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FlyBC "Site of the Day" - July 25/2014
Woodside after noon
“Enjoy the little things, for one day you make look back and realize they were the big things.” - Robert Brault
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| 7/25/14 |
 Agassiz BC Mainly cloudy with 30 percent chance of showers. High 21. UV index 6 or high.  FlyBC is an authorized distributor for Ozone , Gin , SupAir, Flytec, Nova, ParaJet Paramotors, Paratoys Paramotors, APCO, Wills Wing. Current Demo Gear: Gin Bolero 4 (S, L), Gin Carerra (M), Gin Atlas (M), Gin Fuse Tandem, Gin Tribe (ML), Ozone Geo 4 (MS & ML), Ozone Buzz Z4 (ML & L), Ozone Delta 2 (ML & S), Ozone Mantra M4 S, SupAir Delight Pod Harnesses, Ozone Oxygen II harnesses (S & M), Ozone Ozium Harness (M & L). 7/24/14
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|  Agassiz BC Rain ending this afternoon then cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers. High 18. UV index 3 or moderate. Friday looks like the start of a long dry stretch of weather, finally. 7/23/14
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| Agassiz BC Mainly sunny. Increasing cloudiness this afternoon. High 24. UV index 8 or very high. Kamloops suffered far worse today with reports of 50 mm of rain in 20 minutes causing flash flooding and landslide on the Yellowhead as the Dome fell on to northbound lanes. Revy fun with Matt & Bill practicing tandem acro! 7/22/14
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| Agassiz BC Mainly sunny. Increasing cloudiness this afternoon. High 24. UV index 8 or very high. Mid-day rains stopped some training but the skies opened up for a late night flight for Jason, who is enjoying the Geo 4. What a difference a day makes, yesterday good lift +4 m/s . . . today inverted sled rides. 7/21/14
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|  Agassiz BC Mainly cloudy. Clearing late this afternoon. High 22. UV index 6 or high. I dragged out my solo gear and shook off the moths and cobwebs. SupAir Delight Harness with a front mount reserve and the new Gin Carrera demo ship, that was test flown a lot in Revy but this was my first chance flying it. Some of the guys in Revy had trouble launching the Carrera and I think it was conditions, it is fast but I brought it up very nicely and even though the wind on Woodside switched to south as I inflated the glider it behaved and launched smoothly. The Carrera has Gin's new EPT Technology (basically SharkNose tech) and it inflates easily but is a fast glider and one needs to damp the inflation part way up or it can overshoot. Ala Ozone Delta 2 or any faster glider. While the Carrera earned a EN-B rating it is recommended for pilots that fly more than 50 hours a year. That said it was extremely stable even coming into trashy air near launch trying a top-landing approach. I flew for an hour over Woodside and heard Kevin & Martin struggling near Bear Mtn., Camilo had been at cloudbase a few times and I tried many different approaches to top-landing but gave up as it was too strong near launch. I had no vario but some climbs were estimated at +4 m/s. I topped out at 1200 metres a few times, which is what IBIS forecasted.
We retrieved Kevin's truck from Woodside Launch and headed to Bridal for a late afternoon flight and got there to see many gliders in the air. Camilo & Kevin flew and Martin & I drove and folks were getting 2+ hours soaring the knob. Back at the Ranch, Derek & Lee were doing a set of tandems but it didn't glass-off as hoped. Reports from Dale at Fly Hills in Salmon Arm reported 1:30 long flights there at 8:30 am! 7/20/14
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| Agassiz BC Mainly cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers. High 19. UV index 6 or high. A group of tandems were scheduled to be flying today and I think they got off two rounds landing east of Riverside. Oddly it looked windy but there was little ridge lift? Maybe too south? Reports from Dale & Rod at King Eddie said they got 2 - 45 minute soaring flights today after waiting in the rain too. 7/19/14
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| Agassiz BC Mainly cloudy. 60 percent chance of showers in the morning and early in the afternoon. Local smoke. High 24. UV index 6 or high. Camilo, Colleen & I headed south and stopped for lunch in Salmon Arm with Derek & Kendra.
