Skydog Sports

Florida Trip

 March 18 to April 4, 2014

A Little help with the captions Please. Send to caskydog at gmail.com - fix the at = @

The Skydog Report

Oded Kalir and I flew from Buffalo NY on Tuesday March 19, 2014 and Landed at Orlando airport at 4:30 pm and Jim McNamara picked us up and we were at the Ranch by 5:30. Oded was anxious to try out his new shorter hang strap so he said let's get an evening flight in and I got into a line for a tow and Paul hauled me up. By the time Paul got down the sun was setting behind the trees so Oded missed out on a flight for today but he will go on Wednesday morning. My flight was a wingie flight of 14 minutes and what fun.

Wednesday morning Oded got up and headed to the old oak tree for a flight and I filmed with Dana's new Canon camera. Oded had a good sledder and a nice landing. By one pm we were in line for a thermal flight and I got off  behind a couple of others and Oded after me. I soon found some good lift and took it up to 4,000 feet and watched as Oded and others came up to join me. There was a 510-C Sensor (Brooks) that did very well and I had a hard time staying up with him. Oded had a work out getting up at first but finally was with me and I was trying to come in behind him as Oded had a Gopro facing him and pointing back behind him. We messed around with that for a few minutes and then I decided that it was way too Rasty (Rough and Nasty) to be trying to fly so close so I head off to the south and past Hyw. #4 where I caught up to Aric Paulson on his T-2 and Mick Robson flying the Carbon Dragon. I finally got bored hanging out at the clover leaf so I headed back to over the Ranch where I found a group of about eight gliders thermalling close together so I joined them for a few minutes and then headed off by myself and I found good climbs up to 4,800 feet. After two hours I was getting cold and it was pretty bumpy like 7 on the Rasty scale so I decided to head down and I saw Oded circling down ahead of me. It was tough getting down but I found a blue area and finally got down to 500 feet above the Ranch and checked out the windsocks and finally was on approach and all was going well but then I noticed that the ground looked quite wet so I pulled in ever so gently trying to get past the damp area and the next thing I knew, I was on my way to the hospital with a concussion. They gave me a cat scan and said that I looked OK but that I should spend overnight for observation so that is what I did in Celebration Florida Hospital. Flight time 2 hours 22 minutes. Oded picked me up Thursday morning and Thursday we went Boating with John Pettinato who generously offered to take us on his 22 foot boat for a cruise on the St. John's River. John and Pattie were great hosts and we had a fun day filming the wildlife.

 

Big 16m Video Click Here

 

 

Short Video Click Here

Photos Below

 

 

Oded Ready To Fly

Skydog Bob and Steve Arndt - Blimp Overhead

 

Lift Off

Mario Luppa and Laurie Croft

 

Tom Nejame - Lift Off

 

Denise and Mario

Tandem

 

3

Mario

 

 Landing

 

Tom Nejame

5

 

Jimmy Nordle

Tom Nejame

 

Jim McNamara and Oded Kalir

Brook

 

Oded Wingin

Denise and the Blimp

 

Paul Harrison - Tug Pilot

 

Oded

 

Brook - Sensor Glider

 

Oded

Oded and Tug

 

Lance

Troughs Made When I Nosed In Wednesday

A Day On The Water with John and Pat Pettinato

John, Oded and Pat

Osprey With a Fish

 

Osprey With a Fish

Osprey

 

John and Bob

Alligator

 

Oded

Pat

 

Oded Shoots

Cormorant

 

Teens Playing With a Manatee

 

Egret in the Weeds

Teen Playing With Manatee

 

Blue Heron

Super Entertainer

 

 

 The Group Listening to Music

 

