FlyBC "Site of the Day Archives" - April/2007
"The time to worrying about flying is when you're on the ground. When you're up in the air, it's too late.
No point in worrying about it then." - Denzel Washington
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Woodside Report - beautiful blue skies brought Jim (me), Nikolai, Nataliya, Alex and Norm to Woodside, however it completely clouded over before we got to launch. When Norm and I got to the launch parking lot, Alex was about 800 meters but by the time we were at launch proper he had sunk down. He was very patient and even climbed out with a bird for a while but was turning the wrong way and the bird climbed out while Alex didn't. Nikolai launched next and climbed right away. We persuaded Nataliya to fly as Norm and I drove down. When we left Nikolai was climbing through 900 meters easily and he landed at Harrison Lake after failing to get past Bear Mtn. Norm decided to go to work and I headed to Bridal - Jim Bridal Report - Alex and Alan launched early and we overheard Alex saying "you can climb, it just takes time" as he neared Saddle altitude. Ihor, Nicole, David, Luke, Martin, Tom C (on tandem), and a few others were flying as Nataliya, Alex and I got to launch. Nice straight cycles, but no sun. Easy launch and I was climbing in front of launch and into the bowl, but as Alex said it was slow. I got to 1000 meters but no higher in the bowl or over launch, and I saw Rob launch and start climbing out front. I watched him climb to about 1000 meters and then head east. So I followed him and we were both pretty far east and not gaining a lot of height but there were little thermals in the gulleys to top up in. I met Martin in a gulley near the Gas Transmission Plant but he was easily 300 meters higher and Rob had started to head back. Andy flew overheard returning to launch too, so I bailed and headed back topping out a few times but not getting high. I arrived back at launch at 600 meters and had to climb back out but that was easy as others were in the thermal showing me the way. Martin reported heading east to the "Lakes" as he got himself out of the gulley. We played around in front of launch as many top-landed to drive trucks down. I was on a perfect line for top-landing when I saw a glider coming directly in front of me . . . I had to swerve as Nicole flew right at me (blue leading edges are hard to see against green trees). I landed right in front of Derek laid out to launch and clobbered him with my wing as it came down (sorry!). Later, Martin top-landed (his first PG top-landing) to drive his truck down to the garbage pile where Alex, Nicole, Nikolai and Martin collected the trash left by some idiots a few months back. We flew again for about 45 minutes before landing at the bottom as all the trucks were accounted for. Total flight time 2 hours in shaded skies? - Jim Remember the good old days!
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Woodside Report - an early flight for the students had us soaring before 10:30 am.
Unfortunately it got even stronger making it unsafe to fly paragliders until 5:00 pm,
when we were back on the hill with Ray and Kerry for their last flights of the day. Kira and Brian had enough abuse with a full day of kiting waiting for the winds to die down and left before it calmed down.
Smart pilots went to Bridal where it was also windy but much better. | Bridal Report - Andy had an awesome flight flying with Robin, Kevin and Al doing laps between Cheam Peak and Elk at 2100 meters. Highest cloudbase we have seen for years over there! Unfortunately the airwaves were filled with a rescue mission as a pilot went into the trees to the left of launch. He was un-harmed and out of the tree by the time anyone got there, but he didn't have a radio or cell phone. Please people, buy at least an FRS radio and use channel 12 which we monitor at Woodside.
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Woodside Report - we were out kiting with the new students, as Andy launched and he stayed up for almost an hour around 10 am. The new students caught on fast and Colleen was working on many exercises on the training hill as I went up for the first cycle of tandem flights. | My first passenger was Natalia, a petite Brazilian girl, who weighed less than 45 kilos, so we were pretty floaty in the dynamic air. Huge lapse rate and lots of sun made for some pretty sharp climbs, and some big sink too. We flew for about 45 minutes getting to around 1300 meters, with Andy and Peter G even higher apparently not concerned about cloud suck further back. Natalia and I landed at Eagle Ranch as the wind switched to westerly but she was a good runner! We landed right in the landing circle despite the downwind push. Her dad was one of the new students in the LZ and he looked proud of her. Second tandem flight was Gina, Annette's colleague from work, and she looked apprehensive, but was a good sport and pulled me off the hill and we were immediately climbing through 1200 meters in some really rough air. We had a few good collapses on the outer wing as we circled over the larger clearcuts. The most fun was had as we climbed over the north ridge and headed to the Sasquatch Range from 1400 meters. We were 1/3 of the way across when the glider fell back and we were free falling! I looked up and we had a full frontal collapse in smooth air, a quick pump and we were flying again. We touched the ridge too low to get up so we headed back to the Ranch where we planted a perfect 4 point landing in the circle again. Gary K was out from Bowen Island and was having a great flight on his Buzz, logging over 1:15 before heading out to warm up. Peter G did an "out and return" to Agassiz, arriving back to climb out back to cloudbase. Tandem 3 was a Turkish guy, who spoke German but not much English. So the start commands at the launch were in German. He had his video camera working through the entire flight and commentary was in German. I was sure he would "hurl" as the air was rough and more sharp climbs right to 1300 meters. We struggled a bit on the mountain, but got a good climb further out. It appears to have gone leeside as the clouds were tilted from the SE later in the day. We also crossed to Sasquatch on this flight and watched the airplanes below doing circuits at the SandPiper Golf Course airstrip. As we came in to land, there were some nice thermals over Duncan's field and we took them up with an Eagle. It was climbing right with us, in a left turn and we tightened up within a few meters. Last time I saw the Eagle it was headed north towards the clearcut by the HG LZ. We landed again in the circle with a great blast of south wind (I had been concerned about the landing as the sock was limp or rotating 360 degrees as we circled Duncan's, but luck had it that a thermal went off as we approached the LZ. Bev flew and climbed out fast in a smooth large thermal and was last seen heading to Hope, but she landed at Harvest because it was too wet further east after all the rains. During the last flight, Rob S and an un-named Trango 2 pilot were getting ready to fly with hopes of crossing the Valley. Andy was flying with them too and reports were coming in about "being over Bear", joining Martin at Ludwig, touching Elk and later I heard the Trango and the ATOS pilots made it back to Woodside. But alas . . . Rob was on Fairfield Island again. ps: Rob next time fly directly over Chilliwack. There has to be a "town thermal" that will take you back to Abe's or Eagle Ranch. The new students all got to fly solo later, getting two flights before dark. Brian and Kira did very well landing perfectly in no wind at the end of the day.