When we rounded the corner near the Ashcroft Manor we saw smoke . . . who would be burning on a windy day? As we got closer the fire crews were battling a small fire line near the Reserve, and a heli was dropping water as well.
The forestry camp before:
Meanwhile . . . Rod reported back that he got 3 hours kite-boarding on his 7 metre (small) kite on Swan Lake near Enderby in huge rollers and swells. I guess we made the right call heading home! Some interesting launches at a Spanish Acro Meet, reminds me of launching students at Woodside! LOL! 7/18/14
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| Agassiz BC Increasing cloudiness. 30 percent chance of showers this afternoon. Local smoke. High 24. UV index 3 or moderate. We had to dodge race preparations on the mountain roads and decided to head to Mara Lake for an evening flight. We headed up Skyline Road around 4 pm and managed to get 4 pilots off before it blew down the mountain, not what was forecast at all, light winds in the Lake. SIV Box and in the air too. No lift as it was cloudy & hazy from forest fires.
7/17/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny this morning then a mix of sun and cloud with 30 percent chance of showers late this afternoon. Risk of a thunderstorm late this afternoon. Local smoke. Wind becoming northwest 20 km/h near noon. High 30. UV index 7 or high. Camilo drove the first round and everyone got one SIV flight before it blew out. Oddly, when the pilots were flying in nice air it was gusty in Revelstoke.
7/16/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny in the morning and early in the afternoon then a mix of sun and cloud with 30 percent chance of showers late in the afternoon. Risk of a thundershower late in the afternoon. High 30.
Chris D got one wing wet when he miscalculated a spiral dive on a speedwing and landed short getting his reserve wet. I suggested flying the wet reserve on the next flight and deploying it to see how fast it would open. chris decided to make it exciting and spiralled up an XS Addict II before throwing his reserrve . . . resulting in a leg up deployment with his feet stuck over his head caught by the paraglider lines landing him on his back. He was okay but got the wind knocked out for a few seconds. The last flight was a classic "glassoff" with abundant lift everywhere and the SIVers were as high as launch when they arrived over the Box. Then late night cocktails at Dingo's before bed, long days here in Revy.
7/15/14
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| Agassiz BC A mix of sun and cloud. Risk of a thunderstorm this afternoon. High 33. UV index 8 or very high. First they went to the Tram Launch facing north and it was not going to work. Brad & Chris had 2 tandems to do so I asked for them to go first as my boat had become grounded due to the water level dropping, and I needed a hand to get it refloated. I finally found the frogs that caused the conservation Officers to disallow mowing at the RC Field and they are tiny and there are hundreds of them.
Once the boat was floted, the SIVers started heading off with Bill G, Camilo, Jeff & Matt doing some nice stalls and spins. Oddly, it was strong North winds aloft turning to south on landing? Camilo decided to go for a swim out to the boat and found out how cold the water is in Canada.
7/14/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 32. UV index 8 or very high. They also had a mid-day set of tandems that turned out to be quite windy with south winds at lower levels and while Chris made the RC Field, Brad elected to head to Catherwood LZ. No thunderstorms here, but the HG National Comp in Golden got rained out with thunderstorms today. When I arrived at the RC Field around 4 pm it was very windy with whitecaps so we stayed on the ground, after securing the boat.
Taking a Chance on Cheam July 2014 from Kevin Ault on Vimeo. 7/13/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 32. UV index 8 or very high. It was getting a bit hazy due to several close forest fires.
Dave A was having some issues initiating full stalls on his Advance Espilon 7 but we think the brakes are tied a bit long. Maybe some acro handles would give him more purchase on the brakes? No one in the drink today. Colleen tried to end up in the drink as she locked into a spiral dive that took 8 turns to recover. The last flight of the day had pilots skying out to 3500 meters in glassoff conditions, trying to crross to Begbie but it was a bit late for that as it was 8 pm.
