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FlyBC "Site of the Day July 2015 Archives"
Mother Woodside looks good today, maybe a bit soarable later, as a big front moves in
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| 7-31-15 |
 Agassiz BC Sunny. High 33. UV index 7 or high. We got two rounds of flights in but the weird sinky air convinced me to end the day early. We loaded up the FyBC Caravan of boat, trailers and gear and headed east to Mara Lake late last night, see you in 10 days back at Mother Woodside. 7-30-15
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 32. UV index 8 or very high.
The first round we had light up-cycles and the team got off fast and we had them head to Bill Best's Field north of Mill Road for a change of pace. That field is usually thermic in the back NW corner, but today the entire field was pumping so they had to work to get down and they all did a brilliant job. Back to the Ranch to pick up Denis & a tandem but the tandem did not arrive til 1:30 pm, so we headed straight up. Better cycles now and everyone reversed off quickly again. We repeated this cycle until the tandem arrived and Denis took launch priority this time. Denis had a good thermal flight with Rodney and the students had a nice flight too. We took a lunch break at 3 pm, but Pascal & Lisa were still kiting out at the Training Hill (keeners). We went back up at 4 pm and Lisa was now flying again after a two day hiatus. She was the wind tech on the last flights. We had a set of tandems arrived at 6 pm, and Denis & I took them after I launched the students. Not much lift but I got to fly the used Advance BiBeta 2 we have in stock. It is Yellow top with a red bottom, and has new lines and a 200 second porosity test.
We went back up one more time for the students, hoping for Glassoff but it never happened. The students launched quickly at 830 pm but just got extended sledders.
Matthieu was amazed when he finally got to see me fly. He thought I was just a good driver and guide, can you imagine an instructor who does not fly?
7-29-15
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| Agassiz BC A mix of sun and cloud. Clearing late this morning. High 29. UV index 8 or very high. We had Pascal, Matthieu, John W, Dean B and Lisa and we headed up the mountain early and had to wait for a few cycles but they all had perfect launches and no aborts on round 1. We did a few rounds before noon and Denis took a tandem at noon while I managed the students. The tandem was a bit short as the thermals had not "kicked in yet". We kept flying students until around 3 pm, when it got too windy and thermic . . . but it was good conditions for the last set of three tandems. Al, Derek & Denis took three small persons for a very good ride, getting high on the South Knoll before heading to Harvest Market (just in time for Denis' passenger who almost lost her lunch). After the tandems left we went back up at around 7 pm and the conditions were perfect for the students, just under 20 kph and steady. Jeff S came up and was ou wind tech and he flew off and climbed fast. John, Pascal & Matthieu were the only ones left as Lisa took some time off for kiting and Dean had to head home to Squamish. They took off and were treated to Mother Woodside Glassoff and they climbed high and stayed high until I suggested it might be getting near legal sunset and to head out.
7-28-15
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| Agassiz BC Mainly sunny. High 26. UV index 7 or high. Students Len, Pascal, Lisa, Matthieu, Tommy all flew several times each and some best flights were recorded. The Thompsons from CO and Mexico prior, were here flying on their last day and got some great soaring with Dad, Malcolm & Jack all getting high and heading to Harvest Market.
We were on top at 7 pm and watched Malcolm get parked on the way to the Ranch (but he made it), so we all drove down. Derek had launch before Malcolm and flew home to Agassiz on his new Swift 4 arriving with 280 metres so he soared Green Hill for 20 minutes before landing. Joe C was out and got a nice soaring flight in too!
7-27-15
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|  Agassiz BC Cloudy. 40 percent chance of showers this morning. High 23. UV index 4 or moderate. It was leeside before 10 am, and we got one round in but it was already starting to get very thermic all around Woodside. The students all have around 8 flights each except for new student Mattieu who just started today. We arrived on launch for the first flights but somehow Matthieu had forgotten his wing and harness in the barn, but maybe that was a good thing as it got pretty strong in the air for the others but they all managed the lift nicely. The first tandem flights were flown by Denis & Kevin and they gave very nice ride to their passengers! Kevin was thermalling in front of launch with July as Norm launched and then they all went up high.
