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FlyBC "Site of the Day February 2019 Archive Page"
FlyBC is hopeful for a mid-afternoon flight Monday for new students
for there you have been and there you will long to return." - Leonardo Da Vinci
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@ 3000' in knots |
Rate °C/1000' Cloud Base in Meters |
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| 2-26-19 to 02-28-19 |
 Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds NNW at 25 to 30 km/h. 1800 metres Day One - February 26 - Colleen and I drove to Puerto Vallarta at 8 am to get her to an Air Canada flight leaving at 2 pm direct to YVR.  I arrived in Mazatlan before dark and settled into a beachfront hotel for a total of 750 kms today. Day Two - February 27 -I drove north on the Cuota and made it to Nogales AZ just a few hours after dark. Huge border lineups as they just closed 5 of the lanes as I arrived. The guard had a tough time trying to understand why I had a full truck with only me on board, I tried to explain that we have a few hobbies - paragliding, paramotoring, snorkelling, life activities and of course my wifes two big suitcases!  I was finally free to drive through 45 minutes later after a full X-Ray of me and the contents as we drove through a scanner - wondering how safe these devices actually are? I made it to the Luxurious Motel 6 in Nogales after 1161 kms today. Day Three - February 287 -I drove north towards Phoenix at 8 am with a stop around 9 am for gas and breakfast. I took a wrong turn at Gila Bend where you can bypass Phoenix, which took me towards San Diego. Hmmm? Maybe a Torrey flight? Nahh, I checked the forecast and it looked too light for soaring so I kept going thru Indio towards the 10-W towards LA. Going through Banning Pass it was very windy, windy enough to be actively driving ith gusty cross winds. The windmills were spinning and the dust was flying! There is a lot of snow on the surrounding mountains after last weeks rainstorms and low temps.  Onwards toward Riverside CA and Marshall and the CUs looked "yummy" but the wids were too strong. I did see hangies setup on Marshall but they are crazy enough to fly in these winds!  Traffic was moving well and I was soon on the Grapevine heading out of the LA basin going about 130 kph. Cloudbase was down to the road level and more snow on the hills. I did not stop in Lebec CA where my Dad used to live in a shabby trailer park in the late 60's. I usually stop there for gas and wonder what he saw in this place?  Another wrong turn and I was on Hwy 99 instead of the I-5. A quick check on my Mexican Phone and Google Maps says this is faster to get to Valley Springs CA where Blackhawk Paramotors is located anyway. I pulled into Fresno CA at 8 pm with 12 hours on the clock and had dinner at Olive Grove, where a meal for 1 can feed a family of 4. A few miles further north and I was in a LaQuinta Inn in Madera CA. Only 1376 kms today and 12.5 hours. Loosing my skills at XC driving.  On to BH March 1 to check out the new goodies like EFI - electronic fuel injection!  Woodside Report - while I was driving northwest today . . . Martin N, Norm, Derek, Bev, Andrei and Matt J were flying Woodside on the first non-outflow day in weeks. They had to hike from 3.5 kms but were rewarded with 1.5 to 3.0 hours of airtime, depending on how long one could stand the cold!    Martin's tracklog shows it was lifty everywhere. I should be at Woodside soon to clean the sand and dust off my wings. I am not sure where my warm clothes are though? Maybe my new Ozone Mantra M7 will be here soon too? 2-25-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SSE at 10-15 km/h. 1800 metres A nice change as the road had been graded and we could drive up fast and the holes were all filled in. We passed the grader going down at 2 kms.  We encountered the normal hiker traffic and met the ATV Tour folks at the top. The wind was definitely SSE but it was more like 30 kph!  The birds were parked facing the town and it looked rough. We waited for an hour and then started driving down as it was not abating. First sign of trouble was local hill manager, Solomin, sitting on the road and he mentioned "camino es cerrado - abejas!" which translates to the road is closed because of bees?  