Classic
TC adventure day. The Exploder battled the snowy road
to about the 2km mark then we were a foot. A packed
snow mobile trail made it easy going until the final
turn off. The (almost) waist deep snow could not squash
our determination to parawait. Hallbros reported gust
to 26 mph and a steady 20 mph. After about an hour,
it was time. Denis went first, follwed by myself. However,
my glider was stored poorly, and required a frustrating
ten minutes to sort out. Finally it was time to take
my brother Neil on his first tandem flight. A couple
of aborts later and we were skyward. Bigears was enough
to keep us out of the clouds, and finally a sunset landing
at Harvest West.- always fun landing when you can’t
see the ground. Little Dan banged off the last Deimos
flight of the year, while Patrick choose to hike down.
Dec 9
Sumas
cat
2.0
Chiu was the first in Canada to fly the new U-Turn
Emotion – with his custom Canadian colours:
Aaron, Chiu and I carefully headed up to Sumas for
a flight each off Sumas. Just a small amount of snow
and ice – no problem for the trucks, but a little
icy if you don’t have proper footwear (as Aaron
discovered twice). I launched first, followed by Chiu
and finally Aaron. Patrick showed up in the LZ just
in time to call out the wind direction. A quick drive
back up, and we were surprised to see the second gate
open – this gave Patrick and Aaron and chance
to fly again.
Fun stuff!
Nov 22
Burnaby Mt
++
2.0
Very nice conditions for my newest student Marshall.
Accept for a few close calls with the tree magnets,
he should be flying solo with just a few more hours
of ground school.
PS> I set a new record at BM tonight: the first
ever flight around the trees heading north then south
(on the U-Turn 007). Tried a few heli landings but
it was a little too wild and had to abort at the last
second - fun stuff.
Nov 18
Elk Mt
++
1.8
I had one of my favorite flights today. Marshall,
Little Dan, Andrei, Aaron, and Patrick were all keen
to do some hiking, so I nominated Elk Mt as the site
of the day. A quick 1:45 and we were all on top. We
were treated to a great winter view with light clouds
condensing in front of launch.
The winds were a little too cross (south) for my tandem
attempt, so we waited. Aaron was lined up more into
the wind so he went first, followed by lots of yahoo’s!
Finally a light cycle, and Marshall and I were also
playing in the clouds – an amazing sight. Dan
launched next followed by Andrei. Unfortunately, Andrei
had a small tangle in his trailing edge and had to
head straight out to the LZ. Patrick was the student
with the most experience, so he went last. I asked
Patrick to demonstrate some intermediate maneuvers,
but he was not quite up to the task (probably caused
from too much partying – the Deimos end of the
year party was last night, ending at almost 2am).
Too bad the sun sets so early; it would have been
great to have a second flight off Bridal.
Nov 4
Woodside
cr lt
2.0
Light and cross conditions today. Except for Joe
and Ryan: I, Andrei and Chiu all had solid launches.
One visiting pilot tried to launch with their brake
line knotted, but I was able to stop him just in time
(twenty pilots out today and no one else said anything
– not good.) Later a girl launched with a cravat
and no one stopped her – it took about a minute
for her to correct. Do you know the proper
steps to fix a cravat after take off? Patrick
had to get one last sledder off Woodside, but I had
enough. Chiu, Ryan and I headed up Bridal for some
compass flying.What a great flight, I threw in a low
Death Spiral to cap off the day.
Nov 2
The Chief
cr
2.0
Ivan, Marshall, Aaron and myself enjoyed the hike up
but only Aaron got to fly down -Perfect wind speed wrong
direction (SE). A pretty impressive launch for someone
with less than 100 flights - we just need to find a
way to get Aaron to relax a bit more on launch (only
he was allowed to touch his purple Vitamin! Must be
love?)
Oct 27
Bridal
lt
?
While
Julie and I enjoyed a day without kids (our first in
more than five years), Shane and the crew were having
their own adventures.
They started out at the Vedder Dykes (moderate East
wind) then moved to Bridal. Zenon, Movie Dave (on his
trusty Vitamin), Little Dan, Patrick and Andrei all
enjoyed the smooth fall air. On their second flights,
after trashing Dave’s “truck”, Andrei
had some problems with his second baby spiral but a
quick hands up solved the problem, however his flight
must have been a little too much, cause’ he missed
the LZ and land at his favorite golf course.
Oct 26
Burnaby Mt
++
?
Great
student wind at Burnaby Mountain again. Laura, Zenon,
Little Dan, Jill all logged a little air time tonight.
Oct 14
Bridal
cr
2.2
Great
kiting (east wind) conditions at the Vedder dykes, so
we played there until the wind died down, then off to
Bridal for Graham's and Marshall's first flights. Golfer
Joe did his welcome back flight (uneventful) followed
by Shane and Andrei. Andrei put on a nice acro show
complete with a less than perfect launch, good wing
overs, 360's and a front tuck (his first). Visiting
pilot Marcus had a couple of nice flights. Aaron and
Chiu were last minute no shows.
Oct 13
Sumas
cr
2.2
A
50 minute hike and we were at launch. Dan and Andrei
barely managed to fly, but before Laura could try, the
wind was over the back (until we packed up of course);
then Andrei took us to his secret training hill - lots
of fun.
Oct 12
Burnaby Mt
++
?
I
set a new record for driving from White Rock to BM -
three hours ten minutes - insane! Perfect conditions
for my new student Marshall, Laura, Dan and Jill - we
just needed to start earlier.
Oct 11
Deifenbaker Pk
cr
?
North
West wind today, but Laura and Graham did very well
- both eager to do this first solo flights this weekend.
Oct 8
Saddle, Tiger
Lt
?
The
next day offered light conditions at Saddle (where we
camped), and an opportunity for Aaron to do his first
B-stall. After fixing a flat tire, we decided to go
fly Tiger Mt. The $15 a ride and 45 minute wait encouraged
us to hike up (50 minutes). Some interesting launches
from the locals, and then it was our turn. Nice sled
rides to end our great weekend.
Oct 7
Near Saddle
St
?
We
woke up and it was still flyable, but the wind was gradually
building. After we each had a few more flights, it was
time to go climbing. Some close calls from me when my
foot slipped off its hold, forcing me to hang on with
just one hand. Managed three fun climbs: a 10a, 5.8,
10d.
Oct 6
Near Saddle
++
?
