FlyBC's Paragliding Site of the Day May 2019 Archive Page - from the Universe's Largest Paragliding Centre :-)

Date	Site	Forecast	Winds @ 3000' in kilometers	Lapse Rate °C/1000' Cloud Base in Meters	Comments
5-31-19	FlyBC is closed Friday May 31 for errands and mental health recovery after a busy May	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly sunny. High 26. Humidex 28. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Bridal Report - Martin N flew Bridal for 2 hours yesterday reporting that it was not too windy, but it was windy at Chilliwack Airport and at Eagle Ranch most of the day.
5-30-19	FlyBC is closed Thursday May 30 for errands and mental health recovery after a busy May	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly cloudy. Clearing near noon. High 24. Humidex 25. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we were not flying Thursday but it did look flyable til around 2 pm when the inflow kicked in. The road crews are causing big delays as they grind up Hwy 7 preparing to re-paved it. I was stopped by the Bailout Swamp (now a beaver pond) and the water level is dropping fast. Maybe the beavers left and the dam collapsed or maybe it has something to do with the roadwork?
5-29-19	FlyBC is open at 9 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly cloudy. Clearing this afternoon. High 23. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 9	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - Josh was the only student that showed up and got to fly two flights before having to leave for the third round. Conditions were sporty on flight #2 but smooth as silk for the last flight where Rod took Jay for a practice tandem. Report of some mowing and weedwhacking activities on Bridal Lower yesterday by some un-named pilots so it should look very nice for your net flights uo there. We are taking Thursday off and Bev/Norm have left for Lumby so you may have to hike if you want to fly Woodside.
5-28-19	FlyBC is open at 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Clearing this morning. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 24. Humidex 25. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we had to wait til almost 1 pm to get cloudbase to lift enough to fly, but by then it got too strong and gusty. Kevin did get a practice tandem with a CBC cameraman and they had a good landing despite all the exra gear onboard. The students went up at 6 pm to give it another shot but aafter they saw Rod oarked on his EN-C wing they decided to drive down. Apparently it got strong at Pemby too!
5-27-19	FlyBC is open at 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly sunny. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 26. Humidex 27. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside/Bridal Report - Monday looked good but with some strong inflow around 2 pm. And that is what happened! New student Jack was here yesterday for the first of a Two Day Intro Course and we did all the requisite ground handling, training hill and landing briefings and it was time to fly. Rod & Jay were here doing instructional duties and they went tandem first to check the air for Jack and reported back that is was smooth and light winds aloft. Off went Jack for his first launch with a flawless reverse launch! He even got to thermal a bit on the way out to Eagle Ranch. I guided him in on the approach from the top and he had a perfect landing. For Jack's next flight I was in the LZ waiting for him and it was quite a bit windier but the Ozone Atom 3 has a very decent trim speed for the small aspect ratio that it is and Jack made it int the filed landing in the circle with just enough height for an aircraft approach. If we did not go somewhere else the day was done. Either Lil Nic or Bridal, as a group was heading up Bridal at 2:45 pm. We opted for Bridal. I don't often take newbies to Bridal but Jack is a bit exceptional, so off we went. Rod launched first and climbed out and said the air was fine. We had to wait for cycles but Jack had a perfect inflation and launch and was out front soaring. Jack's excellent launch video My plan was to drive down and be in the LZ for Jack but Bev got in front of me in KVA's truck driving so slowly that Rod did the guiding from in-air and then climbed back out after Jack had landed. It was blowing +20 kph from the west but again the Atom3 cut through and Jack had a great landing near the cones. Back to Woodside after 6 pm, where it was still too gusty so we went to the Sasquatch Inn for dinner. Pilot's Advisory: Harvest Market LZ is now officially closed due to a new Brussel Sprout Crop, so plan accordingly. See attached picture for alternatives.
5-26-19	FlyBC is open but Woodside is not lfyable due to outflow	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. 60 percent chance of showers late this afternoon with risk of a thunderstorm. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 25. Humidex 30. UV index 7 or high.	040° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 1200 metres	Woodside Report - we started the day out at 11 am with some great ground handling conditions for Tim & Jack, both first day students. We had light to medium strength SE winds, not at all like the forecasted 30 kph of north wind. By noon these guys were dialed-in with perfect forward launches and even got the "As&Cs" figured out for reverse kiting. And then the winds went squirelly from every directions o not very usable. We had lunch and then headed to Heritage Park with our safety cones. We had light inflow cycles and they both had 5 flights down to the bottom with little drama. When we got back to the Ranch, we were heading out for more kiting and maybe a tow session when the winds gusted through at over 40 kph from the north. More ground school for an hour and then magically the air settled down to 1-20 kph from the east so we kited some more befoe moving on to the training hill to touch up the rough edges. By 6 pm it was clear that we were not going to fly with the changeable winds, but we had a great frst day and these guys are ready to fly.
