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FlyBC "Site of the Day Archives" - August/2011
Revelstoke RC Field
“My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we will change the world."
Jack Layton - August 20, 2011
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Woodside Report - we had three tandems to do this afternoon and only two pilots so I thought the conditions looked good enough to fly and top land with the first passenger, to save the retrieve. | After 30 minutes of soaring near the clouds we started our approach. It tooks several passes to get down to the correct altitude to set down and we had a perfect line but we were so lightly loaded I had a hard time to slow the tandem down enough and we touched down on the carpet but weren't stopping so I went "hands up" and ran off but the glider never restarted flying and we did a "one-turn spin" and were hung up in a small tree near the right side of launch. No injuries, and one small tear on the wing after we cut it down. So much for saving time! We have video of the event and I will post it here soon. Lesson learned: top-landings do not save time. Apparently someone called 911 about our wing in the tree and there were 4 cop cars at the Ranch when Derek arrived to get the chainsaw. Martin N sent them away after notifying them that all was well. Nice to know people are watching out for us, in cse of real need. The other passengers weren't phased and we flew them off next and I had another brilliant soaring flight. Later flights around 6 were very nice as Derek, Brock, Tom E, Dan M, and a german pilot flew and all soared til dusk.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from today, as well as other August activities.Woodside Report - low cloudbase and drizzle meant a slow start to a fabulous day! I had 12 tandems booked but all were on a tight time constraint to arrive in Richmond at 6 pm, so we only completed 4 of them. Thanks to Alex R & Martina for doing 1 tandem each. I took Justin on the first tandem as soon as the clouds lifted and we had fun playing around the clouds on the South Knoll before flying out. The next tandems went to Harvest Market as it looked windy at the Ranch and Alex and Martina took Dan M over the back for his first XC on his 20th flight. Big surprize for everyone as they set up for a normal landing and they were landing in slight tailwinds? Back on launch after the tandems left and Dan got another flight into the Ranch with some great lift on the ridgeline that allowed him to play for 20 minutes. I picked him up and we all went back up and Brock was just launched and at 1400 meters everywhere he went. Derek, Jack, Dan and I hopped into the air and had a glorious "Glass-Off Flight" that would have extended into the evening if we weren't so careful. I met a neighbour on top and they offered to drive the Suburban down, so no top-landing needed nor retrieve today. Brock flew home to Agassiz landing at tthe High School. Sweet Day despite the forecast!
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Woodside Report - we arrived on top to nice cycles but low cloudbase right at launch height. Morgan and Roger had set up their HGs and were waiting but we got impatient and drove down for Dan to do some more reverse kiting. | Later we saw Roger parked over the construction zone, and he had a weird landing getting turned on final about 90 degrees? Morgan also flew. By the time we went back up at 4 pm for three tandems it was fully blown-out, possibly launchable in lulls, but maybe even a tandem would be flying backwards so we re-booked the tandems and drove down. I think it was okay later but everyone had gone home.
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Woodside Report - we had a good even pace today, starting at noon, we accomplished 4 rounds of 4 tandems (16) and 4 student rounds of flights. | Launch conditions were excellent, as were landing conditions with me hitting the circle 4 out of 4 flights (even barefoot for the last flight! due to a shoe logistic problem). We got above launch for a few minutes on the third round of flights, but mostly extended sledders. I saw one glider at Bridal after 7 pm, maintaining near launch so it was still working there. Mt Cheam Hike & Fly Gloat Report - Brad, Steve D, Tom Chromy, Ivan T, and Andre hiked up Cheam Sunday Aug 28. Tom flew to Agassiz, Brad to Promontory and Ivan & Steve to Bridal.  The Cheam Team today - by Brad Henry  Ivan Launching Cheam today - by Brad Henry
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Click on the picture for more pictures from today, as well as other August activities.Woodside Report - we started at 11 am when the cycles started coming up the hill. By the end of the day, 12 tandems were completed, 4 student rounds, and Will & Emma got their solo flights after waiting a year to come back to fly after a day of hard ground-handling. We had some sweet-soaring at 4 pm, with Wow-ter finding a great Lower Launch thermal with Jake. We joined for a few turns getting above launch and had to fly a Hwy 7 route during many flights to avoid the sink around the construction site. Bert Duncan was $20 richer today, I think Gary K should open up an account with the Duncan's! We started my Birthday Party at 6 pm, and I was snoring with the SOCKMONKEY at midnight, too much fun. Thanks for all the cool presents, especially the Jim Fuel. Folks were coming in from Bridal to the Party saying they got to 1400 meters again. Bridal appears to be the place when it is stable like the past few weeks.
