FlyBC "Site of the Day Archive Page" - July/2009
"If you haven't found something strange during the day, it hasn't been much of a day." - John A. Wheeler
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Woodside Report - a very busy day for me. Many visiting pilots from europe looking to rent gear. Two students flying 4 flights each and 3 tandems with no tandem helpers today! But a great day with mixed conditions. We had light winds in the am, soaring around 2 pm, then on to Bridal for the last flight as the T-storms threatening to unload made Woodside windy. In the end it turned out to be normal valley winds and we could have stayed at Woodside. Mark C had his first Bridal flight and with 16 good landings at Eagle Ranch he did need any guiding into the Bridal Swamp. 
Chasing Thomm out to Eagle Ranch on my 2nd tandem flight - photo by JPR
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Woodside Report - a good day again for Mark C who is on Day Three of a Five Day Intermediate Course and now up to 14 high flights and one tandem flight. He logged 4 good flights with a strong south wind soaring flight later in the day. | We also did 2 tandems with some folks from Florida and several more solo flights with Luc who came later. We were on the ground at 6 pm when the gust front hit the Fraser Valley area, thankflully.
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Woodside Report - Mark and Luc were out today again, Mark started early and logged 5 solo flights and some thermal turns. Luc started a bit later and logged three flights. Rick from Valemount flew a few times with Tom C and Derek and they shared Riverside landings as they scratched low. | Excitement of the day occured when a visiting Japanese P-4 Pilot tried to take off and failed to negotiate a path through the trees north of launch and became Woodside's 4th tree incident this year. No injuries except to Tom and I when we were retrieving the pilot from the trees and his harness fell on a hornet's nest and we both got stung, pilot was not stung. Derek retrieved the glider and it was damaged in four cells and right tip when the glider hit the trees. I took a Hong Kong visitor tandem and although it was a relatively short flight they loved it and want to take lessons. They have a fixed wing licence and were suprised at the smoothness and glide of a modern paraglider. Revelstoke News Report - A slow news day in Revelstoke so Jeremy makes front page
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Woodside Report - man it was hot yesterday! New student Mark arrived at 9:30 am, we did the video groundschool briefing, then out the the training hill where the winds were light and it was already "cooking hot". | Mark is a traction-kiter, kite-surfer and ex-HG trike pilot so he is used to working with a nylon wing. It showed with 12 perfect reverse launches in light winds. We went up for the requisite tandem ride around 11:30 am, and we had nice cycles to launch into. We stayed up for 15 minutes but the climbs were tough as it was inverted below launch. Nice touchdown in the circle on our feet in light winds from the east. Back up to launch with Colleen on the ground to guide Mark in and he did a perfect reverse launch, flew the course and landed near the circle. We went back up and did another quick solo before it got too hot to pack up and Mark pulled off another perfect launch! We took a break until 7:30 pm, and Luc joined us for 2 more solos before nightfall and mosquito feeding times. Martina, Derek and Colleen each got a few flights later but no "glass-off" tonight. A good day for Mark with a tandem and 4 solo flights for Day One of a Five Day Course. Also, Luc bagged 2 more flights after his epic flights in Revelstoke this week. I talked to Rob around 4 pm at Bridal as he was landing, punchy lift that was hard to manage there too and no one else flying as Martin N drove Rob`s rig down.
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Revy Report - the forecast looked scary with Severe Thunderstorm Watch at Revelstoke and Golden, so we took our time getting organized in the morning, as everyone had departed to Golden or Vancouver. | Nice breakfast in town, picked up a few supplies for the trailer, met Chris and Alan, just kicked about watching the weather. There was a big, black cloud over Mt. Mackenzie by noon and thunderheads on all quadrants but no wind on the river? Maybe we are being too cautious?? Nope, after this weeks crash when Jeremy was flying into the gust front makes one think twice. We packed up and started driving in the heat. No air-conditioning and the Van was running poorly, I think the Throttle Position Sensor is toast, so we were running pretty slow in the hills but we got to Kamloops around 6 pm. Nice dinner with niece and nephew at Earl's then on to Inland Regional Hospital to visit Jeremy. He is not too comfortable but the docs have him sedated. Damage consists of two broken feet, several bones in each. Broken left wrist. Broken right knee or surrounding bones near knee. L5 damage stable, but requiring a fusing compound to make the bones set faster from L3-L4-L5. We have his gear and unpacked the harness to try and find his cell and the harness has no skid marks so his legs took the brunt of the final impact. When he can he will make a report but suffice to say flying into a gust front over a town can cause rotor and turbulent air which can collapse a paraglider. Golden Report - Megs said the air looked pretty unstable so no one flew XC, just a few local flights close to Nicholson so they could get down if it got windy. When she called later it was raining.
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Revelstoke Report - another leeside forecast and I got to go up the gondola to fly a tandem with Jordan to open the SIV Course.