After
a long US boarder crossing (at 6am), we were on our
way. At about 20 minutes from Saddle Mt, we decided
to try a new site, but on the way down I picked the
wrong Hwy (I82 instead of I90). I knew we were lost
when we saw the welcome to Oregon sign!
Time to do a little shopping at REI then head back North
to Mattawa. Some tense moments when Aaron’s low
gas LED came on in the middle of nowhere. Finally we
arrived at launch – perfect conditions. Chiu managed
two flights to earn his Novice rating, and Aaron also
had his fill with 2-3 hours of air time
Sept 23
Woodside Bridal
++
2.2
Strong
conditions at Woodside, but no problem for my boys.
Chiu and Patrick were quick to get high, followed by
Graham and myself on tandem. A few small collapses later
and we were at the clouds. After an hour plus, we all
landed at Harvest West. At Mt Cheam, Aaron was trying
to launch from a new site at 6000’ (way above
the clouds). He looked super high when he first launch,
my next tandem passengers were a little scared to see
someone up so high. Great conditions at Bridal: so Ryan,
Andrei also got to fly. Chiu did his first deep spirals:
his first exit was way off course, but subsequent spirals
were nicely done. Except for the launch potatoes at
Woodside, the day was near perfect.
Sept 22
Whidbey
++
2.0
Great conditions for our intermediate pilots Aaron
and Patrick, each scoring up to six flights, while
Laura and our newest student Ema spent the day kiting.
Some exciting moments when Zenon had a "forced"
side hill landing (report to follow?). Just when we
were packing up the West wind returned just enough
to sqeak off a quick sunset tandem flight with Ema.
Sept 19
Deifenbaker
cr
2.0
Probably
the worst conditions for practicing that I've ever seen,
followed by a huge accident on the freeway adding an
extra hour to get home - however Graham and Laura worked
hard with what wind they had.
Sept 15
Bridal
++
2.2
Amazing
conditions today (once the fog lifted). First flights
were sled rides, but once the sun came out, there was
lots of lift. My tandem (Darrin) and I were at the clouds
in no time flat, then we enjoyed a huge Titanic maneuver.
More Deimosians kept dropping in (Aaron, Matt) and soon
we were all in the air, including Andrei, Layne, Zenon
and Patrick. Lots of great launches and landings some
were a little long and short (business as usual?).
Sept 14
Burnaby Mt
cr
2.2
Another
fun evening at Burnaby Mt – Jill, Laura, Little
Dan and Rushd did great in the strong South conditions.
Sept 11
Woodside, Bridal
cr
2.2
Megel,
with his rather long and exciting launch, showed Kevin,
Stig and I that perhaps Bridal might be a better place
to fly. As it turn out it was just slightly better:
we each managed another tandem flight, but the East
wind prevented any other student flights. Post flight
beers tasted fine, but we all got nervous when the police
drove by (no problems).
Sept 10
Grouse, Burnaby Mt
**
2.2
I
had to meet some one in the city, and hoped to fly Grouse
later, but the meeting went overtime so, off to Burnaby
Mt instead, to help my new student Patrick #2. South
wind at BM so not too productive.
Sept 9
Bridal
cr
2.5
Patrick
went missing on another XC adventure, this time from
Upper launch, while Chiu was the only student to fly
from lower launch. Many thanks to my helpers today!
Sept 8
Bridal
cr
2.5
More
East wind caused us to set a new parawaiting record
– 4 hours! The”brave” pilots that
launched in cross wind: Matt, Chiu and Patrick got high
and stayed high for a few hours, while the us of us
(Samuel, Andrei, Ryan, Owen, Layne, Zenon and myself
waited). Finally it calmed down enough for every one
to fly except Zenon. Andrei, had a close one hitting
the rock hard on the left (Another incident/tip report
pending?).
Sept 7
Burnaby Mt
cr
2.0
A
busy night with my girls: Laura and Jill, and my new
and old boys: Patrick (#2) , Rick, Andrei and Layne.
Sept 6
Bridal
++
2.5
Dreamy
conditions at Bridal today: Zenon flew for more than
an hour climbing to about 1000’ over launch and
had a great landing with minimum input from me (mostly
because I was landing at the same time); Patrick went
XC towards Elk and later hitched a ride back to the
LZ; Andrei managed to get into the air, but struggled
to hit the LZ (incident/ tip report pending) –
a couple of tandem flights for me landing just short
of the LZ both times. The highlight of the day was watching
Kevin’s full frontal trying to top land in South
conditions (at under 100’).
Sept 3
Bridal
cr
2.0
I
almost didn't fly today, but quite a few Deimosians
(Andrei, Tulio, Chiu, and Patrick) and a few tandem
passengers dragged me out to the Valley. To my surprise
there was a slight West wind allowing everyone to launch
easily, accept myself. When it was our turn, the dreaded
East wind arrived as forecasted, however three tries
later I was air bourne. My passenger said that it was
the second best experience of her life: the launch was
nice, the flight super smooth, however the landing was
a little hard. My passenger kept her legs together,
but tripped up trying to run, and twisted her ankle.
Patrick and Chiu each did three flights complete with
lots of baby acro, including a small spiral from Patrick
– fun to watch. Congrats to Patrick: he
just finished the Deimos/HPAC Novice rating!
Sept 2
Bridal
cr
2.0
More
East wind today. It was always a plan of mine to develop
and new East launch on Archibald, so today, Andrei,
Dave and I hiked up, or tried to hike up, to the site,
each taking a different line to determine the best one.
The best line, my line, took me through the trees for
about 25 minutes then I reach a wall of Devil’s
Club (so no choice but to turn around). Later we all
agreed that we should first work on the launch at the
end of the road – maybe 40 hours work at it can
host its first launch. In the end only Dave flew (with
his trusty Vitamin – the only Vitamin available
today).
Sept 1
Bridal Woodside
++
2.5
The
strong East wind was quickly replaced by light West
cycles, six hang gliders and a dozen paragliders. Megel
and Erica went first, and slowly sank into the HG LZ.
Andrei had another fine launch, followed by myself (tandem),
and Patrick and Little Dan (who both hiked up). Dan
was getting quite low, but hooked into a thermal and
climbed to about 3500’. I joined him with a heavy
tandem, but my thermally was a little too fast and my
passenger needed to get him back to terra-firma. Unfortunately,
Andrei had to wait for me to take him to his car (at
Harvest West) and I left my Obsession with him, so he
was about an hour late to a special birthday party –
sorry!
