| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| Follow @flybc |
FlyBC "Site of the Day September 2012 Archive Page"
Europe for September!
|
| 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@ 3000' in knots | Rate °C/1000' | Base in Meters | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
 17°C Call Derek at 604-702-8124 if you need help with guiding or gear while we are away.  FlyBC Mexico Tour Dates have been set for Dec 1 thru March 1 and we are accepting reservations now. We require pre-paid deposits to secure rooms as this is high season in Mexico. Some January dates are already filling up. We sell and dispense ADRENALINE here at FlyBC. The best "over-the-counter cure" for weekday/workday boredom. Click here to find out why FlyBC is your "best and only" choice for paraglider/paramotor training. . At FlyBC all our Instructors are Certified Professionals, trained and registered with the HPAC and USHPA. FlyBC is the only training school that employs two Senior Instructors, including Colleen Varcoe (the first female Senior Instructor/Tandem II pilot in Canada). We offer the best & safest training value in BC! Put your TRUST in FlyBC to train you to your peak performance and achieve your flying dreams today. We support the Pilots who support us, our Eagle Ranch Facility is available at no cost for Pilots that purchase gear and courses from FlyBC - no landing fees or extra charges for over 12 years now. FlyBC is an authorized distributor for Ozone, Gradient, SupAir, Gin, Nova, Paratoys Paramotors, Advance, APCO, Wills Wing and many other Brands. Demo Gear: Ozone Swift 2 XS & Large, SupAir Skypper Pod Harnesses, SCirroco 18 Speed Wing, Addict II Small & XS are here for test flights. Why Ozone over other brands? - Click here to find out why.
|
|  22°C A quick trip to the tourist info office confirmed where to get the cog-wheel train up to Schynige Platte, where you hike 500 meters to launch mostly flat or downhill. The launch was rather stark with a few ribbons and a slippery grass slope to lay out on, and we were ot even convinced this was the launch as there is a row of trees in front of launch one must cross over that could be cut down (Derek?). Colleen launched first as a group of local arrived and suggested she start higher up the hill and they laid out her wing higher up. She had a good launch cycle, but we were definitely in SW lee winds on launch. And she cleared the trees easily. I launched next in a nice cycle and got popped up and dropped just over the tees, but missed them and was soon soaring the ridge heading SW. Anthr 2 gliders launched after me and we were ridge soaring the SW point nicely and some thermals started popping off and I was soon high over the peaks at about 2200 meters. It looked like one could head south down a narrow valley with some nice peaks, or west or east and go XC. Trains everywhere to get home too, but I had to get on the ground to drive towards Frankfurt soon. Colleen had landed earlier and as I had the car keys she had to wait for me at the main LZ (a retired military airstrip), that had RC planes, a car rally, RC race cars, farmers picking up hay . . . oh and skydivers and rescue choppers all working the same area. I headed upwind toward the west lake and had slow penetration that direction. I could see the tandems and some of the glider from our launch landing in ton at the park, in the lee of the big hotels and getting turbulated somewhat on final. I spiralled down an got downwind of the LZ and it was rough and pitchy, I pulled big-ears to drop through the turbulence but I was still going up? The area I was landing is between 2 lakes and it appears that a convergence sets up over town with cool air over both lakes pulling in towards the airstrip which is a perfect trigger point with hot pavement and moving vehicles. One must just wait and be patient, or seek a sinky patch to the NE which I did. The windsock in the LZ was pointing every direction incuding up, but it was SW in the air, so I landed that way softly. Colleen hiked to get the car at the train station as I packed up. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun & the FlyBC Euro Album. We got a SPOT Message & text that Alex & Nicole had an nice 25 km Out & Return flight near St Andre.
|
| 26°C After finding the LZ for Les Crets (SW) site, we drove up the paved road to Les Crets to find it howling windy despite a light SW forecast? We had lunch at the top and waited for the wind to calm down. It never did and in fact the whole north route to Interlaken was very windy until we arrived in the Interlaken valley and saw paragliders soaring and flying with ease. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun & the FlyBC Euro Album. We saw later on FaceBook that Alex & Nicole had an awesome +90 km Out & Return flight near St Andre.