He opted for an SIV tandem but I did through in some thermalling over the meadows to get more altitude before heading out on the Magnum 38. | About 30 pilots were on the meadow waiting for the lee winds to turn and when the sun came out we got the up cycles and pilots started flying and soaring. We squeezed in about number 7 slot and we were off and climbing in some nice stuff. after we outclimbed some solo fliers we headed out over the lake for some manuevers: Full Stall with a dodgy exit as the right brake was yanked from my gloveless hand, nice stable SATS with clean exits, "stall to heli" worked for 2 turns, more SATs and a strong spiral to a standup landing in the tall grass. He was pumped. Too bad about living in Olds AB and all that flat land. Maybe a Paratoys Paramotor is in his future! The 8 SIVers started dropping out of the sky and they did the advanced stuff while I watched in the boat. Calin from Calgary did a full stall and then from stable flight at 200 feet threw his reserve aiming for the shore but the wind didn't drift him so he got wet. Later I was repacking all the wet reserves til 8:30 pm, 4 in total. All elective tosses to see if the reserves would work from up to 5 year old repacks. We had a fantastic clinic: 6 days of SIV action and only one blownout afternoon at 4:30 pm (with all our SIVers safe on the ground by the time it hit). Our estimate is 280 SIV flights from 6000 vertical feet over 7 days (1,680,000 vertical feet or 520,000 meters burned up in a week). One required reserve toss from a spin that went bad on Day One otherwise everyone managed their cravattes and twists with style and will be more equipped to fly "Big Air" in the future in safety. Dan R had such a good time he sent me his Video from his helmet cam for you to view: Dan in Revelstoke during the FlyBC SIV Course. Woodside Report - Since everyone seems to be in Revelstoke or at the Willy, Woodside was pretty lonely the last week so we decided to fly there today. We did three nice little flights, with on the first one some nice smooth lift to stay up. The air was so smooth later so Johannes did a nice sled-ride on the gangster, landing at the ranch in perfect conditions - wouter and johannes . Golden Report - Nicole said the forecast was not so good so only some tandems were flying today early. A few people are already logging flights and a mini-race for first place is going between Al, Nicole and Norm so far.
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Revelstoke Report - we had an awesome day again up til 4 pm when the gust front hit. | Pilots were launching early after taking the Gondola up, tons of Pemby folks and Interior pilots joined our crew and there were 40 gliders in the sky at once. Good soaring conditions before noon and Pavan top-landed to drive shuttles from the lift before heading out to show off his stunts. He was the last one to land in light winds, as it went from calm to +30 kph in the LZ. A free-flier had his reserve fall out from his harness as he launched and he had the good sense to do a 180 and crash/top-land as it fell out. No injuries. Check your pins before you launch! Our 12 SIV'ers were doing great and were coming out over the lake at 7200 feet with 6000 vertical so in 2 flights they accomplished an entire set of maneuvers. Right up to full stall and SATs in 2 flights. I talked Louise and Mark F in from 3300 meters as they were initially unaware of the strong South conditions on the deck, as it was north higher until about 100 meters AGL. Whitecaps on the lake, turbulent sheer layers but they both landed safely. A few others weren't on frequency and landed in the marsh north of the RC field (now known as Norm's Swamp). One "un-named unfortunate pilot" didn't believe the reports and launched and ventured north to Revelstoke town and crashed hard. A local first-aid attendant saw the crash and called 911 and used the pilots radio to call us. Our van was on top of the mountain so we were stranded but the paramedics attended to the pilot and last report he was being transported to Kamloops with a broken leg, broken wrist and other stable fractures. We were in the campground discussing the day when trees started falling due to the wind in the property next door. Huge trees were across the main road and we were rerouted when we went into town for dinner. The power was out for a number of hours as Hydro repaired lines in our area. This was a huge gust front and very damaging to property in the aftermath of the storm. Golden Report - the same gust front conditions occured in Golden and pilots were landing heavily in and out of the LZ. Broken HGs littered the LZ and a few swamp landings occured. Hammer did a 50 km out and return, no other distances reported yet.
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Revelstoke Report - wow! are we having fun or what?? | 
The CU over launch started early today - photo by JPR 14 SIV'ers and about 20 other free fliers showing up today causing a shuttle nightmare but we pulled off 3-4 SIV flights per pilot and tons of free flight action. We started out the day with NE cycles over the back, but the sun generated enough thermal activity to punch through by 10:30 am when the first flights started. Light south to up to 20 k winds in the LZ didn't limit the SIV action all day, as the layer higher up was calm over the "SIV Maneuvering Box". The 2 Daves were getting more and more radical on Day 5, SATs and Heli's to the ground and to top off the action on their last day they decided to toss their reserves over the water. Unfortunately, they did it at the same time on opposite sides of a 1 km long peninsula which took some time to navigate around but Dave Edgar was in waist deep water and Dave Sproule left his gear and swam in to shore to look for his D bag and handle. 
