Florida's Wallaby
Ranch is a haven for hang glider pilots, By Dan Johnson Kitplanes
Magazine, January 1995
Reprinted
with the permission of Dan Johnson
The words 'Oh, give me a home' start
both a popular song and a common lament of many pilots - especially
hang glider pilots. There is no doubt that finding a reliable home
base can be a real challenge.
Malcolm Jones has an answer to help many such pilots. Yet his flight
park isn't nestled way out in the middle of nowhere like so many
sport flying preserves, in fact its in warm and sunny Florida-a
scant 8 miles from the Walt Disney World resort complex. This puts
it less than an hour's drive from Orlando, which offers most of the
amenities of any major metro area.
It sounds appealing-especially this time of year. Pilots I've talked
with have given it rave reviews so I felt it high time that we visit
Wallaby Ranch to see for ourselves.
"I wanted to create a place where hang gliders came first," says
highly motivated owner Malcolm Jones." At every other place I've
been to fly, everything else came first: airplanes, cars, heck, even
cows come first at many hang glider fields. I wanted to change that.
At Wallaby Ranch, other aircraft, other people, other gear are
welcome, but hang gliders come first!"
To hang glider pilots accustomed to having a tenuous hold on any
desirable hang glider site, Wallaby Ranch is a Godsend. That it has
something more to offer to families -not just to dedicated
pilots-and that it is close to civilization make Wallaby a sort of
heaven-on-Earth.
Imagine This
You're headed toward a place to fly that will fit all your needs for
a full day's flying. Your spouse and two children are with you in
the family van. Your gear is stashed in your carry bag in the back.
You exit Florida's I-4 interstate freeway 3 miles from Wallaby
Ranch. One of the kids shouts, "Look, Dad, a hang glider in the
air!" The other one chimes in, "No, I see four."
When you approach the property, you see a dragonfly ultralight tug
landing. Another one is just hauling a two-place glider into the
smooth morning air. Six other pilots are already suited up and ready
for launch. Two more are still assembling their gliders. A glance at
the clear sky tells you why: puffy cumulus clouds - sure signs of
lift - are building.
You pull in and park under a tree and grab your carry bag, which
contains your flight gear. You give a quick kiss to your sweetheart,
a hug to the kids, and confirm that they'll return just after dark.
They're thrilled; they've got plans for a day at Disney's Epcot
Center, 15 minutes drive to the north.
Your family drives off while you head to the glider storage area.
Nearby 100 gliders are stored in heavy-duty plastic tubes that
protect them from the tropical climate of central Florida. (They
call these Kite Condos.) You locate yours and pull it out.
In 15 minutes, you've set up and put on your flight gear. The line
for a tow now has only three left ahead of you. Better hurry. The
sky is really starting to pop with cumulus clouds. Over the pilot
frequency you hear exciting reports of thermals breaking loose
everywhere.
Putting your glider in the launch dolly provided by Wallaby, you
roll the glider out to the downwind side of the property. Wallaby
doesn't use terms like runway or strip, preferring simply field. In
any event, Wallaby is a large L-shaped space of level grasslands.
As you preflight carefully, a dragonfly tug swoops low overhead and
lands . After a quick fuel top off, the machine heads toward you.
It's time!
Smoothly lifting off behind the dragonfly, which shortly becomes
airborne itself, you climb out at about 600 fpm to 2300 feet agl. At
that point, the tug pilot waves, signaling he's just passed through
a good thermal and that you should be prepared to release when you
get to the lift in just a second or two more.
Click! You're off the tow line. The tug banks sharply to the left;
you go right. The tug dives down at a steep angle.
You're in the lift and it feels like magic! After a few tows, an
experienced tug pilot has found a giant thermal to drop his
tag-a-long passengers. Your variometer chirps steadily showing 700
fpm. In minutes, you've passed through 4500 feet and are headed to
the cloudbase altitude-about 1000 feet above. You spot twelve other
gliders, all seeking lift. They'll provide excellent guidance for
you when you exhaust the lifting power of this thermal and seek
another.
...Four Hours Later
By early afternoon, you've logged a stunning flight. you got low
once- to only 600 feet, but found another emerging thermal and rode
it back to 5000 feet in one long series of 360 degree turns, your
maximum altitude for the day was 7200 feet. You ventured out past
I-4 to the south some 15 miles and returned. When you began to tire,
you headed in for a landing in the big field. You know you can
always take another tow aloft if you need one . And, oh, how sweet
and predictable that ridge flying! That what?
For years Florida sailplane pilots have called a wide strip running
north and south down the center of the state the Florida Ridge. With
the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Gulf of Mexico to the west,
central Florida benefits from converging air masses that bump into
each other over the middle of the state and have nowhere to go but
up... and up. Using the Florida Ridge for lift, hang glider flights
of more than 100 miles have been made from Wallaby Ranch.