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Woodside Report - a super day for students & tandems all day, with 10 tandems completed adn 5 student flights landing at sunset. | Perfect conditions all day with some soaring at 3 pm.
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Woodside Report - 3 good student flights and three excellent tandems today (without FlyBC's Awesome Tandem Team). It got windy around 4 pm, stopping student flights and we were worn out by 6 pm and called it a day, as we saw Al (the Hammer) and Rob S fly over Woodside from St. Benny. | Message from a satisfied Groupon tandem client: Hello Jim, Martina and crew: Thank you for a wonderful day. Janet and I experienced magical moments soaring with the eagles. You made us feel safe and special. The experience was all that we could have hoped for and whets our appetites for more of the same. A special moment in time. Thank you again Brian Atkinson Reports from Bridal said 1400 meters was the highest climbs and Al confirmed the same in the Miracle Valley. woodside yielded 1100 meters at best and it was uncomfortably bumpy at that altitude as your eyes peeked over the inversion layer. Click here to see what different launches offered up today for those on Leonardo.
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Woodside Report - lame cnditions in the early am, so we drove to 9 kms to check out a possible new launch site that faces SE (mostly S) at 705 meters. | The cycles were coming up nicely (pure thermals) and there was a CU right above the clearcut, so it does work here. We fly over this point on XCs to Agassiz Mtn. all the time and there is often strong thermals here. One could launch off the road in stronger cycles, but there is a hump not far from the road that looks better topographically for a launch. Unfortunately we missed the last dozer that was on site and they left before we could discuss costs to create a new launch. Perhaps it is best to fly the site a few times beforee spending too much time on a launch. By 11 am, Peter was launched and having a nice flight. We returned and got one more student flight before the tandems came at noon. There was a family of 3 for noon, so Martina & I took the kids, while Dad drive for us. Highlights: Martina's passenger was freaked out but enjoyed the flight once in the air and was "blissed out". Mine lost her shoe on launch and was using her toes to feel out thermals when we flew. Later I took Dad for his tandem at 1 pm and we climbed over launch to 900 meters and had a glorious flight, landing at the Ranch to the entertainment of the kids when Dad flopped on landing. Martina drove this round. At 2 pm we had 2 more tandems arrive and we were running late but we got them in the air. Martina took little Joanne for a nice soaring flight in the sunshine, but my the time I clipped in much heavier Kevin we got shaded and had a 15 minute scratchfest landing nicely at the circle. Finally at 4 pm, we took Brian and Janet tandem and again Martina climbed over launch and they had a really nice flight while we got a shorter flight in shade. Both were extremely happy with their flights and the pretty sky and views. At the end of the day we got 7 tandems done, 4 student flights and we were done by 6 pm. Solid Day!
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Woodside Report - after working today on a Tandem Instructor Refresher Course, I took Jaqueline & Melody for tandem flights while George, Martin N, Brock, Gary P and new student Peter were flying. | Nice CUs popping, but Woodside was shaded and Melody and I managed 18 minutes of light soaring, while the later flight with Jaqueline only yielded a sledder of 9 minutes. Strongish south winds in the LZ but nice smooth landings. Peter logged 2 flights with our late start, and George managed one flight where he stayed up for 20 minutes.
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Valley Report - heavy rain at times, we saw launch only a few times. |
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Click on the picture for more pictures from Woodside today, as well as other August activities.Woodside Report - another successful day at FlyBC's Eagle Ranch facility! We had 2 student flight sessions with Jenny & Ed, and then it got too windy so they went reverse kiting with Cynthia in the LZ. Thanks Cynthia! We completed another 15 tandems with Wow-ter, Martina, Colleen and Brad helping. We only flew to Harvest Market once, but it got really windy mid-day in the Harrison Mills area! I flew out on a tandem with Darren and we were doing 8-9 kph at times and we hit the ridge at 800 meters, and had only one turn before landing smoothly at the Ranch. John, not so lucky was forced into a HG LZ landing when his Zoom couldn't penetrate the winds, and he started higher than us. Yes it was soarable around 2 pm, nice thermals and we were able to break thru the inversion. We finished the last tandems at 6 pm. And everyone left with a smile, and some were "totally blissed-out". Belated Cheam Video by Johannes
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Woodside Report - we had an incredibly busy day at the Ranch. | We had 4 students, some brand new, and some with 2-7 flights and Annette & John were the official ground school & kiting instructors today (thanks for the help). Also, a group of 15 tandems from the Bangma family who live in Chilliwack area. 