|
| 26°C We ignored Nuvi and started driving uphill and found the launch and some other eager fliers. We had perfect cycles maybe even a bit light but we watched as the first pilot on a Gin BoomX launch and head straight to the castle to thermal up. He was followed by two ladies on a Gin & a Nova glider headed over there too and they were soon thermalling 300 meters over. It was starting to fill in with high cirrus as the next 2 launched and were not getting high, in danger of sinking out even. The site guide says specifically not to bottom land in private fields so we decided not to launch as it looked "iffy". The last 2 to fly did "squeak in" to top-land as the others headed SE where I saw a LZ earlier in the town Nuvi sent us to earlier. We headed north to St. Hilaire but saw no one in the air as it as NW and not flyable there. Later we got a text from Alex & Nicole that they were swimming in the Mediterranean Sea with some "super-stars", so no flying for them. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun & the FlyBC Euro Album. Speed Flier Alert on an Ozone Speed Wing in the Alps!
|
| 24°C After a hand-drawn map, then Google Street View tour we were off to find the launch. We also programmed the Garmin Nuvi to find the top and we found the LZ where some students were gettting picked up and we followed the shuttle back to the clubhouse and school LZ. They were staying on the ground as it picked up with strong NW as forecasted. We found the top of the mountain and there were launches in 4 directions, and it was windy from the NW up there too. Colleen hiked up to the top and found the "table de orientation", a ceramic map/compass device to locate distant mountains. I tried to nap but was interrupted by a Belgian on a motorbike also looking to fly. A swiss tour group also arrived and was looking for a launchable place. We drove down the North side of the mountain on a paved road and found the secret unmarked Ozone Van parked in a cul-de-sac, so we parked and hiked in to see Russ, Dav & Fred testflying the Buzz Z4 protos. They were doing the same maneuvers as the EN Test Labs do in strong thermic conditions, then top-landing to swap gliders and re-test again. This was not easy top landing today as it was blowing 25-30 kph and thermic, but they managed 6 or 7 top-landings each when we were there. Freakin' awesome piloting! The one main obstacle today on launch was a nice hunting dog, that was lost apparently that wanted to get the big flying birds aka paragliders. He went nuts when the guys came in to top-land and/or relaunching getting in the way. One bystander was holding the dog so I assumed it was his dog. The dog got away and was chasing Russ when I collared him and took him back to the bystander. It reminded me of this Pink Panther movie scene: Clouseau: Does your dog bite? Hotel Clerk: No. Clouseau: [bowing down to pet the dog] Nice doggie. [Dog barks and bites Clouseau in the hand] Clouseau: I thought you said your dog did not bite! Hotel Clerk: That is not my dog. When I took the dog back to the man on launch he too said "This is not my dog". We went for lunch and found a cute little shack in a small town 3 kms away and had a nice veggie tort and when we got back to launch the guys were just leaving having done their testing and trimming and were done for the day by 3:30 pm. These test runs are what makes Ozone handling so precise, three different testers all trying out new protos to get the correct feel and safety we expect for our customers. I got to launch to see the Swizz Group had launched and was heading out to land. I got setup and launched in a nice lull, and was soon over the top of Lachens soaring easily but it was still pretty windy (+25 kph) in the air. The other pilot that launched with me was also over the peak and there was a sailplance east of us too and lower soaring the peak. My camera was stashed and the Contour died so no pictures from me today, but Colleen got some good shots. Later we got a text from Alex & Nicole that St. Andre was a "gong show" with a HG crash on launch and 2 PG accidents in strong lee conditions; but everyone was uninjured. They landed after 30 minutes after seeing the mayhem. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun & the FlyBC Euro Album.
|
| 26°C I also looked at the XXLIte in the shop and noticed a few neat things. It is a 2 riser glider with no facility for B-stalls, extremely light with spectra risers and no metal parts at all (not even maillons). We can start ordering a demo next week. I did get a chance to Gourdon myself despite low cloudbase. I opted for the main LZ landing after some light soaring, although others were going for the Kennedy LZ south of Bar-sur-Loup. The Site of the Day was delayed as the Hotel wifi server was blocking my FTP client, and the hotel staff could not fix it, but I am now back online. Oddly, the pictures were downloading to Picasa okay? Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun & the FlyBC Euro Album.
|
| 26°C We made good time as the Italian Toll Roads have tunnels through the mountains and you cruise at 130 kph legally, and as we hit France it started to rain. When we arrived in Gourdon, it looked possible to fly but we stopped for lunch and directions and it OD-ed as we finished lunch, so we could not fly. Good day for sightseeing though as we have never been here before and the 500 year old buildings look pretty cool. Alex and Nicole are nearby in St. Andre but I didn't get a SPOT Message so I suspect they got rained on too. Folks back home need not feel bad for us not flying everyday, as this is a nice holiday with flying possibilities, and there is much to do when the weather is bad. We now know that August 15-Sept 15 is probably the best time to be here in Europe. Click here for more pictures from today's non-flying fun & the FlyBC Euro Album.