The rescue boat handled two wet gliders and reserves easily even through the weeds and shallow water as Dave and Dave proved last night - photo by JPR Update from earlier in the week: I forgot in the excitement that Wouter pulled off his first D-Bag Drop this week on his 6907 off Jeremy's tandem with a few tangles in the right side causing a cravatte but he fixed it mid-air and had a nice flight. Congratulations.
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Revy Report - another day in beautiful in Revelstoke. Some SIV'ers had 3-4 flights from the top of Mt. Mackenzie (another 24000 vertical feet lost). | 
The view from my "office" today - photo by JPR Great maneuvers from everyone: Andrew and Evelyn are now the SAT Team (Evelyn can SAT either way on her Addict 2 without the SAT posture, Andrew threw down a 10 turn SAT where he was fully over the Zoom with a clean exit). 
We had some unexpected company as this Search & Rescue Buffalo was doing circuits at Revy Airport right through our SIV Box - photo by JPR The only person that got wet today was an "un-named pilot" from Hope flying a Nova Factor who ignored the warnings that it was getting windy around 6 pm as the front came through. He almost made the RC LZ but landed in 3 feet of marshy water with a big wake! We went to town for supplies and were going to take another load up at 6 pm, when the winds picked up. The low must has passed right thru at that time as the winds were changing direction from South to North to West in a matter of 15 minutes.
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Revy SIV Report - a hazy day as the smoke from the Westbank fire is drifting in. Good for SIV but a bit limiting for XC fliers. Ed only got 3.5 hours today while Norm spiralled down at 3 hours. | A new batch of SIV'ers and free fliers with 3 more SIV runs for 39 SIV flights and many other XC flights. Only one wet pilot when Eric pooched full stall and got low. I was trying to get him to fly south to a sandy spit that was closer but he was fixated on making the main LZ when he landed 20 feet short of the beach standing up in the water to keep his gear dry. Thanks to Derek for driving up the free fliers, hope you got paid. Some of the local pilots went up for the 4th SIV flight getting 24000 feet of vertical excitement in one day vs 18000 feet for the others. Most of the pilots are getting the entire maneuver sequence done in 2 flights and enjoying SATs and hard spirals on flight number 3. 
Nice sunset thru the haze while we were SIV'ing - photo by JPR
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Revy Report - the location and facilities are amazing. 6000 vertical feet to burn off each flight! | 
The view from my "office" for the week - photo by JPR Day one of the FlyBC SIV and way too many pilots showed up. We had 13 SIV'ers and another 8 free fliers and students. Irene, Johannes and Luc are having great flights here staying in the air for over an hour each time they launch. 
Some local kayakers were out paddling while we were SIV'ing - photo by JPR Norm, Derek, Ed and others were soaring for over 3 hours heading back and forth to Cartier Peak to the south. Other free fliers were enjoying the thermals in light wind conditions while staying closer to the RC LZ we used to land on (a nice grass strip near the water). 
Cartier Peak from Mount Mackenzie's top launch - photo by JPR We did 3 SIV runs for a total of 35 SIV flights, very busy in the boat managing the maneuvers with only one reserve toss and wet pilot when Bill G wound up his risers 5 times in a botched SAT entry. The FlyBC rescue boat works well as it has a low draft to climb in the front for wet pilots. The new 7.5 horse motor gets me up to 15 kph on the water for fast rescues. Light winds all day with good cycles right til 8 pm. Heavenly conditions!!
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Revelstoke Report - we arrived around 3 pm, to hear of pilots waiting on the hill til then to launch after many hours of cross winds. | Evelyn had a short flight landing back on the slope in turbulent conditions, before Norm and others climbed out to 10,000 feet. Norm eventually landed after 4 hours. Not bad for a first reconn flight! We went up with a full Van at 7 pm to the top of the Gondola where it was coming straight in and everyone was off in 15 minutes. Wouter come out over the lake with 5000 feet of vertical and wasted it quickly with stunts. Everyone else stayed up in the "glass-off" and landed before dark as I arrived at the RC field to retrieve them. 
Colleen and Evelyn soaring at 2300 meters near launch - photo by JPR Campground is nice with a private lake and great facilities. Road up the mountain is fairly smooth but steep. 2200 meter climb in 12 kms.
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Woodside Report - great day for students, tandems and experienced pilots too! New students Kevin and Luc bagged there first three flights in soarable conditions with Kevin climbing to 1100 meters at 10:30 am on flight #2. | A family of five arrived for tandems and we all soared high for 45 minutes, except for Jeremy and Amanda who flew into a sinkhole and landed way too early, so we took her for another flight which Jeremy managed brilliantly taking her on a guided tour of Woodside North. So 6 flights all with great climbs and some acro for my passenger who loved the spirals and SATs! Whenever I turned right she assumed the SAT posture, helping us climb well. There was in inversion layer that once above it you could climb everywhere, the trick was to start climbing early although some climbed out from 315 meters and were able to fly to Harvest to make it to work on time (Martina). Derek had a great 1:20 at Woodside before heading to Bridal and baggng another 3 hours there. 
