Monthly Archives: October 2017

One of the most common un-centering techniques that students demonstrate to me is switching directions in a thermal. It always happens, a student is not completely centered, the ADHD kicks-in, or something kicks-in and they decide to switch directions. I make sure to look around really well and let them fly right out of the thermal, generally not finding it again. Makes for a good debrief.

Typically

Energy lines, you have read about them, pilots talk about following them. But what are they talking about and how do I find them?

Basically, we are just looking for organized lift that is linked together to form a line. Sometimes it is straight but many of the times it snakes through the sky. Normally this energy line is formed by the wind or terrain.

The terrain is the easiest to visualize.

I have touched on this topic before and there are a lot of books written on the subject of cross country flying. However, I think a simple thought process is lost.

I was with a student a few weeks ago attempting to get him started into the daunting new world of cross country soaring. It was a weak day so we were able to use the engine in the Stemme to quickly explore lift that was very difficult

Navigating to the turnpoint safely is crucial. It is very easy to get caught up looking at the GPS. It displays the mileage and direction. But what it does not do is see other traffic, follow energy lines, look for thermals, read the clouds, plan your next leg...

Everyone took a different path and made thousands of decisions however many times they all end up evening out and arrive to the turnpoint