FlyBC "Site of the Day" - May 23/2013

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Woodside is looking good so we may fly all day barring thunderstorms.

"For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return." - Leonardo Da Vinci

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Date
        Site        
Forecast
Winds
@
3000'
in knots
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Rate
°C/1000'
Cloud
Base
in Meters
Comments
5/23/13
Woodside is forecast to have strong lift and thunderstorms after noon but the radar looks good now

16°C

Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this morning. 60 percent chance of showers late this afternoon. Risk of a thunderstorm late this afternoon. High 16. UV index 6 or high.
250° @ 9
-3.0°C
1200 m
Coaches Corner for May 23, 2013 - At the Ranch at 9 am Thursday for students.



FlyBC is an authorized distributor for Ozone, Gradient, SupAir, Gin, Nova, Icaro (new in 2013), Paratoys Paramotors, Advance, APCO, Wills Wing.

Current Demo Gear: Ozone Rush I M, APCO Karma S, Gradient Aspen 4 24 , Ozone Delta I M, Ozone Delta 2 M, Ozone Mantra M4 S, SupAir Delight Pod Harnesses, Addict II XS, Ozone Element II (M&L)



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5/22/13
Woodside is forecast to have rain after noon but the radar looks good now

12°C

Cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers this morning. Showers beginning near noon. High 14. UV index 4 or moderate.
280° @ 7
-3.0°C
700 m
Woodside Report - we headed to Heritage Park after 9 am - 11 am, so Duke could try out his new skills and he did amazing, 8 inflations and not one duff in light crosswinds.

From May2013
His landings were not so crisp, but once he changed harnesses he got better.

From May2013
We headed back to the Ranch as the sky looked good around 11 am, and met up with another new student, Chris from Fort Nelson who is keen to fly too.

We checked conditions in the telescope and it looked pretty light so we did some landing briefing in the Barn. I was killing time because I had to take both students tandem today and they weigh in at 235 & 245 lbs. I was hoping for some inflow winds at launch so we didn't have to run too far.

We headed up at noon, and waited and waited as it was cross from the N. Then is started crossing from the SE, even worse. Then finally back to N, so Duke & I took the cycle and we were off amazingly fast and headed out to the Ranch with Duke on the controls.

He did an perfect approach, controlling the Magnum II well, and I took over on the downwind and we had a nice no wind approach and we were smoking in and Duke ran two steps and sat down, but it was good as he skidded in a few feet.

Martin N had arrived and when Chris drove the Suzuki down, we packed up and went up for Chris' flight down. Duke wasn't feeling confident enough to solo, so he drove for us.

Much better cycles this time and we even got to thermal up in front of launch, despite being at the top of the weight range. Chris took over and was thermalling nicely, and we found a nice line of thermals behind the construction zone, where we followed a bald eagle. The eagle came out of a turn and came in very close to our right side and then crossed in front of us within 2 metres. A blessing!

We lined up the approach and were getting popped up on final so I took it down the patch landing just past the training hill, and Chris ran it out well.

Neither guy was feeling committed enough to launch so we headed back to the Heritage Park Hill with two sets of gear, and did another 1.5 hours of kiting and flights before calling it a day.

As we drove back to the Ranch it started raining, anbout 6 hours later than forecast so we lucked out.

5/21/13
Woodside is forecast to have heavy rains today

12°C

Rain. Amount 15 to 25 mm. High 12.
240° @ 15
-3.0°C
700 m
Woodside Report - we were back at the Ranch at 9 am Tuesday doing Ground School for new students Duke & Chris.

Heavy rains most of the day, although I did mow the parking lot during one dry period.

Chris is here because he saw Broc coming in to land at Harrison Beach after his XC flight on Monday! He wants to learn how to do that too!

5/20/13
Woodside may be okay with soarable winds

21°C

Increasing cloudiness this morning. High 21. UV index 3 or moderate.
260° @ 12
-3.0°C
1000 m
Woodside Report - we started training students at 930 am, and doing tandems around 11 am.

Old friends Annette & John were over and flew many flights, despite being a bit hung-over from last nights' Birthday Party for Colleen.

