Karin is really starting to show her “advance” skills: on her first visit to Cheam, in strong conditions, she decided (on her own) to launch first – then used speed bar and ears to control the upper winds.

It’s been a few weeks since I flew with Chui, but his training is really sticking with him – today he had one of the best launches I’ve seen all year (even Samuel would be proud!), followed by perfect execution of the first few novice maneuvers. Good work!
Honorable mentions to Mark for getting the ply wood for the new Bridal rain collection system, and Karin and Jonathon for helping out in the LZ.

Another adventurous and challenging weekend of flying indeed: Karin and Jonathon both were challenged on their “big air” flights; but, this time it was Eddie that showed the most improvement with his multiple launches and launch attempts. Eddies idea to bring a RV to Saddle was just icing on the cake (probably Cheese or Apple).

Owen’s has not missed a day of flying in the last two weeks and has been rewarded with more adventure and stories than he could image!
It’s very rewarding for me to see a new pilot progress so well and be so keen to fly.

Lots of improvement from the Deimosian’s this week: Karin had some great spirals; Eddie has almost completed all of his intermediate maneuvers; Diane and Owen were really starting to feel their forward launches; Samuel did his first "real" B-line stall; Matt did his first spiral dive; Movie Dave did his first accelerated asymmetricals; but I think Mark out did himself when he double checked a few pilots and corrected their set-up, then hit the spot landing on Saturday, and almost a second time on Sunday.

Hard to pick a pilot this week: Jonathon did his first top landing (but if you don’t see did it really happen?), Diane missed the spot landing by just 24”; Owen soared for hours; but Mark seem to out do himself, with a series of good launches and great flying – his last one was his longest (almost two hours) - he just needs to stay away for the rotors.

Aaron has been working hard on his reverse launches, and this weekend managed his first Whidbey and Woodside flights. Honourable mentions to both Big Dan and Aaron for their attempts to guide “acro Owen”.

Diane continues to improve and soon will have her Novice rating. Her last flight, at Blanchard, was very challenging, but she did very well!

Hard to pick a pilot this week, but I think Samuel stands out with his first top landing and Croissant maneuver; honorable mentions to Matt for his first XC to Cheam base and back and completing his first baby spiral; and Karin for her longest flight to date (3+ hours).
Well done Demosians!

What can I say – Eddie’s a hard act to follow:
he spent days working on the new Deimos table, wins runner up for the Grouse spot landing comp, his spirals and asymmetricals continue to improve, and on the weekend, while under guidance, he top landed at Bridal for the first time.

Honourable mentions to Layne for his two flight (#3)!

Lots of stars this week: Samuel and Karin did their first B-line stalls and Eddie spot landed in the pool at the Grouse flyin; but Karin’s B-stall was a big step (for her) towards getting her advance rating (plus she was the only one of the three that helped with the new Sumas launch).

This past weekend, TJ managed to fight his huge fear of crashing and got back on the horse (or in this case his new Body Guard). His first flight was a little hard to watch, but after a few minutes of soaring, he started to settle back down and fly with grace and style. Unfortunately Shane and I were not communicating clearly and he had to land himself on his welcome back flight. His second flight was business as usual: good launch and soft landing (in front of most of his US buddies). Welcome back!

Eric surprised me with his fine abort skills and his self checking we he cancelled his flight at the last moment due to the heat. Honorable mentions to Karin and Shane for their endless help guiding the students (Shane was sick but still came out to land the new students).

Shane had a perfect student launch record, flew solo, and later top landed for the first time to drive the Explorer down.

Matt, even with his “selective hearing”, had a few great launches and spec’d out to more than 6000’. Honorable mentions to Karin for helping to drive and land a few experienced students (a future Deimos instructor...?)

Although Rick had a couple of spooky launches, he flew nicely for about two hours and managed a couple of soft landings.

Karin had one of her best launches since she joined Deimos; but I thought that TJ worked his hardest, all day at Whidbey, and took a big step to getting back into the air when he flew tandem with me.

Shane was amazing as the Deimos launch ATC; he kept everyone cool and even headed for their high flights – well done!

