| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| Follow @flybc |
FlyBC "Site of the Day January 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
|
| 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@ 3000' in knots |
Rate °C/1000' Cloud Base in Meters |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1-31-19 |
 Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres Only Zorro made the LZ as Nelson & Greg ended up one field short. Later we went kiting on El Eden beach to get the newest students Arash & Miriam ready for flight. 1-30-19
|
| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres  1-29-19
|
| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres Colleen launched first, then Derek. Lee had an abort into the bushes and had to get sorted out so I got in the launch slot and the winds were weird and crossing but I got off cleanly after a few tries. I got way above the antennas while waiting for Lee to launch, and then flew out to our condo with a great into the wind glide that seemed to have 0 sink rate all the way out. Perfect conditions most days here on the coast. but the road up to El Toro is really bad so we will be doing more Colima flights. 1-28-19
|
| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres We got to launch and the cycles were pretty strong but Greg did a great job with his first high flight launch and was out front climbing. Jonathon was in the LZ landing his students and offered to watch Greg & Zdravko. Derek, Delvin & Lee headed to the Soccer Field LZ after climbing out and Thomm and I drove down to retrieve everyone. It was a one flight day. as when we got to Pelican Bay back in Manzanillo, the winds were blosing from the south so we went kiting on the beach. 1-27-19
|
| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds S at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres Later in the day Zdravko arrived and he also got to kite his new glider - an Ozone Magnum 2-38. 1-26-19
|
| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres After some searching far downwind of the Bay we found a nice football field to kite in. Greg got the basics figured out for reverse kiting using As & Cs. The wind was still a bit gusty at times but he handled it well and after 90 minutes of kiting it was time to get him to the hotel to check in. 1-25-19
|
| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres The mechanic found a used one in Quettaro so later in the week supposedly. I was finished my errands when Wofie called to say it was light but more westerly at Pelican Bay. So perfect! Someone lit the grass on fire in the past week so there is little good launch areas, butt Wolfie kept his wing out of the black areas. As you can see Wolfie got hoovered up the ridge quick fast. I launched after him, but had a cravatte that dragged me into the black area, I tried to get the cravatte out but it was stuck so I dropped the wing into the black grass to sort out the offending line Next inflation I was crab-walking to the edge and I was soon up with Wolfie. I flew for 40 minutes landing on the beach to pack up, and Wolfie hung in for over an hour. Idiot lift even way out over the ocean. 1-24-19
|
| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds S at 15 to 25 km/h. 1800 metres Derek said he launched early at San Marcos and recommended the same to others but only a few got off before it blew out. Bev cauht a video of Normando launching and he got hoovered fast! Tonia posted a picture of her vario after she launched behind Derek, wow!  She landed at the Cuba LZ with Derek. Normando said he lost his wing as it balled up a few times. No suprise with that strength of thermals! They all later flew at 5 pm after it calmed down at San Marcos and had nice soaring flights landing at the gas station behid San Marcos. Here in Manzanillo the winds are always the same: NE in the morning (catabatic) and by noon switching to SW (sea breeze and anabatic). Some days it is too strong to fly at Pelican Bay (our local ridge soaring site) as the sea breeze kicks in but it is usually okay for kiting practie down on the flats. Colima is one hour away and it offers the same conditions as Manzanillo, but it is a thermic mountain site. 1-23-19
|
| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: Mostly Sunny. High 28C. Winds W at 15 to 25 km/h. 1800 metres The dunes are great, clean with just a few logs of driftwood to negotiate at the bottom. The winds were crossing from the West but it was launchable and will be perfect for first flight. From there I headed to Pelican Bay and arrived to see the birds pinned to the ridge and it was windy. No need to hike the ridge to check it out! The local guard says the bulldozer will be cleaning the road this week, but it looked like it was still being repaired. Reports from San Marcos said: Strong Lift at 5 pm. Rainer got 7 hours today including 3 hours of ridge soaring over San Juan Cosala! Back in Canada someone just posted a 2015 video of some pilots flying off Joffre near Pemby. I recognized Shaun & John immediately. Joffre Paragliders from 1st Mountaineers on Vimeo. 1-22-19
|
| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: AM Clouds/PM Sun. High 29C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres Martin got a few hours before flying home to Jocotepec. He is the only one with a publicly displaying InReach Tracker.  The sunrises here have been amazing.  Today was totally overdeveloped by 3 pm at El Toro, flyable but with low cloudbase and CUs popping everywhere.  Valle de Bravo Report - Kim & Mike went to Valle over the Christmas Holidays and into January 15th. They were there with Richard S and Gwen. All FlyBC Alumni with from 2-4 seasons experience and flying very well! Here is their video blog which forgot to mention how many times they made it to the Lakeside LZ. 1-21-19