Nice launch conditions early on, but cross from the SE mid-day which took a long time to get folks off the mountain.

We had Ben, James, Alex, Dale, Kelly, Leslie & Dan out today and everyone got 4-5 flights.

Derek & Denis did two tandems each and got way above launch. I had one tandem mid-day as it shaded over and had an extended sledder but Tamera loved the flight.

From May2013
Highlight of the day for Ben was taking James & Kelly over to Harvest Market when it seemed too windy to head out to the Ranch, even though Frederic flew his tandem straight out with no problems. Oddly, a few minutes later it calmed down and the remaining students made the Ranch with ease.

One glitch with Leslie's approach into the Ranch as he decided to fly into the willows near the neighbours house to the west, glider & pilot unharmed but very far from the landing circle in calm winds?

From May2013


The Ozone Delta 2 from Ozone Paragliders on Vimeo.

5/19/13
Woodside may be okay with occasional showers, and soarable winds

16°C

Cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers. High 18. UV index 4 or moderate.
240° @ 14
-3.0°C
1000 m
Woodside Report - we headed up the mountain for first flights at 10 am, as the clouds lifted.

Pretty busy day with 6 students and 6 tandems, thanks to Brad M & Derek K for flying tandems and to Colleen for excellent student landing guidance on her Birthday!

New student Kelly from Squamish was on his 7th flight when it got lifty in front of launch and a mature Bald Eagle started thermalling with Brad & Martin N, so I said to Kelly "follow the eagle". Follow he did and and Kelly was soon at cloudbase with the pros!

Everyone got as many flights as they could handle with most students getting 6 solos in in perfect conditions, light winds in the LZ and inflow at launch right until 8 pm. The forecasted strong winds never materialized.

From May2013
I had to get a permit for the Suburban as the Bus has been grounded, plus we had the Suzuki and Derek's truck doing laps. We need a tram at Woodside. Martin really helped out when he top-landed and drove down the Suzuki after flying for 1:30 mid-day, thanks!

5/18/13
Woodside may be okay with occasional showers, but it is a longshot. Kayaking may be a better call today?

16°C

Showers. Becoming windy this afternoon. High 16. UV index 3 or moderate.
240° @ 10
-3.0°C
700 m
Woodside Report - we left the Ranch at 9 am Saturday heading up Woodside training students and doing tandems!

We arrived to a few clouds developing and occasionally we got whited-out, but Brad M took new student Dale H for his first tandem after we ground handled him hard yesterday.

Nice cycles as they took off but we got whited-out again and lost sight of them for 10 minutes and when the sky cleared I looked out toward the Ranch and couldn't see them. But then we saw them further north and apparently they had been dodging clouds and had to divert north. They had to be on full trims all the way to the Ranch.

From May2013
We still had good cycles as Dale C launched and as he flew out he was going up and the clouds were threatening to suck him in, so we had him pull "big ears", and he descended nicely and then headed out to the Ranch. Brad & Dale H were still in the air heading out too.

I could see some turbulence at the ridge line near Duncan's and Dale handled it well.

By now the winds on launch had picked up to 25-30 kph as forecasted and we drove down after Dale landed, being guided in by Brad as it was windy at Eagle Ranch LZ. Nice landing just in the circle for Dale!

We packed up the gang and headed for Heritage Park and everyone had some great flights and we were joined by a German couple, Dale & Kelly from Squamish, Annette & John, Thomm came out on his Hog, and it was a huge thrill for the park visitors to see so much silk in the air!

From May2013
Damon had the flight of the day at Heritage Park getting popped up over the trees, but the APCO Karma took good care of him!

From May2013
When it got too calm for flights after 2-3 hours, we headed back to the Ranch hopeful for first flights for the students.

Sure enough at 6 pm, Mother Woodside delivered us two great flights. I was going to take Damon H for his tandem but he declined saying he was ready to solo.

We sent out Brad & Colleen first to check the conditions, and then Dale C & Kelly flew off as they are the most experienced students.

Then Damon took off with a perfect forward launch on his first try, followed by brother Dale H on an Element II.