7/12/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 32. UV index 8 or very high. We had a good turnout for the briefings at the Powder Springs Inn at 9 am, reviewing "Performance Flying" with Jock Sanderson. Colleen headed up with a full truck of experienced and non-experienced SIVers as I got the boat ready. The water levels are perfect, the snow just went away allowing access to the top without hiking. More good luck than good preparation on our part. The winds were calm and launch cycles perfect if not a bit strong for newbies. We had some nice airshow action with heavy water bombers flying through our SIV Box, but no conflicts. We had two great rounds with some great maneuvers by James B & Dave A and not to be outdone Matt Francis showed us how to wingover into the water!
Big thanks to RMR, Chris Delworth & the locals that brushed out the RC Field and got everything ready. 7/11/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 28. UV index 8 or very high. It is getting very stable at Woodside but reports from Bridal had top landers and some nice soaring, so that is the place to be for solo pilots. Sad news from Pemberton, BC - Jud, a PG pilot and shuttle driver, from Pemberton was attempting a vol bivuoac flight to Copperdome to meet up with some others and failed to make it there and a Search & Rescue operation was launched. Unfortunately, the S & R folks found him too late as he had thrown his reserve and had been badly injured and did not make it. Jud did not have a radio or a SPOT Tracker device, which complicated matters. If you have plans to go XC, please get a SPOT and a good radio! Chelan Flats 2014 Report - a more mellow task. Results here. 7/10/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 28. UV index 8 or very high. Denis & I worked together and got 7 tandems completed and launch & landing conditions were perfect. Tessa & Sam A were out flying and they logged 4 more solo flights including reverse launch training. The last tandems happened at 8 pm and it was still soarable, with Derek & Jesse getting above launch.
Chelan Flats 2014 Report - a huge 204 km task. Results here. 7/9/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. Becoming windy near noon. High 27. UV index 9 or very high. There was still a lot of snow on the hike up and it got a bit dangerous so Martin & Judy (driver) headed back down and only Kevin & Camilo launched after summitting.
Grouse Report - Justin K invited me to come fly Grouse today but I had no wing so I had to decline. But as it turned out, no glassoff was delivered instead a short sled ride. Chelan Flats 2014 Report - a short task to Coulee Dam was called in order to miss the smoke from several fires. Yesterdays task was called mid-flight due to smoke on course so no scores. About 40 pilots made goal including Andrew B & Jimmie O from Canada. Results here. 7/8/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. Fog patches over eastern sections early this morning. High 29. UV index 8 or very high. Dave L was out for his 5th & 6th high flight, doing well on the Geo 4 demo. He had one interesting landing as the bottom dropped out on him over the corn, too deep to make it into the grass. One more for the Cornhusker's Club! He had another nice flight following the tandems to Harvest Market for his last flight, after soaring the South Knoll and climbing out like a pro!