We headed to Bridal for a change of scenery and to
see how Gab’s crew was doing (it was Isabels's
first solo flight and Ryan's 25th). Very smooth conditions
allowed Jill to take her third tandem flight with
me, and Megel and Shane to soar about 500 feet over
for more than an hour. Shane was the hero of the day,
with a few top landings.
Aug 30
Bridal
lt
2.7
Better
conditions today for tandems and solo pilots: Chiu,
after some warm up inflations, soared in light thermals,
while Keo and I followed him. Next Andrei and Tulio
flew a few more times, and I managed a couple more tandems
(AVA and Frank). We raced up with the slim hope that
we could bang off the final tandem with Derek –
but it was a little too late.
Aug 29
Woodside Bridal
lt
2.5
Baked
out conditions today – we drove down from Bridal
to try Woodside – a little better, but eventually
end back up on Bridal. Patrick and Andrei worked hard
on their final Novice maneuvers (asymetricals and wing
over, wing over 360) while I struggled to complete the
last of my tandems. Hopefully the west wind will return
tomorrow.
Aug 26
Whidbey
++
2.9
Little
Dan was ripping it up at Whidbey today, with many interesting
landings and take offs. New students Zenon and Graham
were kiting jedi’s, and ready to fly, but the
solo window for new pilots was only 30 minutes long,
and was used up on my customary introductory tandem
flights. Another great day at Whidbey – we just
need to find a quicker way to cross the boarders without
using up our karma points. My new portable DVD player
helped a lot to pass the time away!
Aug 25
Grouse Mt
ra
2.0
Low
clouds and SE wind killed our chances to fly, however
it was good to see and hang out with my old friends
Trevor and Racer Joe.
Aug 24
Burnaby Mt
cr
2.0
Aaron
Price was the big winner this year: using his "lucky
purple Vitamin", he won both best glide and best
kite, collecting a cool $75 cash, U-Turn Team jacket,
a bottle of fine wine, a set of crystal glasses, and
a skywalk banner..
Other winners include: Gabriel Cote (runner up -
best glide) Dan Shook (Runner up - best kite), Karin
Sandstrom (best female performance), and Andrei Kravchenko
(most effort).
Many thanks to all of the pilots and spectators that
supported this event – a special thanks to Gabby
(of Westcomb) and the crew of 94.5 the Beat. Sadly
only an additional $60 has been applied to the cost
of the Bridal Camera. I plan to hold a silent
auction for a few donated Westcomb products - coming
soon!
Aug 23
Burnaby Mt
++
Tough
conditions for Laura and Graham, but they each managed
a few good flights.
Aug 22
Blackie Spit
++
Perfect
conditions fror my new Solo V student Graham and Rushd.
Unfortunately Rushd had what seemed like a mild heart
attack and stop his training after just two tries.
Aug 21
Woodside and Bridal
++++
2.5
One
of my all time favorite days: my five tandem flights
were all amazing: Chantal went first (quite a big deal
for her since this was the wildest thing see ever tried;
followed by Karli, and amazing high flight and huge
“lets do it” Titanic maneuver starting at
3000’, then as promised Tania and I got to touch
a cloud. The last Woodside flight with Jarome, was planned
to land at Harrison, but we launched about 30 minutes
before the sun broke through the clouds, so we ended
up at Harvest West, but not before a low spiral dive.
Time for ice cream and good bye hugs. Next Andrei and
I headed to Bridal for another acro tandem – Ihor
was kind enough to drive us up. A slightly awkward launch
and we were quickly up at base (about 3500’),
then some more “do I really have to do this”
Titanic maneuvers for Andrei. We finished the night
with Andrei soaring for another half hour and nice spot
landing.
Aug 17
Bridal
++
2.5
Dreamy
conditions today. Andrei had a couple of flights, one
was his highest to date (about 1500' over launch). Rushd,
Laura and I enjoyed some great tandems; Laura and I
climbed almost to upper launch (but she was wearing
shorts, so too cold to stay there). Fun stuff!
Aug 15
Woodside
cr
2.0
Light
conditions at Woodside, slight lee – after a few
flights we headed over to Bridal Falls; but Bridal was
too light to attempt a flight. A flat tire on my rental
truck slowed us down even more. Back to Woodside. Eventually,
Andrei, Patrick, Tim, Sara and lastly Charissa all got
to fly once. Instead of forcing one more tandem for
Keo, I decided to call it a day and head back to my
daughter’s birthday party (Cabrinha is now 3 years
old).
Aug 11
Woodside , Bridal
++
2.5
Some
great launches today, from all of the Deimosians - perfect
conditions. Andrei had his finest forward launch to
date (at Bridal) but missed the LZ target by so much
that he only needed a 9 iron to finish the hole; Chiu
had is best solo flight - flying to upper launch (by
himself) while the rest of rest struggled below. Eventually
I joined him (Chiu) and then guided him on a little
XC trip to below Cheam and back - in the mean time Owen
and Samuel hung out at lower launch or LZ and waited
for us to finally land. More flying stories and food,
and a surprise birthday cake at the Wild Cat . Fun,
Fun, Fun! Layne still a no show – too much alcohol
on Friday is bad, bad, bad.
Aug 10
Woodside, Burnaby
Mt
st
2.5
Chiu had a nice solo flight followed by a tandem
"birthday" flight - we managed to reach
cloud base but a little too mixed up to hang out or
go XC. Glide Ride Joe was out of commission, so TJM
gets the driver of the day award - thanks again Tom.
A great night at Burnaby Mt for our new girls: Laura
had a few attempts from the top, while Jill arrived
a little too late for any long flights.
Patrick was polishing his technique for the upcoming
BMBGC (Aug 24), with many top to bottom flights, while
Layne was a no show.
Aug 6
Makenzie, Meagar
lt bo
2.3
Only
Aaron, Nells, Conny “aka Tonney” and I were
ready a willing to fly today. A great flight for Nells,
this time landing in the center of the LZ followed by
Conney. But on return for more, the Whistler and East
wind arrived. We decided to go check out the Meager
Creek launch (my last visit there was ten years ago).
Unfortunately the conditions were too strong to fly.
