by Christy Huddle

Why is it when I go on these hang gliding trips they always turn into big adventures? It's not that I don't prepare properly for these trips. I'm a planner by profession so I keep detailed lists of what to take (different lists for winter and summer and different sublists for international and domestic travel) and what to do before leaving the house. So far I haven't come home to a dead cat, a refrigerator full of science experiments, or frozen pipes. The adventures I have are usually despite my planning efforts and, I would add, are usually not of my own making. Such was the big adventure on our trip to Florida.

This big adventure started about a mile from a Fayetteville NC off ramp. We were caravanning down, me and Doug in Doug's dependable Honda Accord, Mike Chevalier and Dan Tomlinson in Dan's not so dependable Chevy van. It was 3 am, dry pavement, not too much traffic, moving right along. Doug and Dan were sleeping in the backs of their respective vehicles. Mike and I were on driving duty. Suddenly I was driving through clouds of nasty smelling smoke. I radioed to Mike asking him what the nasty smoke was and he replied, "It must be me, I'm pulling over."

At first I thought something was wrong with the Honda's headlights, they were flickering. Then Christy made me realize it was smoke. I pull over and take a look underneath, transmission fluid is pouring out on to the hot exhaust. We soon have a puddle and the Chevy turns in to a FORD , that's Found On Road Dead.

So there we were, 5 hours from Dan's house where we'd had our Christmas dinner with his wife and son, and where Mike had left his dependable Nissan truck with the 200,000 plus miles on it. What to do. Luckily for us Mike had just bought a cell phone (301 642 4271) and I had my AAA card. Within an hour we were being towed to a shop in Fayetteville. Freezing cold and knowing the shop wouldn't open until 7 or 8, we found an all night diner for an early breakfast. That nationwide chain of greasy spoons, The Waffle House. The four of us actually piled into the Honda. At 6 we felt we'd overstayed our welcome and headed for the shop parking lot where we actually got some sleep despite the freezing cold weather. At 7, the shop owner invited us in to warm up next to the wall heater until his mechanic showed at 8. Bad news. Dan's van had blown some seals in the transmission and wouldn't be going anywhere soon.

This is when we got brilliant. After studying all the options (going back home was NOT one of them), Dan called his son Bryan and asked him to drive Mike's truck down to Fayetteville. The plan was to leave the van until the transmission shop could do the work (if it wasn't going to cost too much) and get Bryan back home by other means. We briefly toyed with the idea of hyjacking him and pressing him into duty as a driver in Florida. He ended up taking the Amtrak train from Fayetteville.

By 6 pm we were on the road again. At Walterboro SC we had our second 'incident.' Mike and Dan were hoping to have a nice seafood dinner so, on the advice of a receptionist at a motel with a defunct restaurant, we went to the Glass House. Two hours later, we left the place in a huff, unfed. Burger King for some turf instead of surf.

Bad things come in threes. It was 4 am when we arrived, dead tired, at the Super 8 Motel in Baseball City. What's this? the reservations we made several weeks ago were for a different Super 8, 20 miles away?? And naturally, the Super 8 in Baseball City was completely full. How could this happen, you ask? Simple. The people answer the phone at Super 8 800 reservation line probably couldn't locate Florida on a map of the US if their life (and geography class grade) depended on it. Granted Baseball City is hardly on the scale with Orlando or even Harpers Ferry. It is merely a name given to a collection of motels and restaurants and summer training camps at the intersection of Rt. 27 and I-4. If you call to make reservations at the Super 8 at this intersection, they will tell you their system isn't set up that way. You must have the Exit number. I didn't, but made reservations anyway at the Super 8 that sounded like it was at that intersection. For future reference, if you're going to Wallaby Ranch, ask for the Super 8 at Exit 23. Or better yet, book rooms at the Days Inn.

Mike and Dan fanned out to find rooms while we found a pay phone. We were desperate to find rooms to get what sleep we could (and a shower) before the day's flying. I reached a gem of a lady on the Super 8 toll free line. She found us rooms at the Days Inn down the street - about the same time Dan and Mike did. She also cancelled the rooms at the Super 8 20 miles away. Or so we thought. By 5 am we were sleeping like babies.

The cleaning lady woke us up at 9 am banging on the door asking if we were ready to have the room cleaned. We wouldn't have been if she hadn't waken us up and if I hadn't looked outside and seen the gorgeous weather. Breakfast at Bob Evans. At the Ranch by 11 am. Waivers signed, secondary releases purchased, gliders set up. The day's conditions weren't exceptional, but it didn't really matter to us. We were probably too wiped out to do any exceptional flying and besides, it still was warmer and sunnier than back home. We found Wayne Sayer camped out at the Ranch, wondering where to travel to next. He told us about all the great flying they'd had there during the unusually dry hot fall weather. In other words, we should have been there last week.