Brad was guiding them in as part of his recert course, and did a great job calmly guiding the students into the Ranch.

We had to do a retrieve run to get a truck back from launch and so the students got one last flight before sunset and it was still coming in perfectly.

From May2013
5/17/13
Woodside may be okay with occasional showers

16°C

Cloudy. A few showers beginning this morning. High 16. UV index 3 or moderate.
240° @ 14
-3.0°C
1100 m
Mission Report - Brad Murphy and I headed out to Heritage Park in Mission at 11 am with Dale, Damon & Ariel (all brand new students) after ground school & harness fitting in the Barn.

Cloudbase was low at Woodside and we could not do tandems with Dale & Damon so off to the training hill.

We only got some kiting at the bottom for Dale & Damon and one flight down the hill for Ariel as it was blowing cross and it looked like rain on the other side of the Fraser River.

From May2013
After 5-6 inflations it started to rain, and rain hard it did as I sent the students under cover and I hiked up the hill to get the car.

We then headed to Cherry Park to see if it was better there and it was raining even harder there.

We headed back to the Ranch and it was gusty but dry so we kited for 2-3 more hours and it confirmed that the day was going to to be too strong for tandems as it was blowing every direction with some really strong gusts.

But we made great progress as they all know how to forward & reverse launch on Day One. Actually, Ariel has some advantage as he has been kiting his Ozone Buzz Z4 for a month since receiving it and he was doing really well right off the start.

From May2013
Damon had the Eagle Ranch Training Hill Record for maximum height as he hit a gust at the bottom that lifted him up 3 metres off the deck, and he landed softly and then went up again this time to 4 metres before another safe landing!

We are hoping Saturday gives us some flyable windows as driving to Cache Creek on a loong weekend may not be very smart.

5/16/13
Woodside may be okay with occasional showers

14°C

Cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers. High 19. UV index 4 or moderate.
260° @ 10
-3.1°C
900 m
Woodside Report - I planned to back at the Ranch at 11 am at the Ranch after 2 hours at Pick-A-Part getting new leaf springs for the Bus, but the guy at Chilliwack Spring can't do the replacement until May 27.

It looks like the Bus is grounded until then according to the CVSE guy who stopped me on the way home.

I got back in time to see the first launchers and they were doing fine climbing fast under the developing CUs.

Bev wanted me to test fly her Buzz after Norm line-stretched it, so I took the challenge and was soon climbing with the others but wary of the wind and the sink as I felt underloaded on the Buzz L. I went to the north cliffs and decided it was a bit windy over there, and saw othes hitting big sink at times.

Norm was flying his new Delta2 and we were "dukin' it out" with Brad M from Revy out front when I decided I had enough fun and headed out after 40 minutes, and it took a long time to get to the Ranch and I did a few spirals to cut through the turbulence and almost got blown back as I got lower. I had a nice landing despite switchy thermic winds.

Norm & Al headed to Sasquatch with Nikolai, and they all got trashed in the leeside thermals there. Nikolai landed at Bill Best's, Norm got his feet wet in Chimp Creek and Al was checking out the corn field for growth. Yikes, glad I landed when I did.

Then over the radio we heard Denis asking Miguel if he was okay - "Are you in the trees?" as they got blown over the back of the north ridge and were forced to land out. Miguel in some soft maples and Denis perhaps on a boat dock at Wilson Point. Denis hitched a ride on a boat and Miguel was trying to hike out when I found a boat that would go rescue him - at a cost of $100!

From May2013
Back at the Ranch sorting gear out and a group went back up to try again and they headed east to try a run to Bridal and Norm made it landing at the Bridal LZ. Not sure where Al ended up?

The last flights of the day were shorter at Woodside but 10 pilots were flying Bridal in the afternoon and had 2 hour plus flights at 1500 metres.

From May2013


Camrose Alberta Flat Land Report - Alex, Nicole & Brett Y are making record attempts in AB and today Alex & Brett went 170 kms.