5-25-19	FlyBC is closed today due to rain	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Periods of rain ending late this afternoon then cloudy with 30 percent chance of showers. High 15. UV index 2 or low.	240° @ 7	-3.0°C (unstable) 600 metres	Woodside Report - we had rain all day so it was a good gardening day.
5-24-19	FlyBC is closed today	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Showers ending late this afternoon then cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers. High 17. UV index 3 or moderate.	240° @ 7	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we were closed Friday due to the rain all day. But here are some rainy day musings: Words from the first HPAC President
5-23-19	FlyBC is open after 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. Becoming sunny this morning. High 26. Humidex 28. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we did one flight for the students at noon, and I took Diane tandem for her first flight off Woodside. It was thermic and windy in the LZ by the time we landed so no more student flights off the top. As I was packing up and parking the Bronco in the barn, I heard rain drops on the tin roof. This is what I saw when I looked north, there was lightning and thunder all up near Sasquatch Resort. We took the students to Heritage Park where they did some flights off the top of the hill and lots of kiting. The big threatening cloud over Dewdney never got to us but I drove through heavy rain on the way home.
5-22-19	FlyBC is open after 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Sunny. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this morning. High 24. Humidex 27. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we were flying students at 10 am. We flew flights with Aiden & Hart while Diane & Brad were on the training hill with Rod & Tony getting "tuned up". Aiden is becoming a "thermalling guru" with some great lift out front on his Ozone Mojo 3. The last flight showed some signs of impending winds as forecasted but they both had nice approaches into the landing circle on the last flight. After we packed up Bev & her gang flew off Woodside and some got high and the reports came back the the LZ was thermic. Warning to east bound pilots: Harvest Market is now plowed up and looks like they may be planting corn. The alternate field is the runway at Peter Irwin's farm at the west toe of Hopyard Hill on the dyke. After our high flights we went to Heritage Park and flew there for hours before it started to rain.
5-21-19	FlyBC is open all day	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Cloudy. High 20. UV index 2 or low.	240° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 900 metres	Woodside Report - we were clouded in until 1 pm, when the temps finally rose above dewpoint levels. We had 2 P-2 students flying off Woodside and 2 P-1 students kiting in the LZ. Colleen took her friend Nadine for a tandem sampling the air at 1 pm. Aiden & Hart are doing well and logged three flights today and they got to thermal on their last two flights. Thanks to Rod & Tony for wrangling the P-1 students all day and guiding the P-2 landings. We had guest visits from Derek & Kevin and they got high above launch despite the hazy inversion. We were done flying by 6:30 pm, but it looked possible to fly til dark. There is no need to push students past their adrenaline level, and the guys looked pretty tired after 3 flights.
5-20-19	FlyBC is cloased today due to rain	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Cloudy. Periods of rain beginning early this morning. Temperature steady near 14. UV index 2 or low.	240° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 900 metres	Woodside Rain Report - we were closed all day due to heavy rain.
5-19-19	FlyBC is open today after 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. High 20. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 1900 metres	Woodside Report - We managed to get Matt one last flight on the Blackhawk 125 Lite Paramotor he purchased to take home to Edmonton, great launching conditions and he flew for about 30 minutes before packing it up to drive home. Hart & Aiden were practicing ground handling before we headed up for some free flights. They have their forward & reserve launches nailed after only two days! They both got two nice lifty flights before it was looking black & gusty over Woodside, so we did a ground school session on Lift Theory & Weather. The new excavation at Harrison Highlands Phase Two is kicking off some good lift now, not turbulent but great practice for beginner thermal pilots. Almost guaranteed to get a low save on the way to Eagle Ranch that can take you back to launch using "Raymont's 45 degree rule".