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Woodside Report - monsoons all day, good weather for fixing gliders in the Barn. Doug: your Vulcan is ready. |
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Cochrane Report - it looked good even in the morning for Cochrane Soaring, but it got a bit spicy in the afternoon up to 26 MPH (probably too strong for HGers even). Nice CUs all day, good to see the sun. | Cochrane NOAA EDT (UTC) F (C) Dew F (C) Inches (hPa) Wind MPH Weather 8 PM (0) Apr 26 55 (13) 23 (-5) 29.83 (1010) W 26 7 PM (23) Apr 26 59 (15) 21 (-6) 29.83 (1010) W 16 6 PM (22) Apr 26 59 (15) 19 (-7) 29.83 (1010) WNW 14 5 PM (21) Apr 26 57 (14) 19 (-7) 29.84 (1010) W 13 4 PM (20) Apr 26 57 (14) 19 (-7) 29.85 (1010) W 16 3 PM (19) Apr 26 57 (14) 19 (-7) 29.87 (1011) W 20 2 PM (18) Apr 26 55 (13) 19 (-7) 29.88 (1011) WSW 12 1 PM (17) Apr 26 53 (12) 17 (-8) 29.91 (1012) WSW 6 Noon (16) Apr 26 51 (11) 19 (-7) 29.92 (1013) W 12 11 AM (15) Apr 26 46 (8) 23 (-5) 29.92 (1013) NNW 6
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Woodside Report - when I flew out to Calgary at 8:00 am, it looked flyable at Woodside but the day got wetter fast. A visit to Cochrane later in the day offered up gusty, stormy conditions that I sat out. |
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Woodside Report - a few sunny periods peeked through the clouds in the afternoon. I did not see anyone flying. |
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Woodside Report - three good flights including a thermal flight for Will before he headed back to the Island. Kent, Dennis, Benjamin and Stefan were seen above launch when Martin launched his ATOS and headed to Sasquatch low (I believe to stay away from the "bags"). I lost contact when he headed to Stave Lake Dam, but reconnected on Big Nick. | I headed into town for a dinner meeting when I got the message it was cancelled just past Deroche so I did a fast return to the Ranch, picked up the Boom Sport and headed to Bridal as Derek and a group were already flying there. I didn't even look at the telescope to check out Woodside (bad call apparently later). I was at Bridal launch by 5:30 pm and just me and JP from Golden were there as everyone else had launched and were above launch. Solid cloud cover, son sun but pilots were going up in different places, so we launched. Soon at Saddle height, but the clouds were descending as the day cooled. Spent about an hour boating around and watched Robin, Alex and Alan top-land. I made a few approaches too high and was soon below launch and could not climb out again, but we were okay for drivers. As we were flying we heard pilots were high over Woodside (in a classic glass-off as only Woodside seems to deliver - so my call for Woodside today was good). As we were launching at Bridal Martin was leaving Bridal at 2200 feet heading to the Woodside LZ, after flying from Woodside to Stave Lake Dam, then back to Woodside, past Bear to Ludwig, on to Bridal Upper Launch to head home to Woodside, a good 100 kms + flight.
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Woodside Report - despite a good chance of rain, we flew all day. Will logged 6 flights. Bev flew twice going XC to Harvest on her last flight (welcome back).