|
| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: AM Clouds/PM Sun. High 29C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres Martin N took off and had a sinky flight almost straight to the LZ. Others followed Derek and made it to the 40 km mark near the Cuota after crossing the Valley. Notable flights from Geordon and Jacek. Geordon just got signed off by FlyBC in September and he is already getting +40 km flights with no vario! Jacek is a second year graduate and he is doing really well too, but he got some great XC flights in Lumby this past year before coming to Mexico. Derek was the "Sky God" today with 5:25 of airtime and at least 75 kms of distance.  Derek's flight path took him to the "Cross", across the valley to the Cuota where everyone else got flushed in South winds, but he caught a leeside thermal after following some vultures. He then went on to soar San Marcos and waited for everyone to regroup and they then flew San Marcos and joined Derek who later flew home to Jocotepec.  1-15-19 to 1-20-19
|
| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: AM Clouds/PM Sun. High 29C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres Meanwhile back here at El Toro I did bag one flight last week. 1-14-19
|
| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: AM Clouds/PM Sun. High 29C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres The Tracker window regulators had been sticking since I got the truck, and they fixed them in a few hours and charged me 800 pesos. The forecast said it was going to be light winds but when we went to dinner at Las Brisas (the Breezes) it was soarable. 1-13-19
|
| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: AM Clouds/PM Sun. High 29C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres We got up early with no trucks in a hole and had to wait a bit for cycles. I took off first at 1130 am, rather early but some birds were thermalling already. I caught a climb by the powerlines at the toe of the west side of the mountain and hung out there geting back above launch. Colleen launched second and was headed my way when I saw a huge gaggle in a big climb right in fornt of launch and I headed to that gaggle. I got there too low to catch the climb, so back to the original thermal where we climbed together (Colleen higher at this point). She got some rough thermals and had to catch some surges, but my ride was rather calm. Colleen bailed after 15 minutes of scratching around and headed to the Beach LZ. I took out my selfie stick and did some videoing on the way out to the Beach too. Rainer, Derek and Zdenek got above launch immediately and they got to 1250 metres. Zdenek was having speedbar issues sohe headed out to the Beach too. Derek flew out to our condo at Vida del Mar (marked by the red arrow) and arrived there at 500 metres, all into wind.  He made to the Beach LZ fine on the downwind leg.  Ozone Swift 5 Report - I love the new Swift 5. It loves to thermal and it bites into weak thermals and climbs onto the big thermals. Yesterday I took it into big winds at Woodside. Ground speeds of 3kph most of the time without bar. From the time I launched to the time I landed not one wing tip flutter. Paddy was on his Artik 4. It is a C wing. He was on half bar and I was catching up to him on no bar. When he went on full bar I was on half and catching him. It was crazy big lift everywhere. I was at 1200 over the Ranch and bagged a thermal to 1440 before I got out. I was going to go to Harvest, then Riverside, and settled on the hang glider field. I was doing big ears, wing overs, half bar, full bar, no hands on the brakes, everything. The wing was completely rock solid. I find I am using weight shift more than the previous wings. Staying off the brakes or using minimal brake pressure. No surprises. Coming into the hang glider field Paddy said it was 'eventful'. I came into the field flying parallel to the highway and heading east. Got popped a few times and it felt leeside. The wing just floated in for a no step landing. Come to think of it. I doubt it's the wing. I think it is more my skills - Martin N 1-12-19
|
| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: AM Clouds/PM Sun. High 29C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres 1-11-19
|
| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: AM Clouds/PM Sun. High 29C. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres Jorge's dad has a Toyota Tacoma 4x4 so we ere meeting at the Indio Restaurant LZ at 11 . . . but they were late by 30 minutes. Then Dad started driving up the road quite slowly as he is not used to 4x4-ing. He almost went in a few of the sandy washouts but we shouted direction in espaneol. We were 300 metres from the top when he did not see a big hole and we were stuck but good.  