2019 Events Update Newsletter

[James604]

Greetings fellow West Coast pilots!

The 2019 flying season is just around the corner and we have an exciting year shaping up! As your West Coast Soaring Club Events Director, I wanted to take a moment to highlight some recent and upcoming opportunities build knowledge, experience, connect with like-minded pilots, and most importantly, maximize airtime in the year ahead.

We’ve kicked off this year with three events already. First, in early February the Baldy Mountain Ski Resort https://baldyresort.com/baldy-mt-resort ... g-gliding/ welcomed paragliding and speed flying pilots to the South Okanagan for an inaugural event. There’s no easier way to access a launch than on a chair lift and Baldy has fantastic winter and summer flying potential that we’re looking forward to developing further. More recently, the first club Reserve Repack Clinic this year was held in Burnaby where pilots took a hands-on approach to learn the intricacies of inspecting and maintaining critical safety equipment. Additionally, early March saw 12 members complete a joint WCSC / Coast Wilderness Medical Training First Aid course https://mailchi.mp/edc6de6e097f/wildern ... BEnQDH5L0c

Upcoming Repack Clinics

If you still need to repack your reserve, it’s not too late! You can register here https://www.westcoastsoaringclub.com/me ... repack.php for the WCSC Fraser Valley Repack being held on March 15th from 6-9pm at the Kent Community Center in Agassiz (pizza dinner included!). Another repack clinic will be held in Pemberton in early April; stay tuned for registration details soon via email. These events are entirely volunteer driven and the club still requires experienced repack volunteers, please contact James Elliott at james.g.elliott@gmail if you can help!

Monthly Socials

Looking forward, The WCSC is continuing the “Last Friday” events at The Barons Manor Pub https://goo.gl/maps/maLsszmANR42. These socials offer a fantastic opportunity to get to know other pilots over food and drink. The March 29th topic is a review of right-of-way rules, key for flying safe at busy sites! A recent accident at Torrey Pines tragically illustrated the importance of these basic airmanship rules for pilots of all experience levels. For the April 26th event topic, Andrew Berkley has generously donated his time to present Canada RASP http://www.canadarasp.com/ which will help build your predictive capabilities and cross country success by taking your weather knowledge to the next level.

Exciting Flying Events

Of course, the headline event for 2019 is the Canadian Paragliding Nationals in Pemberton July 20-27th https://canadiannationalspg.weebly.com/. This Series A competition is fully subscribed with over 13 countries represented and 120 competitors. Pemberton will be Canada’s paragliding mecca come July and spectators are encouraged! Other provincial events include the Canadian Hang Gliding Nationals May 25-June 1st https://airtribune.com/canadian-nationals/info, Lumby Air Races June 2-8th https://lumbyairforce.weebly.com/store/ ... ducts.html, and The Willi XC Challenge July 27-Aug 4th http://thewillixc.com/.

Back at the club level, the WCSC is planning numerous fun member fly-ins starting with Woodside, mid to late April. In May, the South Okanagan Soaring Club will host the annual Hedley Fly-in. Make sure your emails are updated on the WCSC Website to ensure you’re kept informed and check the full club calendar here. In the meantime, share your flights on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/westcoastsoaringclub/, the WCSC flight forum viewforum.php?f=3&sid=9dbb8afdbe6a9f630e4c4d95f4e524d3, XContest https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/, Leonardo http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonard ... dateAdded, or social media so those grounded can live vicariously through your adventures and plan ahead! The 2019 BC XC League online contest https://www.westcoastsoaringclub.com/co ... league.php is up and running, submit your flights over 10km for a chance at the end of year prize! Lastly, for those not on the club group chat WCSC LINE APP, inquire for an invite to this handy ride and flight coordinating communication tool.

As always, member feedback drives our club initiatives and we're always soliciting ideas, please share!

Happy flights and safe landings,

James Elliott & The WCSC board