|
| 26°C The launch was a different matter as we got to cloudbase at 1500 meters on a dirt road, after driving through a huge ski resort at halfway up, and climbed in the fog past 1980 meters when we found the Bar/Refugio at the top of the ski hill. It looked pretty quiet except there were 10 cars on top and I only saw 2 hunters sitting outside the bar. I checked out the refugio and it looked open and when I went to the Bar it was open too so we went in for steak & wine. Cloudbase never lifted but this is an awesome site, some 75 km OLC flights have been posted from here. It was not going to happen today for us due to clouds. On the way back to Finale Ligure, our destination tonight, the GPS took us near a road that climbed above the town as we were looking for a certain hotel. We passed the location of the hotel and kept driving and it was very scenic. At the top of the road I saw a car parked near a sign and I recognzed it as a launch site near here? We stopped and walked in and found the launch site, but it was blowing down. 271 meters above the beach and good soaring possibilities. We got a text from Nicole that she & Alex flew St Andre today and did some soaring before it OD'ed. We should meet up with them soon in France Click here for more pictures from today's non-flying fun & the FlyBC Euro Album.
|
| 16°C We arrived in a cute little town called Nervi where we spent an hour looking for a hotel that was recommended in our Italy Guide Book. They forgot to mention that it is on the boardwalk on the other side of the train tracks and you can not drive there! We did find it on foot but we didn't want to hike all our gear a few kms to the hotel, so we found another one with parking. Tomorrow on towards Gouron and the secret Ozone labs. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at Col Rodella & from the FlyBC Euro Album.
|
| 18°C Pilots were scrambling to get on the tram and our load up had 85 people, not all pilots but mostly pilots. Pilots were launching off all the different launches but we chose the SW launch under the towers and there were awesome cycles. Colleen laid out in front of me but I was ready first and had a good cycle that lifted me off and over her wing and away to the ridge. Just a bit of ridge soaring at first but a good thermal near the rocks got me up and away and I was soon above the towers. Despite 85 pilots in the air it was orderly thermalling and I saw no close calls. Colleen was busy snapping pictures and lost the good thermals but had a nice 35 minute flight landing at the main LZ, so after a bit I flew out to join her for lunch. There was a steady stream of gliders coming in to land, but I counted about 45 gliders above Col Rodello in the main thermal. Folks that ventured south got nothing, as did the folks that headed NE. You had to stay near the towers to get up. Robbie, from the Dutch group, logged 4 hours just bobbing around that location. After launch, we drove up to Belvedere Ski Hill, and Colleen made me fly. Dave & Carrie Corbin were up there getting ready too and we soared the hill for 20 minutes before I headed out to our Hotel LZ. While it felt nice in the air, the LZ had big gusts blowing through the trees but I had a good landing. I had asked many people here in Europe how to get Canadians more excited about flying, and most responded with "add some trams and a railway system for retrieves". Everywhere here is serviced by paved roads or trams, and all the fields seem to be glider friendly. The Dutch Group drove 14 hours to get here and paid for the hotel all week despite some rainy weather. Another club from Austria arrived with 35 pilots also staying here, so pilots are pretty committed to fly here. And this area is really only flyable in September/October except for sledder in the ski season. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at Col Rodella & from the FlyBC Euro Album. Click here for pictures from the Official Coupe Icare 2012 Album
|
| 13°C Colleen went for a run and I prepped the SOD and we went up the tram just before noon to arrive to strongish cycles, but Colleen was determined to fly today and she had a brilliant launch in the lulls and was climbing out fast. She had +4 kph without bar forward so I prepared too. Unfortunately the lulls were getting far apart and it got so strong I had to sit on the glider for fear of it inflating on its own. Bad idea as I got up and it was a tangled mess. By the time I got the glider sorted it was really windy but the Dutch crew were still launching and doing fine, so I launched in what I thought was a lull and I got plucked straight up and was climbing at a deafening pace. No problem with forward speed and a good thing as I noticed one of my speedbar brummel hooks had come undone during the launch. It was smooth enough to take my hands off to re-attach the hooks, and I was circling above the towers near launch with ease. One other glider was pinned against the toothy mountains to the west and I wanted no part of that action so I stayed out front. Colleen radioed up that the LZ was calm despite a good 30 kph of wind in the air. I could penetrate upwind fine without bar and I was climbing fast under the clouds, but the forecast was for stronger in the afternoon so I only flew for 45 minutes. The Dutch gang went up Belvedere Ski Hill later and had nice flights with some turbulence in places. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at Col Rodella & from the FlyBC Euro Album. Lumby BC Report - Duncan says he is very excited to break the 1:20 mark getting 2000' above Coopers last week. He was shattered to find out someone else did 4 hours the same day :-)
|
| 18°C There are amazing ski resorts every 15-20 kilometers through the passes towards Bassano, all as big as Whistler/Blackcomb and with some very big trams up to the Dolomite peaks. We unfortunately left late after hanging around the hotel doing internet stuff, and arrived at Bassano just as the rain started there, just as 4 Japanese Pilots from Canazei were spiralling down to land and escape the rain. We suspect they had sled rides up to that point as it was calm and cloudy. Some of the Dutch Fliers went so see Otzi who was found after 5500 years in the ice near Bolzano. paraglider meet hot-air ballons @ coupe icare 2012 from Mik Broschart on Vimeo.