We were high centred so we hatched a plan to fly down and get Shaun G's Tacoma and a tow strap and come back to tow the other Tacoma out. We hiked to launch and it was blowing in nicely so Colleen launched first and lost a wing tip for a second and made it out to the rocks where she was pinned in NW wind and had to speedbar out to the valley. Shaun got ready next as he was a priority to get his truck and he had a good inflation but as he pushed off the wing frontalled and he landed below launch unhurt but his wing was in the bushes. Jorge got ready next as Shaun was getting his wing out of the brambles, and he had one abort due to NW winds. The next inflation was good and he lunged forward and swung down through the trees but got away clean. I got ready as the winds steadily went more NW and I could bring the wing up fine but as soon as it got overhead it would frontal or go soft? Thomm was watching from higher up and he said it looked like a hand pushing down on the top of the wing as it got overhead. This was due to the NW flow rotoring over the slope. This happened two years ago when I got stuick on the mountian with no ride down, always happens after 1 pm, so get up here sooner than later. I tried over 10 times and it was always the same result. I had Shaun try the same 10 times or more once out of the bushes and we both had the same result. We were in the lee but the thermals were tracking up the hill just high enough to let us inflate but not fly off. The birds were soaring easily on the windward side, but the helipad launch we used to use has been taken over by a broadcast antenna so we don't have a NW launch anymore. We bagged up and hiked back to the stuck truck and Shaun ran down the mountain to meet Jorge who ahd managed to rent a quad to come and resuce Shaun to get his truck. Shaun and Jorge showed up at 6 pm with cold beer in Shaun's truck with a new towstrap.  The actual towing was fast and efficient and there was a turnaround right there so we were on way down just as the sunset. This is the hole that we fell into, and it went down about 6 feet.  Lesson Learned: Get up El Toro by 1130 am and launch before the NW winds kick in! And don't drive into the holes! 1-7-19 to 1-10-19
|
| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: AM Clouds/PM Sun. High 29C. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres 1-6-19
|
| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: AM Clouds/PM Sun. High 29C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres Colleen and I had a vacation day and went shopping and later heard from Wolf & Stephan that Pelican Bay was blown out too. I picked up Thomm McE from the airport at 3 pm and he said it was a bumpy approach and landing and the final leg was nearly vertical! 1-5-19
|
| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: AM Clouds/PM Sun. High 29C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres We got to launch before noon and Derek, Colleen & Wolfie did some launch maintenance cutting trees and bushes while I got ready. Lame launch cycles and it is a short takeoff so it is nice to wait for stronger launch cycles. I did two tries and aborted when the wing did not feel solid. There were no birds soaring so that is a bad sign but we are here to fly and even a sledder here is glorious flying. When I did launch I got no lift until the end of the rocky section where I circled with some vultures for a bit but even they gave up after a few minutes. I was trying out a magnetic GoPro mount in the wing and got some interesting footage, more work needed on placement and angles. Everyone had short flights up up to 20 minutes and later Pelican Bay did not work, but it was a great day getting our first flights of 2019. Bev reported enjoying her first flight on Derek's old Swift 4 getting to 3000 metres at Tapalpa for more that an hour. 1-4-19
|
| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: AM Clouds/PM Sun. High 29C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres We thought we were late for the shuttle so we headed straight up in my Tracker. After we arrived on top we were the only pilots, but the rest of the trucks started coming up 10 minutes later. The winds were lightly coming up and there was one pilot in the air, but it was a short flight for them and they landed in the Piano LZ. Then the winds started blowing NE for a long time so we bailed and went to lunch in Centro. On our drive back to the highway there was still no pilots in the air? We drove back to Manzanillo and Pelican Bay for some soaring. I was elected wind tech and got ready and took off into what seemed soarable winds but after three passes I was on the beach.  I was packing up when I saw Wolfie kiting on top (he had met us at the site as he was in Manzanillo on his motorbike). Wolfie took off got up and away and had a nice 1 hour flight. 1-3-19
|
| FlyBC is closed in Canada until March 1 2019, but we are going to be flying Mexico every day until our return. Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: AM Clouds/PM Sun. High 29C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres  1-1-19 to 1-2-19
|
| Manzanillo Forecast Manzanillo Forecast: AM Clouds/PM Sun. High 29C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h. 1800 metres The sunsets here are amazing as is the flying.  12-29-18 to 12-31-2018
|
|  Woodside Forecast Harrison Mills Forecast: Cloudy. 40 percent chance of flurries this morning. Temperature steady near plus 1. 800 metres Meanwhile Martin N and a few others braved the cold and flew Woodside a few times. Stop in and say hi to Bob if you are in the Valley. Coquihalla Report - one last flight for the year from Simon who flew his Ozone XXLite 2 off three peaks in one day. #ironman Vida Report - I left for Vancouver on the 18th and left alex, Nicole and Derek to fend for themselves at Vida. Alex flew Pelican Bay and other others all flew El Toro a few times. But the flight here at Vida took some guts! And he survived a beach landing. The takeoff is a large lawn near the ocean.  Here he is benching up in front of the condos.  The ridge is not very contiguous but Alex made the jump over to the houses to the north.  |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports click to select the month and year you wish to review.
|
1253 Kilby Road, Harrison Mills, BC V0M 1L0 Cell: 604-618-5467 E-Mail: FlyBC E-Mail |