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Florida's Wallaby Ranch
is a haven for hang glider pilots
By Dan Johnson
Kitplanes Magazine, January 1995
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/fax (863) 424-0070
To get there print the directions page.
Reprinted with the permission of Dan Johnson
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