The Bangma Tent housed the parawaiters These folks had to wait most of the day to get everyone a flight because of switchy winds at launch but everyone loved their flights. Thanks to Colleen, Brad, Martina and Wow-ter for helping make their dream of flight come true. We also did 2 more independent tandems including young Jayden (11 years old) who loved his flight, his parents did not fly but enjoyed Jayden's enthusiasm. The students all got 2 flights too (with perfect launches and landings), but we quit at 6 pm because everyone was overheated and hungry by then. Thanks to Derek & Thomm for driving for us to manage the momentum.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from Woodside today, as well as other August activitiesWoodside Report - another soarable day despite a defined inversion at 700 meters, and lots of trapped smog from Vancouver. While Tonya, Wow-ter and I were doing tandems . . . George logged two great soaring flights and had two great landings too. We completed 10 tandems and all were very excited after their flights which terminated at the Ranch LZ. Tonya`s longest tandem today was with Will who weighed in at 290 lbs! And they soared for 30 minutes after 4 pm. A few solo flights by Islander HGers too, but otherwise no local pilots out except Brock. Click here to see what different launches offered up today for those on Leonardo. We saw Rob S landing at the Ranch but never saw him on Woodside, so when I called him, he reported flying from St. Benedict where Matt J, Robin S and he were flying today. Nice XC for a stable day.
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Woodside Report - we had a slow tandem day today with only 12 tandems completed. | We started flying at 11 am, and the third tandem off was me with Lisa and we hooked a nice thermal from a lower clearcut and soared past launch to about 800 meters before noon. When we came over the Ranch we were still at 500 meters so some spiralling was required to get down. We flew tandems all day with some help from Martin N and Martina with driving. Thanks for the help. We overheard pilots flying Bridal saying it was weird until 1000 meters, then smooth. The last tandems were sunset tandems with some guys from Ottawa, and the air was glassy smooth and we had some close wing-tip flying with simultaneous landings.
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Woodside Wind Report - we started flying early with Chantel & Martina getting an early flight at 11 am. Martina decided to wait at the bottom while Chantel went for her second flight and it already got weird and windy by noon. | Chantel followed directions well and we got her to the Ranch with enough height for an aircraft approach but she gained a lot of height on the base leg due to thermals near Scary Corner and she had to go long down the path. By the time she packed up it was completely blown out at Harrison Mills, so an early end to the day. Martin N and others were flying Bridal when I drove thru Chilliwack and it was windy in town, but other than sharp-edged thermals it was going well for the brave.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from Mt Cheam today, as well as other August activitiesMt. Cheam Report - we met at the Bridal LZ at 930 am to start our Adventure. Martina offered to be the driver back from Spoon Lake, plus 9 other fliers so the Suburban was pretty loaded down. Kevin (Biff), Steve D, Richard T, Wouter & Jeanette (tandem team), Johannes, Ivan, Alex R, and Jim (me) all hiked up and flew off into perfect conditions. We checked NOAA for winds aloft at 6300 feet and prediction was 195 degrees at 6 knots - pretty much what we found when we arrived on top. Richard launch first and started soaring the launch face, and I followed on the Swift Small demo and somehow forgot my gloves. I lasted less than 15 minutes and my hands were frozen so I boated along the spine west hoping for warmer air as the rest of the team launched. I continued west towards Archibald and it was lifty all the way with one nasty spot of convergence that I remember well (in 1996 I was watching Rob Polack fall 2000 feet after a collapse in the same spot on his T-Bird). I flew west towards Upper Launch but was too low now to go anywhere and the lift was not forming yet at 1230 pm, so I overflew Lower Launch where I top-landed to warm up for 30 minutes while the others soared Cheam summit. As the others started to fly out frozen too, I relaunched and soared Bridal with them. A little turbulent over the LZ but no drama. Kevin & Alex reported in over Agassiz Mountain at 700 meters getting there on direct glide from Mt. Cheam at 2200 meters on a downwind run according to GPS., they climbed out there and continued on to Kilby Farm where they had a pancake lunch. Gotta love the Ozone Mantra M4 glide! I realized after the adventure that everyone was flying Ozone! Team Ozone! After the truck returned I made my way to Woodside for a tandem client and we had an amazing flight with strong climbs and we got to 1200 meters several times as Alex relaunched and took it to 1500 meters before heading to Harvest Market to head back to his car at Bridal. Interesting landing at the Ranch in strong thermals for us! Reports from Bridal while we were flying Woodside had Derek & Peter at 1700 meters heading east, with Derek topping out at 1900 meters. Thomm's Wooody Report - I launched in pretty much the same conditions Alex launched in. Climbed out fast in 4m/s and flew way over the river giving some thought to pushing it to land at the dump by the bridge behind Popkum Store as I was still very high and not losing much in fact some climbs of 0.1 to 0.3 m/s. My retrieve driver had a dead radio and I stuck to the plan and headed back towards Harvest. I literally got stuck at about 450 meters with single digit forward speed(without bar) and absolutely could not get down. Steady climbs back towards the south knoll. OK, here we go again (the third time in a week) I had to lock it into a spiral to get down! Flew out of the spiral at about 225 meters and there was much better air but still lifty. Ok….another spiral to about 150 meters and finally, penetrating well in nice laminar air to feather touchdown. What time of year is it? - Thomm
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Woodside Report - no one came to fly until 11 am, and I was headed to Aldergrove to get a new motor for the dead suzuki. | The tandems cancelled due to fears of rain and rebooked for Thursday. In the end it never rained here and while windy at times it looked soarable around 5 pm.  