5/15/13
Woodside Launch is clear at 5:30 am, but rain is expected by 11 am

14°C

Cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers this morning. Periods of rain beginning near noon. High 14. UV index 4 or moderate.
260° @ 15
-3.1°C
900 m
Woodside Report - I was in Vancouver doing errands today, and there were the odd showers in Mission, but the day turned out better than expected.

Derek reported getting a nice 40 minute flight at Woodside after work. The webcam looked good too from town.

5/14/13
Woodside Launch is open at 7 am, and some sun & cloud is forecast for later

16°C

Periods of rain ending this morning then cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this afternoon. High 16. UV index 5 or moderate.
260° @ 11
-3.1°C
1200 m
Woodside Report - Alex arrived at the Ranch at 10 am and had private lessons all day, as he was the only student.

We started flying at 11 am, and it was already soarable and he was above launch all the way to the Ranch after a little ridge soaring.

From May2013
We had some tandems arrive at noon and Derek helped me out getting Abir & Shakhir their tandem flights after Alex flew out and checked the air for us, not as lifty as the last flight. Martin N joined us and found some interesting sink, making him divert to the HG field. Burt was $20 richer.

The tandems went well and both landed on their feet! They may come back for lessons in fact!

Next flight was more thermic and we were joined by a World Famous Paraglider Pilot from Russia, Dmitry of the "Eagle vs Paraglider" YouTube Video who is flying here with Elena.



They had a nice thermic flight, and Alex joined them and had some nice turns getting high above launch on solo flight #9.

From May2013
We headed back up again and this time Alex got really high and was doing an amazing job on the APCO Karma, keeping the turns flat and efficient. Derek, Martin N & Kevin were already soaring around and Derek's passenger was complaining about being cold so he suggested heading to Harvest with Alex in tow, to ensure a safe landing for Alex (and a ride for Derek & Candace). Martin said he would go there too as he was frozen after 1:30 of cloud surfing.

From May2013
I briefed Alex on the flight path as he was thermalling though 900 metres and off he went towards Harvest, radioing back his position until Derek took over the guiding at Harvest and Alex had a perfect approach & landing right near Derek's wing.

From May2013
Kevin had landed at the Dykes, so we had a full load in the Suzuki but managed to get us all up the hill.

Alex got one last flight before heading home and it was now 6 pm, time to call it a day. Six solo flights, three were soaring flights and all good landings made for a very happy student today.



5/13/13
Woodside is getting rained on for the next 4-5 days

15°C

Periods of rain. Risk of thunderstorms late this afternoon. Amount 10 to 20 mm. Becoming windy near noon. High 15.
220° @ 22
-2.9°C
1200 m
Woodside Report - we had no flying today but it looked flyable around 11 am, although the clouds higher were moving kinda fast???

Good day for mowing between showers.

Alex, Nicole and Brett Y are in AB doing some XC flights and Nicole logged a 90 km flight out of Camrose.

5/12/13
Woodside is getting rained on for the next 4-5 days

17°C

Rain at times heavy changing to showers late this morning. Amount 10 to 20 mm. Becoming windy this morning. High 17. UV index 3 or moderate.
220° @ 19
-3.0°C
500 m
Woodside Report - no flying today but we had a nice brunch in the sun at Kilby Farm. It got very windy in the afternoon, good for mowing the grass.

5/11/13
Woodside looks like the place to be today, or Bridal as conditions get more stable, the last of the dry days til next Friday

22°C

Increasing cloudiness. High 22. UV index 3 or moderate.
260° @ 9
-3.0°C
900 m
Woodside Report - an awesome day for students Sinan, Tanya, Austin, Dale, Jeff & Glenn.

From May2013
We had perfect conditions that amounted to 5 extended flights for the students.

From May2013
Colleen & Denis took a set of tandems while I managed the students and driving chores. Colleen's passenger Jamie got a bit adrenalized and felt kinda woozy but no "chunks".

From May2013
Dale is at 25 flights now after 7 days of training and we sent him out to Bill Best's field for some variety.

From May2013
Lots of folks out trying their new Ozone wings, as shipments are now pouring in.

