winds all day	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly sunny. Increasing cloudiness this afternoon. High 22. UV index 5 or moderate.	040° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Woodside Report - FlyBC was closed today due to strong NE outflow winds. Ryan & I were working on the POS Lawnmower and got it operational after a new battery, sharpening the blades and freeing up the mower that was rusted solid after 3 years of sitting in the rain. We also worked on his new ParaJet Paramotor getting the weight & balance adjusted for his weight. But as forecasted the winds did drop to normal inflow winds around 4 pm. We took the ParaJet out to the LZ and Ryan had his first paramotor flight using the Gin X-Alps glider that came with the motor. Ryan got partway around the circuit on the motor when it conked and he had an outlanding as he was afraid to turn onto final over the cornfield (previous Ultralight training got stuck in his head about landing straight ahead if an engine fails - this advice is for when the engine fails on the takeoff roll. Not when already in the circuit). Bev arrived as we were packing Ryan up and drove a group up Woodside then and they all launched and had scratchy flights with Derek claiming the longest ride at 22 minutes. Fun video from a couple of guys that flew up Harrsison Lake this past week. Nice views and not many places to land on this route. Igor is flying my demo Ozone Zeno ML and Vlad is on a new UP Meru 2 liner.
4-1-19	Mt Woodside is forecast to have NE winds all day	Woodside Forecast Woodside Forecast: Mainly sunny. Becoming windy late this morning. High 21. UV index 4 or moderate.	040° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 1500 metres	Woodside Report - it was howling from the NE all day at the Ranch. I had some aircraft maintenance to do on the Skymaster so I went to the Chilliwack Airport around 1 pm and got the bird ready and took it for a few circuits in the gusty east winds. A few other planes were flying too and the landings were floaty and bumpy all at the same time due to the gusts. I also had quite a few folks fooled with the April Fool's gag that we were going to start training students on the SupAir Wild EN-D hot ships. Heck they can barely handle the Ozone Atom3 and SupAir EONAs we use! John took some video on the weekend, the blooper reels were rolling! Claudia says that many of the flights on March 31 did not bust airspace and stand as posted on XContest. Apparently it was a busy XC day worldwide and the XContest servers got jammed up with all the flights and the Canadian flights wee delayed. Canadian XC Scores for March 31, 2019 If you are interested in speed flying, we can get you trained up on EN-A paragliders first. HPAC does not condone training on speed wings but you can do what you want once you are a signed off P-2 pilot. MAGNETIC - SPEEDFLYING in NEW ZEALAND from Nuit de la Glisse Films on Vimeo. I cringe when I see these maneuvers so close to terrain but these guys are professionals. DO NOT DO THIS AT HOME!

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