I took the students to Mission for a great session in thermic conditions and they did very well til 6 pm. 7-26-15
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|  Agassiz BC Mainly cloudy. 40 percent chance of showers early this morning. Showers at times heavy beginning this morning. Risk of a thunderstorm this afternoon. High 18. UV index 3 or moderate. Special weather statement in effect for: •Fraser Valley - east including Chilliwack •Fraser Valley - west including Abbotsford Brief heavy downpours and small hail likely today. A cool upper trough has descended upon the South Coast early this morning. This unstable weather system will generate local heavy downpours of 10 to 15 mm per hour throughout the day. Isolated thunderstorms producing small (pea sized) hail are also possible later this morning and this afternoon. The public is advised to monitor future forecasts as warnings may be required Please monitor the latest forecasts and warnings from Environment Canada at www.weather.gc.ca. I took a generator up to charge the webcam system and did some pruning a the system moved in around noon and it got very windy. I was able to get all the tools back in the truck just in time to drive down in the heavy rains. It was an indoor day working on giders and cleaning the classroom . . . until around 5:00 pm when Derek called cause he wanted to go flying. The advantage of living at the bottom of Woodside (or in Agassiz) is that you can head up and fly when flyable windows present themselves.
I launched next on the Gin Carerra+ Medium with a SupAir Delight I harness and followed Colleen around the mountain for 20 minutes before heading out. This kit is for sale and available now.
We were packed up just as it started to spit, but Derek & Candace had launched and they were pulling "big ears" to escape the rain. They waited too long after we launched, but they got a flight in too. 7-25-15
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| Agassiz BC Rain ending early this morning then cloudy. 40 percent chance of showers this afternoon. High 20. UV index 3 or moderate. There were some flyable windows throughout the day and not as much rain as we hoped for but the forecast for Sunday looks very wet.  Willi (Golden BC) Report - Conditions looked like rain in Golden too and Facebook Posts are referring to the comp is as #wetwilli. The Golden Forecast looks better after Monday thru the entire week so there should be some great flights logged. 7-24-15
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy. 70 percent chance of showers. High 19. UV index 3 or moderate. But at 730 am, Gaelle arrived as she was denied her flight yesterday due to strong winds and she stayed in Harrison Hot Springs for the night and she really wanted to go tandem. I looked at the webcam and the weatherstation and it looked do-able, so we raced up alone in the Atlas. Good but strongish conditions, 22-28 kph from the SW. It would have been nice to have some ballast or helpers but no one was up yet. We launched and went through a turbulent layer just above launch, then went straight north to the sweet spot and we were at 1100 metres in 4-5 minutes, it was strong but smooth and even the birds were not up yet.
We climbed out on the South Knoll again and it was cold at 1000 metres (should have worn gloves). I tried to penetrate out a few times and it was slow, and I knew the rain was close so I headed to Harvest Market and we arrived with plenty of altitude so we did some spirals. Gaelle liked the spirals!
7-23-15
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| Agassiz BC A mix of sun and cloud. Becoming windy late this morning. High 24. UV index 8 or very high.
As we headed to Harvest Market I could see the windlines in the ripening corn crops and it was windy down there. No GPS but my shadow looked like we were going 80 kph downwind. On the way to Harvest we picked up some good climbs over the flats and used them to assess the wind strength but in the LZ it was not too strong as we had a nice soft touchdown and brought wing down "cobra style" with no drama. After that flight we were grounded with gusts up to 44 kph til dark. Mara Report - Bev reported good conditions at Mara Lake as she went XC to Enderby and crossed the Enderby Gap.
7-22-15
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy. 30 percent chance of showers this morning. Becoming windy this afternoon. High 22. UV index 4 or moderate. We flew 5 student rounds today with Len, Nicola, Dan, Scott T, Jack T & Malcolm T; and everyone got great flights to the Ranch and a few took the scenic Harvest route too. At 2 pm the lift was magical as pilots launched and were still at 1000 metres over the Ranch!
7-21-15
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| Agassiz BC Mainly cloudy. 30 percent chance of showers this afternoon. Becoming windy early this afternoon. High 22. UV index 6 or high. But Dan showed up at 730 am, Nicola was sick in bed and we went up to work on the battery charging on the weather station and it was launchable at 800 am, so Dan few off and landed at the Ranch. We went back up at 9:00 am and he flew again, this time the radio got bumped off channel but he made it out to the Ranch fine. But it was getting windier. Last flight off was at 11 am, and Dan got to soar the South Knoll and flew to Harvest Market for his first mini-XC flight. Bravo!
7-20-15
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| Agassiz BC Mainly sunny. Becoming windy this afternoon. High 27. UV index 7 or high. On to Savona where it was blowing NE, so we flew the Dump Ridge and all the guys did amazing! Kevin had only done a tandem and 1 long solo flight at Woodside the day before and he mastered the Savona Ridge with a perfect launch, flight and cactus-free landing on his feet. Dan & Nicola did equally well with Dan doing his first reverse launch. Dan got above the ridgeline as did Nicola but no top-landings today.
