The Skydog Report

We are leaving London, Ontario, Canada Saturday February 4, 2017 and hope to be at Wallaby Ranch by Monday.

Monday February 6, 2017. We arrived Sunday evening at 9:30 and it was a successful two day drive with Finnegan. Monday morning we arranged or belongings in the cottage and I set up my glider after we took Finny for his first two mile walk in Florida around the flying field at Wallaby Ranch in the seventy degree temperature. Around noon we went for a bike ride on the Van Fleet trail and Maureen made 25 miles while Finnegan and I went fourteen miles. We saw two alligators in the swamp one being about eight feet long and the other, a 30 inch baby. After the bike ride we came back to the Ranch and I took a flight which only lasted 22 minutes. Others had taken off earlier and I think the longest flight was one hour and thirty minutes by Kip. I will try for an earlier take off on Tuesday.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday look to windy so we don't expect to fly until Friday and then the forecast looks good until Monday. Oded called Wednesday and said that George Adams and him are driving down south and will be here on Friday. Maureen went roller blading on Wednesday and I biked along with Finnegan in the basket. Thursday we took it easy and walked Finnegan around the field a few times. Around 9 pm Oded called to say that he and George were close to Charlotte Carolina and would be arriving at Wallaby around 1 pm. Friday morning.

Friday February 10, 2016 we woke to find Oded and George had arrived and the sun was shinning but still too windy so we drove to Quest to pick up George's new T-2-C while Maureen went for a bike ride on the Van Fleet trail and now we are waiting for the wind to drop and hope to fly later today. We did not fly Friday.

Saturday February 11, 2016 and we have a good day of flying. Sunny and no clouds but lots of lift. I get off first and hit good lift and a half hour later I am down to 840 feet over the warehouses but hit a good one and get up to over 4 grand. Oded and George come up and have good flights up to 4 grand also. George and I worked some lift for a while. There must have been about fifteen of us floating around. Chris Starbuck was way high for a while and I finally caught up to him and we circled together for a while. I was thermalling along Hyw. 27 near the warehouses and east close to the Omni Center for most of my flight and I saw a few pilots circling over the orange groves so I headed over that way but decided I would be better off over the warehouses so headed back and into the consistent lift. Griffin H. and Mike Barber were flying together for a while and I joined them for a bit. After a couple of hours I got down to 1,400 feet ato and then found some lift over the warehouses again and worked it back up to 4,400 feet ato. Finally after 3 hours and 6 minutes I landed and Mick Robson landed a half hour later.

Sunday February 12, 2016 and here we go again with a sunny morning with lots of tandems and we are excited to have another great day in the sky. I get off first again as the other are hewing and hawing about the wind direction and where to start. I went over to the east side of the field and called Malcolm for a tow and he gathered up a couple of others to get us going. Paul towed me up to 2 grand into a good thermal and I pinned off and I worked the first one up to 3 grand. After a few minutes we had a good group in the sky and there was lift most everywhere. After a half hour I was in sink and I got down to 1,400 feet but luckily I found a thermal popping out of the landing field and took it up to over four grand. Oded and Scott L. joined me in a good one and then a lone sailplane joined us and Oded caught some good video. When the day was done I had been up to 4,700 feet ato and Oded topped out at 4,800 feet and Scott must have been up to that height also. Mick Robson also had a good flight in the Carbon Dragon. My airtime was 2 hours and 21 minutes. Oded logged two hours. George logged one hour. Mike Barber was last to land with a fine flair.

Monday February 13, 2016 and another sunny morning with tandem going off by 8:30. Maureen and Oded go for a 80 Kilometre bike ride and George and I get some things done around the Ranch. The forecast says too windy today so no Flying.