5-18-19	FlyBC is open today after 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Cloudy. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this morning. High 23. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 1900 metres	Woodside Report - we had a great day with some weird winds on the LZ. New pilots were kiting in NW, SE, S winds until noon and then we went flying. One paramotor flight for Greg and it got kinda windy and bumpy so we did some mountain flights. Bev did a great job with Aiden, Hart & Michael and got them ready for their first solos today! I did two tandems while Colleen, Derek and Andrei helped with a few more tandems too. We flew til 6 pm and probably could have flown some more as we saw Cheryl K coming in from her awesome 2.5 hour flight just as we started dinner. Big Day for those who flew Benny too! We had about 10 pilots who flew from Benny to Woodside and then landing at the Ranch. Tom G had his first big XC from Benny and here is his SPOT Track. Igor had a big flight on his Ozone Zeno from Woodside heading north to Mt Judge Howay and back down Miracle Valley to come back in the Fraser Valley to almost make it back to Woodside (FAI rules did not make it a closed triangle, so Peter S won the day with a shorter triangle that he actually closed on his Ozone Swift 5).
5-17-19	FlyBC is open today after 10 am but it looks too windy to even kite	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Showers ending late this morning then a mix of sun and cloud. High 17. UV index 6 or high.	240° @ 20	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - rain all morning, then gusty SW winds all day til dark. First day off for me since the beginning of May so we went shopping!
5-16-19	FlyBC is open today after 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud with 40 percent chance of showers. Risk of a thunderstorm late this afternoon. High 21. UV index 7 or high.	040° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 1400 metres	Woodside Report - we started at 9 am and Greg & Matt were paramotoring by 10 am. Two good flights each with good launches and landings and the air started to get thermic by 11 am over the west fields as they have just been hayed. We went up the mountain leaving new student Steven on the training hill where he was practicing his forward launches. Matt & Greg flew off with flawless launches and flights into no wind landings. Bev & Norm arrived with Clark & Neumann and they all flew off as I drove down. Norm got some light lift at the South Knoll but it was pretty shaded in. We all went up again at 4 pm and it was gusty on launch, we watched Neumann & then Clark get "plucked" into the air. Smart guys, Derek & Martin stood down as they saw what was coming. Neumann headed north but he had no radio to warn him to stay south. Clark & Neumann got up fast as it was thermic and strong ridge lift. Bev was out over Eagle Ranch and saw the strong winds on the ground and headed back to launch to fly over to Harvest. Unfortunately Clark & Neumann did not hear the radio calls to head to Harvest and spent the next 30 minutes trying to get down in the turbulence. Fortunately they are on rock solid Ozone Ultralite 4 gliders. Clark was over the Ranch but saw Neumann landing back north of Hwy 7 so he went over there to watch and got blown back almost to the Harrison River. Tip of the Day: Do not fly without a radio tuned to 146.415 mhz. We also stood down and drove to pick up the wayward pilots.
5-15-19	FlyBC is open today after 10 am	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Cloudy. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this morning. Fog patches dissipating this morning. High 22. UV index 7 or high.	040° @ 5	-3.0°C (unstable) 800 metres	Woodside Report - we started the day off with a healthy dose of +40 kph NE winds at Eagle Ranch so no way to kite or tow here today. So off to Mission and Cherry Hill for some training hill practive even though these pilots had all flown off Woodside (except Ian the new guy). We arrived to wind over the back at times but we got nice up cycles and about 6 flights each for the five students today. New student Ian did very well for his first kiting day after a rainy ground school day yesterday, and he flew Woodside well for his first solo flight (quite different than the Air Canada A320 he normall flies). After 2 hours on Cherry Hill we headed back to the Ranch for more kiting and after a few hours of high wind reverse kiting, the winds dropped down to towing speed and I went to get the tow rig. By the time I got the Tracker moved the winds went to normal inflow winds in the LZ. After a quick check of the windsock on top, we loaded up the Bus at 3 pm and headed up to find beautiful straight inflow cycles and no wind on Harrison Bay! Everyone had nice flights and despite no landing coach everyone followed the approach to the letter and landed well! James & Kat headed home early leaving Greg, Matt and Bill to paramotor for their first time. Bill has his own unit and Greg & Matt shared my Blackhawk Paramotors 125 Lite unit. Bill had a few duffs but eventually got airborne only to have his throttle jam up in the "off position" as it has a safety lock (we are going to disable that!). And he landed on his knees but no prop or wing damage. Greg and Matt had nice flights with the 125Lite paramotor providing ample thrust for both of these big guys! Derek and Linda went up while we were motoring but the winds were NE on launch so no flights for them. What a busy day but very good progress for everyone!