|
| 16°C We had to do some laundry and that slowed us up a bit but we got to launch at noon to see a bunch of PGers fumbling around in the high winds. Estimated winds at 25-30 kph, and I found out later they were measuring 27-30 kph with a meter. Launch is at 2400 meters and the valley floor is 1400 meters here for a nice vertical. Grassy slopes to takeoff from but they were slippery after yesterdays rains. I launched just as some clouds were forming out front and it was a struggle to get a clean wing in the gusts but the Swift 2 did a great job staying open as I got plucked off. All the way through the mist I was going up and was soon 400 meters over launch with little forward speed. Time for some speed bar action. There were several other gliders in the air and we were all heading upwind and climbing fast. Some chose to pull "big ears" but I stayed on track south towards the valley and was getting passed by some comp gliders. It looked pretty windy in the clouds above so I did what the comp pilots did: spiralled down to the LZ and a light wind landing near the tram station. Colleen wisely elected to not fly. Later flights from this and other launches looked sketchy, especially a Japanese Pilot that looked very near a reserve toss a few times near the "ski hill" launch after they climbed out and hit some rotor. We picked up Dave Corbin walking down the road as he landed somewhat downwind of the regular LZ and was trying to locate Carrie. We were back in the room showering and finishing emails at 7 pm when the final pilots were landing in the Canazei LZ behind our hotel. After a huge meal and much wine we retired to the room as it started to rain hard, as forecasted . . . just 6 hours late thankfully. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at Col Rodella & from the FlyBC Euro Album. ST HILAIRE NEWS from the Official Ozone Website: Last week was the Coupe Icare at St Hilaire. A big thanks to all of you who came to see us on our original looking stand and a big thank you to the Alixa team who created a wonderful stand that, with the aid of lots of balloons and willing children, got the Ozone logo all over the show!  The Ozone Booth featuring the Ozone XXLite being held up by helium balloons Here is a brief of news of what we were announcing at the show... SLALOM - a new slalom PPG wing is available from today on the PPG order form. TRICKSTER - a new Acro wing will be released later this week. Sizes 17, 18.5 and 20. XXLITE - the revolutionary single surface wing is being released this week. Sizes: 16 and 19. There will be a special demo discount for orders in the first week. R12 - coming in the next few weeks to satisfy all the pilots who want an open class wing with improved flight characteristics. BUZZ Z4 - we expect to have the first sizes launching in November. Hard to improve the Z3, but we think we have! DELTA 2 - we expect to have the first sizes also launching in November. Expect M4 performance in this Sport class wing. MANTRA M5 - we expect to launch early in 2012. It will be a 2 line shark nose design, with comfort and ease of use that M4 pilots will recognize, and significantly increased performance. Think that is about it for now. The design team are quite busy in the next few months! All the best from all the team! More reasons to chose Ozone than ever before. The Euro scene includes many outdoor venues with music playing. The three favourites on the Outdoor Playlist are listed below, I am sure you have heard them before but they are everywhere here. Another Euro Hit suggestion from Claudia
|
| 18°C Instead, we drove thru the Alps from Como Lake to Sondrio, and then on to Canazei avoiding the toll roads. It was very beautiful until we hit the heavy thunderstorms and torrential rains slowing us down considerably. We arrived in to Canazei at 7:00 pm and found a nice chalet with dinner, beds and breakfast for 45 euros. Forecast is not so nice but who knows? Woodside Report - Derek reported more good weather and conditions allowed Dylan to get 5 more flights at Woodside and some nice thermalling too.
