Congratulations. The first part is noticing you have lift.
There is a diagram in the lower part of this page that visualizes what Jeff
was saying.
http://www.quicktechhobby.com/articles/thermal_surfing%20part%202.htm
The first one in the series is:
http://www.quicktechhobby.com/articles/thermal_surfing%20part%201.htm
These are oversimpified representations of thermals. In general you wil
always have to re-core the thermal, so always look for where the plane is
going up the fastest (or coming down the slowest) and try to stay in that
air. I sometimes "reverse" my circle if I find that I am skirting the side.
By this, I mean that. If I am circling left, and notice that the plane is
sinking on the left, when I get to the right side, I will start circling to
the right.
I still try to read these once a year to remind myself of what I am looking
for and seeing.
The only thing I will add is to be objective when circling. The hardest
thing for me is to recognize when I am not in lift and should stop circling.
Tom Koszuta
Western New York Sailplane and Electric Flyers
Buffalo, NY
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Steifel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Jay Hunter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: "Soaring club" <soaring@airage.com>
Sent: Monday, October 09, 2006 9:28 AM
Subject: Re: [RCSE] HELP!!! flying in and out of thermals and thermal turns.
Jay, first off, as soon as you notice that you are in a thermal, start
turning.
Then figure out which side of the turn is better.
Don't fly thru it and try to get back, you may not always be able to.
Also you are probably on an edge when you see it, or in the core if it is
light and you only noticed it when it really indicated.
TURN...
How to figure out which side is better. alti drop/ gain, sluggish control
usually means sink, but may also mean booming thermal that you can't turn
in (rare here in the east).
Don't fly straight to correct, just oblong the turn in the better
direction. You will stay with the thermal this way without loosing track
of it.
Guys that straighten out and try to come back often lose the thermal.
If you are in a small thermal with a DLG turn tight, a big ship will
depend on the amount of lift, sometimes you can't turn that tight so you
would fly flat to get the most lift and fly in and out to get bumped up OR
go find a better thermal.
If it is booming and small a big ship can be put on a wing tip.
Then gradually open it up.
When your plane is climbing nicely and you have power all around you have
probably cored the thermal. If it is not smooth all the way around you are
on the edge or gowing in and out of the center of the thermal... and
therefore it isn't cored.
I'm sure others will chime in.
Jay Hunter wrote:
First off I am flying a photon II R/E dlg. No flaps, no camber mode,
just simple RE poly...
I am not sure if anyone can help me but I have been flying through
thermals. I have progressed to point where I can tell I just flew
through a thermal, and I can circle and fly BACK into the thermal, but I
can not figure out how big the thermal is and I can see the plane
'falling' out of the thermal.
Any thoughts on how to gauge the size of a thermal, so I know how tight
to turn? Also any tips on doing thermal turns so that the circles are
tight and so I don't stall then speed up, then stall then speed up.
Thanks for any help you can offer...
Jay
--
Jeff Steifel
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