7-19-15
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 32. UV index 7 or high. Nicola, James, Sean & Dan made it there with lots of altitude to burn off. Nicola had to look around for sink as he was climbing during his figure-8s. We went back up in the big van and it overheated, so we had to go down to the bottom to add water and then back to the Ranch for the Atlas. In the time that took we missed the speed wing pilot hit the trees to the NW of launch and fall through the tree canopy to the ground. People on launch called 911 and an ambulance and helicopter were dispatched but the pilot was okay after he landed on a rotten stumpt that cushioned his fall - buy a lottery ticket! When we got back up the winds were 14-16 kph from the SW and Denis & Derek flew off with the tandems and were soaring around nicely. Colleen was down on the ground woring and I launched new student Kevin for his first solo after 2 days of ground handling and he went "up and up and up" all the way to the Ranch at a very slow pace. Colleen skillfully guided him in to the LZ, which took an hour! Very long first flight! One of the tandem passengers hurt their ankle as they failed to run, so we had some mayhem in our field too. We drove down as it got too windy to even fly the last tandem, and it stayed windy til 830 pm when we drove down for the last time.
Jesmond Report - Got a flight in from Jesmond lookout today. Gary and Janice helped Thomas and I get up to take off. Then Gary and Thomas flew back to the cabin on Beaverdam lake. I went up the 97 hwy a bit to 87 mile loop road. Currently stuck here writing emails not getting much luck on the hitching front : )
BC flatlands - Alex R 7-18-15
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| Agassiz BC A mix of sun and cloud. Clearing this morning. High 32. UV index 8 or very high. Then as the day went on the conditions got worse with strongish SE winds. Al & Peter got anxious and launched to the South, but after they left I was able to get Dan off on the Buzz Z4 with a straight cycle. It was until much later around 3 pm that we got inflow cycles which helped with the 4 tandems at that time. Denis, Derek, Colleen & Andre did the last set of tandems and they got really high and yet it was smooth.
Derek & Colleen reported in at 500 metres over Green Hill on their way to dinner at Jack's. If you are wondering why the camera & weather station are down this morning, some B#stards stole the solar panel the night before and we were operating on battery and the old smaller panel for part of the day and the battery finally died last night. Bridal Report - disgusted with conditions at Woodside today, a large group of pilot went to Bridal after 2 pm and Nicole was overheard at 2600 metres having a good flight. Etienne also reported in at 2600 metres freezing cold as he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. He was back at the Ranch trying pod harnesses after that! 7-16-15
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 28. UV index 7 or high. I took Lisa tandem for her first flight and then Pascal at 11 am, while Lisa soloed. Meanwhile Nichola, Dan V also flew solo. Then everyone was solo flying after that until it got too strong around 230 pm, when Derek & I took a couple of Chilliwack Girls tandem and it was "spicy"! Strong climbs to 1100 metres climbing with eagles. I decided to fly to the Cheese Store on McCallum Road but there was not lift along the route do it was Harnest Market instead. You have to skirt the east edge of the CYR to get there or come over from Agassiz Mtn above 1100 feet or you will be in trouble. We waited til 6 pm to go back for the last flight and Colleen launched and went up fast and it was rough to the north. Then she was reporting +5 kph on bar. Hmmm. Too windy for students, and then we saw her approach and it looked wild, and she said at 200 feet it was wild. We waited for some 30 more minutes before driving down and it was still strong on launch. Good day though with 3 student rounds and 3 tandems for me. Nice flying conditions depending on your skills. See below for how well Al did today from Woodside. Leonardo July 2015 scores here with a noteable flight from and back to Woodside by the Hammer!
