Chips Christopherson

Mark Johnson

Walt

Spec Out

Raven

Rick Bremer

Walt

A Face In The Clouds

Neff and John Rounding The Corner With The Wallaby

John and Neff Racing

On the Gulf Coast Beach

The Skydog Report

Thursday February 28th and we finally have a flyable day. Lee, John, Alex and I get ready just after one pm and I get off first. Mark tows me up into what looks to be a sky with some cumulous clouds and I pin off in a good one and soon lose this one and I get down to 1,700 feet before finding another climb. I see Lee Sheridan being towed up and she stays up pretty well for about twenty five minutes. Alex is next and he catches up with me at 2,800 feet ato and I try to get some good shots with the GoPro as Alex zooms in close. I don't notice John Minkle being towed but soon John is right up there with me and coming in close for the shoot. We get up close to base at 3,700 feet and as the day goes on the lift is much more consistent and I get 1 hour and 42 minutes airtime. Alex later told me that he stayed up over one hour and John likely got one and one half hours. A pretty darn nice day to be in the air.

Sailplane Comes In close As He passes By On His Way South

Alex Close To Base With An Eagle Above

John

John

The Skydog Report

Friday March 1st 2019 another sunny day but no cummies today. I get off first but a bit to early and I sink out after 24 minutes. About six others get into the air and one pilot tells me that he stayed up for one and one half hours. I take a second flight after four pm. lunch break and this time Mark puts me into something good but after twenty minutes I am down to 1,600 feet and stumbling around when I find a small thermal that builds and takes me up to 3,940 feet ato. This time I last for 59 minutes and enjoy a last flight for a couple of days as we are off to the ocean for some swimming and other fun. Saturday morning we head over to the Gulf coast at Dunedin and find the nicest dog beach where Finnegan swam and ran in the shallows for hours. Maureen swam and we enjoyed the warm days. Monday started out sunny but became overcast by one pm so we went the beach early and then for a twenty two mile bike ride along the Pinellas trail. In the evening we joined a group of eighty eight Ukulele players for two hours of fun and music.

Pete Knebel

# 1

Mark Johnson and Bob Grant

# 2

# 4

Bob

Jason Williams Landing

Bob Slipping In

Pete Knebel

Jason Williams

Pete Knebel

Scott

Skydog Bob

The Skydog Report

Thursday March 7, 2019 and finally a good flying day. Last Saturday was a great day and many pilots got up to six grand while we went to the beach. Today has blue skies and the tandems are off early. We expect a blue day with a late start and we have about 12 pilots ready to fly. I am first off and Mark drags me all over looking for lift and finally over the pasture to the south we hit a boomer and we circle in it for three turns and I drop off. Well, it lasts for a few minutes and I am sinking again looking for another thermal but no luck and I land with a 25 minute flight. While I was in the sink a few others take off and they are doing well so I get in line again and up we go. This time Mark puts me into a nice one and I get more comfortable although the air is quite choppy. Alex joins me early and later Pierre Michaud comes in and we work together for a few minutes. Later on I see Oded down below and Oded circles p to me and above. Moritz is in the air with us too and doing well. Oded has a 2-1/2 hour flight and Moritz has 1-1/2 hours. Oded and Pierre report getting up over six grand whereas I only top out at 5,125 feet. My second flight lasted 1 hour and 58 minutes. Talking with Mark later he mentioned that I that first boomer after I released that he came back looking for the lift and could not find it so we wondered where it went. Lots of smiling faces at the end of the day. Friday's forecast looks great so we will see how it goes.

Oded - Take Off

?

?

Moritz

?

Sandhill Crane Jumping

?

Maureen Shoots Flowers at Wallaby Ranch

The Skydog Report

Friday March 8, 2019 another great day for flying. Steve Arndt is off early to the Seminole sailplane field as the competition starts Saturday and Friday is a practice day. The balloons are landing at Wallaby Ranch and the Tandems get rolling early. Scott gives us details on the great weather forecast a says that the lift should be great from 12:30 until 4:30. Oded tells me that Davis Straub has posted that he and other pilots at Willowtree Park are planning to try long XC flights to the north into Georgia. At 12:45 I start out down the driveway with Maureen assisting my push and other quickly follow us. I try to convince another young pilot to go first but he says no you go for it Bob and next I convince Oded who is right behind me to go firs but as Oded gets ready to launch he finds that his pro tow bridle need fixing so I am elected to go first with Brian Jackson to follow. Our tow pilot today Bob McFee buts me into a boomer at 1,00 feet and we circle in it up to 1,700 where I kick off and continue to go up to 3,800 feet ato. I see Brian launch and I watch to see how he does as Bob takes him over the warehouses and I have drifted back over the sand pitts. I see that Brian is doing very well east of 27 so I scoot over there and come in a grand below Brian. I am working my way up to Brian but soon I can't see him anymore so he must have headed north for a n XC experience. Oded takes a tow and has a weak link break at 600 feet and is not able to get up. I am watching the take off area and the action has slowed down and later I find out that the first tow plane has a problem so a second plane is put into action and then the others start coming up. Most of them stay over the orange groves so I can barely see them but I am getting up to five grand and I see a sailplane coming from Seminole and he circles with me for two turns and then zooms off to the south with the wind. I am feeling rather lonely flying by myself so I go for a run south to just past the hospital and as I am coming back I get down to 2,300 feet and get concerned but as soon as I get to the cloverleaf I hit a great climb and take it up to 5,300 feet. Gregg Linneman joins me for a few minutes and Jason Williams also joins me. Another sailplane heading south passes under me. Well getting bored again I decided to fly north and make it to Sand Mine road and Publix and come back with no problem all the time staying well above four grand so I take another run south to the hospital and back. The lift is getting more consistent as the day progresses and I get my best climb up to 5,836 feet. Around 4:30 I see more that twenty sailplanes making their way back north to Seminole airport all passing under me. I am getting pretty tired and decided to head over to Wallaby Ranch and when I get closer I see Rick Mullins and Jason about a grand below me over the orange groves so now I finally have a reason to try to hang in there as the lift is slowing some. I watch as they both get lower and lower and finally Rick lands and a few minutes later Jason lands and I still have 700 feet to burn off and I land with a 4 hour and 23 minute flight. Moritz logs one hour and twenty minutes. When I get down and talk to Oded he tells me that Davis has just landed about one hundred and forty miles north of Willowtree park in Georgian and that Cory Barnwell made it 112 miles. I expect that others also made the XC challenge on this fantastic day in Florida.

? and Moritz

Skydog Bob

?

The Skydog Report

Saturday March 9, 2019 and the clouds are forming nicely by noon but Maureen and Finnegan and I are going to the beach on Saturday for a few days so I need to get my glider broke down. Oded and Moritz are going to fly along with two other pilots and do get off late finding no lift under the beautiful cummies and they all have short flights. In the evening we go to Disney Springs for a movie and a listen to the fantastic music by Nicolas Marks on the strip. After our beach adventure on Monday evening I join a group of one hundred Ukulele players in Dunedin for an evening of strumming and singing fun. When we return to the Ranch Tuesday morning, Oded tells me of the great flights that he and Moritz had while we were away. I am going to let Moritz fill us in on the details. Tuesday morning Maureen, Oded, Finnegan and I are on our way home and we arrive home just in time for me to go to my home Ukulele group here in London, Canada

Oded Ready For Take Off

Oded Films Bob

Oded Thermals With Sailplane

Oded With Two Sailplanes

Oded With Three Sailplanes

Dragonfly Below

Thermalling