Wallaby Ranch

The very concept of a hang gliding school built around two-place in-air instruction was invented here. It was in 1991 when Malcolm Jones, founder and owner of Wallaby Ranch, outfitted tandem hang gliders with wheels for easy take-offs and landings, which in conjunction with aerotowing revolutionized hang gliding instruction and paved the way for a better, safer, and more enjoyable way of learning how to fly.

We have more experience aerotowing hang gliders than any other outfit. No one comes even close. Malcolm is by far the most experienced tandem hang gliding pilot in the world, and has more than 30,000 incident-free tandem flights under his belt.

His vast experience, combined with a very conservative approach to tandem flying and hang gliding instruction, is responsible for our unparalleled safety record. In ten years of full-time operation, tens of thousands of tandem flights went without a hitch.

Wallaby Ranch enjoys a stellar reputation as one of the best hang gliding schools in the nation and around the globe. Numerous ‘big name’ hang gliding pilots recommend Wallaby Ranch as the best and safest place to learn how to fly hang gliders.

The Ranch is open every day of the year and someone is here 24 hours a day to help you.

Wallaby Ranch is a fully owned operation, not a co-op of tow plane owners or shareholders. We own the real estate, the tow planes, the hang gliders, and all related equipment.

Always under same management, the Wallaby Ranch employs a full-time staff of 10 people, including professional tow pilots, highly experienced certified instructors, and a gourmet chef to prepare breakfast and lunch.

Wallaby Ranch is a hang gliding only operation. We do not have to share an airfield or be concerned with other aircraft taking off or landing. Similarly, our 100-acre take-off and landing field allows take-offs and landings in any direction. We are not bound by the layout of the runways of an airfield.

The Ranch is located in a beautiful secluded setting, surrounded by natural Florida woodlands, home to many different species of wildlife, from deer, migrating birds, various reptiles and amphibians to the occasional sighting of the very rare and endangered Florida Panther.

Despite its secluded setting, Wallaby Ranch is only a short drive from all major attractions in the Greater Orlando area.

Wallaby Ranch offers more amenities than any other hang gliding flight park. We offer tent and RV camping facilities. We have freshly prepared community breakfast and lunch. We have a 27,000 gallon, 7 foot deep swimming pool, a climbing wall, and a children’s playground complete with a Dr. Seuss tree house. There are mountain bike and walking trails winding through the woods.

From Orlando:
• Take I-4 West (towards Tampa) to exit # 58 (Kissimmee/Champions Gate).
• Turn right off the ramp onto Champions Gate Boulevard.
• Follow Champions Gate Boulevard past a shopping center until you reach a T-intersection and can’t go any further.
• Turn right onto Ronald Reagan Parkway/CR 54 (there is no sign).
• Continue West on Ronald Reagan Parkway/CR 54, crossing Hwy 27. (Ronald Reagan Parkway/CR 54 turns into Deen Still Road once you cross Hwy 27.)
• From the intersection with Hwy 27, continue exactly 1.7 miles west on Deen Still Road. You will see our mailbox on the left (1805; there is no big sign). Turn left down the driveway.
• Pull up to the office and ring the bell. Someone will always be there to help you.

From Tampa:
• Take I-4 East (towards Orlando) to exit 55 (Hwy 27)
• From I-4 exit 55 (Hwy 27), go North on Hwy 27 for about 2 miles.
• Turn left at the light onto Deen Still Road. (You will see a Citco gas station and a Walgreen’s drug store on your right.)
• Go exactly 1.7 miles. You will see our mailbox on the left (1805; there is no big sign). Turn left down the driveway.
• Pull up to the office and ring the bell. Someone will always be there to help you.