The Skydog Report

Friday March 21st I had some work to do on my T-2 so I took it apart and replaced a missing bolt and straightened the nose plate that bent a little when I nosed in on Wednesday. By one o'clock I was ready to fly and got in line behind about ten other pilots and was airborne in no time as Malcolm had two tugs pulling us up. Lots of pilots drove in today along with my friends from Cloud 9 in Michigan. Oded was in the air just ahead of me along with eight other pilots. Tom Nejame had a great flight of about two hours on a coarse that he regularly does but this time he did it in less that two hours which beat his old record of 2:10. Tom Lanning and Mitch Shipley headed toward Quest but hit a big sink area about 12 miles out and they watched as Mike Barber scratch the area for two hours and Mike finally landed close by them. A bunch of us stayed closer to Wallaby and most of us had great lift to near six grand. My highest was 6,145 feet ATO and my flight lasted 2 hours and 22 minutes. At 6:30 I took a sledder for 16 minutes while Oded lasted 50 minutes on this one and up to 4,500 feet. My Cloud 9 buddies all took initial flights later in the afternoon and had a good time. The Cloud 9 pilots are Brian Deimling, Craig Carlson, Trevor Glidersleeve, Tom Niblock, Scot Maue and Brian Ridder. We wish that Tracy and Lisa would come, at least for next weekend. We heard this morning that the gang here flew at 4:30 on Thursday while we were boating and most of them had two hour flights so that makes three days in a row with good thermals.

Photos Below

Tandem

These Are The Divots That My Glider Left When I Nosed In

 

Balloon Landing

Bob Straightens His Nose Plate After a Nose In

 

Jimmy Nordle Sets Up A Camera

Happy Pilot

 

Frank Drives Em Back

Photo Shoot

 

Happy Birthday Group

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kerry Lloyd

 

 

Jimmy Nordle

Happy Faces

 

 Matt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Worth

 

 

 

 

The Skydog Report

Saturday March 22nd the forecast was for winds to be from the west at 15 to 20 so we were thinking that it may get too windy. A beautiful sunny morning with light winds and a bunch of tandems so I was shooting photos and then breakfast and soon one o'clock rolled around and pilots were thinking that It was too windy but finally Mitch led out to the east side of the field and I followed and within a few minutes there was a good line up. Mitch go off first but had a weak link break at 500 feet so I moved into position and Paul towed me up to a nice thermal and I took it up to over four grand and watched as the others were hauled into the air. I was getting good climbs some at 800 feet per minute and getting to base was pretty easy at 5 grand. Malcolm asked us to stay west of Hyw 27 if above 5,000 feet as commercial air traffic could be in that area due to the west winds. In a few minutes I had Mitch, Jason, Oded and Tom Lanning with me and we took the lift to the top and then worked west to the next cloud and that usually got us over the sand dunes. The famous Johnny Durand was flying with us today and doing very well as always. Oded went farther west and I lost sight of him and Tom and Mitch headed northwest trying for some distance so it was Jason and I bouncing back and forth for a while and then Brian Deimling took a good climb and joined us on his new Litespeed and we worked together for twenty minutes. Looks like Brian is really enjoying the new glider. After another half hour Tom came back to the ranch and joined Jason and I near Hyw 4 for some spectacular climbs. I heard some one ask Tom how strong the wind was and Tom reported 17 mph but bucking the headwind seamed fairly easy. Trevor Glidersleeve paid us a visit above 4 grand for a while with his lightening bolt U-2 and the sky was full of gliders below us. Near the end of my flight the best lift was near 27 over the warehouses and I had got down to 1,700 in some sink but the warehouse thermals to me back up again and I took it to 4,800 and Oded Joined me over there and we had some fun together. Finally I though, well maybe I should get closer to the Ranch as he wind was picking up. they say it was a seabreese, and sure enough it was harder to penetrate but I did arrive with about 600 feet coming down from 4 grand and I did not find much lift on the way back to the Ranch. OK so now for a good landing and it was very bumpy all the way down to the ground where I was happy to get in safely and I landed on the road. With so much wind like over 20 mph I had not expected to glide so far but when below 40 feet I picked up speed and cruised all the way to the road coming fro the east. Oded came in shortly after me and we were the last to land. My flight time was 2 hours and 40 minutes and up to 5,435 feet so a real nice flight with friends. The chatter on the ground was exciting as all were telling stories of the days flying.