From May2013
We had mellow winds all day despite NOAA's best guess at 12 knots inflow, and the last time we went up at 630 pm, no one dared fly as it was starting to get gusty. A big change in less than 30 minutes after the last flights. The front is now here.

Bridal pilots were reporting getting to Elk (KVA), not bad for such a mellow day!



5/10/13
Woodside looks like the place to be today, or Bridal as conditions get more stable

26°C

Sunny. High 26. UV index 6 or high.
250° @ 9
-3.0°C
900 m
Mission/Woodside Report - we had 6 students arrive today, our biggest group this year and some had prior flights this season but we all went to Heritage Park for training hill flights til 1 pm and it really paid off.



We had newbies Tanya, Kelly, Austin joining up with more experienced pilots Dale, Max, Alex and they had 6-7 flights at Heritage Park in perfect conditions with thermal pops to give them extended glides.

From May2013
We hopped back in the FlyBC Bus and raced back to Woodside for the standard landing briefing and it later paid off as Tanya's radio went dead immediately after she launched on her first solo and she had a perfect flight with a perfect approach and landing as she was prepared. Andrei was there as the landing coach for the student flights and did a great job today. All the students had perfect landings too!

From May2013
There was a large group of Seattle Pilots out at Woodside today who had planned to heli up Cheam but the choppers said they couldn't land there due to heavy snow conditions so they flew Woodside instead and got a few hours of soaring, with few bloopers.

We managed to get 2 solo flights in by 6 pm, a really good day with good conditions for first flights with little wind & little turbulence.

From May2013
If you count up the six training hill flights plus two woodside solos, I would call that a successful first day for the students!

From May2013
5/9/13
Woodside looks like the place to be today, or Bridal as conditions get more stable

24°C

Sunny. Becoming windy early this afternoon. High 24. UV index 6 or high.
250° @ 10
-3.0°C
1100 m
Woodside Report - we are at the Ranch at 9 am for students & tandems. I took new student Alex for a tandem at 10 am, and he flew the approach well after our ground school session.

We then headed to Mission Heritage Park for some training hill practice with Yasu, and Alex did extremely well with both forward & reverse launches on the FrankenBuzz. Yasu was also kiting at the Park after 5 days of flying, always good practice.

We headed back to Woodside for tandem that was waiting, and Alex got his first solo flight (after 3 tandems he was ready), and he had a perfect forward launch that was straight and committed. He also made a perfect landing approach right into the circle.

From May2013
It was a bit too windy for any more solos until 7 pm, as I was able to take Melody for a tandem and we soared for 30 minutes in the North Bowl before heading out to land in the circle too, can't let the students show us up.

The later flights were smooth and somewhat soarable, despite the smoke haze they are now claiming is coming in from Russia?

Alex logged his second solo flight just before 7 pm, and he was one happy pilot at day's end. Derek also joined us for a tandem with Candace.

From May2013
5/8/13
Woodside looks like the place to be today, or Bridal as conditions get more stable

24°C

Sun & Cloud. High 24. UV index 6 or high.
250° @ 12
-3.0°C
1100 m
Woodside Report - I was down to only one student, Yasu, today as the Instructors and other students departed for home.

We went up to launch after noon, and we had perfect cycles and inverted smoky skies.

Yasu brought the Element II up a bit to the left and despite my urging to brake right, he continued to the left and when he figured out it was off course he tried to stop too late and the Element flew him off the hill. He survived and had a good thermalling flight over the construction zone, plus a good landing in the end of the flight. We both were not happy with his ground-handling skills and headed off to Mission Heritage Park for the afternoon.

From May2013
What a great afternoon it was, with strongish thermal cycles going through and reverse kiteable winds all day. By the end of 3 hours, Yasu looked like a pro!

He was able to kite forward & reversed. He could run the entire length of the bottom field without a surge or collapse. He was ready to fly again.

From May2013
Back at Woodside at 6 pm, we had steady cycles, nice LZ winds and some hay bale obstacles to avoid, and we went up the mountain.

Yasu had a perfect controlled forward launch, perfect approach into the Eagle Ranch LZ and he missed the hay bales too.