Except for trying a full stall on his first flight, Ed did great on his first flights.

Ed continues to progress, at “Jedi” speeds, showing great feel for both the forward and reverse launches in just a few days of training. Too bad he lost his patience and failed to attend our tree rescue clinic.

Honorable mentions to Lucien for working hard all day on his low and high wind launches.

Gautam had his longest (almost two hours) and highest flight 2000’ over take off on Saturday and then executed perfect left and right asymmetricals and a front tuck. Well done!

Except for a few dozen last minute business calls, he worked hard all day, for at least six hours in a row; a now has a good understanding of the (Deimos style) forward launch. What a great new pilot for the school: jocular, patience, athletic and generous – thanks for treating all of us for dinner at Whidbey!

Honorable mentions go to Karin for her first big XC flight at Bridal and for trying some baby acro.

A tough decision: Art’s first XC or Karin’s big spiral dive. I think following a pilot on XC is a little easier than a spiral dive. Mastering a spiral dive is a better skill to have than flying XC, and it could be useful in the strong Pemberton and Hedley air (coming soon).
On the other hand, Art’s free hot dogs and pop probably saved my life (I was starving), and I was so tired after my tandem flights I don’t think I could of hiked back to the LZ; so Karin’s taxi service was also a life saver!

Jonathon got his first taste of thermal flying, and finally got a birds eye view of the Bridal take off; unfortunately he almost got a worms eye view as well!

Samuel had his dream day of flying this week: five flights (starting at noon) complete with lots of acro maneuvers, 10km+ cross country to Butterfly and back, and a super low save – simply amazing!

Sean struggled at first, but eventually climbed to over 5000’ stopping only at the base of the cloud. He did visit the “white room” just to see what’s there (I guess).

Samuel managed his first flight off the Chief, moving a little too slow for my liking, but still in full control.

Karin, using big ears, graciously lost most of her gained height, to help a lower pilot, Sean, locate some weak thermals. Together they slowly climbed upward to join the gaggle and later had a great XC flight to Harvest Market (her first Woodside XC trip).

Sean managed to tie his record of four flights in on day, thermal up to about 1000’ over launch, and then taking Woodside’s last flight of the day.

Sean managed a series of great launches and landings - on one flight he completed his first front tuck. Good stuff!

Used her new Deimos skills to fly to 5000' top land and relaunch at Woodrat.

Managed a number of great launches at the infamous Lake Elsinor, learned to fly a PPG motor, and got his Novice rating, all in the same week!

Great improvement while on the Deimos CA trip. At the dumps he managed a low launch at about 100' AGL and climb to 1000', while Fred C. was forced to the beach.

Dave finally got to fly his new site “Hatchet” – negative points for not waiting for me to join him on Saturday! And again on Sunday, but this time he had to recover from a small cravat (due to a rushed take off). When the conditions are right, this site will probably be the source of many new adventures and XC flights.

Conditions were challenging for many of the pilots at Woodside today, but Jonathon was solid. I thought I would spice things up and get him to guide us in (via an airplane approach). He then managed one of the best guided landings that I can remember – maybe a future Deimos instructor?

Karin did here first spiral dive and managed another good Deimos style take off complete with a spot on landing in a new LZ. Honorable mention to  Movie Dave for completed his first XC flight (but arrived a little short of the designated LZ).

After being elected the wind dummy, Samuel managed one of the coolest launches I ever seen at Sumas, going straight up at the cliff; and then soared around for almost 45 minutes.

Karin, after way too long, finally did her first acro moves this week, the first steps towards getting her Deimos / HPAC advance rating. Well done!

Samuel continues to improve and managed many high quality, high wind, cross launches and landings - he's totally ready for the trip down to California. Honorable mentions to Karin for leting us use her truck and driving down.

Although Sean had a small “melt down” on his first launch, he managed four great flights mixed with two trips over the backside of Woodside. Well done! No cravats either!

Will managed a number of high wind training flights, complete with baby wing overs, solid landings, and many Deimos style take offs. Well done!