Pilots: If you think you aren't going to make it to Eagle Ranch, there are options. Option 1: Head to Riverside sooner but it is still a $20 fee if you don't have a Riverside Landing Pass.; Option 2: Land at the HG LZ, it is still a $20 outlanding fee but you are not tramping crops, and the highway is close to grab a ride to the Ranch; Option 3: Crab over to Bill Best's field just north of Hwy 7 and Mill Road (it is a crosswind/downwind track there from the ridge and most Ozone DHV I wings can make it easily); Option 4: Head further north of the HG LZ and land on the dyke road and walk out (this is a public road and no outlanding fees apply). Please DO NOT get Bert mad by landing and leaving without paying if you land on his property.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from Woodside today, as well as other August activitiesWoodside Tandemonium Report - it feels like ``Groundhog Day`` with all these tandems happening. Despite a lousy forecast we pulled off 12 more tandems and the rain held off all day. Some of the tandems got some thermalling and stunts over the LZ. Nice takeoff and landing conditions all day for us up to 4 pm. George got 2 great solo flights today and he is feeling confident after kiting his Rush for a few weeks. We flew over Riverside to observe the work party progress, thanks to those who attended including Peter & Claudia who managed to get in a flight later and Peter got 200 over launch in leeside conditions as it started to blow down later. I decided it was time to mow some of our blackberries and spent an hour around 6 pm, on the North and East boundaries and the newly planted areas there are pretty free of trees and weeds.
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Woodside Tandemonium Report - we started flying Chantel at 930 am, and she managed one solo flight with a perfect launch and a close call landing due to the winds aloft. | Then we started the tandems at 11 am, and were finished 16 quality tandems by 6 pm. Awesome Tandem Team consisted of Colleen, Jim, Wouter, Martina and Brad and they continued all day long despite strong launch conditions and weird landing conditions. The NOAA forecast was bang-on with up to 15 knots of SW winds at launch. We flew many tandems to the new Harvest River Fields for smooth landings. My last landing was pretty spectacular when I was fooling around close to the ground and couldn`t get turned into the wind landing sideways at about 20 kph! Some grass stains on my harness but otherwise unscathed. Thanks to George and Annette & John for driving today! We were stranded without your help.
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Woodside Report - a light day at the Ranch with 2 solo students Mike & Chantel both getting 3 flights and Colleen, Martina & I taking 7 tandems later. All tandems were soarable flights getting up to 1000 meters with ease before heading out! | Good conditions right til dark. Gloat reports from Derek over Elk at 1700 meters late yesterday, where it has blowing down on Elk Launch but there were +5 m/s thermals further out. I went into Riverside after 7 pm and mowed about 50% of the field starting on the east approach where the blackberries were 6 feet tall! A diesel tractor is the only way to get this job done, handwork will be too slow.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from Lillooett and our reconn flights, as well as other August activitiesLillooett Report - we drove to Lillooett at 7 am, arriving at Blake's house at 9:30, to prepare for the hike up to launch. There is a 5 minute drive up a nice road thru his neghbour's properties to a dead end road where the trail starts. There is a radio tower on top, but it is heli accessed with no road and just a small trail Blake has brushed out. There were some steep sections that could use some work but it is pretty nice. I cheated and brought up the Oxygen I harness and the Ozone Swift demo (about 4 kilos) and a helmet, but that was perfect as the hike was hot arriving on top at around 1030 am. The launch faces S and is a perfect meadow slope with native grass which Blake had mowed a layout spot last week. There are bailout fields to the south and a small lake below if one really botched a launch and was going down parachutal the lake could could save you, maybe even a good mini SIV place? I launched first into perfect thermic cycles and played around on the ridge to the east for 20 minutes waiting for the others to launch. I left Colleen on launch as she refused to fly the Swift down, because I carried it up. She was in charge of getting Rob and Blake off launch and I was going to be in the LZ. The boys took sometime to get off but they were rewarded with some sweet thermalling getting way above launch. After we all landed we drove to A&W on the north end of town and it was howling SW winds, but still calm at Blake's house? Odd valley there. We packed up and headed to Pemberton with hopes of more flights but I launched tandem with Greg and we hit a small Whistler Express which made the air uncomfortable close to the ridge and we opted for a sandbar landing rather than pissing off the local landowners. Big road trip, over 500 kms in a day but a complete success.