Photos Below

Mike Barber and Johnny Durand

 

Aric Paulson Tandem Instructor

Johnny Durand - Australia

 

Brian Deimling, George, Tom and Brian Ridder

 

 

 

 

Tom Nejame

 

 

Aric and Pricilla Landing

 

 

Charles and Pricilla

 

Tandem

 

 

 

 

Malcolm Takes a Youngster Up

 

Aric Takes Another Student Aloft

Aric and Pricilla

 

 Malcolm and Youngster Land

 

Carey Lloyd

A Happy Youngster

 

Jim Heading Out

 

Jimmy Nordle - Lift Off

 

Malcolm and Amanda Taking Off

 

What's Up

George

 

Malcolm and Amanda Landing

 

Youngster Flies with Malcolm

He Is Excited

 

Worth  Launching

 

Sara Maddox - UK

Brian Ridder and His Parents

 

 

 

 

 

 Aric Paulson and Pricilla Landing

 

The Skydog Report

Sunday the 23rd looked like a nice day but the wind aloft was way too strong so we visited other pilots and George Adams dropped by to say hi. This gives me chance get some photos together and Oded takes the van for an oil change. Looks like Monday and Tuesday will be very wet so I will likely report on Wednesday again.

Wednesday Morning is sunny but Wow!, is it cold, 39 degrees at 9 am and windy. The forecast says the wind will be 11 mph at 2 pm so we may get some flights in today. On Tuesday we went to a nature preserve in Boca Raton and I am posting some photos that Oded took while there.

Photos Below

Wakodahatchee Wetlands

A Friendly Gator

 

 Blue Heron

 

 

Wood Stork

 

M

 

Heron Fishing

Long Neck Something

 

Wood Stork

 

Heron Chick

Heron Chick

 

Bird Island

 

Wood Storks

Tell Me

 

Wood Stork

 

The Skydog Report

Wednesday and it is sunny but windy so we hope to fly after lunch when the wind subsides. Meanwhile I take some photos of the new gliders and new friends. By three o'clock the wind has gone down to about ten so we get out to the Oak Tree launch area and Trevor and Tom from Michigan get off first and I am soon in the air. We had expected the air to be raunchy but it seamed OK. After I towed up there was a steady stream of launches and most everyone stayed up. Scot Maue from Michigan and I battled for top spot for a long time trading places as we went. Some pilot in one of the new T-2-C demo gliders came off tow and zoomed up right through me and I wondered how he did that as we were in the same thermal. Who ever that was surely did well on that glider. Linda Salamone tried out one of the demo T-2-Cs and she easily got above me. Looks like I may have to get one of those Atos space ships to stay on top. My flight time today was 2 hours and 11 minutes and I got up to 3,923 feet in a blue streaky sky that we did not expect much lift from. I met a real nice couple from Austria, Gerhart and Martina Handle who have just received their new Wills Wing T-2-C 136 super gliders and they are very excited. The forecast for Thursday is cloudy with no rain so we will see how it goes.

Photos Below

Martina Handle and Wolfi

 

Sara ad Jeremy

Gerhart, Bob and Wolfi

 

Martina and Gerhart - New WW-T-2-C s

 

Gerhart's new Glider

Martina's New Glider

 

Martina

 

Jeremy Maddox

Martina and Gerhard Handle - Austria

 

The Skydog Report

Thursday - Sure enough, cloudy -, light wind and no rain. I spent the day taking lots of photos but without a blue sky the photos are not as nice as on a sunny day but I will post some soon. We have had great entertainment every evening with singing guitar players.

Friday starts out sunny but very windy so I will get at the photos today.

Photos Below

Eugene Bumbacco - Canada

 

 Wills Wing Demo Days 2014

 

 Lisa Pearson

 

 

Paul Harrison -Tug Pilot

 

Malcolm Takes a Youngster For a Ride

Laurie Checks out a Tandem

 

 

 

 

Gerhart Handle Ready to Fly - Wolfi helps

 

 

Towing

 

Marty - Tug Pilot

Gerhart - Lift Off

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oded With Glider Coming Behind

Bob With Eugene in Background

 

Gerhart and Martina Handle

Aric and Student

 

 

 

Desiree and Baby

 

 

Martina

Simon - UK

 

Bob With Sailplane Above

Oded With Scott L. Below

 

Lisa Pearson and Vincene Mueller

Dusty

 

S

 

 

Simon and Jimmy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aric and Family of Flyers

 

Keith Blaylock

 

 

Chris Mangels

 

 

 