Pemberton Report - So the old car is holding together, I'm in Pemberton and having a great time on my super safe Buzz Z4. I am writing to tell you how safe it is, this is not just hype, the thermals in Pemby are wicked and unforgiving as well as rewarding. I hit 10,000 feet today and had several collapses. Each collapse popped out before I could even react, though it gave me the opportunity to use active piloting. So yes I had the best flight of my life and out climbed many on better wings but it was the safety that came into play at least seven or eight times. It wasn't just me but everyone was taking big hits. The idea is that you can tell other students just how freaking safe this Buzz Z4 is and how high you can go on a safe wing. Hope you are well, Rob Wilson and yes 10,000 feet for a newbie. 7/7/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny except cloudy near Hope early this morning. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 28. UV index 9 or very high. Denis launch with the first passenger and had a nice launch. My passenger decided to stop running and was even pushing back a bit and we got into the air and then settled back on launch after bumping into the only rock on launch. He was okay and I took the wing back up and this time he ran as instructed and we got off before the end of the carpet. Pilots on launch thought we were off as it was a solid inflation and the initial run was good so they didn't even see us touch down. The rest of the day I was limping around as I pulled something in my knee but it is not swollen so I should be back to flying trim in a day or so. Kevin, Derek & Denis finished off the rest of the tandems today and Samuel got 2 more really nice flights with thermalling practice most of the day. Folks went to Bridal later in the day but didn't fly as they thought it was too windy but at Woodside it calmed down as NOAA/IBIS predicted. What was not predicted was the early outflow except in CanadaRASP. 2014 Chelan Flats Report - Nicole was reporting a good day with a diversionary task to avoid a wildfire area that is close to town. Most of the Canucks in goal today with a 102 km task! Tom M was a few metres short of goal, probably cursing his flight computer! Results here. Ozone's Team World Record Camp Report - the Ozone R&D team was in Texas attempting to break the current 502 km record set in South Africa in 2008. Cross Country's article here. Ozone's news report here. 7/6/14
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers this morning. Clearing this afternoon. High 24. UV index 5 or moderate. We were able to do 6 tandems simultaneously around 1130 am, and then it started to drizzle so we called off the last 4 tandems as it looked unlikely we would fly in 2-3 hours.
Chelan Report - Nicole reported back that they had a good day with a 106 km task and many of the Canucks there made goal (or almost). A HREF = "http://www.flyxc.org/files/Sunday_Serial.html" target = "blank">Sunday's Chelan Results here 7/5/14
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| Agassiz BC Mainly cloudy with 30 percent chance of showers. High 21. UV index 7 or high. John & Annette flew earlier and had a nice sleddy, Annette's favourite flights! New student Kelly had completed 2 hard days of ground school and tandems and was ready for his first two solo flights flying a new Gin Bolero 4 and he had good launches and solid landings! He was overwhelmed with glee as he drove back to Salt Spring Island. Denis & Derek & I flew a few sets each in very light conditions and the last set we arrived on launch just as a cell unloaded over launch. It was a short burst and no winds associated with the cell so when it cleared Denis took off, then Derek who flew east to avoid another rain cloud coming. I launched after the cloud passed by and had a nice dry flight out to Eagle Ranch and the ProCircle. John & Annette flew earlier and had a nice sleddy, Annette's favourite flights! We then headed to Vickie's "going away party" in Chilliwack on the west end of Chilliwack on a Fraser River estuary where I caught a nice glimpse of Mother Woodside from a different angle and it looked flyable still.
7/4/14
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| Agassiz BC Mainly sunny. Increasing cloudiness this afternoon. High 22. UV index 8 or very high. Etienne was out test flying the Swift M and found some nice thermals at 10:30 am, staying in the air for an hour! Not bad for 15 flights!
We started flying tandems at noon and the lift was even better by then. Etienne & Martin were soaring the South Knoll with me before we all headed to Harvest Market.
The last tandems at 4 pm were phenonemal with lift to 1100 metres and smooth air above launch (not so nice at launch height) as the front was rolling into the Valley.
7/3/14
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy. Clearing this afternoon. Becoming windy late this morning. High 22. UV index 5 or moderate. I go to watch Kelly's progress on the new webcams though.
We had perfect launch cycles and everyone got off quickly and started soaring up to 1050 metres, flying wherever they wanted. Martin N, Derek & Kevin were "dukin' it out" near launch and Kevin's new M6 looked pretty good climbwise.
After everyone got off I drove down to get Colleen & my own gear, but by the time we got up there it was shuttng down and pilots were just maintaining but not high enough to top-land (except Kevin).