Some good soaring above launch by some experts, but mostly mellow teaching conditions. |
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Woodside Report - we were out training in the LZ early, and the new students Will and Ray
progressed fast! They were soon on the training hill pulling up their wings smoothly and correcting
with great intuition, so up the hill we went for tandem flights first. | The first tandem with Will went very well and we were soon over launch by the north cliffs in some ratty leeside lift. We soared for about 15 minutes before heading out to Eagle Ranch. We were cautioned about switching winds in the LZ as Peter G was forced to do a downwind landing. As we approached the field we could see steady SW winds, so we setup for that heading. As we went on final the wind switched to S as a thermal broke off and we were soon climbing by the goalpost trees as the wind went straight E (the normal direction) and we were forced to do a 180 into the wind from very low! A great swoop landing onto our feet right by the windsock but fast. It was too thermic for students by 11:00 am. More tandems were in order for Ray, so we clipped in and followed the pros who launched in front of us; Norm, Nicole, Alex, Peter, Kevin and Zak. A bunch of HGers launched too and the sky was pretty full as a few house thermals were being filled up with gliders all getting up to 1000 meters. We were soon climbing to meet them and got a great climb with Kevin taking us to the Antennas north of launch. We had been in the air 25 minutes when the rough air got to Ray's stomach and we were soon on a smooth glide to the Ranch. At this point all 6 pro paragliders headed to Sasquatch Mtn. leaving pretty low but topping out nicely over there, some to 2000 meters. Alan didn't get to launch until everyone had left, so he got the lame part of the day but was able to scratch out an hour with Robin. The Sasquatch group got bored quickly and were on a return path back to Woodside launch (surprising Alan who had not seen them go), when we were headed back up for Will's tandem #2. He was able to pilot this tandem all the way into the Eagle Ranch LZ and I did the flare in nice conditions, so it is "solo time" for the students. We were up on launch by 5:00 pm, and the guys did great launches and were soon headed into the LZ guided by Peter (thanks Peter). I flew Kelly's Rush down in very light launch conditions and it was very nice in the air, just a few bumps on the ridge. Great Day! Elk Report - Daryl S was seen leaving Elk at 2000 meters! landing in Fairfield Island at home on the very north side of Chilliwack across the Fraser River from Eagle Ranch. This at 11:00 am, very early.
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Woodside Report - Thomm and I went up around 4:00 pm, after watching Martin and Mia "flit around the sky" on their cheater ships. Jeremy was above launch and disappeared heading east, landing a few kms short of Bridal. I launched in fairly weird, strong cycles and climbed out as a cell approached promising snow and rain! I got out of Thomm's way and headed over to Agassiz Mountain at about 1000 meters, just as the mountain shaded out behind the prison, but there was enough residual energy to take me to 1300 meters, Bear was also shaded and to reduce the retreive time I headed to Agassiz High School to land. Thomm decided the cell was too ominous, and drove to get me. Thanks Thomm! | 
On the way to Agassiz - photo by JPR 
Agassiz High School LZ - photo by JPR
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Woodside Report - awesome. Jeremy showed the students "how to SAT a Boom Sport", over Eagle Ranch (ps: don't fly under Jeremy either!) Good student flying until 3:00 pm, when the experts; Alex, Andy, Jeremy, Rob headed up to cloudbase and on to Agassiz, Bear, Ludwig, Bridal, Elk and almost back to Riverside at 1600 meters! Almost as good as an ATOS. Later flights were rough and turbulent at Woodside. |
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Savona Report - a great training day at Savona for Bill and Eric. Perfect SW training winds for kiting and flying off the International Bumps, then on to the bigger Toilet Bowl Ridge for a few flights. When we went to Lower Launch to check things out it was too gusty for my liking,
due to the impending snow storms. We had lunch and went back for a second look and decided Woodside was the place to be. Two hours later we were at Woodside Launch, listening to the great flying at Bridal. | Woodside Report - Bill launched first as he is the senior student with 9 flights, and he soared nicely pretty much everywhere even on the way to the Eagle Ranch LZ. Not much wind in the air or the LZ. Eric went for his very first high flight (well . . . higher than 200 feet) and also soared before getting into Eagle Ranch well for a first timer. They headed off to a party so tomorrow may be a late start! 
Eric soaring Woodside - photo by JPR Bridal Report - Alan had a nice "cloud-sucky flight" and then the lift died and he was on the ground followed by Peter C and Kent. Apparently, Kevin and Darryl launched 15 minutes later and had a nice ride to cloudbase, Kevin racing around on a borrowed Mantra II. Rob was also out there and managed a top-landing to drive down before it shut-down for the evening. Al's Excellent Acro Adventure - Al went to France . . . purportedly to take Debby to Paris, but he took his Addict along. In Annecy, he joined up with some French Acro dudes who showed him how to "throw down" like a Frenchman. Apparently, the latest rage is Infinite Tumbles to the ground, end them and land! Al didn't do those yet. But he now knows how to SAT an Addict everytime. Full Stalls are taught the same we we do them, "full stall into a half-release to tail-slide" before exiting smoothly. Don't fly under Al anytime soon!
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Valley Report - snow at Norrish Creek, clear on Sumas according to un-named loggers. Alan said it even got sunny for a bit around 6 pm. |
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Woodside Report - rain most of the day, windy. |
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Woodside Gloat Report - our new students got to fly solo today, after intensive ground school and kiting yesterday, except for two as the conditions got too strong for newbies around 1:30 pm. | I was busy with 3 tandems, the latter two which took a lot of energy climbing through 1300 meters in some strong thermals and ratty air, but what great views today! A lot of pilots out today with the Eagle Ranch Parking Lot full of vehicles, and the air filled with gliders. During the strongest air around 3:00 pm, pilots were trying to go distance with some landing at Harvest Market, some in SeaBird Island later, Martin over to Bridal and back on his ATOS, lots of HGers out for the first spring day mixing it up with the PGers, some interesting launches in the strong air! As some of the students were leaving to go home around 6:00 pm, we headed up the hill with Wiley and Gary K, who both launched with Norm and climbed to 1200 meters immediately (so Colleen and I raced down to get our gear). We launched around 6:30 pm and were soon soaring with Gary (Norm and Wiley headed out as we launched). Nice ridge soaring with the odd thermal to get you topped up. Bridal Report - we were overhearing reports of pilots flying Bridal (Karin and Jonathon at first), then Alan and Rob were talking to Ivan (who had flown Elk earlier having a "super flight" landing at Larry's place). Rob flew 45 minutes but couldn't get above 800 meters. Derek flew much later and got a nice climb to the Saddle without a vario.  Wouter's Flatland Report - Until now the last two days have been the most desperate days
of searching for airtime. Finally today we had some success with
a four-runner(quad). About 6 flights up to 400feet. Taking some
pictures for a local farmer for using his fields but no luck with thermals.You guys are so lucky with having mountains in your backyard! - Wouter  We agree that it is nice to have Woodside in our backyard! Maybe you need to do what these guys do for your flatland flying!