5/7/13
Woodside looks like the place to be today, or Bridal as conditions get more stable

25°C

Sun & Cloud. High 25. UV index 6 or high.
250° @ 14
-3.0°C
700 m
Woodside Report - it was the last day of the Instructor Course we were down to two students, Dale & Jeff.

We finished the Ground School Part of the Instructor Course and went flying and Andrei & Guy logged two more tandem flights, with the last tandem heading to Harvest Market for a mini-XC flight.

Alex R was here recertifying hs Instructor Rating too, and took a few gliders for test flights: Joe's Swift2 (which Alex says flies fine despite a low porosity reading) and Simon's Delta 2 MS (which also flew very well as Alex thermalled with Dale & an eagle in front of launch).

From May2013
Dale spent too long thermalling and headed out low and was parked near the maple tree and almost had the Ranch on glide when he went crosswind and landed just n=inside our property line dropping his wing in the only tree I had not cut down, he was on the ground and safe but it took some sawing to get the wing out of the hawthorn tree. No damage to wing or Dale but we got cut by the tree a few times getting the wing down.

From May2013
Leslie showed up later and he & Dale kited for an hour on the training hill as the winds were too strong to fly.

Reports from Alan D came in at Bridal with climbs to only 1100 metres for Martin N & Alan and one other pilot. Pretty stable.

5/6/13
Woodside looks like the place to be today, or Bridal as conditions get more stable

30°C

Sunny. High 30. UV index 6 or high.
250° @ 11
-3.0°C
700 m
Woodside Report - we were at the Ranch at 10 for the Instructor Course & students and we did 5 runs up the hill in 30 degree heat.

We only Dale as our test student as everyone else went back to work after the weekend. Instructors included Alex R, Guy H, Andrei K, Brett Y, Mike W and they were all doing tandem certification flights. Everyone got in 4 flights.

From May2013
Big thanks go out to Alan D & Martin N for being passengers for the tandem guys, risking life and limb and missing some nice flights. Andrei did really well on his last tandem flight with Alan telling him where the lift was working!

From May2013
The last flights were pretty breezy getting out to the Ranch but the landings were smooth, and even Dale on his Element II made it out with ease now that he knows how to use a speedbar. Other tasks today on his four flights included: big ears, rear riser turns, speedbar use and finding lift when in huge sink.

From May2013


The : Source from Brett Hazlett flying his new Ozone R12 on Vimeo.

5/5/13
Cache Creek looks like the place to be today, too much outflow in the Fraser Valley

29°C

Sunny. High 29. UV index 6 or high.
360° @ 8
-3.0°C
1500 m
Coyote Report - we headed up to Coyote Hill near Ashcroft at 9 am, because the outflow was going to be too strong to fly til very late. The new bus is proving invaluable as we had 7 students and 6 instructors to get up the hill, plus all the gear.

From May2013
We had Theresa & Owan with some training hill flights, Sinan & Leslie had only kiting experience but no training hill due to winds on Saturday, James & Ben & Dale have had 7-9 Woodside high flights so we had a broad mix of experience with the students and they all had two nice flights at Coyote.

From May2013
Perfect inflow winds from the north at launch, nice short grass in the LZ with light winds. Even some thermals to play in for the tandems.

From May2013
We flew for 2 - 3 hours and stopped in Cache Creek for lunch before heading back to Woodside.

On the way back through Hope we talked to Martin N soaring north of Cheam at 3000 feet so we were hoping it would be good at Woodside.

Back at Woodside we got a tandem off with Andrei piloting Guy, and Wolfie launched too before it went catabatic. Too iffy for students after that and they are all in for the full Certification Course anyway so they are coming back next weekend.



Pemberton Report - looks like pilots flew Pemberton today despite outflow winds.

Click here for the Leonardo Tracks from Canada .

5/4/13
Cache Creek looks like the place to be today, too much outflow in the Fraser Valley

25°C

Sunny. High 25. UV index 6 or high.
260° @ 7
-3.0°C
1500 m
Ranch Report - we were at the Ranch at 9 am grouping up for Cache Creek, for the Instructor Course & students. But the logistics of getting 7 instructors, and 7 students & all the gear up there seemed too daunting so we stayed at the Ranch and kited and had ground school sessions all day.