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Woodside Report - Colleen & I took Jerry & Scott tandem off Woodside at noon, and they had a ball. It rained a bit before we took off but the wings were dry by the time we landed. | Off to Lillooett and Pemby tomorrow early, but back Friday at the Ranch for lessons.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from Woodside and Chantel's first solo flight, as well as other August activitiesWoodside Report - we started early today but cloudbase had us delayed as cold moist air kept flooding launch with fog til noon. By 1 pm we started flying tandems, first Colleen took new student Alan for his second tandem, and then we launched Chantel Henry for her first solo flight. She did really well for her first solo and landed softly in the Ranch LZ guided in by Colleen. (ps: we always have a certified instructor in our LZ for first timers, even for the 15-20th flights). After that round Colleen & Martina took 2 tandems with Colleen showing Elin how to get to cloudbase and above, and how to do "big-ears" too! The ladies were super-stoked after that flight. Then we launched Alan for his first solo flight with +15 kph winds on launch we could be subtle and controlled with his first takeoff. He had a great launch and landed softly at the Ranch again with Colleen's guidance. Later I took Claudia for a tandem to show her how to thermal (she has 13 solo flights but little professional instruction). We launched just as the sun started to come out, and we were rewarded with a nice soaring flight: some ridge lift with a nice thermal off Lower Launch that kept taking us above launch. We played around for 30 minutes in front of launch, before heading out to find a construction zone thermal and finally a soft landing in the thermic Eagle Ranch LZ (due to strong south winds). We went back up after watch KVA (Biff) land at the Ranch making it look smooth and got Alan one more solo flight before 6 pm. A very productive day: 4 tandems, 3 student flights and the winds stayed away despite the strong wind warnings. New Quo Vadis Harness from SupAir - for hike & flying . Nice video presentation!
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Click on the picture for more pictures from Woodside, and Adventures of Wow-ter's SOCKCHIMP around BC, as well as other August activitiesWoodside Report - ten more tandems completed today by Colleen, Martina and me. We had to suspend our 4 pm and 6 pm sessions as it got too strong wind-wise, but I took new student Alan for a tandem at 4 pm and while launch was safe, there was a strong wind layer from 400 meters to ground level, with strong thermals in the Eagle Ranch LZ. We took two sets of tandems over the back towards Harvest landing in our new riverbank fields where one can safely land in +30 k winds because the air flows right off the Fraser River into the fields. One of the fields is owned by the same land owner as the Harvest Market fields. Thanks to Thomm for driving for us, we would have been lost without you! Pembie Report - Alex & Nicole have been flying hard up in Pemberton! Sunday had them complete a 104 km Out & Return flight to Meager Creek and back to Pemberton. Monday brought a 60 km Out & Return with a valley crossing to Miller Ridge and then down the south ranges to Ipsoot Glacier and back to Mackenzie Meadows. We are planning to be up in Pemberton Thursday/Friday too. Can we follow you guys XC?
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Click on the picture for more pictures from the Lillooett Site as well as other August activitiesLillooett Report - our student Blake, from Lillooett, has discovered a new flying site on his own property on Texas Creek Road. Four flights on the log book from his own home site successfuly completed. Woodside Report - we started our tandems at 1130 am, and we were still doing the last tandem at 800 pm, when I landed after sunset at the Ranch. Thanks go out to Brad, Martina, Colleen for helping get 14 tandems finished today. The mid-days tandems called for good high wind skills and precise logistics as some of the flights ended up in Harvest Market.