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Woodside Report - good conditions in the AM, but it got way too strong in the afternoon.
I took Dave tandem and we were getting rocked pretty good over the clearcuts and
we watched Gerry's approach into Eagle Ranch in the strong south winds (not pretty)
and we opted for Harvest Market instead after 30 minutes of rodeo thermalling. | It did calm down after 6:00 pm, but we had sent the students home by then, and most other smart pilots headed out too. Even Ivan was seen packing up his HG rig, and Martin & Mia never even took the Rigids off the rack! Hopefully tomorrow will see the students solo after a hard day of ground handling.
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Woodside Report - rain in the morning, and heavy rain last night.
The forecast high winds never happened. No local flying occured. Friday the 13th was unlucky for many drivers as they hit the ditches around the Fraser Valley, driving too fast for the conditions, otherwise the superstition was "debunked". |
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Woodside Report I arrived at 12:30 pm, to see Alex (on Nicole's Trango II) and Alan had already launched after hiking up, they were at 1100 meters pretty fast, so Norm and I raced up in the trusty Tracker. As we arrived, Andy was just launching after also hiking up. Andy was also at 1100 meters pretty fast, as it was combined thermic and ridge lift.While I was readying my new HelmetCam, Norm got ready and launched fast. I was ready within 4 minutes but he was already at the same height as the others in that timeframe! Good launch conditions, a bit from the North, but under 20 kph, and once the wing was overhead it was "hoover-time", getting sucked up fast. +3 m/s right off launch. I was soon over the cliffs climbing up to meet the others, and it was interesting watch the sink and lift in very defined areas. Alan and Alex were way out front when they hit a strong thermal, that tracked them back to the mountain as Norm and I headed out to join them with all 4 of us climbing nicely towards the hill. Alex needed de-icing on his glider as it got frosty at cloudbase! It really didn't matter where you went, you were going up. Alex and I headed out towards Harrison Hill, arriving over the Ranch at 880 meters. He elected to land as he was cold, and I headed back to the hill to try to top-land. I was making circuits around launch (as was Norm), when I had a perfect approach but needed a full stall to drop in from 6 feet (but decided to try another pass and was sucked back to 900 meters without turning as the sun came out). I eventally made it back out to the Ranch losing height over the Maple Tree as it was strong south, followed in by Norm. Alan and Andy landed at Riverside. Good day to be on a faster glider, or head to Harvest Market. Total flight times from 1:30 to 2:10 depending on launch times, we could have stayed up til dark as it was still strong as we retrieved the Tracker (thanks Norm) - Jim
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Bridal Report - Bridal hosted a bunch of fliers today.
Alex gave us the report that it was either sledders or 2+ hour flights.
Rob was observed doing laps back and forth to "The Lakes" east of Bridal logging 2:57.
Alan made up for the last few flights here with 3+ hours.
Even Derek managed a nice flight later in the day, despite the cloud cover. Climbs to 1400 meters. I arrived too late to do anything but some mowing. |
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Bridal Report - It was very over-developed in the Valley so finding lift shouldn't be a problem today. Alan hiked up to Lower Launch and was waiting for sun when Kevin and I arrived at the LZ. We drove up and watched Alan launch into a nice cycle, but he quickly disappeared as he hit -6.0 m/s sink in the Bowl. We drove down but he beat us to the Swamp, logging 10 minutes. | 
Bridal OD'ing - photo by JPR Woodside Report - we hurried over to Woodside after watching Alan's plummet, sure it was going to be soarable with the west winds in the Valley. We arrived to light North wind at launch, and I launched first on Kevin's Mantra as we swapped gliders. I headed to the cliffs to the North but by the time I got there I was very low and there was no lift. Back to the clearcuts, where it was buoyant but not lifting up. As I got lower I decided it was prudent to fly out to Abe's backyard rather than land on a logging road. Flight time was shorter than Alan's! Kevin did better logging about 15 minutes before landing. Tomorrow has got to be better, despite the east wind forecast.
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Fraser Valley Report - early it was raining heavily, then the sun came out accompanied by strong upper level winds at Bridal. Jack said it was rough from 15000 feet to the runway, on his flight in from Ottawa. I doubt anyone flew. |
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Woodside Best Glide Contest Report - Andy hiked and flew one sledder early and we took a full load up in the newly tuned-up GMC Van. The task was a "best-glide contest" from Woodside Launch to Kilby Store for lunch. GPS distance is 4.92 kms, which should be do-able on most DHV IIs from 670 meters (if there is no wind and no sinky air). | I launched first in a light inflow cycle and was soon "trimmed out with hands tucked" and in a skinny position, over Eric's firepit at 400 meters, 2 kms to go. Speed is 35 kph, so some headwind noted. Will I make it? I did make it with enough altitude to turn an aircraft approach into a SE final landing near the gate in the Kilby Store field, marked by the red arrow below. 