We kept driving down and met up with the ATV folks. They had stopped to light a few smudge fires on the road to ward off the bees. We drove down past them and the grader was parked on a curve and no driver. And then the bees attacked the Tracker! Good thing the windows were up. We retreated and gave a hiker a ride back up to safety. A few bees came into the car with him but we "shooed them out". We drove back to the top where it was cooler and the wind was actually looking okay now at 1 pm. But I did not want to leave Thomm to fend for himself and Colleen was not interested in flying alone, so we headed back down after 45 minutes of enjoying the views. We drove back down and the ATVers were gone and their fires were burned out. Near 2 kms a group of Policia, Civil Protection workers, Red Cross Ambulances were assembled and getting ready to car pool hikers down the mountain past the bee swarms at 1 km.  we followed the convoy with a family of hikers loaded into the Tracker. Manzanillo News Report about the "killer bees" You can google translate it if you can't read Spanish. Quote of the Day - "You can't make this SHIT UP!" - Jaime We are going to make up a few kits for our pilots - mosquito head nets and jackets, EPIpens, and spray which should fit nicely into the top of a pack to be readily accessible. 2-23-19 to 2-24-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds NNW at 25 to 30 km/h. 1800 metres 2-21-19 & 02-22-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres We saw a great Classic Car Rally coming into the Marina at Isla Navidad. It was very windy the past two days, signs of what the weather will bring in March, time to head home to the Cold North. 2-20-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres He had no gear so I loaned him an Ozone Rush 4 demo. It seemed light but we setup and Stefan went first and he scratched his way out of the beach bowl. I launched next and it was light and scratchy over the trees, but I got up and away too. We did not get as high as some days but the view was special. I top-landed first to film Stefan's landing as I had no GoPro today. 2-19-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres  We don't think they are fixing the entire road but anything is better as there are many deep holes.  We arrived on top to some strong cycles so I laid out the AirDesign Rise 3 and clipped in fast and got a good lull to build a wall. The Rise 3 rose above my head and it had no tangles so I was off and flying. I was maintaining until I got around the corner into the NW winds and then I got some cloud suck, but it was very windy and bumpy. Trim speed could hold my position but with any brakes to stabilize the glider I was going backwards. I waited and waited for someone else to join me but it got too strong for safe launches. The rule at this site is to get up by noon and launch immediately. Next year I am going to orgnaize a new North Launch for these kind of days. I stayed up for 30 minutes, and when I came over the beach there was a CU forming over the water. Sure enough the sand was triggering a nice thermal that I could stay in forever but it was tracking me to the south. When I finally decided to come in to land I was quite far south of the m\normal LZ but a short walk and I was under cover with a margarita. After lunch Stefan & I headed to Pelican Bay, but after an hour of waiting we decided it was too strong and we went to dinner with the folks. 2-17-19 & 02-18-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres 2-16-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres  No launch videos but there was a landing shot at Carson Graham High School after landing.  Ozone M7 Report - the newest glider from Ozone is due out soon, the Ozone M7 is an EN-D ship with performance equal to the Ozone Zeno two-liner but with the best handling and ease-of-use according to the test pilots.  Our roving reporters Kevin & Brad were in Gourdon Frnace this fall and watched the prototype testing flights on the M7. The first prototype came off the factory floor right from the computer modelling and did not require any trimming or mods! FlyBC will be getting a demo in the ML size soon, and an MS is coming in for some other pilots if you can pry the M7 out of their hands! 2-15-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres Meanwhile, back in Harrison Mills we have power but not much visibility!  2-14-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres Then we went to our Clase de Espaneol with "Fany" til 7 pm. Then off to a fabulous dinner at Oasis.  2-13-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres Perfect conditions with wind out of the south at 10-15 kph. We did four high tows and Greg got to do "big ears" today too. 2-12-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres Good strong cycles by noon and Greg had a great launch. Greg had no issues climbing out today.  He was soon off to the north trying out his speed bar which we just installed after 10 days of flying. 2-11-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres Nice cycles at noon, but not much lift but Greg had a great launch and smooth enjoyable flight landing at Indio's Beach during high tide.  2-10-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres Greg took off first and caught a few thermals but it was a strange day with few birds. Colleen got low too at one point and then she "beamed up" to 1200 metres and was headed north.  