Aug 5
Birkenhead, Makenzie
++
2.2
The
day started a little slow but finished with lots of
stories. Little Dan managed his first high flight with
XC off Birkenhead, however he picked a difficult field
to exit from – resulting in going waist deep in
swamp water and us spending more than two hours searching
for him. The other students were practicing during this
time and were more than ready to fly. After I launch
the boys and finished a tandem with Stephen, Zenon finally
returned from his SAR mission. Back up on Makenzie,
more student flights and finally a tandem with Zenon
– too strong for Nells so we left him on launch.
Last flights of the day. Aaron showed us his fastest
vitamin launch ever, while we waited for the sun to
return. Like magic the sun came back and ten minutes
later more straight in cycles. Zenon did his first solo
flight of the weekend, followed by Andre and Nells.
While most pilots were hitting the LZ, Nells had hooked
into some magic lift, and was slowly climbing. Flying
down wind with big ears was enough to bring him back
to terra firma with a big smile. Aaron tried to jump
a ditch to help Nells roll up but ended up waist deep
in swamp water.
Aug 4
Makenzie, Birkenhead
++ cr
2.2
While
we waited for a few more students to arrive, Nells,
Zenon, Matt, Little Dan, Aaron did some practice take
offs. Finally Chiu, Movie Dave and others arrived. Conditions
were a little too strong for everyone to fly, so only
Movie Dave, Andre, Dan, Aaron and myself (with Nells)
flew. We scratched as low as possible and finally landed
at the sand spit, just in time actually. A huge T-storm
arrived minutes later, forcing us in doors – a
good time to do some written tests. After a long dinner,
we headed over to Birkenhead. To our surprise there
were at about 20 people camping there (including J.M.
and Martin).
Aug 3
Burnaby Mt
++
2.4
Great
conditions at BM. Some old friends showed up to say
hi and see if they still could fly, near the end of
the night they could but not before a few tree clippings.
Aug 2
Eagle Bluff
++
2.1
A
quick hike to the launch (1:20), but the wind was a
bit light and mostly cross. Maybe this site was intermediate
a few years ago, but now there are a few 12’ trees
blocking the launch – I therefore needed to inflate
the wing and kite it 35’ right , threw a number
of large boulders and finally off a 30’ cliff.
On one attempt (number 13 or more I think) the wing
decided to unload at the last metre! The wing went off
the edge, and tried to pull me off with it (my boots
barely saved me). Once in the air, I could not find
much lift and had a strong urge to get something to
drink – so I landed on the beach. A couple of
rides later and I was back at the parking lot (thanks
to a cardboard sign).
July 31
Sumas, Bridal
++
2.5
Ivan
and I spent the day together: servicing the Sumas weather
station (some tower climbing involved), configurating
the Bridal Web cam (now on line), then a two hour flight
at Bridal.
July 30
White Rock
++
2.0
Private
lessons for new Solo V student Rushd - he did great
but we ran out of light.
July 29
Bridal and Woodside
st
2.5
While
we waited for the clouds to clear, Ciff, Brenda and
I worked on repairing the Bridal steps. Collene reported
that Jim R. was in the air at Woodside, so enough gardening
and off we went. Nice tandem flights for everyone. Rick
had his longest and best performance, as pilot in command,
but rough conditions above the Tandem LZ was a little
too much for his stomach.
July 28
Woodside and Bridal
bo lt
2.0
First
flights off Woodside were nice, but within 15 minutes
it became advance, and once in the air quite bumpy.
After lunch, Bridal was our site of the day: with Andree
adding three flights to is log book, and Owen, Layne,
Nells, Movie Dave, and Samuel loging in a few more each.
Super fun tandem flights in light conditions - including
some interesting landing for all of us!
July 27
Bridal, Burnaby Mt
++
2.5
A
great first flight for new student Doug (1000' feet
over), unfortunately his truck had some problems, and
the second tandem flight (with Rushd) flight was cancelled.
South wind at BM keep my students challenged all night
long.
July 14
Bridal, Woodside
++
2.2
Lot's
of tandem and solo flights.
July 13
Bridal
++
2.0
Lot's
of flights, and one solo incident (no damage to pilot
or wing) - full report on the forum(s).
July 11
Burnaby Mt
++
2.9
Perfect
conditions for Andrei, Tulio and Patrick. Patrick showed
us how to clip a tree, in just the right way, to avoid
at trip to the hospital or wing doctor.
July 8
Woodside, Bridal
++
2.5
A
slow start to a sleepy sunny morning. First flights
were at Woodside, landing at Harvest West, and then
lunch at the Koffee Kettle. Time to head to Bridal for
Jill’s tandem flight and more BFAR tandems. Rick
was there to help drive and watch the action. Aaron,
Patrick, Little Dan, Matt all had a few flights with
lots of acro shows. Little Dan did his first baby spiral
and titanic – so just a couple more flights for
his Novice rating.
July 7
Bridal
++
2.5
Jonathon
was the big winner today: winning the top BFAR draw
(a Westcomb jacket), winning the Deimos spot landing
comp, and the closest to one hour flight (just seconds
off the mark – winning an Aeros stuff bag). Chiu
had personal longest flight (2+ hours) and did amazingly
well on his first out and return cross country to Cheam
– not bad for 15 flights! Tulio and I had a couple
of great little tandem XC flight (landing at the Bridal
East off ramp).
July 6
Burnaby Mt
cr
?
Private
lessons for Andrei in great conditions. Rick showed
up a little later for some exciting top to bottom flights.
July 4
Bridal
++
2.4
I
had a couple of great tandem flights with new students
Andrei and Tulio (landing at the Bridal East off ramp).
July 2
Vernon, lake Side
cr
?
Attempts
to find Coopers launch (in the dark) failed –
even with Owen’s GPS maps. Both trucks were complaining
of low fuel, and so was my stomach, so we went back
to town to regroup.
Later we tried Mt Vernon. Aaron went first and top landed
(somewhere below), and then he launched again when conditions
were a little stronger. Layne and Chiu joined Aaron
for a nice extended sled rides to our approved LZ directly
below launch. Strong cross conditions now, so Owen and
I drove down. Back to King Eddie for some parawaiting
then started home. In Vernon I discovered a new hill
perfect for a smooth lake side flight. A great way to
end our trip.
July 1
Savona, King Eddie
++
?
We
camped at Savona (dumps) and later flew and kited for
many exciting hours. Aaron was like a kid in a candy
store where everything is free. A little too hot for
Layne however. Next stop was King Eddie. Everyone had
a few flights in light conditions.