Colleen probably got 45 minutes on her flight and as suggested landing at the Big Circle is mosquito free as it is windier there. First Footage of Canada's First Ozone Mantra M6 from Kevin Ault on Vimeo. Ozone R&D Team is in Texas chasing records - Details here! 7/2/14
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| Agassiz BC Mainly cloudy. 30 percent chance of showers early this morning. Clearing near noon. Becoming windy late this morning. High 27 except 30 near Hope. UV index 8 or very high. They had nice flights but headed to Harvest because they were still convinced it would blow out. Nice conditions at Harvest Market at 130 pm. Sam & Martin N launched on their Rush 3 & Rush 4 and Martin of course went up high and Sam had to grovel for 40 minutes before landing at Riverside. Martin eventually did land at Riverside too after 1:40 when he got shaded out. Meanwhile, Tessa & I were kiting on the Training Hill at the Ranch and she is perfecting her reverse launches. She got picked up pretty high a few times in thermals and had one interesting landing (thank goodness for airbags). We went back up for the second set of tandems and launching went well after waiting for a lull and Denis was off and headed to the Ranch after getting low as the wind completely died?? What happened to the forecast?? We waited til 5:30 for Maggy and her group to arrive and it looked good in the telescope and we headed up. Denis took the heaviest passenger as it looked a bit windy when we arrived and they got off in a lull and soared around for 15 minutes before heading to Harvest Market. It got windier & windier and eventually I called the last two flights off as it looked too dangerous as the winds really picked up as Denis headed east. They had a nice landing and were all packed up when we arrived. The last tandem arrived at 730 pm, and we headed up after the sign in and no one was dressed very warm and we shivered on launch for 40 minutes waiting for the wind to calm down and then we launched and went straight up to 950 metres where we soared unti we saw the truck driving down and we headed to Harvest Market where we saw the sunset behind Woodside as we came over Cemetary Hill at 900 metres. Hmmm, how to lose lots of altitude smoothly? Lots of laps out over the flats and we landed in no wind at Harvest.
7/1/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 32. UV index 8 or very high. It was very lame conditions today and only Simon managed to stay up test flying his new Ozone Alpina 2. Thanks to Camilo for driving, and to Denis & Colleen for being Awesome Tandem Pilots in adverse conditions! The Ozone Chabre pilots had their first task today in Laragne, a 40 km task north to Aspres via a few TP. Alex Raymont reported arriving into goal first after leading most of the way, but as it was elapsed time and not a R2G he actually ended up 3rd for the day after hitting some shade and having to slow down. Fellow Canuck Mark Carter landed in Ventavon. Results of today's task can be found here . XROCKIEs 2014 is finished! And the Frenchies made it to the Mexican Border from Mackenzie Yukon all the way south on their Ozone Alpina 2s. 6/30/14
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 27. UV index 8 or very high. Tessa had some previous ground handling on the flats up in the Yukon, but never had her feet off the ground before. Mission was perfect for this today. All the way to Mission I saw east or north winds on the ground and in the clouds. We arrived to find perfect up hill cycles at Heritage Park and both Josh (10 high flights) & Tessa (0 flights) did about 10 laps on the hill. By the end of the session both were flying past the running track easily! We headed back to Woodside and Colleen took Tessa tandem for her first high flight - tandems are the best way to test a students reactions with full safety. Josh was flying the new Ozone Geo 4 today and did really well with some very nice thermalling on flight #3 today and about 2 hours of total airtime today! Denis, Derek, Kevin & I managed another 8 tandems in total with some very nice soaring on the mid-day flights. My mid day tandem with Rachel had us climbing to 1100 metres with a couple of Ozone M6s and an Ozone Rush 4 chasing us, nice to get above launch and into the cooler air.
6/29/14
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| Agassiz BC A few showers ending late this morning then cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. High 19. UV index 3 or moderate At around 5 pm, we took a load of pilots up and everyone had a nice soaring session. Bev got above launch on her Buzz Z4.