From Miami & S. Florida:
• Take the Florida Turnpike North to Osceola Parkway.
• Take Osceola Parkway West to I-4 West (towards Tampa).
• Take exit # 58 (Kissimmee/Champions Gate), turn right off the ramp onto Champions Gate Boulevard.
• Follow Champions Gate Boulevard past a shopping center until you reach a T-intersection and can’t go any further.
• Turn right onto Ronald Reagan Parkway/CR 54 (there is no sign).
• Continue West on Ronald Reagan Parkway/CR 54, crossing Hwy 27. (Ronald Reagan Parkway/CR 54 turns into Deen Still Road once you cross Hwy 27.)
• From the intersection with Hwy 27, continue exactly 1.7 miles west on Deen Still Road. You will see our mailbox on the left (1805; there is no big sign). Turn left down the driveway.
• Pull up to the office and ring the bell. Someone will always be there to help you.

Places Further North:
• Take I-75 South to the Florida Turnpike South exit (near Ocala).
• Take the Florida Turnpike South to the Hwy 27 South exit.
• Take Hwy 27 South to Deen Still Road (approx. 30 miles).
• Turn right onto Deen Still Road. (You will see a Walgreen’s drug store and a Citco gas station on the left.)
• From the intersection with Hwy 27, continue exactly 1.7 miles west on Deen Still Road. You will see our mailbox on the left (1805; there is no big sign). Turn left down the driveway.
• Pull up to the office and ring the bell. Someone will always be there to help you.

During a Tandem Discovery Flight at Wallaby Ranch, you will feel confident and relaxed with the wind in your face and your well trained instructor by your side. You will enjoy the bird’s eye view of Wallaby Ranch as you are being towed 2,000 feet into the air. Once you release from the ‘tug’, as we call it, you will free-fly for 15 to 20 minutes. Your instructor will show you how to control the glider. You will be able to “fly” your first time up! You return gently to earth on a slow glide with a smooth rolling landing. You will never forget this amazing experience!

Tandem Discovery Flights are for practically everyone. People from 4 to 90 years old, and from 35 to 240 lbs have experienced flying in its purest form at Wallaby Ranch. It is the safest place to fly! NBC’s Today Show chose Wallaby Ranch when they had Alabama Roker fly! Alabama Roker gave his experience at Wallaby Ranch such rave reviews, Matt Lauer, on his own, visited and flew here too!

The best conditions for a Tandem Discovery Flight are in smooth air and calm winds, generally in the morning or late in the afternoon. Flying begins everyday at 8:00 a.m., weather permitting. No appointment is necessary; just show up and have the time of your life!

In flight videos are available upon request. Ask for this option befor your flight!

With traditional methods of instruction, students have to endlessly practice take-offs and landings with countless short hops at the training hill (and carry the glider back up), before they are deemed ready to foot launch from a mountain for their first solo high altitude flight.

Aerotow Tandem Instruction, however, allows you to experience the thrill of high-altitude free flight from the very beginning of your hang gliding career and creates a concentrated learning environment that puts the emphasis on learning how to fly. Foot launches and landings come later, at a stage where you are already comfortable flying solo.

Aerotow Tandem Instruction provides better training supervision and allows for a more measured progress. You’re not ‘on your own’, trying to remember what your instructor told you on the ground. A highly experienced certified tandem instructor flies with you and teaches you ‘hands-on’ – literally. During your first few flights, the instructor will do the take-off and landing, allowing you to concentrate on following the towplane and learning how to steer the glider without having to worry about landing approach and touchdown. Then you will be given more and more control each flight, in accordance with your rate of progress. Before soloing, you will be able to launch, aerotow, free-fly, set up a landing approach and land the tandem glider, without your instructor having to do anything at all.

Aerotow Tandem Instruction means shorter training time and more rapid progress compared to traditional hill training. You don’t have to wait around for the wind to blow from a certain direction to ensure suitable launch conditions, because our 100-acre take-off and landing field allows easy and safe take-offs and landings in any direction. And of course you get much more airtime with aerotowing. One tandem lesson at Wallaby Ranch equals 75 training hill flights! And you can take multiple lessons every day of the week, weather permitting.