|
| 26°C Even the Costume Fliers could not launch due to south winds. Colleen decided to hike up to St. Hilaire de Touvet, and despite the sign saying 2.5 hours up she made it in 1.5 hours. Bravo! I met with Mike Cavanaugh from Ozone (the "boss"), and he was very excited about all the new projects coming out soon: Delta 2 (same glide as the M4), Buzz Z4, M5 (2 Liner with EN-C and shark nose like EnZo), XX Lite, Slalom motor-glider (previewed here at Coupe Icare). Most due out before Feb 2013! We met up with Wouter and his new girlfriend Linde, and we had lunch before departing for the Dolomites in Italy. Long drive through many long tunnels and huge toll charges to get into Italy. We stayed in Lake Como to get off the main tracks and drive the backroads to the Dolomites. If we get a chance we may stop and say hi to George Clooney as it is raining here. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at St. Hilaire & from the FlyBC Euro Album. Woodside Report - good weather and conditions allowed Dylan to get 6 flights at Woodside with Derek coaching him. Another few flights and a few new sites and he can be signed off for HPAC Novice! Tantalus Fly-Off Report - good weather and conditions allowed 20 PG pilots a chance to heli up and paraglide down to Squamish Airport, some spent the night in the Hut too!
|
| 27°C We got to watch Felix & Raoul Rodriguez "d-bag" out of a chopper and do some great acro including the "esphera", tumbling in a complete 3D pattern. Felix was flying the new Ozone Trickster 17 due to be released next week. We were talking to Luc in the Ozone booth and he brought out the XXLite and we got to touch & feel it. 2 risers of spectra rope, no metal connectors and rods in the leading edge and so small! It will fit into a belly pack. New harness is coming to go with the XXLite. The paramotor exhibition was to be from 6-7 pm, but they were still flying after dark doing some fantastic formation flying. No flying for us but we found Wouter & Linde near the end of the show, as they prepare for India & Nepal this winter. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at St. Hilaire & from the FlyBC Euro Album. Good news for "Hike & Fliers" as the Ozone XXLite single surface glider (1.3 kgs) will be available next week in 2 sizes. Click here for the pre-release video that leaked on to YouTube last year.
|
|  24°C We saw an awesome falconry demonstration from "Igles de Leman" with many different birds of prey flying within inches of us! Some wild acro fliers here fying in the strong south conditions on super small wings. I got to fly with them on my Swift 2, but did not match their moves other than a nice SAT. It was very easy to get a ride back up in the free shuttle bus, 35 minutes back to the top and dinner with Colleen. We Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at St. Hilaire & from the FlyBC Euro Album. We bumped in to Hardie & Noriko here too, odd as he now lives in Norway and she is in Vancouver. Small world!
|
| 18°C We woke to perfect light winds and developing CUs over launch. We drove straight up and found a parking spot and we both flew off the North Launch after watching some pretty sketchy takeoffs, including a few tandem crashes! About 200 pilots were in the air at once, so about the same number as all the active pilots in BC & Alberta flying at once in the same airspace. I launched first and climbed out near the ACRO zone but left as I watched guys tumbling close to me, to stay out of their way as instructed by officials. I headed south where it wasn't so lifty but still soarable along the awesome cliff faces. After nearly an hour of soaring the cliffs I headed out with a gaggle of about 20 others over the LZ and it was a unique landing pattern? Colleen landed about the same time and as we packed up a landing official told us to move away as a heli rescue was in progress. Someone had a collapse and reserve toss into a gulley and they were trying to locate them. As we walked to the "funiculaire" to get back up to the car they were coming back to the LZ with the pilot who was apparently unhurt. We watched a bunch more pilots launching off the South Launch but they were getting extended sledders so we drove down after walking through the show booth area and saying hi to Dave & Carrie Corbin (and Claire - 8 months old) who are here for 3 weeks on holidays too. We are expecting to meet up with Russell B and Wouter too over the next few days as many are arriving for the Coupe Icare. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at St. Hilaire & from the FlyBC Euro Album.
|
|  18°C When we arrived we could see it was too windy and over the back but we checked out the LZ where bumped into Alex & Nicole just arriving after great flights in Chamonix. We had lunch and then drove up to the top on a nice paved road to find an amazing community with farms, villages, shops and a tent city that will soon house the exposition and the film fair. There is an amazing "funiculaire" railway that climbs the side of the mountain that was not running but we hope to take it up tomorrow so the car is safe ansd available. We hope to meet up with Ozone, Gradient and BipBip (our new suppliers) to see what is new in stock tomorrow at the Expo Tents. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at St. Hilaire & from the FlyBC Euro Album. Tip: I have added a link to the Site of the Day where you can click on the forecasted temperature and it will bring up the full forecast in a new window.