Andrew Starkov, Lisa and Vincene

Majo Gularte Arrives From Guatemala

 

Simon - UK

Wayne Ripley

 

 

 

 

Honey Hugs Peter Morgan - Canada

 

 Jeremy Maddox

 

 

Dwight Donahue - Canada

 

Lift Off

 

Malcolm Jones - Wallaby Ranch

Steve Pearson and Pup

 

Jeremy Maddox

Lisa Has Fun on Bike

 

 

 

Laurie Croft - Wallaby Ranch

Maria and Steve

 

Lisa and Steve

Maria

 

 

 

Steve And Nick

Eugene - Canada

 

 

 

Majo Gularte all Packed Up

Keith Blaylock - Montana

 

Simon

 

Zach Majors Greets Majo Gularte

So Happy

 

 

 

Denise

Jeremy

 

 Simon

 

Tom Peghiny

Aric and Student

 

 

 

Majo Gularte and Linda Salamone

Emotions "Wow"

 

Jeremy

 

Jeremy

Denise and Ruth

 

Simon

 

Lisa and Tom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Skydog Report

Friday March 28, 2014 is cloudy and two tandems go up but the wind is too strong so after breakfast the tandem clinic takes place and the rest of the day is spent visiting. Around 5 pm Mitch Shipley sets up his electric scooter tow and a few pilots get airborne in a fifteen mph wind. Great music again tonight with a super husband and wife playing many oldies.

Photos Below

Pedro and Henry - Ecuador

Andrew Starkov - Electric Scooter Tow - Canada

 

Michael Robertson - Scooter Tow

Alaina and Johnny Durand

 

Denise, Mario, Ted and Ruth

 

Craig Carlson and Scot Maue - Cloud 9 Pilots

Simon and Honey

 

Cloud 9 Pilots

Brian Deimling, Tom Niblock, Bob, Trevor Glidersleeve and Brian Ridder

 

Scot Maue - Michigan

Oded Kalir - NY

 

Hang Glider, Tow plane and Balloon

 

Linda, Majo and Alaina

 

The Skydog Report

Saturday March 28, 2014 is cloudy again and windy but the party will go on tonight. A huge storm blew though around 2 pm and flattened the Big Top tent and made everything wet but the staff had it all cleaned up and ready for the Wills Wing celebration. Hey, the party was great and after Dinner and dialogue we danced to the music of a great five peace band.

Photos Below

A Fierce Storm Blows Through and Collapses The Big Top Tent

 

 Lightening Strikes Right in the Landing Field Close to the Buildings

 

Poker Party

Baby Scarlett and Dad, Ryan Voight

 

Mom Desiree and Scarlett

John Middleton and Ryan Voight

 

? and Serge

Grandpa Paul Voight and Scarlett

 

Malcolm Jones

Kenny and Megret Westfall

 

 

Terry Ryan - Toronto

 

The Silver Girls

Mike

 

Jenn Silvers Holds Baby

Happy Couple with Baby

 

Lee and Jenn Silver

Dad Looks So Happy

 

Jamie Sheldon, Mitch and Linda

Steve Kroop - Second From Right

 

Desiree, Scarlett and Ryan Voight

Desiree and Scarlett

 

Tom and Amy Lanning

Mitch Tells a Story

 

Steve and Lisa's Pup

Malcolm and Oliver

 

Rick Bremmer and Aric Paulson

 

 

Aric Paulson and Mike Meir

Linda Salamone

 

Jamie, Mitch and Linda

Scott L. and Rob Jacobs

 

The Big Top Lays Down

Linda Meir and Brother Bruce and Maureen

 

Dusty and Cathy

The Bicycle Boys - Aric, Rob and Nick

 

Frank and Anna

Nevaeh and Oliviah Silver

 

Silver Girls

Jamie Sheldon

 

Tom, Sister and Jackie

 

Dinner Line Up

 

 

Jenn and Lee Silver - Toronto, Canada

Lee and Bob

 

Lee, Bob and John Pop

Tom Peghiny - Centre

 

Sara and Jeremy Maddox - Great Britain

Friend and Kimberly Ludwig

 

Zach Majors

Dinner Outside

 

Denise and Mario

Wolfi

 