June 30
Makenzie
bo
2.5
I
had a hard time sleeping (too excited about the flying
to come I guess). All pilots were more or less on time
at McDonald’s, so we headed up to take off. Slight
East wing and light cycles present. Corrine went first,
followed by Movie Dave – no problems.
Conditions were changing and I warned Karin that she
should be ready for a collapse near take off (which
turned out to be an understatement). A half hour since
the last launch now and strong East wing present. Karin,
brought her wing up, corrected the yaw, and was now
airborne. Thirty seconds later, a huge down draft frontaled
her wing, followed by a quick opening of her reserve
(recently packed at the WCSC reserve clinic). After
we had collect Karin, we took an Adventure ride up to
Miller Creek. However, due to a large wash out, we decided
to turn around about a one kilometer short of take off.
June 27
Bridal
lt
2.5
A
busy day at the office: custom clearing an Aeros order
of zip harnesses and hang gliding parts, then the usual
renovation project (95% done), and the off to Bridal.
Aaron was trying to join us, but his Exploder died (again).
After a little site maintenance (watering the grass
and repairing and cleaning the out house), Pete and
I had a great tandem flight finishing with some baby
acro (Big Bob and friend offered to drive – many
thanks). Alex and I traded wings (Sigma6 for Obsession).
I checked the spec’s both wings have about the
same aspect ratio.
June 23
Woodside
lt
2.4
We
had the whole launch to our selves with perfect student
conditions all day – sadly only Stig could stay
long enough for one flight. Later it pick up just strong
enough for a bunch of us to soar for an hour or so.
June 22
Woodside
ra bo
2.5
We
were determined to fly even though the sky was quite
unsettled.
About a dozen pilots on take off, waiting for the west
wind and dreamy soaring conditions – but it never
happened. Matt went first and spooked us when he got
a 40% asymmetrical (near the hill on the left). I thought
that it was best that I test the air solo (for Zenon
to fly solo later) and found it to be perfectly smooth
all the way to Harvest West LZ. But by the time we got
back to take off, everyone had cleared out, leaving
only strong NW wind (22 mph) and some light rain. Time
to head home too.
June 20
Bridal
++
2.7
A fun day in Hollywood today. First I got to sit
in a real Viper from Battlestar Galactica, then fly
with the famous Amy Beeman from 94.5FM.
Aaron, Dan, Jonathon, Matt, Karin and quite a few
other Deimosians were out today. TJ reported strong
conditions (but I think he was flying a little too
heavy handed). Aaron, self-elected wind dummy, showed
us that conditions were fine. Soon we were all in
the air, but the upper winds kept us just below Archibald.
A little Titanic action for Amy and I, and then back
up with Jonathon’s friend Mark. While waiting
for the pilots to launch, I had the great pleasure
of watering the grass (for the first time ever) using
the Deimos water collection system – I just
need another 75’ of hose and I can water the
lower launch next time. We were hoping for one last
flight, but heard that Karin had spun her Nova Carbon
into the trees. No problems to pilot or wing. As the
crew headed to the Wild Cat, I chassed down and picked
up a missing Vitamin 25 (stolen about two years ago).
June 15
Woodside
lt
2.2
Dustin
and I just launched (tandem), when Dan and Aaron arrived
on take off. While Aaron elected to kite his wing, Dan
raced down to pick us up at Harvest West. Back on launch:
perfect launch conditions, but not enough to soar –
so Aaron launched, followed by Dan. This time Dustin
and I drove down the trucks.
A few more flights from everyone and off to the Wild
Cat for food and drinks. On a sad note Aaron’s
Explorer 95 suffered a serious problem (differential
failure?) and may need to be put down.
June 12
Burnaby Mt
sy
2.5
We
had a great time teaching a dozen new students today
(all Grade 10). Everyone got a little air time, but
only Sean Toohey (later, on his “Attack wing”)
was able to fly high – Sean complained that his
Obsession would not stop flying and had to land near
the road!
Many thanks to Owen and Jonathon for take time to
help me and give some exciting moments to these great
kids.
June 10
Whidbey
ra
2.0
Conditions
were a little too strong for Dan and our latest Solo
V student to fly, so I took a couple of solo flights
–one landing on the beach.
While hiking up, I noticed a couple of large land slides
(left of launch) –our take off is getting a little
smaller.
After the rain and wind stop, we had a lot of fun kiting,
and quick sub, and an extra long discussion with Canada
Customs (due to some car shuffling).
June 3
Bridal
sy
2.6
I recruited Rick, Matt and Dustin for some launch
work (we prepared the ground, then added grass and
hydro seed to the layout area, then started hauling
rocks to the water system). I can’t understand
why the WCSC members have not helped to improve this
site – very frustrating. We still need lots
of rocks for the watering system wall (and 150' +
long hose).
With a high lapse rate, and risk of an afternoon
thunderstorm, I thought that the conditions were going
to overdevelop, but instead they remained fine (with
some weird areas). Dustin did his first flight with
me, while Patrick and Samuel’s family waited
down below. I had the pleasure of flying with Crystal
then Rick. Patrick managed the longest flight (between
two and three hours).
June 2
Bridal
sy
2.5
Our
day started at Valley Helicopters, with a return visit
from my friends at Battlestar Galactic. A smooth flight
up in light conditions, however the north-east wind
was too much to land in (full power alarms were going
off at 20’). After many attempts, our pilot suggested
that we return to base. Instead, I requested that we
check out Upper Bridal. No problem landing there. Later,
Movie Dave went first (solid launch), followed by a
not-so-solid launch from the WCSC Rookie of the year
(Matt). Karin offered to go last which made my launch
with Hollywood Dave very enjoyable and stress free.
In the LZ, the rest of the Deimosians were arriving.
Except for Ryan, Zenon and Layne, everyone else were
intermediate pilots – today should be an easy
one. On take off, our intermediate pilots (Patrick,
Owen, Samuel were enjoying the bubbly air), while Bradley
and I set up for a tandem. With more than 15 pilots
soaring at lower Bridal, there were a few close calls
from a few pilots that were unfamiliar with our ridge
rules (pilots with the ridge on their right –
have the right of way, others MUST give away). Bradley
and I had a great flight, hanging out at the ridge to
the east, then returning to launch. After a few hours,
the launch area, and flying conditions, started to mellow
out: so Ryan and Layne were able to safely fly. We escorted
Ryan for about 15 minutes (tail gated is probably a
better word), and then spiraled down to help guide him,
and later, Layne into the LZ. Ryan’s set up was
a little high, so he discovered the thistles just off
the mowed area. Layne had his softest landing to date
on his new Vitamin38, landing a little short. The heat
must have been a little too much: many pilots forgetting
essential equipment (helmets, radios…). Zenon
arrived, just in time to catch the last flight of the
day. I missed his landing and happy dance (since it
was his first flight). My family arrived just in time
for another great Wild Cat dinner and later camping
and a special showing of the Never Ending Thermal movie
on the Deimos table (how appropriate).
