Aric Paulson Coming Up

 Chaudi Nails It!

Bertrand Working With Me

The Skydog Report

Wednesday December 3, we have a sunny forecast with winds 10  15 so here we go again. Jimmy takes a 17 minute morning flight to cloud base at 2,500 feet ato and floated around practiced flying and approach to the field using the flaps. Had a nice landing.

We had overdevelopment until around 3 pm when I took a flight and lasted 24 minutes landing near take off.

After lunch we go again as it has cleared up quite nicely and Oded takes the first tow but the weak link breaks at 700 feet so JK is ready and takes off for his first thermal flight on the VRS. I quickly follow and Paul pulls me under a nice whispy cloud and I work it up to base at 4,200 and JK is with me up to 3,750 feet when he heads back to the Ranch. JK is in awe at the glide and speed of his new ship and just loves it. Oded takes a second tow and joins me up to base and we play together getting pretty far back to the west past the big pond and then Oded takes off heading for the Ranch and I try to speed along getting lower and when I get down to 1,200 feet I am feeling that I likely won't make it back to the Ranch and I start looking for my best option for a landing area. Well, I think that maybe the orange grove trees are only about ten feet tall so I make do that but when I finally get down to 400 feet, I realize that I am doomed and that the trees may be the only option so I line up for a small clearing  along a tree line beside the Orange trees and put the T2 down real nice with 35 minutes airtime. That was a happy moment for me and I called Oded who had landed at the Ranch to come get me. Oded and Malcolm were there in ten minutes and we folded the glider and got out of there and back to the Ranch just in time to head out for an evening of Table Tennis.

 Bertrand Come in Close

Landing Approach 1

The Skydog Report

Saturday December 6, 2014 we get a good day after two days of no flying and it is pretty darn good. Tom Nejame does a big square of 45 miles in four hours and Rick Bremmer does a 3 hour and 45 minute flight. I took off first and Fay Barber puts me into a nice thermal and I work it up to 3,200 feet and soon Tom Nejame takes off and works his way up and past me and I see Tom take off to the north and I don't see him again until around 5 pm when Tom lands. Oded takes off after Tom and I don't see Oded again as he stays over the warehouses and in that area for one hour and thirty seven minutes getting up to 3,800 feet ato and takes a second tow in the evening . JK gets his first really good day on his new Atos VRS and has over two hours of airtime. John Armstrong has some good air today along with many others. Mitch and Linda join us and Mitch has a great flight that must have been over three hours. Cloud base was around 3,800 feet and Oded got up there. My highest gain was 3,265 feet ato so not a high day but very challenging and I took 5 tows to get my 2 hours and 39 minutes and my longest flight was 54 minutes. Oded, JK and I all had GoPro cameras on so we have some cool footage. Mick Robson flew his sailplane and Mitch, Rich and myself stayed together over highway four for a half hour or so. There were about fifteen of us here today.

The JK Report

Saturday was great and I had a good tow by Paul to 2.4 K, released, found nothing and then zoomed south over Wallaby to thermal with Rick Bremmer flying his Aeros Phantom, Linda, and Don Ludlow. Got to 3,366 feet with great Go Pro footage with Bob's Wolfi camera mount on the wing. Saw Mick Robson turning over Wallaby in his sailplane and speeded over to him as he eventually climbed up to me and headed NE to join Mitch over the housing development by route 27. The lift was weak unless you were under a dark cummie. Oded was about 3 miles to the SW in zero sink under a big dark cumulus cloud. I 'm still getting use to the Atos and not using it to its full potential yet. So I'm staying close to Wallaby. Baby steps. Tommy Nejame gave me some pointers after he landed. After a nice landing Oded and I had lunch. Bob, Oded and I went up late in the day. Got towed to 4.2 K which gave me a spectacular 30 minute cruise with the sun low on the horizon just as Mitch, Tommy and Mick came into land after 3-4 hour flights. Did I mention the temperature was about 80 degrees. It was a real fun day.

 JK Films  Rick Bremmer and Linda Salamone Coming Up

A Great Day at Wallaby Ranch

JK Ready For Take Off

JK and Rick Thermal Together for a While

The Skydog Report

Sunday is cloudy and windy so we go to Cocoa Beach where I would like to windsurf but when we get there the wind direction is not proper so we film about twenty kite boarders slipping along the water on the Banana river. We are going to try the Florida Ridge on Monday.

Monday morning Oded and I take JK to the airport to catch his flight home to Elmira NY and then we head to the Florida Ridge flight park and the forecast is for sunny skies ad light winds. Oded and I arrive at the Ridge and there are tandems going up so we set up our gliders and get ready to fly. Oded takes off first at 1:30 and plays in some light and Derrick tows me up over the canal where we find some 200 fpm lift and drops me off there. I work the light stuff for a few minutes and Oded joins me and we circle together a few turns gaining up to 3,200 feet. Oded leaves and heads for another cloud that looks better and he is rewarded with some good lift and finally gets up to 4,100 feet and Oded stays aloft for 1 hour and 45 minutes. I don't find much and land after 45 minutes and get another tow and this time Derrick takes me up to 4,800 feet well above the clouds and as I am turning I see a wonderful Glory circle on the cloud beside me so I fly straight into the circle and it becomes very large with a shadow of my glider in the center. I fly father from the cloud and come back again to see the Glory and shadow again. To bad that I did not have a camera with me for this flight. After 30 minutes I am on the ground again and go up again for a sweet sled ride with wingees for a twenty minute flight. Oded takes a second flight that is only a 26 minute sledder. We pack up our gliders finishing in the dark and head back to Wallaby with stories of another wonderful day of flying.

Wednesday there is no flying but sunny and windy and we are flying home on Wednesday so that is it for now.

The Florida Ridge Hang Gliding Centre

 Oded Kalir all Set Up

Bob Has the Radio and the Vario

Oded Kalir

Getting Closer

Bob Chasing Oded

 Oded

Oded Flying High

This is What We Came Home To