6/28/14
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| Agassiz BC Showers. Risk of a thunderstorm late this afternoon. High 18. UV index 3 or moderate. It turned into a thunderstorm and took out the power in several businesses in town. We were trying to work on the garden and installing some new eavestroughing when it hit here a second time. Lots of thunder but not much lightning, it must have been embedded. I am glad I called the day early so as to not waste anyones time driving out. Rat Race Report - while we were sitting in the rain here, a few Canucks attended the Rat Race in Medford OR. Results here. Congrats to Simon B on his most excellent placing! His new Alpina 2 is coming this week so his well trained Delta 2 MS will be available for sale. 6/27/14
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| Agassiz BC Showers. Risk of thunderstorms this afternoon. Amount 10 mm. High 18. UV index 3 or moderate. 6/26/14
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| Agassiz BC A mix of sun and cloud. 40 percent chance of showers late this afternoon with risk of thunderstorms. High 24. UV index 7 or high. Martin N was at launch at noon and had a short flight before heading to Harvest Market as it picked up. I had 4 tandems booked at noon, Kevin & Denis were here to help. Bad news was that they trusted their in-dash GPS rather than my directions and they got lost for over an hour and when they arrived it was blown out. Not just a bit windy but the trees on the river were swaying pretty hard in the gusts. This was not going to let up til tomorrow so we sent them to Harrison for a hike. We have had a great run til today so maybe it is time to do some chores? 6/25/14
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| Agassiz BC Mainly sunny. High 25. UV index 7 or high. It was such a good day that by the end of the day he had over 2 hours of thermalling (a first) and 4 flights including one towards Harvest Market. He is flying a new Gin Bolero 4 (the same as the 2 new ones we ordered for our school and it performed well).
Lots of graduated students out flying today and no mishaps. Thanks to Camilo for driving a few rounds as his arm heals up from saving Richard on the weekend. We finished at a late 8:45 pm finishing off the last tandem with Sally and we noticed Al's Truck was still here after he failed to return from a planned XC flight. After checking in with Kevin, we saw he had outlanded in the Chehalis Valley (via his SPOT Tracker).
Kevin's Ozone Mantra M6 Report - My Mantra M6 ML arrived today, the first in Canada to my knowledge. After flying three tandems, I finally unpacked my new wing and launched from Bridal Falls, Canada at 5:00 pm for a 2.5 hour XC flight in familiar territory. Launch conditions were light and a little changeable so three tries were needed (I took the glider out of the bag for this first flight so it was very compressed). Once it inflated I had a nice launch into nice smooth, fairly strong thermals. After flying an Alpina 2 for the last six months, I noticed immediately the significant increase in brake pressure. It was no surprise that the wing moved around more and required more effort to turn than the A2. However, the sink rate and glide were also significantly better. I flew this flight very close to a friend on an Ozone Rush 4. For the first twenty minutes, I flew at trim speed and there was no appreciable difference between the two wings. However, I applied 50% bar when we had to cross a valley with a 13km/hr headwind, and the M6 left the Rush in the dust enabling me to clear a ridge and get to cloudbase while my friend grovelled down below. The longer I flew, the more bar I applied. I had heard the reports of pilots having difficulty getting their speed system adjusted,so I had set up my I3 harness so that I was immediately able to achieve 100% on the speed system and as I flew for the next two hours, this became very impressive. No collapses in pretty strong headwind turbulence. Later in the calm evening air, it appeared that my full speed was about 53 km/hr. The glide was very obvious when I came in to land at the relatively small LZ and had to apply brake to prevent overshooting. After 2.5 hours, I know that I will need to work on increasing the efficiency of my turns and I doubt that the M6 will ever feel as "fun" as the A2 but this is clearly a "mile-munching" paraglider and I look forward to getting to know it better in the days to come. Sorry, no pictures today! But it's a beauty - Yellow, Black,White, Red. My Flight Stats here. 6/23/14
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| Agassiz BC A few showers ending late this morning then cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers. High 20. UV index 3 or moderate. I was in Vancouver and had to run errands and took my time getting out to Chilliwack for supplies and banking. I arrived at the Ranch and took Camilo to lunch at Agassiz, all very civilized like normal people and when we got back to the Ranch the tandem passengers, Marlene & Chelsea were here for Marlene's Birthday Adventure. since the weather was a bit iffy, I suggested the other tandem pilots stay home and I elected to do both late day tandems myself. Camilo offered to drive. Rob W & Peter came up for a flight too. Fairly strong launch winds but not the 17 knots forecasted, and I was off and flying and soaring above Woodside with Marlene.