5-14-19	FlyBC is open ddespite the rain	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Rain. High 20.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we had rain all day but we did some important ground school sessions and did some paramotor weight and balance work in the Barn. New driveshaft in the Bronco for sunny day shuttle missions, and a new Carb too to save gas at the current highway robbery prices at the pump.
5-13-19	FlyBC is open	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Sunny. High 28. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we had a busy day with 4 students. The students that started Saturday with Jacek & Tony as Instructors are continuing and got three flights in today. Conditions were perfect all day and it was a bit bumpy mid-day but not dangerous. We also did some towing with the Paramotor Students and they did very well. Two tows each with no drama. The last flight at 6:30 was Magic Air, floaty and no wind so everyone had nice calm flights and good approaches.
5-12-19	FlyBC is open Friday and also all weekend	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Sunny. High 28. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we had a busy day with 6 students and a tandem too! The students that started Saturday with Jacek & Tony as Instructors did very well at Heritage Park, so it was time to fly. We only got one flight off Woodside for them due to conditions but everyone was smiling at the end of the day! My tandem with Tim went well and we had nice thermic climbs before heading to harvest.
5-11-19	FlyBC is open Sunday but it looks very windy after noon	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly sunny. High 22. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 15	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we only got one flight for Ricardo, Ian C and Greg J as it blew out by noon. But we headed to Mission after a ground school session and lunch and we flew off the Heritage Park Hills for hours before heading down to the flats to kite. Five new students and three existing almost P-2 pilots kited hard all day. When we got back to the Ranch, a foreign pilot that I had taken up and given a site briefing arrived back at the Ranch . . . apparently by boat. He got too far back in the North Bowl and hit the ever-present rotor and had to land on a small beach on the Harrison River, where my neighbour picked him up and brought him back.
5-10-19	FlyBC is open all weekend but it looks very windy	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Sunny. High 26. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we started early because the forecast looked like a windy afternoon but it stayed flyable all day. Grant (newly minted P-2), Ricardo (P-1) and Mark were flying with me and a truckload of other pilots went up with Bev. Bev's group stayed up over the South Knoll for an hour as we arrived. Ricardo was trying the Rush 4 MS as he could not seem to get to the LZ on the EONA the past three flights (really it was the wind not the glider). Mark was flying the Rush 5 L. The first flight around noon was thermic all over the mountain and valley. The last flight at 4 pm was smoother and very lifty too as Ricardo "sky-ed out" on his way out to Eagle Ranch where he landed right in the circle Meanwhile a load of pilots went up Bridal at 4 pm and they enjoyed lots of lift and Kevin got to play on his new Ozone Mantra M7. Kevin got to 2200 metres over Ludwig on his way back to Bridal. Cheam looked good from above too on the tour/cruise of the Bridal Falls side of the Fraser Valley. Kevin got as high as 3000 metres near Upper Bridal launch area on his new ship!
5-9-19	FlyBC is closed today due to outflow forecasted winds, but back Friday and also all weekend	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Partly Cloudy. High 28C. Winds NW at 10 to 15 km/h.	040° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1400 metres	Woodside/Bridal Report - I cancelled the students today due to the outflow forecasts! But Terry B had to do one more tandem before heading back to Vernon, so we waited til 1 pm and after checking the webcam we went up the hill fo find great inflow cycles. Rob H was the tandem meat today and they had a nice thermic flight but Terry wanted to drive back today so he cut the flight short. After that I headed to Bridal to join Willy, Derek and Andrei for a solo flight . . . my first at Bridal in 2 years. Derek launched first and "beamed up" above launch. I followed flying a Swift 4 L and also started climbing fast but I forgot my coat and was wearing a thin hoody Derek lent me and did not want to get too high today (yesterday some folks got to 3000 metres). I topped out at 1700 metres and headed to Gloria where I saw someone in the bowl trying to get up. I was gaining altitude just flying straight and away from the hill. The person I was heading to join went east and I kept heading west and was over Hwy 1 at 2000 metres and it was beeping all the way to Annis Road where I turned back towards launch (rethinking my idea of heading to Chilliwack to shop). I made it back to launch at 1700 metres and it was hard to tell where the headwind was as it kept changing along the route. I saw Andrei topping out over Archibald before heading towards Cheam, but never saw any one else for an hour. Apparently, Brad H was flying with Kevin & Claudia as they all hiked up together. This is Brad's Spot Track, doing laps to Elk & The Butterfly at 2000 metres. It was a blue day with no CU but we were going up everywhere in light winds. Brad took this shot over Cheam area. It was blowing 15-20 kph out of the west in the LZ, but I need to donate a bigger windsock to the WCSC. The one there is a small Ozone sock and it was easier to see the wind in the trees than the sock.