Majo Gularte

Scarlett Voight

 

Lee  and Oliviah

Tracy and Eric - Centre

The Music Begins

 

Tracy and Friend

Kimberly

 

Jessica Makes That Fiddle Sing

Jason Williams - Amy and Tom

 

Linda Meir - Dancin Girl

Mike and Linda Meir

 

The Downgetters Band Click Here

Kimberly Dances to the Beat

 

The Skydog Report

Sunday is sunny but windy again and I pick up Oded at the Orlando airport after a weekend with his family. By 4 pm the wind is dropping off and I get ready to fly along with two others. The wind was still 10 gusting to 15 and the tow was a little rowdy but I pinned off at 2,500 feet and I bumped into a thermal over the sand mines and stuck with it for a while drifting south east over Wallaby Ranch and then headed upwind looking for more and kept the T-2 up for 26 minutes. The other two pilots had similar flights and the one young fellow reported that he had a half hour. I took a second tow and lasted 25 minutes this time. That was challenging and enjoyable. Ryan Voight took video with his Quadra copter and it is very cool so I will get it online soon.

Photos Below

 

 

Rick Mullens and Ruth Pence

Glider Being Towed Over Balloons

 

Catherine

 

Catherine Gagnon - Quebec, Canada

Catherine Takes Off

 

Stephanie, Gregg and Catherine

Catherine and Stephanie

 

Stefanie Holcomb and Princess Chloe

 

 

Stephanie, Gregg and Catherine

Rick Mullen's Carbon Dragon

 

 Stephanie

 

 

Stephanie

 

Catherine Flies

Mike Barber and Zac Majors

 

Stephanie

Stephanie Landing

 

Joni and David Ledford

 

 

Stephanie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shirley

Gregg

 

Oded Kalir

Frank

 

Stephanie

 

Malcolm and Marie Jose

Paul Harrison Cool

 

The Skydog Report

Monday March 31, 2014 is sunny and lots of tandems and solo flights before breakfast this morning. Catherine from Quebec, Canada is here and Stephanie and Catherine took solo flights this morning. David Ledford came in this morning with his Honey Joni and an Electric sailplane. We  got in line around 1 pm and Oded got off first and stuck at 2 grand for a long time. I got off third and found some bubbles near the cloverleaf and followed them back over the ranch and after 27 minutes I found sink and landed. By now there were likely ten gliders in the air and they all seemed to be staying around 2,000 feet just to the north of the ranch. I got in line again and was off within 20 minutes and found good lift with the many other pilots, likely fifteen by now. It was a tight pack and we were flying too close many times. I had two close encounters and decided to travel a bit for more lift and that finally got me into sink and I landed after 45 minutes. Oded was still doing well but landed about ten minutes after me along with many others. Linda Salamone was up there today and again she topped out way above me and most everyone else too. I took a third flight along with Rick Bremmer but it was only a 16 minute sledder. That was it for today.

Photos Below

Skydog Bob Being Towed Up

Skydog With Sailplane Above

 

 Tom Just Below Skydog

 

Laurie Croft

Greg Ludwig

 

Oded

 

Leah 11 Years Old

Leah Approach

 

Yubi

 

Leah High

Malcolm and Leah

 

 Frank

 

Malcolm and Happy Leah

Yubi

 

Sandhill Crane and Chick

 

Malcolm and Yubi

leah Flies

 

Oded

 

Zac Majors and Majo Gularte

Oded's Friends

 

Mike

Happy Family

 

Jubi

Stephanie

 

Malcolm and Majo Gularte

 

Catherine

Leah

 

The Skydog Report

Tuesday April, 2014 is sunny and lots of tandems and solo flights before breakfast again and twenty of us get ready to fly by 2 pm. Everyone was reluctant earlier because there were o cumulous showing but I said that some blue sky days are go so I went first and sure enough Paul put into a good one that I took up to four grand and I watched as the others were towed up. I was good being high and pimping off the gliders thermalling up. That kept me on top for a good forty minutes and then Tom Lanning and Scott L. got above me and we traded places for a while. Oded Kalir and Rick Bremmer both took two tows and on their second tows got into some good lift. Eugene Bumbacco was doing great on his U-2. Rick Mullins had a great flight along with most others. Sere from Poland was doing really well on his new T-2-C. I think that Scott L. Had the longest flight of the day with three and a half hours. I logged 3 hours and 9 minutes and got up to 4,550 feet. I think that Scott said that he topped out at close to five grand so a good day for all. We took some nice video today while flying so I will likely get that ready after I get home next week. Wednesday's forecast is looking even better so we will see.