7-16-15
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| Agassiz BC Mainly sunny. Increasing cloudiness near noon. High 26. UV index 6 or high. It was mostly S to SW winds so we stayed in the circle in the flats and they had awesome progress today. It was very gusty and strong thermal cycles would come through and I watched an eagle try to fly along Kilby Road and it got violently tossed all the way to Duncan's a visual proof of rotor turbulence for the students. We did ground school in the Barn as it got too hot to kite by 2 pm, and I let the students go home early as the winds were peaking at 44 kph on launch and it was not forecast to drop til after midnight. I went to Chilliwack to drop off some shipments and it was very gusty there til dusk. 7-15-15
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| Agassiz BC Mainly sunny. Increasing cloudiness near noon. High 22. UV index 6 or high. Unfortunately we had one student already in the air and he had somehow turned the VOX on and was transmitting his entire flight, so he coud not hear us but our pre-flight briefings on landings kicked in and he had a perfect flight, approach & landing right in the circle. On Denis' report Al took his tandem and landed at the HG LZ, which was also quite rough at treetop height. Winds had picked up to +30 kph from the South. Two remaining visiting pilots also landed with Al and had interesting landings too. We went to the Training Hill in Mission for the balance of the afternoon and it was challenging there but Denham & Cade had fun in the cross winds while we kited at the bottom in nice breezes. 7-14-15
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| Agassiz BC A mix of sun and cloud. High 24. UV index 7 or high. Denis & I did two sets of tandems and we soared on both flights, my last flight took us to Harvest as I watched pilots struggling to get down over Duncan's as it was quite thermic. Harvest was also thermic but nice to land there in strong South winds. New student Nichola logged two flights and got way above launch on flight #2, and he got "to fly around for a while", which is what he asked for earlier. It got too strong after 2 pm, so I sent him home but never called him back as it was windy on top til past 9 pm. Folks that flew Bridal had nice flights but has to work to get high, not as windy there because it was more southerly and Bridal was in the lee. 7-13-15
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| Agassiz BC A few showers ending this morning then cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. Risk of a thunderstorm this afternoon. High 21. UV index 3 or moderate. Norm & Joe C went up at 5 pm and had a nice 90 minute soarfest getting to 1400 metres, too strong to topland for Norm. Paramotor fired up nicely and is ready for the buyer in SK. 7-12-15
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. High 22. UV index 3 or moderate. This was his 7th tandem but his first foot-launched one, as the others were ski launches in CH. He was able to fly the entire flight getting him ready for a solo flight later. Then we spent the afternoon on the training hill on a used Buzz Small and he did rather well! Al arrived hoping for some epic soaring but the forecast was incorrect . . . we had 5-10 kph inflow winds but little thermic activity, so he instead got a sleddy. Al reported good conditions for Nichola so we went up at 530 pm and launched him to follow Colleen out to the Ranch.
He now has 7 tandems and 1 solo on the log book! 7-11-15
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| Agassiz BC Cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. High 21. UV index 3 or moderate. Martin N & Andrei K both went up to Woodside Launch and sat in the drizzle for a bit before driving down. I am glad the forests are getting some much needed rain even if it has to cause some cancellations. Any more hot weather could shut down all forest access roads. Leonardo July 2015 scores here with some big flights from Revelstoke - noted as Mount Mackenzie (not to be confused with Mackenzie in Pemberton) 7-10-15
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| Agassiz BC A mix of sun and cloud. Hazy. Becoming windy late this afternoon. High 25. UV index 7 or high. We arrived to low cloudbase and strongish cycles as we got ready. Denis launched first without needing ballast and he stayed away from the South Knoll fearing cloudsuck, and thermalled around the Construction Area before he landed at Riverside wth the socks going every direction. Tonya launched next with a large passenger and was at cloudbase immediately on Colleen's Magnum 2.
Last off was Bart, who ended up in Rverside too as he was unsure where Harvest is. After everyone went home I was able to get the irrigation system working for watering the training hill & landing circle, just in time for forecasted rains this weekend. 7-9-15
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. Widespread smoke. High 30. UV index 8 or very high. As soon as we got a cycle John W was off on his new Ozone Ultralite23.
We had three solos logged by 2 pm when it started to get windy and thermic, so we had the guys do some kiting in the Eagle Ranch LZ. Bev was there too kiting and gave them some tips. Norm helped me with the broken header pipe on the Atlas, we were driving around with open pipes yesterday and everyone was deaf today too. I thought is was a wornout gasket but the pipe was actually fractured at the weld to the flange, so off with the pipe so we could weld it. It took 2 hours to get the pipe out, rusty bolts that finally had to be grinder removed, and then a quick weld on the bench by Master Welder Norm. We were a bit late getting to Bridal and it was a bit windy on the ground so I suggested to John & Kyle to kite instead of going up. Oddly at launch it was calm and Denis & I had to wait for cycles to get launched. James F had hiked up and was already in the air test flying our Geo4 demo and had climbed back above launch. Norm drove while Bev stayed at the Ranch with the grandkiddies, what a team! Thanks to them we got everything done today. We soared around with James, Tonya on her solo rainbow wing and Denis and I were on tandem with Jocelan & Casey who live in Rosedale on an acreage and we flew over their farm to check out the LZ but it is pretty close to the high tension lines so we headed back to the regular LZ where we had a tight formation landing. Both Casey & Jocelan were pretty sick by the time we had landed. We forgot to give them Gravol on the ride up, and despite nice fat thermals they both were ill.
7-8-15
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. Local smoke. Windy near Hope late this afternoon. High 30. UV index 8 or very high. Low visibility but no flight restrictions like Pemby.
A very productive day with three happy new students, and one other leaving for the foothills of Alberta with a new kit too.