As you approach for landing, you aim to end up near the ranch
swimming pool. After a light touchdown into 10 mph breezes, you
quickly get out of your harness and into your swimming suit. You can
leave your glider set up under the shade of a tree for later use.
The cool pool water feels great, giving great relief to Florida's
warm sun. You and the other pilots swap tales of catching that big
thermal.
At five in the afternoon, you take another tow. The day's great
thermals have taken a vacation themselves, leaving only scattered
lift to work. Instead of scratching to extend your flight, you ask
for a tow to 3500 feet agl. Seven minutes later, you release again.
Your modern glider will still allow a 20 minute flight in calm air.
A perfect landing ends your day of flying.
Helping prepare the grill, you and several new flying friends make
an evening of barbecue and play some ping-pong or foose ball. As
your spouse and kids return from their day at Disney, they join you
and the others in the fully screened-in lounge area. Florida
accommodates everyone by putting on a display of a stunning orange
tropical sky as the sun finally sets.
Hey mate!
The real beauty of this scenario is that it is not a fantasy. It
happens nearly every day, year 'round. The name Wallaby comes from
Malcolm Jones' long association with Bill Moyes, the pioneering
Australian hang gliding tug builder from Australia. While hang
gliding is the main activity at Wallaby, Jones has made sure the
place doesn't exclude other aviators -- so long as they remember
that hang gliders are the priority. Hang glider pilots have flown
their ultralights or kit-built aircraft into Wallaby. Even a general
aviation model or two has arrived, though Malcolm cautions, "We'd
rather go pick up guests flying general aviation planes. Winterhaven
(Gilbert Field) is close and convenient."
The fields are roughly east/west and north/south. Jones buried power
lines that once crossed the north/south strip. The turf is generally
firm and flat though a few soft areas could be a problem for heavier
aircraft.
Ultralights can make it easily, though courtesy dictates you make
contact first. A safety-conscious bunch, the Ranch Hands prefer to
know the pilots flying around them. When you arrive, be absolutely
sure to look for hang gliders. They can be vary hard to see coming
straight at you. I've circled the field a few times from way out and
then tightened in as I saw no gliders flying. Windsocks are located
in several places.
Airpark Amenities
In addition to the pool, lounge, glider condos, and tow services,
Wallaby aims to please its guests. Jones has made space for camping,
he has built gender specific, air-conditioned bathrooms, and he has
added showers and a tiny building with a complimentary washer and
dryer.
If you don't care to rough it, 3 miles away you can find a choice of
several reasonably priced hotels. A number of restaurants,
convenience stores, gas stations are also clustered at the I-4/U.S.
Hwy. 27 intersection. If you prefer luxury accommodations, a
10-minute drive north will put you in Lake Buena Vista where you can
pay as much as you like for world-class facilities of every
description.
Your night life can be among pilots at the Ranch or in Orlando where
you can find whatever suits you. The next day, it can all start over
again.
Take a Lesson
Jones operates under the name Florida Hang Gliding, Inc. He offers
lessons for those fascinated by hang glider flight. Wallaby is
frequented by international visitors drawn to the Sunshine State.
Among these are regular visits by airline crews who have already
done Disney and the other area attractions. As an example, one day
in August found an entire crew of Virgin Air Lines taking flight
lessons. The captain flies solo, but several beautiful flight
attendants took dual- tandem instruction flights with Malcolm.
"Tough work," he said of the flights, "but someone has to do it."
Lessons usually occur in the mornings and evenings when conditions
are easier for first-time hang glider students. Mid-days are
reserved for experienced pilots. This works out well as the strong
lift is generated then and is precisely what hang glider aficionados
seek.
Everyone who flies at Wallaby Ranch-which opened in 1992- is a
member of the Florida Hang Gliding Association, Inc. This type of
sport flying organization is common in the legally aware '90s plus
modest membership fees help pay for the nearly constant upkeep
required of a 52-acre tract of land. [Now over 200 acres, 7/95]
In a short time, Jones and a staff plus friends have made the ranch
into a pleasant experience for pilots and their families. In a few
more years, it will only get better.
Located within an hour's drive from the Lakeland, Florida airport
home of Sun 'n Fun and within 30 minutes from Kermit Weeks' soon-
to-open Fantasy of Flight aviation attraction, Wallaby is among its
own kind.
All Over Again
As night falls, you slip into dreamland. Once again you find
yourself climbing in lift, able to see each of Florida's magnificent
coasts.
"Wake up, Dear," a familiar voice says gently." The sun is rising on
another beautiful Florida morning. You don't want to miss a great
day of soaring, flying, and partying at Wallaby, Do you?"
You come alive. It's time to aviate! "Wallaby Ranch, here we come!"
FOR MORE INFORMATION,
contact
Florida Hang Gliding, Inc.
Wallaby Ranch
1805 Dean Still Road
Davenport, Florida, 33837-9358
call/ (863) 424-0070 |