Photos Below

Take Off

 

 

Student

 

 Frank

 

Paul Solos

Malcolm and Majo Gularte

 

Elan and Oded

Paul

 

 

Frank

 

Malcolm and Elan

 

Elan and Oded

Majo Gularte  and  Zac Majors

 

 

Elan

 

Majo Gularte

 

Elan

Sandhill Crane with Chick

 

 

Oliver and Malcolm

 

Malcolm and Majo Gularte

 

The Skydog Report

Wednesday is another blue sky day with no cumulous to show us the path into the sky. Tom Nejame gets off first at 1:30 and then Greg Ludwig and Serge in his new T-2-C. I am off next and get dropped off in decent lift and I take it up to three grand and I see others up at four grand and after some poor decisions I am on the ground after 27 minutes. I take my time and get in line again and Chris takes me up high to where other pilots are sticking at four grand. After a few minutes I have worked my way up to Tom Lanning, Serge, Lee Silver and others. We circle for a few minutes and a few pilots take off toward Quest Air and I stay in the lift over the Sand Pitts and in ten minutes the group come back low and work their way back up to me. We try pushing toward the Ranch and find sink so come back to the Sand Mines ad there is that column of lift again so I play there for a while and then I go for a run toward Hyw. 27 and I have no luck out there and finally I land after 1 hour and 13 minutes. In the landing area we watch as others finally work their way down. Mitch Shipley comes in with 3 hours and 15 minutes and the longest flight of the day goes to Rick Bremmer on his Phantom. Oded had a good two hour and five minute flight today. Rick is getting dialled into the Phantom and is liking it. I noticed that Tom Nejame got a ride back with Mike and Fay so Tom must have landed out today unlike the many other days when Tom comes back from a good triangle. The lift was broken up for the most part today with a few good cores that were usually tight.

Photos Below

Oded Captures Momma Feeding Chick

 

Kimberly and Greg Ludwig - Texas

 

Oded Captures "The GrassHopper"

 

Jenn Silver

Relaxing at the Ranch

 

Oliviah and Nevaeh  Silver

 Sandhill Crane and Chick - Wallaby Ranch

 

Kimberly and Greg Ludwig

"Spread Those Wings Baby" by Oded Kalir

 

Bob Rocking

Oliviah , Jenn and Nevaeh  Silver

 

The Skydog Report

Thursday April 3rd is another blue sky day. Morning flights are uneventful and Jack and Jasmine from Colorado get in their first refresher flights. At 1 pm there a bunch of pilots set up and ready to fly but nobody is anxious to try their luck and the wind is a bit strong with some gusts up to 15 mph from the south. Finally by 2pm I drum up some enthusiasm and Serge and I head to launch at the north end of the driveway. Soon Tom Nejame comes there and Paul comes with the tug and Serge gets off first and get a good one that takes him to 3 grand and I am off and Paul drops me off in 300 fpm lift and I work it struggling to catch up to Serge. Tom gets into the air and struggles for 20 minutes to get up to 3 grand and from there on we are up and down and I get down to 900 feet near take off and finally dig my way back up. John Claude and another pilot come up to join us as we drift north over the sand pits. Heading back upwind was a struggle but I made it to the ranch a couple of times but finally get flushed after 49 minutes and I had been up to 3,377 feet and soon after the others are on the ground with me after a big sink cycle. After the lunch break Rick Bremmer takes his Phantom to launch and Oded and a few others come there to commit aviation. Paul tows us up over the pond to the south west and I find broken lift and take it up to 3 grand again and another similar flight for me with 40 minutes airtime and up to 3,028 feet ato. Tom Nejame and Oded in their Atos gliders duelled it out at the end of the day and Tom finally lasted one minute longer than Oded. I found the air pretty rasty and challenging.

