Building a Better Panel
You have just invested in your new to you, pride and joy. It could be a pre-loved Libelle, it could be into a syndicate, or if your stars and hard work have aligned, a new-new toy! One of the things that help all of us enjoy a great and/or fast flight, is a nice panel – dedicated to your requirements and liking. I have put my father through four new panel builds over my time, each and every time it has been worth it. Why? Because it is just about the only part of the glider you see whilst you are flying it, so if you feel good, you will fly good too!
Start with a vario
What is the first thing that you have to consider? For me, a good panel revolves around your favorite vario. This is crucial to your overall enjoyment of a flight. It’s exactly where I began when I just purchased and built my dream glider, the Ventus 3TS. I have flown all around the world now (minus the states sorry, soon!), which means that I’ve flown with over 8 different varios in hired gliders. None stand out more to me than your very own ClearNav vario, to me it has the best audio to feel to actual conditions experienced ratio out there, it truly has some incredible smarts within it. One of my favorite features is the ‘one circle’ average, not a 20 or 30 second averager like every other vario on the market runs. Why is this the best? Because with the one circle average, you can tell immediately whether your re-center you have just made was a good one or not.
Predictive Climb Box
Another key feature I like is the predictive climb box. When the CNv (with digital display) senses that you are entering an area of lift, it displays a non-intrusive grey box in the top left of the screen. This figure tells me what the CNv predicts this thermal to be if I stopped to turn at this very instant – ridiculously smart and I’ve found scarily accurate over my years. Another benefit of these smarts is that if you do actually take this climb, then it remembers when you started searching for this climb, and starts your bottom-to-top average, giving you what I believe is a true indication of the average climb rate.
Audio
The audio, I’ve already mentioned it. Some love it, some hate it, but to me it’s perfect. It directly correlates to my seat of the pants feeling. So much so, that at the Lithuanian WGC in 2016 I flew without a needle in my cockpit at all. I literally could feel the air with my backside and the audio alone, from this day forward, having a needle is not necessary for me – but of course, I have one, but in my backup system (which I’ll cover more soon!). The CNv is customizable too, to ensure the cruise to climb tone is effortless and true. I fly with the digital needle in ‘Netto’, the cruise audio in ‘relative netto’. What’s relative netto? Simply, it’s that exact moment in time if I were to stop the glider into a 45* turn at climb speed, then that is what the vario reading it’d give me. So from using this method the transition to climb is literally perfect!
What else is important? A good final glide computer. The ClearNav vario has a great algorithm I feel, there is no safety margin built into it, just the raw numbers. Which I find is incredibly important for either a fast final glide or a marginal one, where if it says you’ll make it, you’ll make it!
I thought I was writing about how to build your dream panel, but instead, I only got as far as the start – your favorite vario. Tune in next article for my next priority instrument and how to build the dream panel that’ll work for you!
Adam Woolley was born into the gliding world, being the 3rd generation in his family. Going solo at 15, his thirst for efficiency in soaring flight & quest for a world championship title to his name has never wavered. One big passion is sharing his experiences & joy with other glider pilots all around the world. Adam is an airline pilot in Japan on the B767 & spends his off time chasing summer around the globe. He has now won 7 national Championships & represented Australia at 5 WGC's & 1 EGC.