Introducing the New People

This year we have a new set of officers, including a new president.  For the few who haven’t met me yet I’ll give just a few details:  I have been flying about twelve years, taking lessons with Chandelle in Marin County.  I fly the mountain sites within a few hours drive from the Bay Area:  Potato Hill, Slide, Tollhouse, and Dunlap.  I fly races but am not competitive.  I have poor launching and landing skills.  I believe the key to better piloting is the accumulation of the most expensive equipment available and replacing it often.  Dealers love me.


High above San Marcos in Mexico - photo by Tom Bair

Looking Forward to the Year

In charge of activities this year is Ann and Brent, who will be filling the
calendar with parties, fly-in’s, clinics, and meeting presentations.  Stay
tuned for announcements for clinics on thermalling;  cross-country flying; 
PLF’s;  reserve packing;  and basic first aid.  And don’t forget the Jody
Lucas picnic and its hike & huck event. 

Meanwhile, Jugdeep is setting up another year of the XC League events. 
These races are a unique opportunity for anyone to fly in an environment
close to that of sanctioned events, but without the costs, deadly competition,
and assault to the ego that comes with the real thing.  If you think thermalling
is fun and cross-country flying is exciting, you haven’t seen anything yet. 
Come to the races and make all your flying and GPS mistakes in friendly
and supportive environment.

Flying Sites

Taking over for me as Site Administrator is Chip Sheppard.

It was not so long ago that the only consistent mountain site within a reasonable drive was Potato Hill.  But like last year, Dunlap is open and available all the time, and Tollhouse is available by arrangement with the land owner.  Dunlap even has a cabin resort next to launch.  Both these sites are suitable for pilots new to thermal flying, and are also frequent venues for the XL League. 

Meanwhile, there is work afoot to create a flying site at Mt. Unumhum, between Saratoga and Santa Cruz.  The county is taking comments in anticipation of a use plan.

New Meeting Schedule

The club officers decided to go to a bi-monthly meeting schedule, divided evenly between south bay and peninsula venues.  This should provide the meetings better entertainment overall, and give people better reasons to attend. 

Don’t Forget to Renew!

By the time you get this the deadline will have passed for renewing your membership.  But in case you let the deadline pass (and somehow are reading the Ridge Dancer anyway!), please consider this another reminder.

The Worlds

As I write this the worlds are in full swing.  This will likely change quickly – it often does – but today Josh Cohn and Tom McCune are both in the top ten.  The internet has turned into a trash-talking sports bar but hey, it beats being attacked by wedgies or sitting in a harness full of hailstones.

That’s it for now

See you in the air, at Ed or Mission or Diablo or wherever. 

Lift and Laughter - February 2007

At the end of March, Peter Rexer will lead a PLF clinic at the beach
where attendees can practice this useful skill.  In April there is a
Spring fly-in at Elk Mountain from April 20-22 – come to experience
great spring flying and the exciting road to launch where you find out
if your vehicle is really a 4WD vehicle.  Shortly after the Elk fly-in,
we are planning a spring fly-in at Anderson Flat on May 5-6.  For those
who have not yet flown these sites, come to get a site introduction and
meet some local pilots.  Please check the BAPA Event Calendar at  for
details.  If you want to stay at Gene Pfeiffer’s cabin for the Anderson
Flat fly-in, be sure to RSVP to Gene. 

The annual BAPA Thermal Clinic will be held on May 19-20, most likely
at Potato Hill and then we’re planning to have a Summer Solstice fly-in
at Hat Creek on June 22-24.

At the May 2 BAPA meeting in South San Francisco, Celia Pender will do
a short slide show on flying in Slovenia.  Come to hear about this
great place to fly and travel.  The July BAPA meeting in Milpitas will
be on July 11 to avoid the July 4th holiday.  Josh Cohn will give a
slide show on the Paragliding World Championships this year and discuss
various topics of interest.

That’s all I’m going to write about for now – I hope that everyone has
a great flying year this year and that you come to the BAPA meetings
and events!

And now a few words from Brent …

…if you’re reading this you may be asking yourself:  Who is this guy
and how did he get involved with BAPA?  Let me shed a little light.
First, many of you are probably aware of Ann’s persuasive
influence…hence my cheerful acceptance as Co-Director!  Secondly as Ann
noted earlier, our activities focus this season is upon expanding
BAPA’s reach to include more novice and intermediate pilots…a category
to which I ascribe.

For two-plus years, I’ve been almost exclusively a coastal pilot
rushing to lay-out my wing whenever possible, eagerly anticipating the
lift of the “posh” Pacific breeze.  I’ve logged a lot of hours and I’ve
had a ton of fun but often found myself wanting more.  That’s why I’m
here…hanging out with BAPA, hoping to find a few brave, experienced
souls willing to introduce “newbies” like myself to the greater
pleasures of paragliding.  In return, I hope to facilitate an
interesting and enjoyable calendar of events for the season.