June 1
Burnaby Mt
sy
22
The
ice cube sliding team were training hard today –
which gave us a few challenges, but overall a fun night
on my favorite training hill.
May 26
Deifenbaker park
sy
2.2
Great
conditions for all old and new students - Lot’s
of exciting flights including one reserve deployment!
Zenon plans to submit his report on the Deimos forum.
May 25
Bridal
sy
2.5
Lot’s
of great flights and launches (from Little Dan, Aaron,
Sam, Zenon, and Rick). At the end of the day, I threw
in a little acro show for the boys, while Dan had a
front row seat. A fun and exciting day for all!
May 23
Deifenbaker park
sy
2.9
A
great start for my new students Tyler and Dustin. “Old”
student Rick was banging off launches on the south facing
hill – including a few reverse launches.
May 21
Woodside and Bridal
ps
2.5
After
fixing a flat on the truck, we met Little Dan at Bridal
and headed for Woodside and overcast light conditions.
Launch was pretty quiet. Sam headed for Harvest market,
not finding much lift at launch. Owen had a sketchy
launch after a bit of launch kiting practice, and headed
around the corner to find Sam still scratching back
and forth at about 900ft over Harvest in slightly lifty
conditions. Dan finally appeared over the ridge after
a perfect launch and proceeded to land a ways downrange
after putting landing coach Sam’s (thin) instructions
to the test. Then it was back to Bridal for another
sled ride, in between rain showers, meetings with the
Minster of Environment and wife who gave the picnic
table and water system a cursory inspection, and Tom
reinstalling the windsock. Sam and Owen had another
shot at practicing the art of giving landing guidance
to Dan, who just missed the circle. Then it was up for
one last sled for Owen and Dan as we tested Sam’s
skills at launching us, before deciding to call it a
day due to the increasingly cross conditions and a desire
to get home at a reasonable hour. All in all, a most
enjoyable weekend! Thanks to Art & family for hosting
us and to all those involved
May 20
Kobau
st
3.0
In
Keremeos it was quite windy by 9am, but the sun was
shining. So we enjoyed breakfast graciously prepared
by Art’s mom and did a quick bit of work on the
Deimos truck before sending Spokesman Art to speak with
a number of the locals to arrange landing rights. At
the Cawston launch above Keremeos, Sam and Art squeaked
off in the windy, slightly cross conditions. After watching
them failing to find lift in the warm sun but windy
conditions and Sam experience a bit of venturi in the
adjacent valley, Tom and Owen elected to take the scenic
route down. Next it was off to the highest launch in
the area – Kobau Mountain overlooking Oliver and
Osoyoos at a hair over 6000’ ASL. Well above the
snow line, we hiked the last 3.5km to launch. The view
was spectacular, giving us something to look at while
waiting for winds to drop a bit. Tom volunteered to
be wind dummy, heading out into the up-and-down windy
air. From launch it looked like he spent most of the
time either parked or going straight up or down –
not much normal flying to be had during that flight.
Landing was also a bit tricky as most of the open space
within glide range was covered with vines, fruit trees,
or unpleasant sagebrush. Seeing how Tom made out, the
rest of us elected to hike out, picking up Tom on the
side of the road in Oliver after a very long recovery
drive. We dropped Art off and headed back to Hope for
the night after deciding that Pemberton wasn’t
a good Monday choice.
May 19
Hedley
st
2.6
Saturday
morning, rain greeted Tom, Sam, and Owen, who were happy
to be heading out of town. 10am saw us on time, to the
minute, for our arrival at Hedley to meet Art and spectators
Karyn, Ann, and Mike. We immediately headed up to the
launch above the Hedley church where winds were a bit
cross and already quite healthy. Tom went first from
the upper launch but the rest of us preferred the lower,
more west launch. Sam was followed by Art (who revisited
his “longest launch” kiting down the hill
and out) and lastly Owen. We tried to catch Tom who
sneaked around the next upwind ridge and found some
lift climbing above launch. But while there were bits
of lift here and there, it was still relatively cool
in the valley. Before long we were all in the LZ after
pleasant sled rides, the change of scenery making up
for the short duration; Tom joining us as the wind picked
up.
After lunch at Art’s parent’s place we
grabbed Art’s dad as designated driver and headed
into the hills above Keremeos, arriving at Ripley
launch above Ripley Lake. The road being blocked by
hoards of campers, we took a 10 minute hike to size
up the launch. Conditions looked feasible so we sent
the vehicle down and walked back to launch. The launch
is about 1500ft above the valley floor, looking toward
Oliver, and is approximately the same size as a postage
stamp. Think enough room to spread out a wing with
the lines ending about 6 steps from the cliff edge.
It was covered with flowers, a small shrub growing
near dead center, and a hangglider ramp running down
the hill across the optimal launch path. To top it
off, the winds were now quite cross, due to redirection
by the many small valleys in the area. We waited around
for a while then used wings to cover the undergrowth
to launch first Art then Sam during the lulls. Owen
followed, flying down directly into a rainbow forming
over the LZ – sadly no pot of gold or leprechauns
- probably just as well. Tom joined us shortly after
in the stump filled LZ. Then it was back to Art’s
for dinner and a failed attempt to trounce Art at
Risk.
May 12
Woodside and Bridal
st sy
2.8
Lots
of delays (again or should I say as usual) caused our
huge group to arrive at Woodside with slightly difficult
launch conditions. Gabster must of did a good job on
take off, because everyone got off without too much
trouble. Mark, aka “pool boy”, was first
to land at Harvest (roadside) and complained about collapses
and strong head winds, so I took his advice and move
the LZ further south (now called the “Harness
Dykes”). Patrick aced his landing, but new Solo
V student, Byron, turned a little too slow on final
and just barely cleared the swamp (my wing was not so
lucky). Layne, I heard, got an elevator up just in front
of the ramp, then headed over the back and arrived with
tonnes of height. New Novice student Ryan had a great
landing, despite one aborted take off.