|
| 24°C We hoped to meet up with Alex & Nicole but they were going "via ferrata" as the weather was skunky. The shuttles were few and full so I followed one shuttle up to launch, on a paved windy road at breakneck speeds thru many mountain villages. At the top there is an elecctric gate to keep out the tourist cars, but I got in before it closed and followed the shuttle up to launch. Once there we found many paragliders and one Hger set up and waiting for some wind other than catabatic. One by one they cleared off launch as Colleen got set up. One tandem had a small crash as the passenger sat down early but got off next time as the annoyed tandem pilot made it clear to keep running in agitated Francais! I thought Colleen was going to be the last off as it spit rain . . . but no, as three more shuttles arrived with tandems and students. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at Annecy & from the FlyBC Euro Album. I drove down to find Colleen ordering a beer in the LZ food stand and it started to rain harder as the last gliders came in to land. We had a nice dinner in downtown Annecy on the canals before heading back to our hotel below the third Saleve Launch, and during the night we had heavy rain as we tried to adjust to the Euro timezone.
|
| 24°C We got lost a few times thanks to Garmin but arrived in Baden-Baden for our first night and trying to get on the local timezone. No flying as it was coudy here. We then left for Geneva the next morning and arrived to see 20 paragliders above Saleve, the local site serviced by tram. We found the tram but it was closed for the night so we booked a room and hope to fly tomorrow as the winds are light and the sky is clear. Alex and Nicole are a few kms away in Annecy and we hope to meet up with them soon. This area is unique as it is on the border of France & Switzerland and the border meanders thru towns and you really never know which country you are in. Everyone seems to speak four languages, and thankfully one of them is English! Go to Google Maps and enter Geneva and you will see the border as it winds thru Geneva. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at Saleve & from the FlyBC Euro Album. Woodside Report September 15-16 - Derek reported good conditions on Saturday as he got Dylan four solo flights and some soaring too. Sunday was outflow til quite late but Derek & Martin N got a few short flights.
|
| 25°C I went for a nice paramotor flight with Jason around 5 pm, and it was thermic over the Valley as we climbed thru 300 meters. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at Woodside & from the FlyBC September Album.
|
| 27°C A weird inversion layer formed in the valley with three distinct bands showing in the haze. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at Woodside & from the FlyBC September Album. I think Gary P got the flight of the day at 15 minutes. I even got to try a new Ozone Swift 2 today with a Gin Speedride Harness - perfect for Euro flying, light and compact. Our last trip up was at 6:30 pm and it was lightly cycling up the launch face so Derek, Daryl & Rainer all got to fly while I drove down. News from Ozone about some new records set in France and the UK. Another good reason to launch with both A's in one hand!
|
| 23°C Alan hiked up Bridal and had to wait til after 2 pm to even get a cycle to launch into as it was blowing over the back. Woodside was better but the American Pilots (Matt & TJ) only got a short flight into the Ranch around the same time. Alan only got 15 minutes at Bridal despite full sunny slopes. We drove back up with Derek, Rainer, Matt, TJ and Rainer flew off on his new Ozone Rush III and made a perfect launch despite this being his second flight of the year. Good thing he quit flying his Gin Bandit as we did a porosity test and it had a 2 second reading on the centre cell (10 seconds is a fail). Matt & TJ drove off as Derek & I drove the trucks down. The new outhouse is still standing - kudos to Matt J & team for the hard work. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at Woodside & from the FlyBC September Album.