7-7-15
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. Widespread smoke. High 31. UV index 7 or high.
7-6-15
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. Widespread smoke. High 31. UV index 7 or high.
7-5-15
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| Agassiz BC Clearing this morning. Local smoke. Windy this morning. High 36. UV index 8 or very high. I had Zooey & Tien out for a 2 day course before and we did ground school, ground handling and a Mission session but Zooey could not fly off Woodside (too scary she said). So I had planned a Cache Creek day for them and oddly had no tandems booked either and it was a good thing as we awoke to 60 kph winds from the North this morning at the Ranch. IBIS said it would calm down by 3 pm, but Zooey needed a smaller flight and Coyote was the perfect place to do it, despite the 3 hours to get there. I also had new student Fred from Kamloops out this week and he was headed home anyway, so he got to see the site too. We arrived at noon and it was quite gusty and thermic, so we had lunch at the Ashcroft Manor and at 1 pm it was perfect, light NE winds and we were ready to fly. Fred had the most experience and he took off first and had a classic approach and landing at the Manor, no lift at all though. Zooey was up next and after one super slow inflation she was off and flying! Mission accomplished! She had a good approach and landed very softly as the winds got a bit stronger so she landed very slowly. Tien was up next and had a better launch with more speed and he too had a good landing except for being close to the barbwire fence. Zooey was over-heated from the experience, but says she can now fly Woodside! We just need to find her an XXS wing as the EONA S is just too lofty for her 50 kg frame, even wth the heaviest harness we have. I headed home at 3 pm and drove past two fires, one just south of Coyote.
Richard was there too and sent some nice shots from his first flight there after getting signed off.
7-4-15
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 31. UV index 8 or very high. Fred got 2 solo flights in today before it got too windy. The tandems at 1 pm got a good ride as we climbed in strong lift over the South Knoll (really sharp cores!), and we flew out over the Ranch high but stuck with the plan to try the HG LZ in strong south winds . . . it was just as gnarly as the Ranch. I remember back in the day when we flew over the back in the 90s to avoid landing at this LZ, lots of PGers had big frontals caused by rotors off the highway. Colleen & I took the Remy & Brandon to Kilby beach and I got to try out my lake kayak we purchased last fall, very tippy in the big waves caused by the wind and boats. Next trip may be down the Harrison River when I have a free day. It never realy calmed down til dark and then it went strong outflow. 7-3-15
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 32 except 36 near Hope. UV index 8 or very high. We had to wait for cycles as it was SE at launch most of the morning despite a SW forecast, and I took Carl first and we had a nice smooth sled ride with Carl flying the pattern into the Ranch. Tandems are the best way to train a new student, and to build confidence in their instructor as they get to see you fly. Not sure why some instructors don't want to fly in front of their students? We headed back up and this time I launched Carl solo and Colleen guided him into the Ranch from the bottom. He had a nice first flight! I then took Fred tandem and by now we were getting some thermals and we got to do some turns and we climbed back above launch with Fred flying the SORA tandem. We had a nice approach but it was pretty thermic over Duncan's field, too damn dry out here. We had a classic approach but got dumped on final but I was able to arrest the drop wth a strong flare higher up and we touched down softly. We had to wait til 8 pm for Fred's solo and he had an awesome first launch! It was deemed to be too windy for Carl's second flight, as Fred got bounced around on final. But Carl is coming back for lessons next week anyway. 7-2-15
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 32 except 36 near Hope. UV index 8 or very high. They all did really well with perfect winds and nice new Eona gliders, despite the heat. We let them have a break at launch while Denis & I did a set of tandems. Denis picked the right passenger as my passenger sat down on launch, then fell over and stayed glued to the carpet refusing to move as I kited the glider overhead for a minute trying to get them to stand up. Finally they said they could not fly off, too scared. First time in 20 years that this has happened. We took the students to Mission to fly down the training hill there, but it was too cross so we just kited and they learned the reserve launch technique and were doing very well by the end of the day. When we got back to the Ranch after 6 pm it was still howling windy so we sent the students home. 7-1-15
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| Agassiz BC Sunny. High 32. UV index 8 or very high. Denis took the first tandem at 1 pm and climbed out nicely in light winds.
A big thanks to Joe C who drive to bank us some ride money credit! Then Colleen and I took the boys to Kilby Park to swim and hangout like a normal Canada Day while it was whitecapping on Harrison Bay. Bridal Report - Mark C says Bridal was good and he had a personal best flight and caught a non-WCSC member landing at the LZ.
Pemby Report - Some big flights up in Pemby yesterday. Leonardo July 2015 scores here |
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