Gerry on fast glide to the red arrow, which is the Kilby Store LZ - photo by Gerry LaMarsh Colleen and Derek launched next and Derek turned around at Mill Road as he thought he was low, Colleen continued and landed in the field next to Kilby Store one fenceline short. Eventually; Gerry, Andy and I were in the designated LZ. 
Andy on final at the Kilby Store LZ - photo by JPR Martina launched second last and was heading out when Rob overflew her high and passing her quick (M2 vs Buzz), and she felt too low to make a safe field so she landed at the Ranch. Rob came to the designated LZ, overflying us to the next field west marked by the green arrow, because he could! Ozone M2 wins the day! 
Rob overhead the Kilby Store LZ - photo by JPR Good fun, but we had to retrieve the Van, so Derek drove us up and Andy, Derek and Colleen flew a last flight before 6:00 pm, getting some turns in the last thermals of the day. Rob's Exciting Flight Report - Looking at my track log I only got a 8.1 linear glider ratio. Where I landed I was 5.45 km from launch. Average speed was also only 36 kmph eventhough I was at trim most (95%) of the time. Too bad we didn't have air speed probes. I think we had a bit of a head wind (2 to 3 kmph) and I think on average a bit of sinky air, since the speeds and sink rates (I averaged over 1.2 m/s for 9:15 minutes) should have been a little better. Even so good sales move letting the Mantra 2 win - Rob Bev and Norm's Inland Adventure - Just got back from Vernon. Norm flew Cooper's Saturday and had a soaring flight for about 45 min. He said it was quite rough air. Sunday he had a longer flight and soared for awhile and said it was a lot better. He was probably in the air for just under 2 hours. No, I didn't fly as I need my "Team Poulet" with me. So I drove for Norm instead which was just as important. Norm also flew Baldy (he must be desperate cause since when does Norm hike?) He flew for about 30 min. We tried driving up to Vernon Mtn. sliding in the snow and we were about 5 k away but the snow was getting deeper so Norm turned around, although since I was terrified in the snow, I told Norm if we make it all the way I was going to fly down if it was coming since I hate snow, hmmm the things that can motivate me. I am going to get flight on a two seater trike and hang glider this summer which I look forward to. If it looks flyable tomorrow give us a call - Bev Fraser River risk assessment report on potential flood impact Monday, April 09 - 07:26:00 AM News1130 Staff VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - We've been warned we'll be on our own for 72 hours after a major earthquake, and it will be the same situation if the Fraser River breaks its banks this spring. A risk assessment, done by Public Safety Canada, suggests firefighters and reserve troops would be called to the front lines, while troops from Edmonton are mobilized, and that would take about 48 hours. In the meantime, the report warns homes might be evacuated, power and water could be affected and businesses could be shut down. Ottawa still hasn't put aside any money for urgent flood protection, but the report indicates the federal government is aware of the flood threat and the impact it could have.
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Woodside Report - new students Raymond (2 flights) and Bill (3 flights) had a great day, until 4:30 pm, when even hardy experienced pilots were glad to be on the ground. | No rain all day, despite the forecast. One threatening cell went by on the way towards Hemlock around noon, then we had sun, haze, smog, but no rain. Bill got his first taste of in-flight turbulence around 1:30 pm, when he let his glider shoot in front without checking the brakes, no frontals or collapses though. I did two tandems and a solo flight testing a client's new Buzz (and it was rough even on the Buzz - a really stable DHV I-II wing?). Then around 4:30 pm we were hearing reports of pilots heading out really low, one pilot landed on the logging road apparently unable to make it to Riverside. Thomm said he had a "hell-ride" in the North Bowl, unable to figure out the winds as it felt lee-side in every direction. Andy had 5-6 flights and was seen "duking-it-out" with Martina over some clearcuts earlier. We looked at the conditions after all these reports and they looked fine, Andy launched and got some lift but promptly headed to Riverside?? I launched solo and flew over the clearcuts, catching some nice thermals that kept me at launch height, but no higher. They seemed smooth and I was almost ready to get Colleen to launch Bill when I hit some strong lift and turbulence half-way to the bail-out swamp. It was coming from every direction with strong cores and sheer layers. My ground speed dropped to 14 km/hr, and big sink in places made me consider the bail-out . . . if I could make it! I had to track north of the highway to get some lift and was able to climb out to 400 meters over the last clearcut near the old LZ, to get me into the Ranch on a slow rough glide with strong South winds. I landed softly at the training hill, but lots of turbulence all the way in. Needless to say Bill did not fly again today. Around 6:30, Derek had a nice "glass off flight", but he hit turbulence at 300 meters as well heading in to the Ranch. We lit the bon-fire (sorry Rob) and had a BBQ later as the sunset on a great flying day at Woodside. 
Woodside at last light tonight - photo by JPR Elk Report - Ivan said he flew off Elk tandem with an interesting landing? Some small spot not at the normal LZ on Ryder Lake. Bridal Report - Klaus and Monica were the only ones to brave Bridal after the last few days turned out so bad there. I talked to them as I launched and later I found out they had nice flights, Klaus just got over launch a few 100 meters.