|
| 19°C I drove up and when I saw Denis next he was at 1200 meters. By the time I got to launch and assessed conditions he was just north of launch and setting up his first top-landing. He relaunched and climbed out fast out front and I got ready to join him. Alan had just launched Bridal and was near upper Launch and then 20 minutes later I heard him on the ground? I was climbing at +4 m/s almost everywhere, except the sinky areas where I was sinking at - 4 m/s . . . and it was windy! At one point at the north cliffs I was going up and backwards disturbingly fast and the Delta was pitching & rolling on its own accord. After about an hour I made a few attempts at top laanding after seeing Denis back on launch after top landing #2, but it was simply too strong near launch and at one point I was ready to touch down and went back to 1000 meters without a turn. Kevin was calling from home about conditions and he stopped at Bridal but no one was there, so he headed to Woodside and picked me up as I flew to Harvest Market, to get a ride back up to retrieve my truck. I had flown for 1.5 hours and headed over the back at 1100 meters. We drove back down to meet up with Derek and I drove them both back up to fly at 4:45 pm. They launched and were climbing initially but Derek later said he got below launch and stayed there for an hour before climbing out. Total flight time for Derek 2.5 hours. Reports from a second group at Bridal of Igor & Nikolai getting up to Cheam altitudes. Awesome lift today for mid-September! Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at Woodside & from the FlyBC September Album. 12 th FAI Paragliding Europeans Championship 2012 Task 4 was run and Ozone's own Russ Ogden won the day on an EnZo, with nearly the entire field in goal. Flash back to 2001: I remember well being stuck in Chicago at a Print Show twelve years ago as 9/11 unfolded on National TV and the airlines were grounded. We ultimately had to take a leased bus back to Toronto, where we were still not allowed to fly. Even paragliders were banned from flying between September 11 and September 13th.
|
| 16°C 12 th FAI Paragliding Europeans Championship 2012 now running with many Ozone EnZo's and the odd IcePeak6. Quite a contrast from the North American scene where everyone seems to be on an IcePeak this summer.
|
| 19°C
|
| 30°C We then headed to Woodside for Jeff's first two solo flights & Dylan's first two flights on his new Rush III. They were denied a third flight as it got too windy as I soared up to 1100 metres with Dimas. We got a bit far north on the towers and it as a good thing we were loaded up as it was very windy at altitude. The vultures showed us where the lift was and we got even higher. Mark H launched after us and also went too far north but down low and it was a struggle to get out to the Ranch for him, but he got in fine getting lift off the highway. Seeing him having to push hard, we left the mountain and flew out with open trims to make it fine too. Reports back from Bridal of extended sleddies, until Andrew caught something and was able to get up and top-land to retrieve his truck. He must have got the wave of pre-frontal wind that took us up above Woodside too. Sunday looks windy and rainy. FlyBC Tip of the Week: Some may already know this but if you have a glider with split-A's you should launch it using the 2 inner A's only. It will inflate straighter and more controlled every time. Some instructors don't even know this tip, so try it and show them how well your glider launches with this technique. Contrary to some pilot's understanding; spirals, asymmetrics, and B-stalls are not a requirement for HPAC Novice ratings. These are dangerous maneuvers that should be practiced over water with a rescue boat in place. Requirements to achieve the Novice Rating from the HPAC website: Thirty five flights. Ten flights must be above two hundred and fifty meters and ten flights must be soaring flights. Novice Rating written examination Four hours logged solo airtime Flight test, which includes: Proper layout, preflight and packing of equipment. Adherence to multi point harness check procedure Ground handle and launch alone in moderate laminar winds (up to 15 km/h, with visual check) Ground handle and launch alone in light thermic winds (up to 10 km/h, with visual check) Perform smooth consistent inflations from forward and reverse positions with a smooth transition from running to flying Demonstrate two 360° turns in the same direction. * Demonstrate reversing 360° turn. * Demonstrate pitch and roll in level flight. Perform standard aircraft approach with a final leg of at least three seconds. Controlled landing on feet within thirty meter diameter circle. Demonstrate consistent and controlled ground handling skills by kiting the wing for a period of three minutes. Give a verbal analysis of current conditions, possible hazards, areas of caution, flight plan and self-assessment. * These manoeuvres may be done on successive flights. -- A reserve toss and repack seminar is highly recommended.
|
| 29°C Chris showed up at 2 pm, and as he checked the socks on launch he saw Denis top-land to drive Lars rig down (and pick mushrooms too). We arrived on launch to find perfect inflow cycles and Chris was able to complete 4 thermalling flights by 6 pm, getting his required "soaring flights" for HPAC signoff. Mark F & James F did a "hike&fly" up Brandywine Meadows yesterday and I grabbed some photos off FB and it looked thrillingly beautiful. Good Job and glad you like the new Swift. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at Woodside & from the FlyBC September Album.