5-8-19	FlyBC is open today and we are doing the last of three days of Tandem Instruction Clinic so come and be "Tandem Meat"	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. High 25. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Instructor Seminar Report - today was the last day of FlyBC's HPAC Instructor/Tandem Course but we only got one flight in due to outflow winds. It was not a problem as we had indoor work in the morning to complete. Conditions were nicely soarable, and James went solo with Martin N to check the air and he got to 1900 metres north of Woodside before heading to Sasquatch. Odlly later in the day when we headed up at 5:30 pm it went completely catabatic despite seeing SW winds down below. The folks flying Bridal got very high and had good launch cycles there. Derek sent me his gloat report after flying. Apparently he got pretty high for 2:47 hours. I am pretty sure he could have flown home to Agassiz? If you keep hearing about the "Butterfly", there it is in the shade as Derek heads east. Nice sunset at the end of the day.
5-7-19	FlyBC is open today and we are doing three days of Tandem Instruction Clinic so come and be "Tandem Meat"	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Sunny. High 26. UV index 8 or very high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Tandem Report - we were Eagle Ranch today for the fifth day of FlyBC's HPAC Instructor/Tandem Course and we had three great rounds of flights after the morning indoor sessions. Most of the Tandem Candidates got three Pilot-in-Command flights, and the rest are going to finish off their five supervised flights on Wednesday. Here is Rod on final with his Magnum 1. As usual on these hot days, the outflow is strong in the morning and by noon it cancels out with inflow and then gets windy by 5 pm fom the SW. Derek had a nice top-landing to clear a tangle on the third round today, nicely avoiding all the tandems on launch. The last flight of the day had most of the tandems soaring together out front before heading out to check the air for Ricardo. Unfortunately the tandem pilots were so well loaded they did not feel any of the wind shear or turbulence that Ricardo go to fly through, but Ricardo is on a super safe SupAir EONA that is well loaded. New student Ricardo is doing well despite having another windy flight late in the day but he made the Ranch just barely with Derek's guidance at the end.
5-6-19	FlyBC is open today and we are doing three days of Tandem Instruction Clinic so come and be "Tandem Meat"	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Sunny. High 23. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - the fourth day of FlyBC's HPAC Instructor/Tandem Course went well with two practice tandem runs with 4 sets of tandems each. New student Ricardo got one short solo flight at 1 pm, and then sat in on the tandem discussions. At 6 pm we went back up for another tandem round and the winds were 15-20 kph on launch and steady and light ripples on Haarrison Bay, so I launched Ricardo. He had a nice forward launch and was heading out and up. He was followed by Kevin, Derek & Brad all on solo wings. As Ricardo got further out he kept climbing to about 1000 metres. I handed him over to Tony in the LZ but there was little forward speed for Ricardo but he was high. After 90 minutes we finally got him down in a field behind the HG LZ with big ears and speed bar. The tandems that took off after him had no trouble penetrating and most landed at Eagle Ranch in light winds after cutting through the windy layer. Big thanks to Freyja for helping guide Ricardo into the alternate LZ after she landed backwards into the HG LZ. The last tandem and the solo guys landed at Harvest Market in light winds too.
5-5-19	FlyBC is open today and the WCSC is having a May Fly-In this weekend at Eagle Ranch so it is going to be busy.	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. High 20. UV index 7 or high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we were doing ground handling in the Ranch until it got too strong and gusty and we knew it would not be good for first flights. Rod was working with Jaquie on the FlyBC Training Hill and she was doing well with her reverse launches. In the interest of safety we headed to Heritage Park with our new Safety Cones warning the public that we were flying, but the winds were too cross so we kited solos and tandems for 3 hours. Later in the day we went back to Woodside and the Instructors all launched to test the air and it was deemed to be too strong as Colleen, Jacek & Derek climbed from 300 metres over the Ranch to Launch altitude in a few minutes. Jacek & Derek headed t Harvest Market and Colleenlanded at the Ranch in nice conditions but it was now too late to launch the students as sunset was creeping up.