She landed at the Soccer Field and declared it here best Colima flight ever! 2-9-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres 2-8-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres We went to the El Eden Dunes at 2 pm and we had light South winds and they all got many flights off the top. I think Arash has now got the skills to fly off La Cumbre tomorrow! 2-7-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres We had light winds so forward launches were the ticket today. Unfortunately we had not been practicing forwards as it has been moderate windy lately. Only Greg got towed as he could do a proper forward launch in these light winds.  Greg's first attempt was great and he had the wing overhead but kind of fell into the seat which veered him left and he had to get back on the tow line.  Once established on the right track David could add tension and start to get Greg some altitude.  Greg got to around 1000 feet and was able to fly back to the start point. The second tow was less successful as Greg was over-controlling his direction and David could not add tension as soon. Also there was a premature release and David backed off tension as Greg went through a thermal and Greg thought it was time to "pin off". We saw pilots launching off Tapalpa so we headed back there for an LZ briefing and got to the top at 2 pm to perfect launch cycle and good climbs. Greg & Miriam flew off and mastered the LZ approach, avoiding the many powerlines near the LZ. Arash was kiting on top with Stefan who had just top-landed. Shaun, Jacek and Jack T were also flying. At 4 pm the cycles were still good and pilots were climbing out! We were back in Manzanillo by 6:30 pm. 2-6-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres Arash is still working on his kiting skills so no luck getting a flight today for him. Miriam had a solid launch and nice flight except she was doing here\ approach too far back and landed in the wrong field (Nelson & Greg's field). I took them back to the hotel to kite and headed off to dinner with Colleen at 430 pm and it started howling from the SW. Lots of whitecaps and the smoke at the power plant was horizontal.  It has been flyable everyday since December 15th 2018. 2-5-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres Miriam's flight was about 20 minutes long and she got above launch several times and had a stand up landing in the proper LZ. We then headed to the El Eden Dunes for hours of kiting in moderate winds. I got the Tracker back from the shop today! New oil pan - $100 Labor and $150 for the pan, $400 for the tranny rebuild including new seals and bearings. and she drives like new again! 2-4-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres We had good strong cycles and some folks were up high but it shut down as Greg started climbing. Miriam and I climbed a bit but it was mostly ridge soaring the hump out front and the winds had shredded the lift. But she got her wish to land at the Piano LZ and she landed on her feet!  Later we went to the Campos Soccer Field to kite and the students were doing well.  2-3-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres Shaun had a plan to get around to the windward side (NW) and it worked. I got better climbs on the sunny side initially but when I went to the NW side the climbs that took Shaun above the towers were gone, so back tothe reliable sunny rocks. Greg got his first El Toro flight and had a great landing at Indio's. Thanks to Thomm for the driving! 2-2-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres After breakfast we raced off to Colima and drove straight up and it was already blowing in so Greg got set up and followed some of the pros into the house thermal. Who do we meet on top? Logan from Whitehorse, here touring with Jonathan as I told him I was not doing tours this winter. He had a great XC flight following Gilles and others north to town. Greg was outclimbing the others on his Ozone MojoPWR wing and after 15 minutes he headed north to the Soccer LZ with good height. He found the sinky area crossing the river bed but climbed back up after that.  Greg was thermalling as I left launch to drive to retrieve him and the last time I saw him he was setting up in a field just south of the Soccer LZ. He had a good landing on his 4th flight and 3rd XC flight here. 2-1-19
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| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres |
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1253 Kilby Road, Harrison Mills, BC V0M 1L0 Cell: 604-618-5467 E-Mail: FlyBC E-Mail |