Monthly Archives: December 2021

If you’re a winch pilot, you probably know this all too well, that if you haven’t built a small plan before take-off, your flight might end up with a circuit and another launch.  For a flight to be successful we must first think about where to go once we release the cable or tow plane.

Plan before Takeoff

A pilot can train and safely fly to solo standard without learning to circle. Sure, he can turn the glider, and if the thermals are huge he can wander around in them and go up a bit. But this isn't good enough to make progress in the sport of cross country soaring. And pilots that don't make progress are likely to give it up.

The first thing I do in any

How do we find the best lift? Somehow or another we need to imagine or judge what the invisible world of all those air currents are doing around us and what they actually look like. How do we learn?  It’s by reading every piece of literature on the subject, talking with friends, and experiencing.  Analyze all the clues available to us, on the ground or air, then piece them all together,

I always remember my father telling me, “Adam, you only lose time (and points or distance) when you stop to thermal”, he naturally gave me many other tips in my soaring career, but let's stick to this one today.  Stopping to thermal in each thermal you find, or more often than you should at the very least certainly chalks up the time, while not covering any distance at all.  It