Europe 2021

After a one-year Covid-induced gap I'm glad to finally see family and friends in Germany again!

Flying conditions were not quite as good as in previous years. Big clouds, wind, rain and Foehn made for rough weather.

Rain, Finally! August 7

 

This time no records were broken but its close and its been a long time since the last rain, from June 15 to August 7. A few 'T' for trace on the Environment Canada website but I don't think we got any of it in Burnaby. 52 days! No wonder our big Rhodo called it quits and the Star Magnolias are not looking that great either.

Hammertag in Pemby - July 29

 

Hammertag in Pemby. RASP promising climbs to 3800m and light winds. To mix things up we flew from Miller Ridge which faces east so we could launch a couple of hours earlier than from our regular site. Cloudbase was as high as promised but the thermals were a bit rough, especially lower down. Lots of great flights including some +200km triangles. First for me was flying along the south side of the Lillooet River. Photos are from the long crossings and not from the 'high points' - just didn't feel like letting go of my brake toggles at the top of the thermals

Flying XC in BC - June 20-26

 

This year we had not many options for places to fly with all the fires, the smoke and the wind. The more adventurous did a sporty down-wind flight from Pemberton to Gold Bridge and yes, as we knew already, Carpenter Lake gets a bit exciting when its windy (see Nick Neymen’s blog on this https://sharemyjoys.wordpress.com/2018/11/12/vol-biv-hitch-in-canada). The smoke beat us to Clearwater. Much better flying near Williams Lake (no smoke here) lead to a plan to come back when the weather would be less prone to over development. Looks like a great area for flatland thermals! We spent the last two days close to home (for us) and flew Benny and Bridal.