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Woodside Report - despite many calls from pilots driving east to Harrison Mills complaining about strong east outflow winds in the Valley, it was launchable at Woodside from 10:00 am through til after 7:00 pm? | The air was smooth and Andy got four flights, some over 30 minutes scratching over the clearcuts, Colleen had a nice soaring flight waiting for the students to get into the air so she could guide them in to Eagle Ranch. Robin had the "Woodside Flight of the Day" disappearing to the north for some time, scratching on the cliffs before coming over launch at leat 200 meters over. Meanwhile over at Bridal the flights were averaging 9 minutes. Last Tuesday Bridal was the place to be even with strong east wind, today it just didn't work because the lapse rate never kicked in enough for the thermals to form strongly. All in all Woodside had about 15 pilots all doing 2-3 flights for a pretty busy day, even a few HGers showed up and flew despite the lame conditions. Kirill's Trike Report - Leon, Ian J and myself today did the maiden test-flight of our new flying contraption here at Surrey ultralight airport. 
The Quad Cat - photo by Kirill If was almost windless in the first half of the day followed by light winds from the east in the second half. After a few botched inflations each had nice flight or flights with me getting the highest of all (of course). 
The Quad Cat - photo by Kirill It was a little bumpy in the sky as the sun came out but that was not an issues on 400+ lbs all-up flying machine with 27m glider. 67k/h speed was registered even without using trimmers - Kirill
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Woodside Report - we didn't arrive until 6:00 pm, but it was flyable, light cycles at launch. Alan could not raise anyone on the radio, |
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Valley Report - it didn't rain in the afternoon, but lots of outflow winds. Maybe a para-hiker flew off Elk? |
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Woodside Report - strong NE winds blew over the back most of the day, so off to Bridal. | Bridal Report - I arrived at Bridal at 3:00 pm, and "mooched" a ride up from Rob. Andy had already hiked up and was giving us east wind reports. One truck ahead had 5 pilots, and our 5 (Nicole, Robin, Thomm, Rob and me), so launch was getting crowded. Then Al and Kevin showed up, quickly followed by Martina, Derek and Alan. Wow! Everyone came out for a sunny day, and no one was disappointed. Good cycles for most launches, and strong lift to the north of launch had pilots up and away fast. The early group was on the way to Ludwig and back pretty fast. Lots of boating around between launch and the Saddle, some pilots up around Upper Launch but no one dared top-land as they would probably have to hike down in the snow. We lost Rob on his way to Elk, and he had a bad battery in his radio. Nicole went to Ludwig and back no problem, 32 km "Out and Return". I had climbs of +4.1 m/s with some sink around -6.0 m/s. I only made it to 1400 meters, many were at 1600-1700 meters. Some of the leeside thermals in the gulleys took control of the wing making turning nearly impossible at times. Thomm said he took a "big" collapse in the bowl, totally in the lee. No blow-outs on the Boom Sport for me. Attempts at top-landing were scary, as you would be on a perfect glide for touchdown, and a thermal would bust-off, taking you straight up 100 meters without a turn! After about 20 tries, I gave up. So I headed for the LZ, as I had a flight to catch at 7:45 pm. Sorry I couldn't retrieve your truck Rob. Martina did a perfect spot-landing, right next to my divot! Most pilots got 1:30 - 2:30 with no one sinking out, it was actually hard to find sink to land. Even over the swamp. I am sure all the WCSC Directors, had to come up with some excuse for being late for the April meeting last night! Looks like the last chance to fly until Friday, as a new aggressive front is on the way today - Jim
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Woodside Report - Derek and Justin were out flying after 4:30 pm. Before that the mountain was clouded in according the the Woodside WebCam (which died again after 4:30 pm, needing a reboot thanks to the XP downloads I did over Christmas). | Derek logged an hour top-landing to drive Justin's rig down, but it was SE so a bit different approach needed. New Bullet Speed-Riding Video - instead of launching from a mountain these guys try a different method, and it was April 1, 2007 too! Good tune! Click the play button (bottom left corner) to start.
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Woodside Report - due to several gust front, hail storms, and occasional rain cells, it was not safe to fly at Woodside today. Bridal did not look any better as there was new snow at 1000 meters, and a few snow cells going through the area on our drive to Vancouver at 7:00 pm. | Eagle Mating Season Hoax Revealed - no one believed I would "roll over" for a Conservation Officer trying to close our favourite mountain . . . without a good fight. Okay, it was April 1st, a dead giveaway!
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Reserve Clinic Report - 30 pilots have new repacks as of March 31. Mark Tulloch and Ivan Tomecek were very busy on the HG rigs as was Rob Samplonious and Greg Hemingway on the PG rigs. The only injury of the day was Ken Nicholson, who was spinning the Hangglider Simulator, and went out of control falling backwards on a chair giving himself "whiplash", he claims we run an unsafe barn! | Woodside Report - a few pilots flew; Al, Andy, Alex R, Karin and Ihor got off before it got too strong. Apparently, Garry H thought it wasn't too strong and gave those in the air a good show as he got yanked into the air with a 40% collapse headed backwards for the dead snags southeast of launch getting parked just in front of them before descending vertically into the clearcut into a bunch of deadfall. He was okay and even went up at 6:30 pm for another flight and got yanked off again, this time penetrating okay as he flew til dark. Woodside Closure Notice (April Fools Hoax revealed) - As we were getting ready to leave launch last night, a Conservation Officer arrived at launch to post a sign "restricting air traffic in the Woodside area until April 30, 2007 due to conflicts with the Eagle Mating Season". He cited a section of the BC Wildlife Act that is available at http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/cos/info/wildlife_human_interaction/index.html A NOTAM is being issued by NAVCANADA this weekend. It reads that the Conservation Officers can close natural wildlife habitats where human interaction can be harmful. After some arguments with the CO, he simply said "call my supervisor" and gave me his card, so we have to call Monday and argue our tenure rights. While this setback could make it more difficult for us to teach, we agree that paragliding/hanggliding could disturb the delicate Eagle mating habits and we are willing to abide by the closure and fly Bridal or Savona until May 1. For further information call Rob Samplonious, WCSC President, at 604-854-0412 |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports
Febuary 2007 Site of the Day archives - fourth month of crappy weather on the Coast. So we stayed in Mexico.
