Alltrikes

The mission to Wallaby Ranch was three-fold:

1) Check out a used low hour trike a friend at the ranch told me about that might be available at a great price (it was such a potential deal, and Ken was so excited to make sure he got it that we had to keep it secret until it was done)

2) See Sun N Fun  (it really was spectacular-- lots of planes, lots of vendors for devices our aircraft and we could talk to them right there about their product-- I squared away several questions I had about products I wanted & now am much more clear on what fits best (such as which ADS-B equipment & software).  and finally

3) to do some Hang Gliding at the World Famous Wallaby Ranch Hang Gliding Resort!!!

We figured with so many things to do, there was no way we weren't going to have a great time!!  We'd get at least 2 of 3, or maybe all three and a new cruiser trike for Ken!!!  (Turns out I sold my wing too!!!)

On the plane ride out, I handed Ken the Dennis Pagen ("Dense Pages") Beginner Hang Gliding book and we went through it (~ 5 hour plane ride).  Being a trike pilot made most of it straight forward- Rogallo Flex wing, weight shift, landing patterns, etc.  Ken had already gone to the dunes with me in my wife's training glider-  so we had talked about hooking in, cross-controlling (moving your head/shoulders toward one corner bracket but not your hips -> feet opposite direction = no actual shift in weight / CG).  It was very windy in the dunes, so gliding was limited but he got in a couple small runs foot launching from a small dune.

Now Ken's goal was to learn how to Aerotow--  pulled to 3,000 feet in a two-place tandem glider behind a specialty built hang gliding towing plane called a Dragonfly.  Taking off and landing on wheels to aid in the initial training.

Our triker friend Jim met us out there too.  Here's Jim prone in the tandem training glider.  Laurie (Queen of the Ranch) is helping the instructor get into his harness before the tow.

The Ranch is a well oiled and extremely safety oriented machine when it's towing time.  After morning aeortows and between getting the "new" trike inspected, running (it wasn't running at first but we got it purring in ~24 man hours)  and ready to ship, going to Sun n Fun & Fantasy of flight-  Steve Prepost gave ground school on Hang gliding, aerotowing, glide speeds, aerodynamics, tow dynamics, etc

Wallaby is a great place and both were ecstatic to be "finally" going back to the roots of triking (ie Hang Gliding), experiencing and learning hang gliding, adding to their triking knowledge.

And with that lead up, I hope to get Ken to write about his experience of coming to Hang Gliding from the opposite direction of how triking evolved.  What it was like, what he learned, how it added to triking and what he found different and special about hang gliding vs triking ...