Kiting in North winds was awesome and everyone mastered strong wind forward & reverse launches.

We did go up the mountain at 7 pm, but we only got one puff up the hill (otherwise it was all outflow winds).

A group at Bridal was also on launch late but we didn't see anyone fly.

From May2013


Pemberton Report - looks like a bunch of pilots flew Pemberton as Facebook & SPOT messages flowed in later today.

Click here for the Leonardo Tracks from Canada . Some amazing flights given the outflow winds.

From May2013


Ozone Buzz Z4 ML Flight Report

Just thought I would pass on a quick review of my first flight on my new Buzz Z4 ML.

Solid like a brick! . . . (no offence is intended to OZONE, I did say I was looking for a glider that was as structurally stable as Concrete to build up some confidence that a paraglider is actually an aircraft ;-)

So, in Lee side conditions I got a taste of what a stable safe wing can be like to fly. The glider dished out no drama and handled the spicy lee side conditions amazingly well. There were a few tip collapses and a nasty little asymmetric frontal East of Cheam but they happened so fast and self corrected that I had to ask myself if there really was an event? Brake pressure is higher then the Delta but the solid “feel” did help build back some confidence. Of course.... it’s still just a “Paraglider”.... glide is not as good as the Delta and truly could be flown by a Monkey. It has a bit of a positive sports car feel for snappy scratchy turns. It also requires substantially more weight shift to lock into a thermal but at the same time requires practically no outside brake to control speed.

Well my real wing will remain the ATOS, I’m satisfied the Buzz Z4 will safely allow me to build up some PG experience and improve my skills. I would easily recommend the Buzz Z4 to any pilot that is either looking for a first wing, or wanting a wing that can safely provide airtime for the casual weekend pilot.

The net of my first flight on the Bozzo-BBBB-Buzz.... 4hours airtime, peak alt 6200ft (to stay legal ) and 44km’s of the Alex R FAI Triangle.....

Thanks for setting up the trade and who knows.... in a few hundred hours, might even think about trading up to Delta3?

Cheers, Comrade Martin



The Lightest Aircraft in Existence from Ozone Paragliders on Vimeo.

5/3/13
Woodside will be soarable after noon

24°C

Sunny. High 24. UV index 6 or high.
280° @ 9
-3.3°C
1000 m
Instructor Seminar Report - we were at Mission Training Hills after 930 am for the Instructor Course & students. Outflow winds precluded flying Woodside til later and the training hill was perfect for first tandem flights for Guy H & Andrei K.

Perfect south cycles. First tandem launch by Andrei K was a perfect forward launch with Mike W on board as passenger. They glided out nicely to a soft landing.

From May2013
Next up Guy H took Terry R and they also had a perfect forward launch with a faster landing as they were on the smaller Magnum II and a bit heavier than the first guys, but they nailed the landing.

From May2013
Dale was here as a student a few days ago, but we brought him back for reverse launch training and he nailed a bunch of reverse launches here.

From May2013
By noon everyone was tired after 6 tandem flights and hikes back up the hill so we regrouped and headed to Woodside.

We could see the winds were still leeside, but Martin H was on the hill with his ATOS so it must be good! We waited down below doing some ground school and debriefings until we saw hope of a inflow cycle.

When we arrived at 2 pm we were starting to get cycles and Doug M & Roger B from Bellingham flew off and had stellar thermalling, with some of the best thermals over the valley. The Gradient Aspen 4 24 in this picture is for sale for $2500 with only 30 hours.

From May2013
Once we saw it was smooth flying for the tandem candidates, they got ready with Andrei K & Mike W flying off and soaring way above launch for 45 minutes!

From May2013
Next up was Guy H & Terry R flying their first high tandem flight and they too soared with ease. Smooth lift all over the valley too.

From May2013
We sent Dale off once one of the tandems was on the ground to watch his landing, and he got to thermal too.

Martin H took apart his ATOS in favour of flying his new Ozone Buzz Z4, and climbed out through 1900 meters before heading over to Bridal to fly with the group over there.

