Spring Break, 1996...

Heather is sick of a long Boston winter. I, of course, am itching to fly. She says, "I wanna go somewhere warm for spring break. Florida would be nice. Is there anywhere in Florida that you could go hang gliding?..."

WALLABY!!!

Wallaby Ranch

Davenport, Florida

Wallaby Ranch is a hang gliding site that specializes in aero-towing. They primarily feature Australian aircraft, Moyes and Airborne, hence the name.

We spent about a week there, from March 25 through May 1. The weather wasn't 100% cooperative (tornadoes, hail, etc.) but I had a great time anyway. I managed to get 5 tows upt to 2500'. On a couple of them I even soared some thermals (for the first time). I stayed up for about 25 minutes on a couple of the flights and tried my hand at aerial photography (see below).

And I saw Disney World from the air.

[Me on the Ground]
Here I am at Wallaby Ranch:

[Me Inflight]
Here I am above Wallaby Ranch:

[Heather]
Here's Heather at Wallaby Ranch:

This is me, hooked into a Moyes XT, ready for a flight.
[READY]
The tug starts off down the field and I get pulled behind... Take-off!
[LAUNCH]
After a safe flight, I come in for a landing.

Here's what Wallaby Ranch looks like from 2000 feet up:
[AERIAL SHOT 1]

Here's a closer shot:
[ARIAL SHOT 2]

You can see the yellow tug landing in the field at the bottom of the picture.

How Aero-Towing Works:

An ultra-light airplane, called a "tug", pulls the glider behind it and takes it up at about 500 feet per minute. This tug, a Moyes Dragonfly, flies at about 30 mph, normal flying speed for a hang glider. At 2500 feet above ground level, the hang glider pilot releases, and goes off on his or her own, looking for thermals...

Here is one of the yellow Dragonflys at Wallaby about to tow a Wills Wing Falcon.
[TUG + GLIDER]

...and away they go!
[TAKE-OFF]

Return to my hang gliding page.

theodric@mit.edu