[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > In a message dated 99-09-06 22:57:17 EDT, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > > It was a puffy cumulus day, with cloud streets lined up all the way > > from Mishiwaka to Wapakaneta. It got me thinking about how full size > > sailplanes use the cloud streets, and how the streets form. > > Are the open lanes between the lines of clouds running with the > wind > > or cross wind? > > Cloud streets run parallel to the wind, they really are obvious when seen from > a visible satellite image. <A HREF="http://nimbo.wrh.noaa.gov/">NWS western > region images</A> > > > Are those open lanes full of sink? > > You bet your L/D ratio! Miles of sink in a long straight line. > > > If you are going cross > > country, do you fly down the lines or across the lines? > > Fly along the lines, under the clouds, no circling. Something called > "dolphin flying" works well. This is slowing down (pulling up) in the best > lift > and speeding up in weaker lift. Average speeds over 100 kts result in good > conditions. There is also an optimum angle to cross the streets for a given > lift strength and course leg distance and direction. > > > What prinicipal of > > self organization causes cloud streets? > > Wind velocity 20-30 kts, conditionally unstable air mass, relatively smooth > terrain (not the Rocky Mts, for instance). > Cloud streets can happen without clouds, too. Then they are called > "blue streets" and can be tough to identify. Picture yourself flying along in > sink > for quite a distance, speeding up to get out of the sink, thinking there must > be > big thermal just ahead, and this goes on for several miles. You are likely > parallel, and right in between the lift zones. If one realizes this and > alters course > laterally before flying into the ground, the day is saved. > > Mark Navarre > ASW20 4R > > - > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and >"unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] good explanation mark!!! i have soared many cloud streets,, funny thing there, sometimes there is lots of sink between the clouds,, sometimes moderate sink.. depends on the day... once i flew my asw20, RR from ft summner new mexico to santa fe.. 110 miles in about 55 minutes,, never turning..it was like you had an engine :) that day was a 350 mile day... i also think that if one was to go for a model cross country flight.. that the cloud street w ould be a great highway to take.. in colorado we have cloud streets that go clear into kansas... as far as the eye can see.... blue thermals. or blue streets are very difficult to read... i have gone several miles, loosing many thousand's of feet wondering where the next thermal is? and then it hits you.. but it can be alittle nerve racking if your far away, and you definatly need the lift to get home... well happy soaring :) charlie RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
