Okanagan road trip May 28-29, 2023

Went for a quick road trip to the Okanagan.  Began at Coopers where it was forecast to blow over the back, so went up early and it was indeed rough and turbulent on the east side.  So much so that I decided to head over to the Saddle where it was much smooth (it faces west) and was able to stay up indefinitely there.  Eventually landed at the LAR Flight Park as it looked like it was overdeveloping (as the RASP was forecasting).

Coopers RASP for May 28.

Coopers flight.  

After lunch went over to the King Eddy LZ where I met up with Lars and crew, got a ride up to Baldy and was able to enjoy the newly-laid carpet.  So nice to launch and pack up on carpet (at both Coopers and KE!)

King Eddy RASP for May 28

King Eddy/Baldy flight.

The following day it was forecast to be a bit blown-out in the North Okanagan but less-so in the South Okanagan, so I went to Ottos to fly with Peter, Rob, and Amir.  But the flight was a bust as I sunk out (my first sink out at this site!) in a grand total of 4 minutes.  One of my shortest flights ever!

Small road trip May 12-16, 2023

 With Alex off to Europe and I had some time off, I decided to do a small road trip to the Okanagan, after first stopping at BJ for a possible around-Baker flight.

The forecast for BJ (and Baker) was calling for high cloud base and light winds, but the actual reality was there was some SE wind up high, which made me decide not to pursue Baker but stay local.  The air was a bit rough as well, not really to my liking.  All the pilots who attempted the circumnavigation of Baker ended up landing out with long walks out and nighttime retrieves, so I was happy to be back at the LZ with daylight to spare.

BJ RASP for May 12

As the forecast for the following day was for more stable conditions and east wind, I opted to head inland to the North Okanagan to fly Coopers.  Not ideal flying conditions as it was actually NE up high and a bit stable, so after an hour or so I landed at the Freedom Flight Park, which has a very nice setup for visiting pilots...camping, kitchen, shower, wifi, Astroturf to pack up on, etc.  Very civilized!

With the continued east wind and stability to the north, I then headed to Oliver to try my luck at Ottos.  However we ended up going up to Upper Ripley instead, which was a nice change.  You can launch from the SE to the NE and are starting from much higher (almost 1000m), which, for a stable day, makes things much easier!  Had a nice flight with Peter and Rob et al before heading back to Coopers for another short flight as it was threatening to OD later on.

Upper Ripley in Oliver with the springtime flowers.

Finished off the road trip with a flight in Pemberton, where I did the abbreviated milk run to Copper Dome and back.  A bit of north wind up high which, as usual, made the flying a bit rough on the MacKenzie side.  I expect the Miller side would have felt better in the air.