The view across to Bridal shows the inversion layer - photo by JPR We had three more tandem passengers but it was too windy and we sent them home for another weekend as they live close by. We went to Jack's in Agassiz for dinner after packing up the trailer and saw Rob coming in to land at the High School as he was meeting us for dinner, after flying Bridal for 2 hours. 
Rob setting up over Agassiz - photo by JPR
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Woodside Report - we went up the mountain at 10 am, and it was already gusty and very cold.
I suspect the lapse rate right around launch was very good, cause the cycles had a lot of power yet it wasn't windy on the ground.
We went ground handling at the Ranch as some pilots ventured over to Bridal and got negative flight reports from the unfortunate ones that launched earlier. | You know it is going to be bad when Alan goes fishing and Rob stays home to clean his apartment! Birch Bay Paramotor Report - I am back at Birch Bay for the first "BBQ On The Border" competition this weekend. This will be Whatcom county's first pro comp. with a $10,000 purse brought in some stiff competition from neighboring states. Couldn't not wait to take advantage of the beautiful weather to take the paramotor out for a flight. I spent over an hour above the town and surrounding area last night and I flew until the sun was setting. Here is a picture flying over the bay towards part of Birch Bay - Cheers, Justin 
Justin's view of Birch Bay on his Blackhawk Paramotor - photo by JK
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Bridal Report - a few people were flying and reports were coming in of top-landings to retrieve trucks, someone drove by at 6 pm and said gliders were just maintaining at the Knob. Two gliders were seen at 1800 meters over Archibald.
We decided not to go up Woodside later as it looked lame, but Louise and Ryf flew a nice 1.5 hour glass off flight. | Belated Woodside Report - I was waiting for the pictures from Wouter on Wednesday when he flew over to Harrison Lake, took a picture of the beach and then flew back to Woodside, where he got low behind the South Knoll and had to land near the Pump House on the east dyke. Interesting Landing we heard later!
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Woodside Report - awesome flying, 6 tandems completed for CSC and lots of student flights. Some flights well over launch for the students with nice landing conditions at the Ranch. We ended at 7:30 pm, so much for early dinner! | Bridal reported climbs of 7 m/s causing people to flee to the LZ.
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Woodside Report - we had an awesome day at Woodside, so awesome we didn't need to go to Bridal in the pm. | Steve D and Rex were out and enjoyed some great thermals together, Wouter, Martina and Johannes arrived a bit later and also joined in the fun. Steve and Rex are flying Mojos and were climbing to 1100 meters on every flight, and staying up for a hour plus on two flights, with a shorter flight around 6 pm. 
Rex on the red Mojo3 and Steve on the Yellow Mojo2, over Woodside - photo by JPR Reports from Bridal later had Robin at 1550 meters, Alan had reported in at 1300 meters around 2:45 pm and he was not getting higher at that time so we stayed at Woodside.
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Woodside Report - while it was flyable later in the day, I wasn`t motivated for a sled ride. Wouter reported Vedder was in the "white room" when he drove up there. |
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Woodside Report - socked in and windy most of the day keeping the mosquitoes at bay until dusk, no flying. | Belated Bridal Report from July 11 - A group of pilots hiked up Cheam on Saturday, July 11. Some had not hiked Cheam let alone flown it. The first hikers arrived at 10:30 am at the launch meadows to find perfect S cycles to 15 km/hr. I was the unofficial hike guide so I took on the wind dummy role and just before 11:00 am. The air was smooth and I soared the ridge for about twenty minutes at or slightly above launch height. The thermals picked up in intensity and I began to maintain at least 2400 (300 over), enough to allow an easy flight to Lady Peak where the thermals kept me at the same elevation. Others were now in the air and most found that the saddle between Cheam and Archibald produced some huge climbs, drifting to the north. 