January 2007 Site of the Day archives - third month of crappy weather on the Coast. So we went to Mexico to fly Colima, Tapalpa, and San Marcos, while Brad and gang headed to Tenacingo, Mexico.
December 2006 Site of the Day archives - more ugly weather on the Coast. Severe winds damaged trees and property so not much flying happened. Some good flight reports from local PGers travelling world-wide.
November 2006 Site of the Day archives - the wettest November on record. We flew a few good flights but mostly we were rained out.
October 2006 Site of the Day archives - lots of good days with 3-4 hours airtime. The Women's Fly-In was on again in Chelan with about 18 Canucks, and a good day Saturday with 85 registered pilots.
September 2006 Site of the Day archives - still soarable in the Fraser Valley, little or no rain. Colleen is back flying! Some mayhem in the valley.
August 2006 Site of the Day archives - a great flying month everywhere, we had a super successful SIV clinic at Mara Lake with everyone SAT-ing and heli-ing.
July 2006 Site of the Day archives - road trip to Lumby, then on the 8th Colleen spun in below Gloria cancelling her summer plans (but she is recuperating well).
June 2006 Site of the Day archives - the Valley dried out, and we flew most days and every weekend.
May 2006 Site of the Day archives - more rain that ever imagined in the Fraser Valley. Very few soaring flights and even less XC.
April 2006 Site of the Day archives - the Easter Bunny was "run over" on Kilby Road, plus the train wreck on April 1.
March 2006 Site of the Day archives - a new pilot was born, Chloe. We also flew a few days between showers, some long flights up to 4 hours. A few Out & Return Flights to Deroche and Bear.
February 2006 Site of the Day archives - another wet month with some soarable days (2).
January 2006 Site of the Day archives - some flying on Elk and Woodside, smart pilots headed South for great Mexican or Chilean flying.
December 2005 Site of the Day archives - some flying on Elk and Woodside, smart pilots headed South.
November 2005 Site of the Day archives - rain, snow and not much flying.
October 2005 Site of the Day archives - Women's Fly In in Chelan yielded two soarable days before the snows hit.
September 2005 Site of the Day archives - dry most of the month. Some great 4 hour flights at Woodside getting to cloudbase most days. Three crash-landings in the same clearcut by pilots scratching too low, but no injuries.
August 2005 Site of the Day archives - road trips to the Interior gave us an opportunity to rag out some gliders at FlyBC SIV 2005 (Part II). Also a great road trip to Savona.
July 2005 Site of the Day archives - good flying all month, no rain but some windy days shut us down. The Willi started in Golden with a few good days, but one tragedy as Charles Warren perished in a crash near Harrogate.
June 2005 Site of the Day archives - too much rain, but good days to fly between showers.
May 2005 Site of the Day archives - our Instructor/Tandem seminar yielded some good flying. Our May 2005 SIV Clinic had a good turnout, with many wet wings/pilots! Many nice flights at Woodside and Bridal, with some long "out & returns" at Bridal.
April 2005 Site of the Day archives - some great soaring at Woodside and Bridal. Sad news from the US Hanggliding Nationals as Chris Muller crashes at goal.
March 2005 Site of the Day archives - we had to head out of town to Savona a few weekends due to wet weather on the Coast. Wetter than normal according to Environment Canada.
February 2005 Site of the Day archives - some good soaring despite early time of year. Flights as long as 3 hours at Woodside, some good flights at Whidbey Island for first timers, too!
January 2005 Site of the Day archives road trips to Mexico, not much flying locally due to strong north winds and rain. Record rain kept Eagle Ranch quite wet for kiting.
December 2004 Site of the Day archives a dry month with some good soaring including a fantastic day on Dec. 11 where we thermalled for 2+ hours!
November 2004 Site of the Day archives more record rain. We installed a fireplace in the barn to keep pilots warm between winter flights.
October 2004 Site of the Day archives more record rain, but sweet soaring between showers. Many new students signed up and making quick progress. We missed the Women's Fly In for the first time in 9 years, and there was some interesting flying on the Sunday!
September 2004 Site of the Day archives rainiest September on record for the first 3 weeks, made flying difficult. But Alan and others logged some pretty nice flights later in the month. Lots of student tandems for both Colleen and Jim.
August 2004 Site of the Day archives Great Maneuver/SIV/ACRO course at Mara. Jack got wet! Some great soaring at Woodside. Norm made it 68 km from Mara to King Eddie, Derek made it from Lumby to Enderby the opposite direction for 67 kms. We also did our BC roadtrip from Ashcroft to New Denver, and flew everyday.
July 2004 Site of the Day archives the Willi was on at Golden. We missed the mayhem due to work and school commitments but Norm did a great job representing the West Coast.
June 2004 Site of the Day archives Canadian Nationals came off with many great rounds. Pemberton-Whistler Championships were blown out most days so we headed to Cornwall.