Tuesday February 14, 2016. The forecast was for cloudy by noon but the tandems went off nicely this morning and by noon the sky was looking pretty good with about 60% cloud cover. Scotty says that the forecast is for good lift so we get ready ad we are off by one pm. George get up first and I follow with Scott next and then Oded and Walt and others. Paul drops me in a good thermal at 1,700 feet and I work it up to 2,800 feet which was close to base. George looks to be struggling and Scott comes up and we get together in some good lift that takes us to base at three grand. I find sink and get down to 1,400 feet and I see George up high like 3 grand as I find lift just to the east of the field and I take it east over the warehouses and get to base again. Oded joins me and we circle together for a while and then Oded takes off to the south and I lose track of him. I move to the west over the landing field and get low again but find another good one coming out of the field and work it back over the warehouses again and a little farther north where I get good lift that takes me up to 4,432 feet ato. Scott and I fly together for a few minutes under the clouds. Later in my flight I get low again like 1,200 feet but again I find lift coming out of the landing field and I take it up to 3 grand and Mick Robson joins me and we have a fine time working the last lift of the day. I leave Mick close to Omni and head back for landing after a great 3 hour and 27 minute flight. Oded had landed just before me and Mick drifts in jus after me.

Wednesday is very windy and the land sailors are zipping along the driveway. Maureen and Oded went through the B-Bar Bird sanctuary while I sat with Finnegan and enjoyed another sunny day with lots of wind. Lots of new photos below so take a look.

Thursday, February 16th and it looks like we may fly today in a blue sky. Our Friends Gord and Deb Toneguzzo arrived last evening and Maureen will be biking with them Saturday. No flying today after all as it is on the windy side.

Friday, February 17th and another blue sky day and the tandems are going off nicely. George Adams and I get to the north end take off around 12:30 and Oded and other follow us. George gets the first tow and Paul Smith drops George off close to the warehouses. I am off next and Smitty finds lift at the south west end of the field and waves me off at 2 grand and I work it up to 3 grand. I am working over the orange groves and finding consistent lift in the same area coming out of that same corner of the field so I stick with it and work it to the north. Oded is up next and works his way up over the centre of Wallaby and finally drifts back towards me and we thermal together for a few minutes as Oded shoots video. I see Walt and Brian and a few others circling to the north of the field so I head over to them and join in the fun. Rick Bremer comes up and disappears as he often does. Mike Barber is floating around above most of us. Leon from Australia in doing real nice and has a nice flight on his falcon. I am shooting still shots on the GoPro and Steve Arndt and Tommy Nejame come in from Seminole glider port and circle with us for a few minutes. Steve pulls in close to me hoping that I can get a good photo of his Silent sailplane. A bit later I hook up with Scotty and he puts on a good show for my camera. The Gopro took over 5,000 shots, one every second so I hope to have a few good Pics. Finally Scotty leaves me and heads south and I loose sight of him and soon I am sinking and I can't find lift anymore around 2:30 and I land with a 1 hour and 38 minute flight topping out at 3,684 feet ato. After lunch Four of us take second flights and by now the lift was all but gone and I log a 30 minute flight staying around 2,000 feet ato for most of the flight. Rick Bremer joined me and we circled together for a few minutes. Leon was the last to land.

Saturday, February 18th and Maureen is off biking with Gord and Deb so Finnegan (our Dachshund) and I are here hoping for good lift today but no luck as clouds and rain dampened the day. Maureen, Debbie and Gord had a short twelve mile ride before the rain set in.

Sunday, February 19th A foggy morning with the sun breaking through around eleven am. The sky is breaking up and it looks like we may get a late start today. Wind was about ten to twelve mph and nobody seemed to be hurrying to get going so I was taking it easy and then around two pm Al Sasser was walking by our cottage with his litespeed on a cart and heading to the east launch area. I checked around and noticed that Griffin had also went to launch so I hurried and got in gear and soon we were being towed up. I was third off and Fay Barber put me into a good one right over Wallaby Ranch and I took it up to three grand at the ten minute mark. I chased the others around looking for the best lift and I found a good spot at  the southwest corner that was constantly bubbling off and so I used that area as a get up again when I got low. I could see Al way off to the northwest and he was getting low and I wondered if Al would make it back OK and in the end Al said that he landed with a forty minute flight. By now Oded had retuned from table tennis and got into the air with us. Griffin, Oded and I were hanging around together a lot and after an hour the lunch break sink out was upon us and the three of us I landed. My time for this flight was 1 hour and 12 minutes and I was up to 3,851 feet ato. I was ready to get in the air again as it was fun and challenging but the boys were finishing up their lunch so I got in line this time at the oak tree and Al, Griffin and Oded followed me. There were a bunch of others still sitting around thinking that this was not the best day for them. I was first to take off this time and WHAMO! right into a big one that took me up to 4,438 ato and this time the air was like a wonder wind and real smooth so the four of us had a very enjoyable end to the day and I logged another 42 minutes.