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Woodside Report - we flew 4 tandems at noon, with the help of Kevin, Colleen, Martina and myself. Some soaring but mostly extended sled rides. | Then our 1 pm tandems were treated to stronger conditions and some strong thermals, Derek was still up from launching at 11 am, and he was now reporting +5 m/s climbs. Edie and I launched into one of those strong thermals and we were soon at 1000 meters climbing close to the north cliffs with ease. Martina launched 15 minutes later and by then the wind had picked up and the climbs were mostly ridge lift as the thermals got blown apart. We headed over the back towards Harvest Market lower than the South Knoll and got no link along the way. There was nothing but manure covered fields and corn fields between us and the Harvest LZ, so I opted for a nicely cut hay field along Limbert Road as our LZ, followed in by Martina, Derek, and Kevin. Easy walk out with no fences at this field right into the shade of some trees on the Fraser River too. Derek calculated that he had been in the air for 3:30 as he landed. Not bad for a so-so day! We went up at 6 pm for our last tandems but after 20 minutes we weren't convinced it was calming down soon so we headed down for dinner. Some pilots were seen at Bridal later but not getting very high. Rob S reported that he, Al and Matt J flew St. Benny today with mixed results.
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Click on the picture for more pictures from the Elk, Revy, Bridal as well as other August activitiesElk Report - Brad and the boys were up flying Elk early and it was soarable. Belated Bridal Report - It was great flying at Bridal today (Aug 4). Thomm said he saw Denis & John flying Woodside earlier but not getting very high, must have been stable there already. Derek, Ihor, Gary P, Norm & I got to Bridal launch around 4pm. Thomm, Alan, Martin N and Nikolai were already flying around so we got ready pretty quick & joined them. vIt was an exciting day for me . . . I finally did my first trip to Elk! Yes it's embarrassing that I've lived here for 6 years and have never crossed that gap, but now I can hold my head up high & join the ranks of the Sammy runners. Derek & Martin top-landed so no retrieves were necessary - smiles all around at the Wildcat tonight! - Martina 
Derek up high to the left and Martin N down low to the right - pics by MKL
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Revy Report - we taked to Alan P and he was going to take a tandem up Mt Mackenzie at 1 pm, but we decided to head up early at 11 am to grab Colleen a flight. We can't fly together as we have grandson Remy on board. | Colleen launched at 1130 am, and climbed above launch fast. She thought it was choppy though, used to our mellow Woodside thermals. We saw her heading out to the RC Filed as we drove down. Timing was perfect as she was packed up and we were back at Nelson Lodge to meet Alan at 1245 to snag a ride. I launched the Magnum I at 2 pm, after a quick ride up and after a few turns I was above the peak at 2800 meters. The air was definitely rough now, but Alan was flying his Magnum and kept on thermalling. The Advance Impress II harness I was flying felt good but I noticed more yawing than normal on other harnesses, suggesting a rser twist could be a possibility in really rough air. Most pod harnesses exhibit this phenomonon. We landed after an hour at the Catherwood LZ, first time for me and we met up with Colleen & Remy at Williamson Laake where they were swimming.
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Revy Report - we in Revy at the LZ at 4 pm, to see Will Gadd climbing out on his BC Vol Bivouac adventure from Vernon to Canmore. | The water is still super high at the LZ but the mountain is driveable to the meadows. We didn't drive up as we were hungry instead we went to the Railway Museum for Remy as he is "train crazy". Tomorrow promises to be a great day at Revy.
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Road Trippin' Blues - we headed up country in the Suzuki hoping to save gas and as we climbed the 97C connector hill out of Merritt we started losing power so I turned around and parked in Merritt as it appears the timing chain finally failed. | Thanks to Tom's Towing & BCAA we got a lift back to the Ranch where we swapped into the Suburban and finally got to Kelowna at 7 pm. If you see a wrecked XL-7 or Grand Vitara anywhere I need a new motor for ours. Biff's final flight in Europe - Well, I finally got the wing out of the suitcase today, our last day in Italia. We have been based at Cortina D'ampezzo where it has overdeveloped each day, so we did other cool stuff like descending through WWI tunnels and doing a Via Ferrata, thanks again, AR for the tip. 
Today, we drove 70 km across unbelievable majestic passes to Ortesai where I had made contact with a tandem outfit to tag along with them on one of their runs. Our two gondola rides took us to the top of Secede peak, 2500 m asl. We hiked down through an incredible alpine meadow to the launch which was blowing up at 15-20 km. 
After watching the pros, I launched, my first flight since July 10. The conditions were good, more mellow than the big air of Chamonix. The tandem pilots flew out pretty quickly so I was on my own with a German fellow. We hooked some nice stuff under a big Cu in front and soon, I was at 2700 m or so. I did one short out and return to a close summit and felt the lift diminish so I flew out to the interesting LZ. 