Oded called Mark Frutiger at Quest Air to see if they could give me a try at water boarding and sure enough Jamie could let me have a go at it. Mark thought that with my barefoot and water ski experience, that I would catch on real quick but I only was able to survive level flight for ten seconds or so and I made a few turns so I will need more practice. It is a  interesting concept and hard for me to keep my balance. Oded took photos so I will post them soon. I was talking with Misael at Quest who had just landed after a three hour and fifteen minute flight and he said that it was fairly smooth up there.

Photos Below

 Tom Nejame and Oded Kalir Dual It Out For Last To Land

 

Tom And Oded

Quest Air Moyes Glider

 

Oded Kalir

 

 Fly Boarding at Quest Air

 

Oded - Atos VQ

Jamie - Fly Board Instructor

 

This Could be Fun

OK

 

Standing on Water

Tom Nejame Atos VX

 

Moving Forward

Higher Please

 

Maybe I have It Figured Out

Looks Like an Oops

 

Spinner on Right

 

The Skydog Report

Friday started off windy with puffy clouds so we waited as the forecast said that the wind would calm down by 3 pm. Sure enough by 2:15 the wind had dropped and about eight pilots were ready to fly. Oded and I got in at the end of the line and watched as others thermalled up. Paul towed me up under a nice cummie and I took it up to 4,200 feet and followed it back to Sand Mine road and Hyw 27. Now I had to get back to Wallaby Ranch and on my way I ran into some small lift and finally made it back. I saw Jason Williams thermalling near the Ranch and realized that Jason usually finds the best lift so I had best follow him and we flew together for ten minutes or so getting up to 4,200 feet but somehow I lost track of Jason and found some unwanted sink and landed after 40 minutes. I jumped back into line for a second tow and Paul put me into another good one over the orange groves and I worked it up to 5,300 feet where I again bumped into Jason and we had some good climbs together. Jason was heading upwind so I followed and we ran into another cloud street that was working well and we went to base again. Jason left the lift and headed farther up wind and I followed him for five minutes but I did not feel comfortable getting so far from home base so I went back to the clod that I had been circling in and used it again up to base. Net I headed north over the sand pits and across the valley where I found another good line and I took it up and noticed that Rick Bremmer was circling below me on his Phantom and the next thing I see is Rick has gained on me and he was heading farther north than I wanted to be so I headed back toward the Ranch again where I found sink again and I landed this time after 50 minutes and soon after Rick was grounded also. After landing I was wondering where Oded had gotten to and we looked up and Oded and Fin from Norway were high above the Ranch and a half hour later they both landed. Oded had a great flight of 1.5 hours and Fin had over two hours. I took a third tow but I only lasted 20 minutes this time. This had been a great day starting at 2:30 and we look forward to Saturday being fantastic for our last day in Florida this winter.

 

Morning Solo

 

Jenn Silver

Linda with Her Veto Lap Dog

 

Morning Solo

 

 Lift Off

 

Anna and Laurie

Jasmine Simmons- Colorado

 

 Jasmine Has Lift Off

 

Landing Approach

 

Jasmine Close Up

Oliver and Jack

 

Jack Simmons Launches

 

Abe and Jasmine

The Silver Family - Canada

 

Rick Bremer - Aeros Phantom

 

The Skydog Report

Saturday April 5 and lots of tandems this morning. Tom Nejame is off first and I get off third at 1 pm and Paul puts into a cranking good thermal and I take it up to 4,700 feet 14 minutes after launch. That was a real nice thermal and from that high it was cool watching all the others take off and most had to work for it down low so I just got lucky with Paul's help. Cloud streets were nicely formed  so I scooted south to the hospital and north to Publix at Sand Hill Rd. and then across the valley over the orange groves staying above 4 grand at all times. I hit 5,784 feet at the one hour mark and then at 4 pm I got down to 800 feet as all the others were flushed. Fortunately I worked a small thermal back up to over 4 grand as all the after lunch pilots took off. Oded worked his way up and past me and then I lost sight of him. Rick Bremmer worked down low for a long time and then all of a sudden Rick was with me. Brertran showed up with his three pugs last evening and did two 2 hour flights today. There were a lot of happy faces in the landing area when I landed after a 5 hour and 27 minute flight. That is my third longest flight ever. Today was one of the best days we have seen in a long time.