Now it was about 1:30 and time to head over to Bridal
– we could already see lots of pilots above launch.
Once on take off we could see that conditions were too
strong for the new pilots, so I took both Byron then
Ryan on a exciting tandem XC flight (about an hour long
each). Layne was queued for a tandem flight, but conditions
were now too cross to attempt a launch – even
a solo launch (for myself) did not look worthwhile or
safe. Feeling quite tired, I elected to head home and
passed up the usual Wild Cat meal and stories.
May 9
Bridal
++
2.8
Lift was everywhere today – time to give our
advance students (Owen, Aaron, Matt and Samuel) a
taste of cross-country flying. Most of the pilots
made it to Butterfly, with some minor damage control
for Samuel and Owen. After we all made it back to
Bridal LZ, it was time for some baby acro moves for
Owen and Aaron. With the light fading and tummies
rumbling, both Aaron and Owen did their 30th flight
and got their Novice rating, followed by a great meal
at the Wild Cat.
Using their “flexible” work ethic to
support their flying habits, Matt, Aaron, Sam, and
Owen elected to seize the afternoon and head to the
valley with Tom and driver Ryan. Launching in quick
succession, we climbed above Bridal launch. West conditions
were “healthy” due to the remnants of
the previous night’s windstorm. This made tracking
thermals sometimes tricky and for some chunky air.
A couple of other pilots were heading east along the
ridge instead. After seeing them start to climb, Tom
elected to take his flock on an impromptu XC flight.
The going was good, with some bumps in the valleys
along the ridge and easy ridge lift at locations along
the way. Sam had an eye-opening experience with his
Obsession, choosing to head back halfway to Butterfly.
The remainder forged ahead on a very scenic trip.
Owen had a few stressful moments at the foot of Butterfly
due to improper thermal technique, but made it home
safe after being coached back in to ridge lift and
getting some height. Eventually we returned to Bridal
and landed with Aaron completing his first spiral.
All in all, it was a spectacular 21km OR flight and
quite an educational experience for all in terms of
efficient use of available life, dealing with being
out of LZ glide range, and flying in somewhat rough
conditions.
Buoyed by our adventure we headed up for a second
flight, with Tom demonstrating how to get down PDQ
with B-line stalls, spirals, etc, then guiding Owen
through some manoeuvres and Aaron’s big ears
approach. Meanwhile Matt worked the hill, managing
to stay up in the light conditions almost until we
returned to launch.
Aaron and Owen made the last flights of the day,
conditions being too shutdown for Tom to tandem with
Ryan. These last flights of the day were also Aaron’s
and Owen’s Novice graduation flights! Owen completed
his spiral, which sowed the seeds of wanting more.
Then it was off to the Wildcat for the usual excellent
food and revelling in our adventurous afternoon.
May 6
Bridal
ra ps
2.2
Hooked
up with Andre (a visiting pilot) and (Little) Dan at
the Bridal LZ. Even though there was some light rain
we headed up for a flight. Perfect West wind kept both
pilots above take off for about half an hour, but when
the rain stop so did the wind. Before their second flights,
I recruited the boys for an impromptu work party –
time to fix up the water collection system.
Both pilots had great second flights and wanted a little
more. Almost sunny now and a little South wind present.
I felt the “rotor” air in my ears and warned
the boys to check their gliders carefully. Advance pilot
Andre had some difficulty keep the wing straight but
corrected his heading expertly. Dan, however, let the
wing over shoot and got a 50% collapse. He held his
course and the Vitamin corrected the deflation perfectly.
After our good byes I headed over to my friend's house
to work on the Bridal
Camera (now on-line).
May 5
Woodside
sy
2.2
It
looked windy from a distance, so I suggested that (Little)
Dan and Chiu practice for a while, while I took my very
enthusiastic tandems for a ride. My passenger, Carl,
after just a few seconds in the air said he could not
breathe. I asked Carl if he was having a heart attack
and he said no, it was the wind taking his breathe away.
Time to land. Back on launch it was still windy, too
much for Kris, Dan and Chiu. So after my second tandem,
we went to Bill Best field to kite. Great progress from
all students. Saidly our lunch at the Sasquatch was
not so great, but at least the “myth” was
broken - Deimosian never eat at the Sasquatch. Finally,
the wind calm down and my self, Dan and Chiu had a dreamy,
one hour glass off flight landing at Harvest West -Kris
forgot about the 8 hour no beers rule and had to watch.
May 4
Bridal
sy bo
2.9
New
rule – no more US residents allowed in the Deimos
truck. We were instantly pulled over for questioning,
which did not help our ETA (Aaron already added ½
hour when he had to go back for his ID.). When we finally
arrive, there were a couple of pilots already in the
air, but since they were parked I decided to wait a
little longer to see if it would get any windier. Once
the wind was over 25 mph, everyone was parawaiting.
I suggested that we head to Coupville to do some high
wind kiting. After an hour or so, when made one last
stop at the Fort (now 30+ mph) then headed back.
Apr 30
Bridal
ps
2.8
Like
I’ve done many times in the past, I always like
to give each student an epic tandem flight. Today was
Byron’s day. We launch (around 3:30) and quickly
climbed upward, but struggled to get to Archibald, so
instead of boating around take off for two hours, we
both agreed it would be best if we went on a XC flight.
After about an hour we landed near the highway and hiked
back to the Bridal road (to get my truck). While hiking,
two undercover cops stop us and asked “what’s
in the bags – drugs!”. In a way they were
more right than wrong. We got about ¾ of the
way up, when Nichol offered to drive my truck down (thanks
Nichol).
After dinner, I went to configure the Bridal web
cam. Some success: the LAN connection to the camera
is working, but I need a second visit to complete
the ISP stuff.
Apr 29
Deimos HQ
++
?
Myself,
Ian, Rob, Fedja and Ryan attended the first “Deimos
First Aid course” (presented by one of our newest
students - Brent). In my opinion, it was incredibly
useful and well presented (the best that I’ve
ever attended). There were even parting gifts for all!
Apr 28
Bridal
++
2.6
Our day started at Burnaby Mt., with a test flight
on my new Aeros Fuego. To my surprise, my newest student
Byron, was 45 minutes early and ready to start training.