One that comes to mind has to do with the very essence of our sport.
Over the years, I’ve been alternately associated with falconry or the
preservation of birds of prey on some level.  My personal love of
flight originated with these birds and the magic of their morphology
(which we so crudely imitate with our huge fabric wings).  Depending
upon interest, an opportunity for BAPA members to study the flight
mechanics of “The Masters” up close and personal may be a distinct
possibility.  Ann and I will be seeking your guidance this season to
determine what you as BAPA members would like to see most.  Don’t be a
stranger!  Happy and safe flying!v

By David Ismay 

      There are many great resources (local weather forecasts, web-cams, soundings, windtalkers, other pilots with local experience) to help paraglider pilots make consistent and safe decisions about where and when to fly.  But you may not know much about some of the excellent ones, unless you fly noisy, heavy things with engines from your local airport runway!  As an FAA Private Pilot (who prefers flying an aircraft that fits in a backpack), my goal for this article is to explain several of the formal aviation resources used routinely by airplane pilots—like METARs, TAFs, and FDs—that can also give great information (if you know what you’re looking at) to foot-launched pilots. 

Before getting to the specifics, there are a few basics to keep in mind.  First and foremost, the formal aviation weather system was designed and maintained to ensure the safety of flight for commercial and general aviation aircraft.  The Cessna and 747 pilot use the exact same external system—i.e., weather reports, FAA briefers, in-flight updates—in getting you from SFO to New York overnight or getting me from Oakland to Livermore and back.  So that system naturally focuses tightly around airports, established flight routes, and weather in the very short-term—i.e., it reports accurate current-conditions at airports as well as reliable forecasts measured in hours rather than days.  Second, to those of us used to things like online windtalkers with graphical displays and PDA phone web access, the FAA system can feel a little clunky, old-fashioned, and formal which . . . well . . . it is.  The FAA has been broadcasting this information by radio since long before the age of broadband satellite and internet, so it’s coded in a “proprietary” format.  But it’s a good trade-off because these reports are standardized around the world and they’re very reliable.  Finally, as I’ll discuss below, if you’re looking for a forecast more than 24-hours out, all the information you can get reliably—whether you’re talking to an FAA briefer or your local weatherman—is generally coming from a single source: NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS).

     Current Conditions.  You can get the current weather conditions at hundreds of sites across the country from Aviation Routine Weather Reports, known (for some reason) as METARs.  Most METARs report the conditions right at an airport runway, but there are also a good number of non-airport, state and federal installations that report into the system.  Many reports are automated—entered by the instrument suite itself—though at smaller airports, they are still entered manually.  And unless you’re listening to an automated-site (ASOS/AWOS) reporting by the minute over an FAA VHF frequency, a METAR is an hourly report.  Nevertheless, it’s a great resource if there’s one near a paragliding site and, in California alone, there are some 150 METAR sites—94 of which are automated and available by local phone access. 

      So, what’s in a METAR report, and how do you read it?  Here’s an example of a (slightly tweaked) report on January 27, 2007, from Ukiah Municipal Airport, the closest reporting station to Potato and Elk Mountain: 

KUKI 271956Z AUTO 08010KT 10SM SCT070 11/04 A3003 RMK AO2 SLP169 T01110039

“KUKI” – Station Identifier: each station has a 3 or 4-digit identifier (for airports it’s the airport code on the charts, e.g., KSFO and KOAK for San Francisco International and Oakland International).  Most online resources use this to retrieve the report, and if you’re talking to a briefer on the phone, you can just give the airport name. 

“271956Z” – Time of Report: the day of the month followed by the time in “Zulu” (the same as Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) or Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)).  Subtract 8 hours for Pacific Standard (PST) or 7 hours for Pacific Daylight Savings (PDT) times.  This was for 1956Z (or 11:56 am in Ukiah) on the 27th. 

“AUTO” – Modifier: notes an automated report (there will be nothing here if it’s a manual entry). 

“08010KT” – Wind: direction in degrees True1 followed by speed in knots; here, winds from the east, 080° T, at 10 knots (11.5 mph).  If, for example, there were gusts to 20 knots, it would read “08010G20KT”. You might also see “00000KT” which means winds are calm, or something like “VRB04KT”, meaning the wind direction is variable at 4 knots. 

“10SM” – Visibility: reports the greatest distance (in statute miles) a ground observer can see and identify objects through at least half the horizon, here, 10 miles. 

“SCT070” – Weather: lots of conditions are reported here (e.g., thunderstorms “TS”, rain “RA”, showers “SH”), but on days with a chance of paragliding, you’ll normally just see the sky condition, i.e., the reported cloud layer(s), here, “scattered” (covering 3/8 to 4/8 of the sky) at 7,000 feet.  Multiple cloud layers are reported one after the other, and “SKC” or “CLR” both report clear skies. 

“11/04” – Temperature/Dewpoint: reported in degrees Celsius, here, temperature is 11° C (52° F), and dewpoint is 4° C (40° F). 

“A3003” – Altimeter Setting: reports the barometric pressure in inches of mercury, here, 30.03 in. Hg.. 