Mike Danilov on his first Cheam Flight - photo by Bill Nikolai I topped out at 2935 meters and began wandering to Archibald topping up there to 2700 m. From here it was an easy glide to Elk Mountain which I arrived at with about 1500 meters. Somewhere enroute I dropped out of the thermic area and I glided all the way back to the Bridal LZ with nary a bump, flight time 1:54. Loving my Mantra M3! This was certainly my best Cheam flight. Thanks to our drivers. Congratulations to all the pilots for their safe launches and wonderful flights. Super way to start the Bridal Falls Festival - Kevin Ault 
Flight Logs from Cheam Flight - photo by Google Earth
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Trike Report - at 7:45 am, I heard a trike fly low and slow over the house so I went out to see Kirril and pals landing at the Ranch. | 
Trikes in the Eagle Ranch LZ - photo by JPR We chatted for a bit and they decribed the air as bumpy and turbulent with little wind at 1500 feet. We were getting eaten by mosquitos so I encouraged them to take off and buzz Bridal before heading back to King George Airpark. As the first trike took off and climbed out a medivac chopper hovered in close to Hwy 7 and landed there to pick up an injured logger as the ambulance closed traffic on Hwy 7. Woodside Report - I had a couple of BFAR Tandems to do at Woodside as several tandem pilots got sick overnight and were not able to come back to fly. So we rushed up the mountain at 10 am in the 'Mog to get Cynthia and Rudy (and several others) an early flight. Rudy was off first on the small Mojo3 with a great launch, followed by Cynthia. I drove down once Rudy landed and I saw Heiko launch as I backed out. I got a call from Mark at 10:20 that he was at the Ranch with the tandems and I said I would be down in 10 minutes and I raced down the mountain, not wanting to slow up BFAR. As I got on the blacktop I came around the last corner onto Harrison Mills flats and I saw parts of accident debris on the road, then a Honda GoldWing lying on the opposite lane all wrecked and a car parked on the right shoulder which I stopped in front of. 
Accident Scene on Lougheed Highway - photo by JPR As I jumped out I saw the motorcycle rider lying facedown next to the barricade and he looked dead. I raced over and saw his arm "twitch" despite it being all smashed up, and I heard his breath "gurgle". There were a few people standing around so I asked for help to roll him into a recovery position to breath and then went to get my First Aid kit from the 'Mog. I talked to a bystander and he said he was following the motorcycle in his Ford Pickup when a semi coming down the hill started to slide and came into the oncoming lane and the Ford was forced to the opposite (left) lane to avoid the semi but the bike hit the side of the semi. The biker was in pretty bad shape but breathing and complaining and swearing because of the pain. His left hand was smashed up and torn open and it looked like several fractures. His left arm was bruised and deformed and obviously fractured. His left eye was swollen shut and he was bleeding from the mouth so I dressed up his hand and secured his arm. Colleen arrived and cleaned out his mouth and found his false teeth on the road all smashed up. We attended to him for 15-20 minutes until the ambulance arrived and helped them into a backboard and onto the ambulance. They closed the highway for the second medivac chopper of the day as "Harv" was to be transferred to a Vancouver Hospital. 
Semi lying south of Lougheed Highway, note dents on rear side caused by the bike and rider I believe - photo by JPR Thanks to Mark, Colleen and Heiko who all ran to the aid of the victims. Heiko was landing short due to wind in Duncan's field and saw the rollover and sprinted to the semi to find the driver was okay and kept things under control there. I always complain when I have to renew my First Aid every 2 years to stay Certiffied as an Instructor/Tandem Pilot, but it comes in handy for car accidents which I seem to have to attend to frequently in our travels. Go take a first aid course if you have a spare day. It blew out fast and pilots at Bridal were landing on speedbar. It was really windy fast at Woodside and after the accident mayhem we went to the Sasquatch Inn for lunch as the day was over for flying.
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Woodside Report - we got a later start flying Woodside today as I had to set up the FlyBC Booth at Bridal for BFAR. But we did not miss much as it was light at launch. We flew 4 student flights and three tandems before heading to Bridal for the party. | Jack and Steve are becoming ``thermal hogs`` as they can`t resist taking a thermal to the top, good work on finding lift today. BFAR was a great success with 15 donated tandems completed. Reports of 41 gliders at once in the air over Bridal. The real success of the day went to 12 hikers who hiked and flew Cheam Peak including our own Mike who climbed to 2400 meters and really enjoyed the flight. Many more are planning to do the hike again Sunday. The party was a blast with solid tunes from ``Head Over Heels`` til midnight, lots of dancers and late night visits with old friends. West Harrison Mills Landing Zone - Al and Nikolai landed at the Harrison Mills West LZ this week, and Al has landed here before. South side of Hwy 7 just before Harrison Bay starts. 