The truck arrived just as we landed so we headed back up with Chelsea for her flight. Meanwhile, Rob & Peter both flew and made it to the Ranch with no issues despite it being pretty windy. The last flight with Chelsea looked like a sledder, as the winds dropped off and Gary P had flown and top-landed as he thought it was shutting down. We launched in a light cycle and were scratching around near the Lower Launch Switchback when I caught a sharp pulse of lift and cranked the Magnum up and started climbing. Light at first but then it really picked us up and we were above Launch and still climbing. Gary relaunched as we had a spare driver to drive his truck and he managed another 30 minutes of soaring around with us. The next two days look really nice and then rain for the long weekend. 6/23/14
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| Agassiz BC A mix of sun and cloud. Becoming cloudy this afternoon. Becoming windy late this afternoon. High 26. UV index 8 or very high. Jeremy managed to get 3 flights on the Geo 4, Nova Ion and decided on the Nova Ion as his wing of choice (loved the Geo 4 but budget said Ion was better for him). He left with completing the HPAC P1 Level of Certification with 11 flights and 2 hours of airtime. Not bad for three days! Denis, Kevin & I did some tandems today and my first tandem with Birthday Boy Caden (13 yo) was interesting, as he said he was 80 lbs but I doubted it as we floated to 1000 metres without a turn and took 30 minutes to reach the Ranch! The second round of tandems had all three tandems floating over Woodside with ease! Nice video footage of us ridge soaring at 800 metres before heading over to Harvest arriving there even higher as we found some nice thermals over the river and the sandbars. Kevin was soaring Cemetary Hill and we came in even higher using those thermals. Meanwhile . . . Tom C, Joe C, Normand and Norm were flying solo and Tom C logged 3 hours alnding at the Dykes to help Normand find the LZ as he left low. Denis took the last tandem as I was doing Jeremy's paperwork and his passenger Ben came in with a huge smile saying "I will be back, this is way too much fun!". Thanks to Bev & Rob for driving today! I owe you guys some rides in return. And for the record . . . our friend Camilo is here for to summer earning his Instructor/Tandem Ratings and is going through the HPAC Instructor Certification Program as per the HPAC PRDs. We have sent in his Membership Forms and also we sent in his Rating Application for P-3 as he has had a New Zealand P-3 Rating since 2010. Next item to get for him is his HAGAR and renew his First Aid. He has been doing tandems in Mexico for 3 years and wants to get legally certified. Once he has his HPAC Card he will be doing the required 20 tandem flights with rated pilots. Revy Report - Chris D just sent me a flight report 136 kms to Mica Dam on his Ozone Alpina 2! He said the Alpina "crushed the thermals"! Tracklogs here from Canada on June 22 Found on Facebook - can you Identify the ATOS in this Google Street View? It is Marv from the Island from 2 years ago! Ozone Octane 2 Wingovers 6/22/14
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| Agassiz BC Mainly sunny. Becoming windy near noon. High 25. UV index 8 or very high. Denis & Colleen helped with the tandems, and Camilo was helping with launching students & Lee was helping with the landings, as both Apprentice Instructors are working toward their Instructor Certifications. We had student heading for the gulley with a riser twist as he tried to reverse launch, and Camilo tackled him down and they both got bruised up. Folks need to do more ground handling before they try to reverse launch on a busy launch area - ratio of kiting to flying is 5 hours of kiting to each hour of flying to keep current! At the end of the day . . . Jason logged 6 solo flights (with some nice thermalling over launch), Jeremy logged 5 solo flights and some of the others logged 2-3 flights depending on the launch sequences.