 Monday, February 20th and the tandems are off at 8:30 and the hot air balloons have just landed. Maureen and friends go for a 60 mile bike ride. George Adams mentions that the birds have been soaring for over an hour at noon so I thought maybe a early start would be in order. I get my glider on a cart and the GoPro ready and off to the west end of the field we go. I am first with George, Griffin, Mike Barber and Oded in line. Aric Paulson and Mick Robson soon followed along with a few others. We have about a twelve mph wind today and the tow was punchy down low but at two grand it was fine. After a half hour I could see that Oded was heading north toward Quest and then I see Mike Barber also heading north with George Adams on his tail so I think it might be fun to follow them. We were at about 4,500 feet and by the time we were over Sand Mine Road and I got thinking that I really don't want to land out so I head back to the Ranch which is five miles mostly upwind. No problem there as I caught a few thermals along the way and I was still close to five grand when I got back so I played around there in the lift. Tom Nejame slipped in with his Silent electric sailplane and we thermalled together for five minutes and the Tom took off to the southeast. Aric Paulson, Jason Williams and Walt were getting some great lift so I joined them for a bit and then I see Rick Bremer working the lift below me at the northwest corner of the field and back over the sand mines. I found the air to be rather punchy although other later said that it was smooth. After a couple of hours I was getting tired and landed with a time of 2 hours and 6 minutes and up to 5,163 feet ato. While I was getting out of my harness, my phone was ringing so I answered and it was Oded excited to have landed at Quest Air and also to tell me that George had landed in a nice field two miles west of the Van Fleet trail on Dean still road. Maureen and friends are still on the Van Fleet trail and I am off to retrieve my buddies. I got George first and he was bubbling with excitement about his first great flight on his new Wills Wing T-2-C. Off to Quest we go and when we get there Davis Straub and Larry Bunner were just landing after there out and return of almost sixty miles. We visited with many of our old buddies including Ken Kenzie at Quest and the day was full of excitement. Lots of happy pilots everywhere on this Oded and George's last day in Florida for now.

 Tuesday, February 21st and the forecast is for mostly cloudy and Oded and George leave for New York. Maureen, Finnegan and I go for a bike ride along Lake Minneola near Claremont Fl. and we take Finny for his first swim in the shallow water. It looks like Finny will get to enjoy the lakes at home as he chases sticks into the water. The forecast says no flying until maybe Friday so I will report again then. Wednesday Rain and we play Dominos with Gord and Deb.

Thursday we go for a bike ride on the Van Fleet trail and we see eight baby alligators and one black snake at the three bridges.

Friday, February 24th and we are off to the beach. Internet says that there is a dog beach at Desoto park so we will try that. Yes, the dog beach was great with lots of dogs playing in the water and sand. Finny had his first day of swimming in the Gulf of Mexico and did quite well. We had a wonderful day and back at Wallaby the boys had a good day of flying up to four grand and Rick Bremer had the longest flight of three hours.

Saturday, February 25th was cloudy until one pm and Maureen and I went for a 27 mile bike ride and walked Finny around Wallaby Ranch twice. It is a two mile walk.

Sunday, February 26th windy again so we pack up and get ready for our trip home and in the afternoon we go for a 20 mile bike ride. Driving home Monday morning and will be back soon.

"Finnegan" Let's Get Out Of This Cold Weather

Maureen and Finnegan Entering Florida

Maureen, Finnegan and Bob

Finnegan Keeping An Eye On Us At Wallaby Ranch in the 80 Degree Temps.

Kip Running Out His Landing

Maureen, Finnegan and Bob On The Van Fleet Trail

Maureen Passing Us

Maureen At The End Of Her Run

George Adams by the Pool Wallaby Ranch Feb. 10

George Adams

Oded with Griffin to the Left

Aric and Ashley

George Adams

Malcolm and Doug

George Adams

Aric and Anna Christina

Bob and George

Aric and Anna Christina

Bob and Griffin Hochstetter Above

Beth

Bob and Friends

George Adams

Oded and Pete

Aric and Ashley

Bob, Mike and Griffin

George Adams

Aric and Ashley

Oded with Pete in Background

Aric and Doug

Bob and George

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