West Harrison Mills LZ - photo by Google Earth
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Woodside Report - we started flying early around 10 am, Steven had a flight to Bill Best's field, then a thermalling flight well above launch before I sent him to the Harrison Mills
Community Centere LZ. Wouter and Johannes joined us later for a few flights before heading to Bridal. Wouter was piloting the XT16 again at Woodside. | Bridal Report - Steven got his first Bridal flight this afternoon soaring Alan`s ridge for 30 minutes before heading out to land. Lots of wings in the air but no one getting particularily high. I drove down to save the retrieve as there was no guarantee it was top-landable by 5 pm. Shotgun Report - Al and Nikolai braved the backroads and flew Lower Shotgun arriving at the new ``Al Airstrip`` in the Squakum area below Sasquatch Mtn. for another 40 kms in the log book. Birch Bay Paramotor Report - I am back at our place in Birch Bay Washington and spent at least an hour flying over the beaches and outdoor patios lining the waterfront on Friday night. I headed out over the bay at around 2000 feet and the view was spectacular. You can see Whiterock in the distace and even farther off, downtown Vancouver. Back over land I had a bald eagle fly by about 75 feet away which really surprised me considering I was flying with a motor. As much as I love mountain flying, there is only one way to stay up in some areas. I love my Blackhawk paramotor! - Cheers, Justin Kyllo
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Woodside Report - Derek started the day off right with a sled-ride at 10 am after driving me back from taking my Van to the shop for brakes. | Later, Wouter and Johannes arrived so Johannes could do some kiting after a 6 year hiatus in Holland. I went to launch around 11:30 with Justin Kyllo, Wouter and Johannes and I wind-dummied on the BoomSport. A new combination of the AvaSport Racer harness and BoomSport Medium made for an interesting flight, good climbs right off launch thrugh 1000 meters. a bit roll-ey in the harness til I adjusted the belly strap, and then smooth sailing for 45 minutes climbing to cloudbase at 1100 meters. Not much wind but too strong for a 10 flight pilot who has been away for 6 years, so Wouter flew the Epsilon down as Johannes drove. Wouter and Johannes regrouped at Eagle Ranch and took the Gradient Bi-Onyx tandem out for a test flight and they too climbed out to 'base for an hour before Johannes flew them down for the approach into the Ranch. 
Wouter and Johannes just off launch - photo by JPR Derek came back after an awesome 8 minute flight at Bridal (too cloudy there), and we all went back up without Justin K, and everyone flew the last flight around 7 pm. Johannes got some ridge soaring in before heading out to land. Wouter, Derek and I top-landed during the flight and I drove down as they flew out to feed the mosquitoes around dusk.
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Woodside Report - it cleared up around 2 pm, as Derek and I were stuck under the Big Blue Van replacing suspension parts to prepare the Van for the Revelstoke trip. No one else was out to fly except Wouter and Johannes but they left before it cleared up. |
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Vancouver Report - a good day for chores inside as it rained hard most of the day, hopefully this rain will cure the inversions layers for BFAR this weekend. |
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Woodside Report - clear until 11 am, then light showers into heavy rain, good for indoor projects from the Job Jar. |
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Woodside Report - another great training day for the students. Jack got 4 more solo flights today for a total of 7 high flights in 2 days! Good in air control and great landings near or in the circle. Steve is now up to 10 flights on his Atis II and loving the thermals. | Heiko and Dan broke through the 30 flight barrier today and have passed their HPAC exams and flown the required number of sites and are signed off. Watch for the 2 new Rush gliders in the sky. We had a great group of 4 tandems today with Heather as tour leader. 
Heather, Kristine, Hailey and Morgan at launch - photo by JPR We were fortunate to have Jeremy, Wouter, Colleen and I available all at once so we could fly them all together. 
Heather and Wouter getting ready to launch - photo by JPR I took Morgan as she was the most frightened but we had a good launch despite her screaming all the way off! And a nice touchdown after another screaming spiral dive into the Eagle Ranch LZ. 
Jim and Morgan spiralling over Duncan's - photo by Cynthia After lunch I took Heiko's friend Michael for a tandem and we were able to soar for 20 minutes (not enough apparently) and we tried to sit on Cynthia's wing as she flew out but missed. Another spiral into the LZ for traffic control. Mount Baker Report - Nine members of the Climb for Prostate team climbed 10800 ft Mt. Baker, beginning from Schreiber Meadows on Friday, July 3. We bivvied at 6500 ft (no tents) and commenced the climb at 4:00 am summiting at 9 am. Kevin's Photo Album From here, six of the team pulled out their wings and launched from the top. Kevin Ault offered to be Wind dummy and glided north towards Glacier Village. A slight NW wind made for a pretty tight glide and Kevin squeaked into the designated LZ with only About 400 ft of elevation. Everyone else launched before my report. Two, Edmond and Ken Hurley (28th flight?!), made it to the main lz. John Arnold made it another smaller field a little closer to Glacier. Don Parmenter landed on the Glacier Creek bed (lots of boulders- not easy on the ankles). Brad Henry flew his first flight on his Ozone Ultralight and realized very quickly that this glider is not made for the 17 km glide so he opted to land on the Skyline Divide Trail and hike out (3 hours). The group was finally reunited at 9:30 pm when the three remaining climbers returned to their vehicles and drove around to Glacier to pick up the pilots. Everyone was quite happy with the adventure, the superb climbing conditions and the comraderie. Good job Team! - Kevin Ault I guess Ken is pretty ready to be signed off now - Jim Scroll to July 1 for an updated Photo Album of Canada Day flights.