Photos Below

Paul Lands First Solo Flight

 

Tandem Students

Solo

 

 

 

Aric Paulson - Tandem Instructor

Student

 

Solo

 

Group of Students

Wow

 

 Skydog With Eugene in Front Close

 

Solo

Truls Schoyen - Norway

 

Paul

 

Bertran - NY

Linda Salamone - World Traveller

 

Oded

 

Malcolm Gives This Girl Her Birthday Wish

Aric and Student

 

The Skydog Report

Sunday April 6, 2014 the morning tandems and solo flights got off to a good start and Paul got his first solo flight but the wind increase around ten am and by noon it was blowing over 15 mph so we hoped for a decrease so that we could fly on our last day in the Sunny south this season. By two pm I was ready and eager and Tommy was on his way down the road to launch and I followed him and Serge. Tommy got up and away right off tow and Serge thermalled up and hung around. Paul towed me into a great thermal and I took it up to over four grand close to the sand pits and from there I moved across the swamp to the warehouses where I got up to 4,160 feet ato. Scott L. had a weak link break at 200 feet and landed deciding to wait until after lunch hoping that the wind would slow down. Mikey Barber had launched and headed for Quest Air. Serge and I traded places on top for a while and finally after 50 minutes I found sink and was on the ground. Serge had already landed and was telling Oded that it was very rough up there.

 We waited until after lunch break and I got ready and headed a group down the driveway to launch.

Paul towed me up first this time and got me into a great thermal which I took to over four grand. The air got real smooth and we all had wonderful flights and I am going to let Oded tell his story. Oded - After 4:30 Fay towed me up to 2 grand and dropped me into a nice thermal that started out weak and built into a good one up to 4, 500 feet. My Atos VQ is so nice in the soft lift and I seem to be able to float around all day and go places like never before. I saw Tommy Nejame scratching low over Hyw 4 after he had retuned from a flight to Quest Air and back. I was over the Ranch and crossed a large blue area to get over to where Tommy was flying. Tommy was able to get up to two grand and make it back to land at Wallaby Ranch. I had slipped down to 3,500 after crossing the blue hole but I worked up to 4,700 feet and then I scooted over to the warehouses where I encountered a girl flying a Litespeed and she was above me. OH NO, It's Linda Salamone. Linda sure does fly that glider well but I finally caught up to her and even got a little above Sky Queen (Princess). Now I see Mick in his Carbon Dragon flying over Sand Hill road so I head over there and we fly to Hyw 4. We took turns being on top but finally Mick was on top and I saw Rick Bremmer flying over the  sand pits so I join him and we fly together for a while and finally Rick lands. I worked weak lift at the end of the day at about 1,200 feet for twenty minutes watching everyone land and finally I swoop in for my last landing of this trip to Wallaby for this season. This was a sweet two hour and twenty minute flight to end our vacation.

Bob - This was a great day to end our trip and I really enjoyed this afternoon's smooth flight when I was able to get up to 5,620 feet and fly for 1 hour and forty minutes. We pack up by 9 pm and are on our way home.

Photos Below

Fin comp Pilot - Norway

 

 Aric and Student

 

Student

Bob Web Editor

 

Oded

Eugene Bumbacco

 

Bob

 

Student

Paul Harrison Tug Pilot

 

 New Wallaby Parrot

 

Bob and Rick Mullens

Bob With Oded Beside

 

Oded

 

Tandem

Tandem

 

 

 

Tom Lanning in Front of Bob

Jeremy Shoos

 

Paul

Happy Flyer

 

Oded Kalir - Atos VQ

 

Tandem

Tandem Landing

 

Family Fliers

 

Student

Student

 

Serge, Oliver, Bob, Fay, Wayne, Linda and Rick After a Great Days Flying

 

Skydog Bob by Tom Lanning

Oded with Glider Close

 

Oded Comes in Below Bob

John Pettinato

 

Oded

Bob Filmed by Ryan Voight

 

Skydog

Skydog

 

Oded Landing

Skydog Has Landed

My Flight Time on This Trip = 27 Hours and 20 Minutes

Year to Date = 53 hours 58 minutes

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