Most of the tandem flights were soarable today and the last evening flight we caught the Woodside Glass Off, very smooth. Again, the weather forecast said "Windy in the afternoon" and it stayed nice all day. Great for students and tandem passengers alike. Elk Report - Elk hosted a Summer Solstice Overnight Party with many hike & fliers camping out and flying down in the morning.
6/21/14
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| Agassiz BC A mix of sun and cloud. Becoming windy near noon. High 21. UV index 7 or high. We has been kiting up north with Steve J and had a great tandem with Russell B at the March Fly-In at Dawson this year, and it showed as he was super confident kiting the Nova Ion. He had purchased a used harness at the Fly-In so all he needed was one of our front mount reserves and he was ready to fly. He made his first flight at 11 am and it was a perfect inflation into 10-15 kph inflow cycles and he was off and flying. He somehow managed to turn the volume down on his radio as he was turning over the Maple Tree, so he drifted off course without friendly reminders . . . but remembered our Ground School landing breifing sessions earlier and had a perfect landing with Colleen shouting out instructions. He came up for one more flight around 12:30 pm and was able to thermal above launch from above the Construction Zone in a big fat thermal. At this time everyone that took off got way above launch with smooth thermals all over the place. We started doing the first of 13 tandems as well, with help from Denis, Kevin, Colleen & myself.
John & Annette, Camilo, Rob W, Jeff S were also out flying and Rob made his graduation flight #25 today! He passed the P2 Exam with 86% too, so he is ready to fly alone on his beautiful new Ozone Buzz Z4.
Some pretty big flights up in Pemby & in the Interior too. Tracklogs here 6/20/14
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy. 60 percent chance of showers early this morning. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud near noon. Windy. High 18. UV index 6 or high. Rob W, Andy & Sean flew and it was Sean's first flight and it lasted 30 minutes, with a solid landing near the circle. We were able to make 3 tandems each for Denis, Kevin & myself throughout the day ending at 8 pm.
6/19/14
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy. Periods of rain ending this morning then 30 percent chance of showers this afternoon. High 18. UV index 5 or moderate. Andy is up from Bellingham, and Rob is here again and almost finished his P2 rating as he is now over 20 flights and launching like a pro! The winds were light enough that the guys could approach from every direction with zero turbulence. The forecasted 30 kms of wind never happened today, but we worked with the differing conditions. Jeff arrived late and managed one light wind reverse launch & a nice flight to the Ranch before it shut down around 6 pm. 6/18/14
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| Agassiz BC Mainly cloudy. 30 percent chance of showers this morning. High 19. UV index 6 or high. We had a sledder on the first flight and then the air turned "magical" and the lift was everywhere. Good thing the students knew how to do "big ears" as they were getting some decent cloud suck at times. Rob was having way too much fun on his new Ozone Buzz Z4 as he was buzzing launch and hooting & hollering with glee! Rod was trying out our Gin Atlas M demo, and loving it. We may have an Icaro WildCat trade in soon.
The late set of tandems at 6 pm had a nice extended sledder into nice landing conditions, and after they went I took my grandson Remy for a flight and we had beautiful conditions landing in the new ProCircle (which I think has better airflow than the old one). I used the used Nova Ion L today for our tandem, a great beginner ship with little airtime and the last porosity test revealed between 240-300 seconds good to 130 kgs all up. 6/17/14
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| Agassiz BC Mainly cloudy. 30 percent chance of showers early this morning. High 21. UV index 6 or high. I took Rohan (6 years old and 80 lbs!) using the Magnum 41 and had a very nice sink rate. Denis took Shirely, and finally Kevin took Shiraj and we had super conditions at launch & landing. Later Denis took one last tandem at 430 pm and it was also nicely soarable.
6/16/14
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