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Woodside Report - we had 5 students and one tandem to complete today so it was a bit hectic. | Good progress with new student Jack, who arrived keen at 9:30 am. He was quite good at launching the Mojo3 L on the training hill and was soon "signed-off" to graduate to tandems or solo flights by Colleen. Jack decided solo was the way to go and was in shuttle #2 at 11 am to go flying. Cycles were excellent but some students were a bit too relaxed on their runs and we had a few close calls with sitting down too early. Irene and Jack were launching strong and we flew all day with no outlandings as the winds picked up but not too strong or turbulent. Bev flew her new Buzz after weeks of kiting, welcome back! Good launch, good landing and her harness works. Wouter had a flight on the XT16, good launch straight flight out to Riverside in about 2.5 minutes. 
Russell and Annette soaring on July 4th with Red, White and Blue gliders as Russell sings the American Anthem over the radio - photo by JPR Jack missed the last ride up the hill at 6 pm, and missed the mayhem as Irene fell over while launching and swooped off the north side of launch right into a tree! No way to turn away as she was heading straight north, she put her legs out and hit the trunk right where the branches started and sat on the branches while the glider draped over the tree. No injury to pilot but we had to rope her down. Rob and Wouter helped out with the rescue. We have kept a climbing rope in the Blue Van for over 5 years and this is the first time we have used it. We got the rope up to Irene on a long stick, she secured it over a branch and she rappelled down to terra firma. After some tree pruning the glider was back on launch, sorted out and Irene flew off this time around 7:30 pm landing happily at the Ranch. 
Rob helping Irene down from her perch - photo by Wouter Other than the tree incident the day went fantastic, 5 student flights, some soaring later and dinner and drinks inside hiding from the mosquitoes at the Ranch with friends and family. Shotgun Report - despite hiking to MidGun launch for 20 minutes, Rob and Al and Nicole could not climb out. The day was just too stable and inverted. They landed at LZ2. Bridal Report - Kelly reported her and Gary K logged 45 minutes of "knob soaring", Wouter had a few 8 minute flights trying out his Ozone 6907 acro ship. Many others were out there too.
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Woodside Report - Ann and Robin had their first solo flights this morning.
We waited til 11 am for better launch cycles and had Jan check the air for us first, but the air was a bit bumpy for Robin as she went last. She loved it despite the bumps! | Wouter and I did some tandems later with Misha and Jozef and we had really nice +4.7 m/s thermals which took us over 1000 meters landing at Harvest Market. The last flights around 6 pm, with Jan and Tom checking the air proved it was too gusty for the ladies, so we called the day at that point. We overheard Rob and Russell at Elk deciding which way to head, Rob went back to Bridal and Russell landed around Prest Road while Garry H retrieved him.
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Woodside Report - Rex, Pavan and Robin were out flying today. Robin got her second tandem today and her first kiting sessions despite the 30 degree temps. | Wouter did his first commercial tandem today when we took two guys tandem before 2 pm. Bridal Report - Rex, Pavan and Robin and I went to Bridal as it got lame at Woodside and folks were staying up at Bridal. Kevin reported his first `blow-out`on the Mantra M3 - in a +7 més thermal up high everything `balled up` but it reopened cleanly with little drama. I had a similar thing happen on the Magnum tandem but we were at launch height just entering the bowl when the glider stalled behind us and reopened in a big surge, must be the inversion making it rowdy. Good flights see below. Hi Jim here is my debut flight at Bridal. Length 30.82 km Duration 1 hr 3 min Elev High 796 m Av. Speed 29.1 km/h 
Rex's first Bridal Flight log from iPhone GPS Kit - photo by GPSKit Shotgun Report - Al broke some new ground today, and I don't mean the top-landing :-) Shotgun to Ass Kicker Return Max Elevation 1150 M (inversion) Distance from Launch 100M to land at truck Total projected Track - 87KM Time 3 hours 10 Min. Some sharp thermals and mix of North West and South wind 
Al`s track log for a perfect out & return from Shotgun Lower - photo by Google Earth
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Woodside Report - we started flying around 11 am, as we thought the east winds would have been stronger. Good cycles at 11 am, and Colleen and I did a set of tandems while students Dan and Cynthia had solo flights. Quite a few others flying as we required two shuttle vehicles for the first load. | Colleen's passenger Luc got a bit "ill" during the flight and she headed out after climbing above launch, my passenger Gaetanne loved her ride and we climbed out to 900 meters boating around the mountain before heading out to land at the Ranch. 