Interesting because it looks like a firebreak, not very wide facing downslope. I had spotted it during the gondola ride and wasn't impressed but it was the only game in town. Fortunately, once out of the thermals, the valley wind was steady and not too strong so with a few moves I was able to bring the glider down beside the usual bar/risteronte, where the tandem boys were having lunch. I joined them briefly before hiking down to meet Judy who had become carsick from the windy road we had travelled. We spent some time in the pretty town and began the ridiculously long drive back. The tandem guys told me it was only 25 km by air but Judy was in no condition to drive. So that's that. Wednesday, we drive back to Geneva and Thursday we fly home and as Dorothy said, "there's no place like home!" See you all soon - Biff
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Click on the picture for more pictures from the bench install today at Bridal as well as other August activitiesWoodside Report - a quiet day with one student and 5 tandems, and all quality flights. New student George has been out kiting for 3 days and we finally got him a solo flight today. Not the prettiest of launches as he tried to get in the seat with brakes buried, but the Ozone Rush got him into the air without stalling. It was getting thermic on the way out and George was above launch at the construction zone as WOW-ter took over guiding duties in the LZ. George landed softly partway to the circle. Tom E is a South African PG pilot who is just getting back into the sport and he was test flying the Swift S today after a 5 year hiatus. He chose a Rush III M as his new ship, and is very excited about flying here. Then the tandems started with 5 super good tandems with everyone getting above launch and staying up for 35-45 minutes before choosing to fly out to land! No CUs, just blue sky. But it worked well and never got windy. My last tandem was a donation to the Harrison Mills Community Association back in May, and Luke bought the tandems in a silent auction for $125. I gave him his money's worth as we climbed thru 1100 meters and he took lots of photos and video. WOW-ter was out on Martina's tandem with a Dutch friend and we "duked it out" for sometime together. Martina & Colleen finally got to fly solo and were trying to top-land but in the end I had to mooch a retrieve ride from Lee S. |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports
June 2011 Site of the Day archives - over 100 tandems done this month by the Awesome Tandem Team!
May 2011 Site of the Day archives - another rainy month with more road trips.
April 2011 Site of the Day archives - many long XCs in the Fraser valley by many pilots, and we roadtripped to the Ashcroft area many times to get flights between rain storms and snow storms.
March 2011 Site of the Day archives - got home from 2 glorious months in Mexico & New Zealand to try to fly in the Valley, but due to rain & snow we roadtripped to the Ashcroft area many times to get flights.
February 2011 Site of the Day archives - last days of the Mexico Tour went very well and then I headed to New Zealand to meet Colleen in Auckland and we had a great time flying there for 2 weeks.
January 2011 Site of the Day archives - Mexico Tour went very well with 8 attendees getting great airtime and safe guidance from us at FlyBC.
December 2010 Site of the Day archives - weather was so bad in BC, that Colleen and I had to book 5 days in LA to get a flight.
November 2010 Site of the Day archives - we had some sweet soaring flights at Woodside, and a really cold cold snap that limited flying for a week or more.
October 2010 Site of the Day archives - we had some sweet soaring flights in October at Woodside, and Robin flew to Hope in less than an hour!.
September 2010 Site of the Day archives - the wettest September in history had us running up to Savona and points east to fly, but we "got-er-done".
August 2010 Site of the Day archives - unstable conditions made for some great days at Benny and Woodside. Al & I had a Delta Day with me stealing Colleen's Small Delta and he on a Large one and we went over the back to Seabird on a strong day.
July 2010 Site of the Day archives - fantastic road trip to Revelstoke for 11 days of SIV Training and super weather.
June 2010 Site of the Day archives - wettest June on record so road trips to Savona a few times. Deltas are rolling in now!
May 2010 Site of the Day archives - nice flying in the Valley.
April 2010 Site of the Day archives - worst April in years weatherwise but we managed to do some awesome tandem groups and some nice flights with Justin, Nicole and Norm flying to Mission late in the month.
March 2010 Site of the Day archives - Crappy weather in the US on my return trip from Mexico. But when I arrived back at the Ranch there were some great days soaring Woodside.
February 2010 Site of the Day archives - super flying in Mexico for the FlyBC Mexican Tours. Good XCs. The locals were already flying at Mother Woodside back in BC due to the warm weather!
January 2010 Site of the Day archives - nice flying in Mexico for the FlyBC Mexican Tours. Good XCs.
December 2009 Site of the Day archives - our first time in Mexico for a full December and we flew everyday. 40-50 km XCs from Tapalpa.
November 2009 Site of the Day archives - very few flights as we had record rains and high winds.
October 2009 Site of the Day archives - Women's Fly-In in Chelan WA with the Barbie Theme, took first place honours again! More good soaring flights of 2 hours plus on special days.
September 2009 Site of the Day archives - more decent flying weather with a few road trips to escape wind by heading to Savona.