“RMK” – Remarks: reports various details like, here, the type of automated instrumentation: “AO2”, sea-level pressure in millibars: “SLP169” (1016.9 mb), and a more accurate temperature/dewpoint in tenths °C: “T01110039” (11.1° C/3.9° C). 

The basics of a METAR are easy to get used to, but for an explanation of all the various codes you might encounter, look on the NWS website at http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bna/educate/metar/metar-pg13-rmk.html. 

      Forecast Conditions.  Most of the same codes (thankfully) are used in Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts, or TAFs.  These are 24-hour general forecasts for larger airports only—there are about 50 in California—issued four times a day at 0000Z, 0600Z, 1200Z, 1800Z (or 4pm, 10pm, 4am, 10am PST).  Here’s one from Oakland, again from January 27, 2007: 

KOAK 271720Z 271818 VRB03KT 2SM -RA BKN003

     FM1900 21006KT 6SM HZ VCSH BKN010

     FM2200 30005KT P6SM BKN050

     FM0300 VRB03KT P6SM SCT050 BKN090 

“271818” – Valid Period: after the same station ID and report date/time codes, it shows the range of time for which the forecast was valid, here, from 1800Z (10:00am PST) on the 27th until the same time on the 28th.

Gregg Hackett flies at Goat Rock - photo by Ann Sasaki

December 6, 2006 BAPA Meeting Minutes

Taken by Pete Norlander for Alex Koorkoff

There were 13 members present.  Ann Sasaki called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m.

New Members and Visitors -  Niranjan who flies a Tempest recently joined BAPA.

Officer Reports –

Treasurer Atta Pilram reported that we have $4510 in the bank account
and 150 current members.

2007 Membership dues are due by January 1.  Members can renew online.President Ann Sasaki reported that the BAPA holiday party will be held on December 9 at Tom Moock’s house in San Leandro.

The 2007 officers will be –

President – Tom Moock
Vice President – Rolf Bienert
Treasurer – Saptarshi Roy (a.k.a. Roy)
Secretary – Tim Sirianni
Site Director – Chip Sheppard
Safety Director – Wally Anderson
Activities Co-Directors – Brent Erdmann and Ann Sasaki

Old Business -  Ann made a motion to approve the October and November 2006 meeting minutes.  Motion approved.

Ann also made a motion to allocate the following amounts –

$1204.85 for BAPA calendars
$150 for house cleaning to Tom Moock
$150 for food and drink for holiday party

Motion approved.

New Business – Jug reported on the 2006 XC League.  Jug made a request
for $500 in support from BAPA ($250 for software and $250 for trophies)
for the 2007 XC League.
Motion to allocated the $500 for 2007.  Motion approved.

Meeting adjourned around 8:00 p.m.

BAPA Meeting Minutes - Jan - Feb 2007

Visitors:
Daniel S - Flys an ancient Arcus 2, learned in Columbia.
Georgette -

Officer Reports:

Tom M - President
The club will continue to sponsor the XC League, but we should try to have something like it for newer        pilots - maybe a XC clinic and "mini" competition - XC League-type tasks, but without the race component.   More trips!

Kurt &Tom at Blossom Valley - Photo by Julie Spiegler

Rolf B - Vice President
Nothing to report.

Roy R - Treasurer
Roy reminds everyone to renew their membership on the website and mail or hand a check to Roy or use PayPal. Balance of over $4000.

Wally A - Safety Directory
Nothing to report.

Chip S - Site Director
No problems currently known at any sites.

Dave S will be coming out with some good news about tandem flying  at the Stables to be allowed by GGNRA with some big restrictions. Please don't fly tandem there until the new information and stickers are available.

Morrey Point is probably going to open up for PG flying.  Again, Dave S will send official information to the club.  Again, there will be restrictions.

Two other potential sites, Mt. Umunim and Loma Preta, are being investigated by the landowner.  Sending emails as detailed on the mailing list may help open them up for PGers.

Tim S - Secretary
Calendars are all mailed out.   If anyone has not yet received theirs, please contact Tim.  Show of hands at the meeting confirmed that most members who ordered calendars had already received them.

Ann S + Brent E - Activities CoChairs
Some future events being considered:
         o  PLF Clinic
         o  Basic First Aid (by Albert H)
         o  XC Clinic
         o  Jody Lucas fly-in and picnic - the Hike and Huck may be a team event this year?

Old Business:
Meeting minutes for December could not be approved as they have not yet appeared in Ridge Dancer.

New Business:
The US team going to Worlds is seeking tax-deductible donations at usparaglidingteam.org.  Motion made, seconded and unanimously agreed to donate $300.

The meeting minutes should not include people's full names, so as to preserve privacy when they appear on the web.

The executive committee decided that BAPA meetings would be scaled back to every-other-month, alternating between Milpitas and South SF. Meetings in January, May, and September will be in SSF; meetings in March, July, and November will be held in Milpitas.

Ridge Dancer will be targeted for publication in the months with no meetings.   This decision was made because in recent years meeting attendance has been low.    Hopefully with fewer meetings per year, more members will attend each meeting and the quality of the post-meeting entertainment will get even better.

Meeting adjourned around 8PM.