|
| 29°C It was a chore day with repairs to the Suburban, prepping it for the Mexico Trip and doing some suspension work. Chris P called to see if it was flyable and another look at the IBIS WX Viewer showed it would swing SW in the late afternoon, so I said to come out and try. Derek also called that he was off work and could come at 5 pm. We headed up the mountain at 5:30 pm, and Derek was soon in the air and climbing up to 1000 meters to the North. Chris launched and was soaring out front over the clearcuts and managed a 35 minute flight landing at the Ranch. I raced down to retrieve him as Derek played over launch. We were back on top to the same beautiful cycles blowing in and Chris launched again and had some more soaring, again landing at the Ranch. Derek was reporting it was still blowing in at 6:30 pm, so back for another flight for Chris at 6:45 pm. This time it was starting to blow down with the odd up-cycle and Chris reverse launched and flew out with Derek to land at the ProCircle. I didn't hold out much hope for today, but it was very productive for Chris - 3 more solos . . . and for Derek - another 2 hours of soaring. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at Woodside & from the FlyBC September Album.
|
| 26°C Robin, Matt J, Martin N, Jeremy and I went up to launch and there were nice cycles. The inversion and haze were very visible. Robin launched first and wasn't going up very fast, nor did Matt J. Oddly, Martin N on the Element loaner seemed to get the best initial climbs. I drove down and by the time I arrived to meet Kevin at the Golf Course to swap wings, Jeremy was landing already. Followed by all the rest with Robin claiming the longest flight of over an hour. First to launch and last to land! Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at Woodside & from the FlyBC September Album. Self-taught ACRO!
|
| 26°C The CU looked very inviting over Cheam.
|
| 21°C Colleen launched first with new student Jan, and they went to the moon right thru the inversion and above just around 1 pm. Nice smooth climbs but with good strength. Derek and Denis were soon out over the clearcuts climbing out too as I got ready. A few solo gliders took off and were scratching around as I launched with Natsuko and we were soon above launch but there was some ridge rule confusion with some solo gliders so I left he only good thermal over launch rather than freak out my passenger with near misses. We climbed again further out and had a 25 minute flight. Oddly, all four passengers bailed on their butts on perfectly smooth landings? Some days are better than others. Then we made an odd side trip after 4 pm and headed to Bridal to fly. Colleen offered me to fly first and she would drive down. I flew for about 1:30 and was about to topland when she announced she was "driving down". Derek & Martin N had just top-landed so all the trucks were retrieved. Nice climbs with +4 m/s lift and light winds. About 10 pilots out today, not many sfor a sunny long weekend. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at Woodside & from the FlyBC September Album.
|
|
| 21°C
| We had one new student, Jeff from Golden, who came to us with 6 high flights off Revy's Mt. Mackenzie. He had 4 really nice solos and about 2 hours of airtime when he left at 5 pm, great day for training! Colleen took Joanne for a soaring tandem just after noon, Derek took Candace for her fourth tandem and they got way above launch. Interesting lift this past week with very strong climbs early in the day. Delvin came up and tested out a Rush III and like it so much he took it home! Meantime, at Bridal Martin N was flying our Element II L and apparently did a low "Sammy" to Elk and back before top-landing to drive Derek's truck down. We now have a used Ozone Delta L for sale in premium shape on our Used & Demo Gear Section. The last flight of the day at Woodside was still strong as Colleen, Cynthia, Jeff and Delvin flew off and climbed high. Some folks were complaining mid-day about conditions here, but it just seemed like spring flying (we just are not used to it in September). Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at Woodside & from the FlyBC September Album.
|
| 22°C It was soarable from noon on, and as the conditions were getting windier we opted for a Harvest run on the second set of tandems and they got a great ride. I went first with Matt and we climbed to 1000 meters right off launch. Denis followed with Mike and they were soon soaring with us over Woodside. The run to Harvest after 20 minutes of soaring was fast and uneventful. We tried to soar Cemetary Hill but only got one beep. Then as we swooped into the LZ with Matt flying, I felt some bumps and we started climbing. Soon we were circling above Cemetary Hill but to the NE, as Denis and Mike came in below us and landed at the Harvest LZ. I think it was at least +3 m/s up but I had no display. We took the thermal halfway to the Esso and decided it was better to land back at the regular LZ for retrieves. We made it back flying fast as we could on the Ozone Magnum 41 and when we got back to the LZ the thermal was gone. Denis never even felt a bump in the same area? We went back up for the last set of tandems but we were denied as it gusted strong. We got a few lulls but they were followed by violent gusts thru the trees so we bailed. The clients will be back this weekend anyway. Click here for more pictures from today's flying fun at Woodside & from the FlyBC September Album. |
FlyBC Paragliding Past Site of the Day Reports click to select the month and year you wish to review.
|
Box 79, Harrison Mills, BC Canada V0M 1L0 Mobile: 604-618-5467 Skype: flybcpg E-Mail: FlyBC E-Mail |