Mike was the first off at 130 and he got a 20 minute flight (all flight times exclude tow time) in light lift. I was off around 2 with Doug right behind me. Doug landed shortly later, with me right behind him. The tug pilot had waved him off at 1500'. Doug had been low most of the tow and the tug pilot was probably 'getting even.' I got in line right away for another sled as did Doug. Mike got an extended sled on his second attempt. Dan in the meantime was cooling his heels on the ground waiting for the ok to go. I took one last flight hoping to find something. I did - really smooth air. Which meant Dan Time. Dan got 2 flights, both sleds. The first was not a pretty tow, but he had it figured out by the second tow. The tail fin on his SuperSport helped a lot. Not too bad for a first day with only 4 hours of sleep in the previous 50 hours.

We would have plenty of time to catch up on sleep the next two days. Lousy weather kept us grounded. We spent most of the free time kicking around the ranch, casing out the place, talking with the pilots who were also there for the holidays, checking out the alligator pond. Doug was the only one to see a gator. The rest of us just saw bubbles.

We had a productive afternoon at Downtown Disney. Doug and I went to the movie house while Mike and Dan walked around. The high points were the Lego monsters (some are behind us in the group photo) and the English Pub that Dan had recommended. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember exactly where it was but he knew it was near the hotel he'd stayed at (business trip). Unfortunately, he couldn't remember the name of the hotel. So, we spent about an hour and a half looking for Dan's Pub. Good thing for Dan the beer was really good.

On Wednesday it wasn't looking too promising in the morning (strong winds predicted) so we headed to the aviation museum not too far from the Ranch to use the simulators. No luck there. They charge a steep entrance fee now even for just the simulators. Better luck back at the Ranch. It was starting to turn on and the strong winds they'd predicted were not.

Mike launched first of our gang, right into a thermal. The tug's left wing lifted and it went right. Mike's right wing lifted and he went left. Lock out a couple hundred over. Good landing. I had a nicer launch cycle and was rewarded with an extended sled. Back up for another sled. Mike launched again and worked hard for 25 minutes. Doug got a 20 minute flight. I tried again and worked hard for 24 minutes of airtime - my longest flight of the trip. Dan had launched and was boating around, getting a total of 45 minutes. The best lift was leaving rapidly, but I decided to take another flight to make up for the two days on the ground.

When I launched Doug was already in the air taking another extended sled in the buoyant air. After being released from the tug, I looked down and saw a glider on the ground with the wings of the glider resembling a broken butterfly. An ambulance and fire truck were racing across the field towards the glider. I landed and Mike came running over to tell me what had happened. I got out of my equipment and went over to the pilot's wife to lend a hand. I ended up driving her to the hospital and staying with her until their friend from West Palm Beach arrived late that evening. The next day I helped them with all the arrangements that had to be made before going to the Ranch.

By 300 pm Thursday when I arrived at the Ranch, things were starting to shut down a bit. There was still some lift, but it was very localized and you couldn't count on the tug dropping you off close enough to take advantage of it. My first flight (on Doug's UltraSport) was an extended sled. The second flight, on my XC, was a quick ride to the LZ, 500 down all the way from where the tug had left me. Arrgghhhh. Doug didn't have it too much better. Doug only partook of one flight (a sled). Dan got two flights in for a total of an hour rivaling Mike for air hog of the trip. Mike's first tow at 1230 netted him 50 minutes and his second at 3 pm another 40 minutes. On the latter flight he thermaled to 3,300' along with several other pilots.

That evening (New Year's Eve) the Ranch put on a show. There was food galore, including a pot of chili I'd brought down with me, cider with a punch, fireworks, noise makers, funny hats, and a belly dancer. I hadn't slept well the night before so we hightailed it for the motel shortly after the midnight hour.

Looking at the weather map, we realized it might be a good idea to drive home on Friday. This would guarantee a trouble free drive for the trip home and, we later learned, good airtime for the pilots remaining at the Ranch. Naturally, the storm they'd predicted came in late and we probably could have enjoyed another day without any problems for the return trip. Oh well. We were glad we had a chance to experience the Ranch hospitality and Dan and Mike hope to get back there soon. Doug and I don't hope, we're going. My two K-2s are being shipped down there this week or next and we've got tickets on US Air for 5 days around the President's Day weekend.