Cynthia was waving the Canadian Flag all day - photo by JPR Dan's Album with some great shots of Woodside We kept flying all afternoon and it got a bit windy around 2 pm, but no outlandings or incidents to mar a beautiful Canada Day. I flew a solo flight around 3 pm, and flew into Eric & Liz's BBQ on the Harrison River due north of Mill Road. They hosted a "get-together" with family and neighbours and had country tunes palying on the stereo as I landed. Kevi, Judy, Al and Deb with out paddling the Harrison River after putting in at Harrsion Hot Springs and called me as I launched to announce they would be at Kilby in 45 minutes. When I landed they were just coming by the beach where I landed and came in for a beer and ride to Al's car. 
Dan & Gerry "duking it out" in front of launch - photo by JPR The last tandem I did with Troy was pretty strong around 4 :30 pm, strong gusts at launch and once in the air we were climbing pretty sharply but no vario to record the action. We were getting high at the north cliffs and also at the South Knoll and despite and offer to get picked up at Harvest, I continued flying for 30 minutes before heading out to check out the Ranch landing conditions. It was quite frothy on Harrison Bay, so I expected a rough approach but we had a smooth ride in to a standup landing (well one of us stood up!). I later found out Troy weighed 225 lbs, so we had good penetration and a solid wing in the rough thermals. Wiley flew next, followed by Mike (back from a month in Spain), and then Dan and Cynthia got some soaring in. All landings were smooth and uneventful. Pavan arrived after flying Bridal and reported 2:30 of soaring on the Epsilon he was test flying, although he felt he was a bit light on it. We overheard Alan and others high at Bridal enjoying the day too.
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Woodside Report - Steve and Rex were out today and we were on launch by 11 am, nice soaring for both of them landing at the Ranch. Kevin was out to help me do 2 tandems with Jean and Linda from Harrison Hot Springs. | After we let the students check the air for us, Kevin launched and was soaring after some "thermal hunting" as I got ready. We launched (Jean and I) into a strong cycle and we were soon climbing above launch. The thermal was easy to track and were were soon through 850 meters and the air was very clear. Nice CUs forming on Sasquatch and beyond. Ever mindful of the wind warning for early afternoon, I watched the Harrison Bay for lines. We flew for about 30 minutes over launch and then headed out high, and tried a different approach upwind and along the railway tracks south of the Barn and we were climbing over the forest there. We could have soared that area for another 30 minutes as we climbed steadily. But I saw the wind was picking up at the Ranch so I went back to the Maple Tree and set up the normal approach landing in the circle with a gusty tailwind, but on our feet! We all went back up for one last flight, Kevin taking his new Ozone Mantra M3 out for the first flight. Good launch cycles but as he climbed out fast, it was apparent it would be a bit strong for student flights so we drove down so the guys could kite in the Eagle Ranch LZ. Wouter arrived to repair his wing after he flew into the trees at Bridal a few days ago after suffering an assymetric collapse. I sewed up the wing tip where it caught on a tree just below the stump. It looked good as new when completed and we thought we could get one good flight in before it completely blew out and we raced up to find 40+ kph gusts at launch and no hope to fly so down to the Sasquatch for lunch. We met Al and Rob at the Sasquatch Inn and heard about the flight off the new TopGun Launch at 1100 meters. Al made it to Hwy 7 where he "got his ass handed to him" very strong and gusty" and he suffered a 70% collapse over some trees the pendelum'ed him pretty hard. Another good flight out of Stave Lake area for sure. Popping my M3 Cherry - I had my first flight on my M3 today after doing a tandem for FlyBC. Wind on launch was perfect for reversing and true to reports the glider didn't quite come up all the way on the first try but with a slightly more agressive pull came up very nicely on attempt #2. As I took my three steps down the hill, I could feel the softness in the wingtips but no tucks. The air was "spicey" as the forecast winds began to kick in (approximately 1:30 pm). The thermals were quite strong: 5.6 m/s but again the reports were accurate. The glider cut into the thermals and once banked up just stayed in the core very nicely. The M3 is definitely more talkative than the M3. My harness was pretty twitchy in the gusty air but I've always liked talky gliders. Turning felt similar to the M2, perhaps just slightly less agile but this difference seemed to disappear by the end of the hour long flight. I topped out at just over 1300 m and boated around, trying out the speed bar and noticing how the sink rate didn't change much. Alan reported some wind gusts starting to develop in the Bridal area so I began the flight out to the ranch into wind, arriving over Eagle Ranch with 900 meters to play with - awesome glide! The M3 felt very solid doing wing overs and gentle spirals, no tendency to spin at all. I flew out over the Fraser River and lost some altitude before setting up. The air was very buoyant in places and I cored sink just to get down. The final approach was quite a roller coaster ride and I did get dumped the last five feet. One of Jim's students was trying to kite in the field and he said there were some strong gusts coming through. My timing was just right - I drove Jim and Wouter up so they could enjoy some of this air but alas it was already blown out on top. My first flight was rocknroll but already I'm confident that Ozone has another winner! - Kevin |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports
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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