5-4-19	FlyBC is open today and the WCSC is having a May Fly-In this weekend at Eagle Ranch so it is going to be busy. May the 4th be with you!	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: A mix of sun and cloud. High 19. UV index 6 or high.	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - we were Eagle Ranch today the second day of FlyBC's HPAC Instructor/Tandem Course and the Instructor Candidates made good progress. The new students they were working with were doing well in fairly strong conditions in the LZ. Scott & Mike did a couple of tandems for us as part of the Recert Process and it was very lifty but then it got windy in the LZ. Unfortunately for two past P-2 Graduates with 50+ flights they got too far upwind of the LZ and encountered rotor (never go past the first or north third of the LZ if it is windy in any LZ). Sean had a small collapse when flying without any pitch control (ie. no brakes) and it turned him to the right and he landed on his butt going up the training hill. No injuries. Thiery was not so lucky, he took a 50% collapse according to his witnesses and did no active weight shift or piloting and the wing turned him in autorotation into the ground. 911 was called and the many Instructors on the ground took over assessing his injuries and he was then attended to by ambulance. Due to tingling in his legs they heli-vac'ed him into VGH where he was found to have a broken sternum and a couple of stable vertebrae fractures and he is recovering well. This is the first time in 20 years we have had to helivac someone out of the Ranch. We suspended flying until the heli departed and then Dennie, Andrei & I flew some tandems to Harvest Market. The WCSC had their Dinosaur Fly-In today and everyone had great late afternoon flights. Later around the campfire a few Dino's were spotted.
5-3-19	FlyBC is closed today for our Annual Instructor's Course	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly cloudy. High 19. UV index 5 or moderate	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - Friday was the start of FlyBC's HPAC Instructor/Tandem Course so there will be many Instructors here to help you get in the air this weekend. We spent the day indoors doing Lesson Plans for new students and experienced instructors took Katie & Mobeen out in the LZ for kiting, and Modeen got his second solo flight in perfect conditions, while I took Katie tandem and we climbed high above launch with several other pilots. Here Rod is doing an Aerodynamics Lesson to the group. We were rewarded with a beautiful evening flight after a long day in the classroom, as it should be.
5-2-19	FlyBC is closed today for errands and an awards ceremony in Vancouver, enjoy the day and call Bev for a shuttle ride	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Mainly cloudy. 30 percent chance of showers this morning. High 17. UV index 5 or moderate	240° @ 10	-3.0°C (unstable) 1000 metres	Woodside Report - it rained most of the day despite a 30% chance of rain forecast. It did not dampen the UBC School of Nursing Centenary Celebration. Colleen was awarded a medal for service! Colleen's Bio and Award
5-1-19	FlyBC is open today it looks like it will get windy early this afternoon so maybe a Mission run after 2 pm	Woodside Forecast Agassiz Forecast: Cloudy. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this morning. High 19. UV index 5 or moderate.	240° @ 12	-3.0°C (unstable) 2900 metres	Woodside Report - we were at Eagle Ranch today at 8 am, but it looked windy after 1 pm (from the SW) . . . so we started flying by 9 am. Just Darryl arrived so we started running laps and the cycles were good at 9 am for reverse launching. This was Darryl's first high flights after a full day of kiting and training hill exercises. He did very well and got three flights in by noon and it started getting windy and bumpy by then. Darryl had his landing perfected and was very close to the circle on the first two flights, but the increased winds on the ground surprised him as he landed short on the property line . . . fortunately there is no corn yet! Glen arrived too late to go flying at Woodside but we hatched a plan to do either Lil Nic or Benny. It was strong in the Fraser Valley so we nixed that Lil Nic plan and headed up Miracle Valley. The gates are open during the day as logging operations are going on at 6 km on Benedict. We got a bit lost and arrived at Lower benny and getting to the new deactivation which has been designed to keep quads and dirtbikes out, a huge wall of rock and debris. On launch we had nice cycles are Jay took off first on his new Swift 4 and he "went to the moon" without a turn he was soon 2000 feet above us and going backwards. He chose not to wear gloves as he thought it would be a sled ride. Mistake No. 1. He spent the better part of an hour on "big ears" and speedbar. He flew out west to Stave Lake and was still going up! Degas went second and after an uncharacteristically scary launch where he got dragged off north in a gust he was also going up but penetrating well. The gusts from the SW were getting stronger as the thermal cycles died off and we saw dark lines on the little lake out front so we headed down before the gates closed. Degas and Jay ended up in Danny's LZ and walked out to the Cascade Falls Parking lot as we left for home. Good radio reception today as we heard Tom & Alex soaring a secret spot on the ocean, it sounded like we ere next to each other despite our crappy Baofengs.