From May2013
We repeated the tandem flight 2 more times ending the day at 7 pm. The last flights had Doctor Russell join in the tandem fun too, as he is recertifying for his third time.

5/2/13
Woodside will be soarable after noon

18°C

Mainly sunny. Increasing cloudiness late this morning. High 18. UV index 6 or high.
240° @ 7
-3.0°C
1200 m
Woodside Report - we were at Eagle Ranch for the Instructor Course & also had three students flying today. The first flights landed at noon, not as lifty as yesterday but we had good launch cycles.

Instructor Candidates were working with the students guiding their landings as I guided the launches. Other Tandem candidates were doing practice tandem flights as per HPAC rules and we had a good day right til 630 pm, as the last flights were getting sprinkled on and the air was a bit turbulent, so we stood the students down for the last flight.

From May2013
Lots of good classroom talks too when we weren't flying covering Lesson Logs and Weather Briefings. We have lots to cover and the forecast looks great for 7 days, so we may have to stay late to get all the classroom stuff finalized.

From May2013
5/1/13
Woodside will be soarable after noon

16°C

Sunny. High 16. UV index 6 or high.
240° @ 7
-3.0°C
1700 m
Woodside Student Progress Report - we were on launch at 9 am with Yasu, Yuki & Dale and they all bagged their first solo flights with perfect launches and landings with Dale right in the circle on flight #1. Nice launch conditions with CUs forming at Sasquatch.

From May2013
As the day went on they all got 4 solo flights and nearly 2 hours of airtme as the conditions were excellent (lifty but not strong). Patience was required on the landing approaches as the valley floor was also lifty, but they did very well for their second day of lessons. Dale has some past experience from nearly 20 years ago on 9 cell Al de K paragliders, but is totally in for all knowledge and wisdom we can impart.

From May2013
Jason showed up for the last flight and after 4-5 days of ground handling and two tandems he too was ready for a solo flight which he got around 6 pm with a good launch and flight plan, and thanks to Terry for guiding his landing.

From May2013
While the students were flying themselves, their friend came along to video & watch and was rewarded with 3 hours of tandem flying with Al Collis on his Sky tandem and the Ozone Magnum II tandem. She loved it! Nice flights, Al!



Woodside Gloat Reports - while I was busy with the students, most of the local pros were launching and disappearing. Some went west towards Benny. Some headed east to do the Raymont Challenge over to Bridal and back. Everyone flew amazingly well as it was all blue thermals here. And no mayhem, except Hammer had some pine cones in his boots after getting back to Woodside.

Click here for the Leonardo Tracks from Woodside . Some amazing flights! Extra kudos to Kevin A who busted the Raymont Challenge and top-landed back on Woodside to drive down after draining some ballast!

4/30/13
Woodside will be nice to play at today

12°C

Rain mixed with snow ending early this morning then mainly cloudy with 40 percent chance of rain showers. High 12. UV index 4 or moderate.
240° @ 12
-3.0°C
1700 m
Woodside Report - we headed off to Mission today with 4 students for kiting and training hill flights and they were rewarded with 7-8 flights at Heritage Park. After 2.5 hours we headed back to Eagle Ranch to try and do some tandems or solo flights.

By the time we got up to launch it had overdeveloped and pilots were running downwind to escape the storms. Reports from Bridal had Kevin & Derek heading to Annis Road to land going up at +5 m/s with `big ears & speed bar`!

Martin N was landing at Seabird Island when he caught a low save and climbed out heading to Ludwig where it was getting windy.

Brett H picked up his new Ozone R12 race ship, and he and Alex R were doing the triangle to Bridal and back arriving over Woodside high, good thermals over the Chilliwack flats brought them and Guy H home to Woodside.

From April2013
We kept hoping for a student window but it blew hard all afternoon, so off to the Sasquatch Inn for dinner. We will retry early Wednesday for the students.

The last pilots to launch Woodside were forced to head to Harvest Market for smooth landings.

From April2013
Thanks for making April 2013 a safe month, very few incidents and no one hurt, a good contrast to last year`s mayhem!





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