May 2004 Site of the Day archives great flying at Woodside and Bridal. We held a very successful SIV Course at Mara Lake, and hope to run another one in August if they keep the forests open.
April 2004 Site of the Day archives good flying in the Valley. The Fraser Valley Cross Country PG Series was successssful.
March 2004 Site of the Day archives Nicole won in Brazil, otherwise the month sucked for flying time.
February 2004 Site of the Day archives some local flights extended to an hour with vigourous scratching above the trees. Good paramotor month.
January 2004 Site of the Day archives Mexican road trip yielded 20 hours of flight and a wet Canadian January kept most local pilots on the ground.
December 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew a few times but it got really cold at the end of the month as we prepared for a gala New Year's Party for 40 of our close personal friends and neighbours.
November 2003 Site of the Day archives windy and wet with the odd good soaring day, not many pilots out these days.
October 2003 Site of the Day archives Women's Fly In was great fun, some good soaring days mid-month, most of the students are signed off.
September 2003 Site of the Day archives good conditions until the last days of the month when it got stable. Most days were flyable at Woodside or Bridal.
August 2003 Site of the Day archives Forest closures made the end of the month a non-flying period unless you headed to Blanchard. FlyBC SIV 2003 was a great success with 9 stunt pilots and no deployments or crashes.
July 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew most days early at Woodside until it got windy, then over to Bridal. Good Golden flying reports from the "Willi".
June 2003 Site of the Day archives we flew most weekdays at Bridal, Woodside worked most weekends. Bridal Air Races had one great day with only two tree landings!
May 2003 Site of the Day archives not a great weather month on the coast, especially on the weekends but a few pilots managed to get some great airtime at Bridal. The Nationals were held in Lumby and it didn't rain!
April 2003 Site of the Day archives rain for 28 of 30 April days, but we managed to get a few flights in between showers. Even the golfers were complaining!
March 2003 Site of the Day archives some high spring flights in early March, but not a great weather month. Still no HPAC Insurance!
February 2003 Site of the Day archives some nice long spring flights in late February. HPAC Insurance expired on Feb 14, so many pilots stayed home instead of getting USHGA coverage.
January 2003 Site of the Day archives lots of rain all month in BC so we bailed and headed to Tapalpa Mexico for three weeks. Norm and Lucille had a great XC flight the first day we arrived.
December 2002 Site of the Day archives lots of rain all month.
November 2002 Site of the Day archives not a great flying month, lots of rain in the beginning and then super stable and inverted for the balance of the month. Even the Savona Road Trip wasn't that great. Looking forward to Mexico!
October 2002 Site of the Day archives Still soarable some days, great fun at the Women's Fly In 2002 in Chelan. Allan logged 15 hours and only flew a few days. Most of the students are ready for signoff soon to get ready for Mexico trips!
September 2002 Site of the Day archives Still soarable most everyday! Some scary incidents at Woodside. Fun flying at Ashcroft.
August 2002 Site of the Day archives More spring-like days with super lapse rates, great fun up-country at Revelstoke and Mara, with some good XCs for all.
July 2002 Site of the Day archives Some spring-like days with super lapse rates, but still rather wet at times.
June 2002 Site of the Day archives another rainy and windy month with great lapse rates, some great flights at Bridal with some getting above Cheam Peak. The Club Cup was nearly rained out but they got one valid task in on Sunday June 30.
May 2002 Site of the Day archives an extremely rainy month with the more spring mayhem, another reserve deployment at Lil Nick and a pilot crashed at the top of Deroche Mountain, uninjured but with a ripped glider and long hike down the mountain. Colleen placed 5th place at the Canadian PG Nationals in rainy Lumby!
April 2002 Site of the Day archives a rainy month with the usual spring mayhem, one reserve deployment at Woodside and a pilot hit a parked car at Bridal LZ, fracturing his leg.
March 2002 Site of the Day archives a few great days days with lots of snow and rain mixed in.
February 2002 Site of the Day archives two epic days already (4.5 hours and 2.5 hours!).
January 2002 Site of the Day archives Mexico vacation shots, some local flying but it was wet on the coast.
December 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, wettest December on record, some good days sprinkled thru the month.
November 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, had some good days at Woodside +2 hours, lots of rain later in the month.
October 2001 Site of the Day archives pretty stable locally, but great flying at Chelan at the Women's Fly In.
September 2001 Site of the Day archives starting to get pretty stable, more sled rides forecast for October.
Aug 2001 Site of the Day archives Mara, Bridal, till some great flights locally
July 2001 Site of the Day archives Road Trip Month, Golden, Mara, points east!
June 2001 Site of the Day archives Great Month, 3 hours of airtime for some pilots every time they flew Bridal Lower! Some getting up to 6 hours in a single flight!
May 2001 Site of the Day archives Unstable Month, 2-3 hours of airtime for some pilots every time they flew Bridal Lower!
April 2001 Site of the Day archives Rainy Month, not as much airtime for some pilots
March 2001 Site of the Day archives Spring has Sprung!
February 2001 Site of the Day archives Spring is in the Air!
January 2001 Site of the Day archives - Mexico Flying Trip
December 2000 Site of the Day archives
November 2000 Site of the Day archives (great month for airtime!)
October 2000 Site of the Day archives
September 2000 Site of the Day archives
July - August 2000 Site of the Day archives
June 2000 Site of the Day archives
March - May 2000 Site of the Day archives
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