August 2009 Site of the Day archives - best flying conditions in years with little rain. My first hike up Cheam with pals went well.
July 2009 Site of the Day archives - the FlyBC SIV in Revelstoke was a blast, 280 SIV flights and only one wet pilot intentionally that is. Jeremy wished he had landed in the water.
June 2009 Site of the Day archives - dry all month locally so lots of flying, Al has been test flying the new ShotGun launch near Stave Lake having great flights out to Woodside.
May 2009 Site of the Day archives - local flying is getting great with nice XC's! Bridal was working well. The new bathroom was installed in the Barn at Eagle Ranch enriching the FlyBC experience.
April 2009 Site of the Day archives - we escaped the local weather by flying in New Zealand for 3 weeks. We will be heading back soon!
March 2009 Site of the Day archives - we were flying locally in snow, relying on Derek's sleds and chains on the 'Mog to get up Woodside.
February 2009 Site of the Day archives - the Worlds PG Championships in Mexico was hard work for the Canucks, the tasks and speeds were unreal.
January 2009 Site of the Day archives - Manzanillo, Mexico was a BLAST, many new sites flown and we have a new tour Destination for 2010.
December 2008 Site of the Day archives - the annual FlyBC Christmas Party was a cold success with Head over Heels entertaining us all night. And we left early for Manzanillo, Mexico on Dec 28th.
November 2008 Site of the Day archives - some soaring between rain storms, and it was pretty dry in Agassiz.
October 2008 Site of the Day archives - we went ot the Women's Fly In on Chelan for the annual Halloween Costume Fly-In, great conditions there to offset the wet month on the West Coast. Steve Fosset's crash site was found in Nevada after a year of searching.
September 2008 Site of the Day archives - great student conditions at Woodside and Bridal all month, with 10 students getting signed off this month, a record.
August 2008 Site of the Day archives - our second SIV Course of the 2008 season went well at Sale Mountain near Revelstoke (except for a few water landings and minor injuries). Wet all month at Woodside except the weekends.
July 2008 Site of the Day archives - our first SIV Course of the 2008 season went well at Sale Mountain near Revelstoke.
June 2008 Site of the Day archives - a few good soaring days at Bridal, lots of new students this month.
May 2008 Site of the Day archives - the cost of gas is keeping pilots at home and the weather isn't helping either. One good XC in May for me, leaving Woodside with Norm and Martin H and ending up at Elk at 1600 meters before landing by Hopyard Hill. 3 hours and 85 kms later by the GPS.
April 2008 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years but we flew every day we could.
March 2008 Site of the Day archives - more snow and still hiking to launch at Woodside! But some major airtime for the locals committed to coming out to fly.
February 2008 Site of the Day archives - more snow in BC than I can remember in 25 years of living here. We are still hiking to launch at Woodside!
January 2008 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years so we went to Mexico and logged many hours of airtime, while it snowed heavily in BC.
December 2007 Site of the Day archives - worst weather in years so we went to Mexico on Dec 29th for three weeks.
November 2007 Site of the Day archives - Colleen and I went to California to fly the new Falcon A-16 Advanced Ultralight prototype and it flew very well. Some good soaring days at Woodside, some folks were still trying to fly Bridal but that is a waste of time this late in the season.
October 2007 Site of the Day archives - mid-air at Woodside caused Martin H some paraglider damage, some great soarable days. The Women's Fly In was a success with the Canuck Team taking top spot for the theme of "Celebrities in Rehab".
September 2007 Site of the Day archives - we re-discovered and flew 'Horsefly' Launch for the first time, some mayhem at Woodside due to tree-suck, lots of good soaring in afternoon glassoffs, a great Indian Summer until late in the month when the rains came early. Derek, Martina, Robin and Diane went to Europe. Kirill went to Australia for a paramotor Fly-In.
August 2007 Site of the Day archives - fun two weeks at Mara Lake, followed by steady flying at Woodside and Bridal, making up for the dismal spring and summer.
July 2007 Site of the Day archives - good flights at Bridal, some mayhem at Woodside from visiting pilots.
June 2007 Site of the Day archives - more crappy weather on the weekends. Some awesome flights between showers as Norm and Thomm flew to Mission on the last day of the month.
May 2007 Site of the Day archives - flyable every weekday, but the Fraser Valley XC Comp got crappy weather on the weekends, although it was student flyable.
April 2007 Site of the Day archives - good flights are starting. Some complete triangles from Woodside to Bridal and back, some "musical triangles" from others.
March 2007 Site of the Day archives - fifth month of crappy weather on the Coast. We went to Santa Barbara for some flights, and to dry out. Some good days were also recorded locally.
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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