Some interesting launches at times, but by 11:30 we
were all eager to start heading out to the Valley
for some thermic flights.
Some minor problems with Movies Dave’s car
slowed us down, but it did not really matter, conditions
were perfect at launch. I went first, followed by
Owen, Patrick, Dave and Shane. Shane noticed a broken
D line, and decided to land. Back on take off, this
time with my first tandem passenger (Chris), we launched
and quickly joined the other Deimosians (still stuck
up in the air). Chris and I had lots of extra height
to do a nice spiral and text book landing. Tina was
my next passenger with Byron patently training in
the LZ. Another text book landing and it was time
to fly Byron on tandem and hopefully, later, his first
solo flight. Conditions were still on. Shane (with
patched wing) launched and quickly climbed up 1000’,
followed by Byron and myself. Byron seemed very comfortable
in the light West wing, so I forced a top “landing”
and rushed to set up his Vitamin for his first flight.
Shane dropped down to be his personal wing-man, and
watch Byron’s first launch. Byron’s wing
came up nice but he was too light on the brakes (even
with me yelling brakes), and just before the frontal
I yelled stop which Byron reacted with full brakes
canceling the frontal and instead launching him.
After a few more words of guidance, I handed him off
to Shane, while I rushed to get into the air and down
to the LZ. Shane was trying his best to keep Byron
in the light ridge lift but eventually (20+ minutes
later) he landed softly in the first third of the
LZ. Owen closed the hill down with a quick launch
followed by some baby SiV maneuvers.
Apr 22
Bridal Woodside
ps lt
2.6
Most
everyone was late today – I guess yesterday’s
flying was too exciting!
Woodside looked very nice in the sun, and one pilot
was already above launch, so it was an easy sell to
convince all to head over there. Samuel, Aaron, Matt
and Owen all managed to get into the air, leaving Brent
and I to fly tandem. A fast launch and a trip over to
Harvest West LZ. Our second flights were quite nice,
again, with Samuel and Aaron getting slightly above
launch. My second flight, with new student Trevor was
a little shorter but a lot of fun, especially when Trevor
was in command and doing some wing overs. Melba (my
booked third passenger) had to head back to Vancouver
early, so this left an opening for Aaron and I to do
a fun little tandem flight. Back at Bridal: conditions
were very light. Both Matt and Owen sunk out quite quickly,
but by the time Aaron and I were airborne there was
plenty of West wind to carry us well above launch –
and time for my customary Titanic maneuver followed
by one of my favorite spot landings. A great way to
end the weekend!
Apr 21
Bridal
ps ++
2.5
Another
great day at Bridal! With the help of Movie Dave, Matt
N., and Samuel, we were able to connect the water collection
system to the main container – it still needs
more work but the system is now working! While we were
working on the water works project, Aaron was working
on replacing the windsox. The whole time we were working
it was blowing hard from the East, but just as the main
work was done, the West wind arrived.
Time to fly! Samuel went first, got high, followed by
the rest. I managed a mini XC towards Cheam Pk and back
for a fast top landing while the others played below
launch. Aaron closed the day with a fast forward and
an exciting acro flight!
Apr 19
Bridal
ps st ++
2.5
Amazing
conditions at Bridal today: my two tandems made last
minute plans to stay in the city, which meant that Shane
and I were free to go XC! The plan was to fly to Woodside,
but we ended up flying to Ludwig and back (I did not
want to hike back from Woodside, so we turned around).
After Shane’s “top landing”, he generously
allowed me to test fly the Obsession (translated means
time for an acro show)!
Apr 15
Burnaby Mt
ps
2.6
Patrick
and Aaron arrived about an hour too late and missed
the “secret” BM work party – we removed
most of the dangerous branches that present a problem
while on our high flights. The students that were more
or less on time: Stig, Rick, Matt, Zenon and Mark did
a great job sawing and moving the branches. I was surprised
to see Layne (since he was working until 7am), but he
only had enough energy for three flights. I guess we
earned some charma points, because soon after we finished
the work party, a light SW wind arrived and allowed
many exciting high flights – Stig’s was
the best when he fixated on a camera team and almost
flew straight into the trees! Maybe he was thinking
about what name to give is new baby (due any hour now)!
Apr 14
Bridal
ps rain
2.8
While
Brain and I designed the new PTZ camera mount, Dave
called and said he was free to fly. Even though conditions
looked a little too rainy we decided, last minute, to
try. Our design required a few last minute changes,
which meant I was a little late – no problem ‘cause
it was Dave’s first day flying this year and he
wanted to practice his launch some more; and Patrick
was one hour late because his was “looking at
birds”?
Up on launch, Dave went first and in just a few minutes
he was half way to upper; while I was checking Patrick’s
set up, the conditions quickly started to degrade and
Dave was back at launch height. Patrick wisely cancelled
his launch sequence – which allowed me a quick
sled ride. A little too windy to wind it up, but a fun
little flight for Dave and I. Maybe one day we’ll
get to do a little XC together, but not today.
Apr 11
Burnaby Mt
ps
2.8
Good
conditions at BM today, gave my new Solo V student Rick,
a quick start towards his novice license. The fallen
tree is a problem still. Hopefully BM parks people will
remove it soon.
Apr 5
Sumas Bridal
ps
2.8
Someone
said that the lower gate was open, meaning only an hour
hike to launch, but sadly it was locked up tight –
and Sean did not want to ram the gate open with his
Range Rover! Nice winds at the Dykes gave us some time
to remember how to kite our old and new wings. Eventually
we sacrificed Shane and Sean to the "Impatient
Gods", and then we headed over to Bridal Falls
to meet up with my tandem passengers Gerardo and Carmen.
The light smooth air at Bridal allowed for many flights.
Diane did her final maneuvers, impressing all of us,
for her Deimos Novice rating. Many thanks to Art, Karin,
Jon and others that help get my tandem flights off the
hill quick and safe.
Apr 1
Whidbey
ps
2.5
We had an awesome day at Whidbey, an amazing day;
everyone was flying, multiple times, except for our
new student Xenon - he just started our solo course
(so only a tandem flight for him). Conditions were
South West, then dead, then rain, then West, then
too strong, then dead, then North West then dead then
perfect then too strong. Crazy stuff!
Shane looked like a toddler in a candy shop for the
first time: with his new Obsession in hand I had to
tell him three times to fly! His argument was that
there were pilots in his way (all two of th
