Choosing the Optimal Start Time
When it comes to racing gliders, choosing the start time is critical to your overall result for the day, overall for the Championships too for that matter! How does one do it comfortably & reliably though?
I try to think 3hrs ahead of the glider. I can comfortably think 2 now, but not three, only sometimes. This is where pre-flight planning can help. At the nationals, I broke my task legs up into hour-long segments, rather than distance, because in reality, distance means nothing in this case.
How many times have you thought midway through a task, gosh, if only I knew it was going to be like this, I would've started an hour later. I should've known it was going to be pumping! Or Vice Versa with the day dying early.
The funny thing is that quite often you do, but you just don't trust yourself or you're afraid of failing because of this lack of trust within yourself. Thinking 2-3hrs ahead of the glider is key to success, especially on AAT days, but also on racing tasks - you need to be able to gain the ability to put the glider where you want it when you want it.
So how does one do it?
I think about the conditions I have right now, are they good enough to start? If no & my drop-dead time hasn't come, then I ask myself, will the thermals be better than this late in the day? Often it's yes, or surely!
Looking down track is key, waiting patiently for a street to line up on the first leg, getting yourself high & upwind is often key to daily success. How can this be done? Pre-start, put your nose directly on the turn point, remember where it is, then start imagining yourself dancing down the first leg as a literal visual line. Getting the first glide & climb right sets you up for a really good flight, often I would glide 40km at 60:1, at the top of my first climb, I'd always be doing 140kph+ by my first climb because of this!
Starting right on the line is also important, gliding off 500' to get to it will cost you a minute on task.
Other things you need to think about are the competitors around you vs the conditions. Obvious really, but have you thought about how to use the competitors vs the weather?
For me it comes down to how you feel about the conditions, how do you feel about your ability to find thermals, good lines of energy? Are you worried about outlanding or not at all vs the conditions? Where are you in the comp, will people follow you if you start? Do you care if they follow you? Are you at the top of the gaggle pre-start? Was it a struggle to climb up? How far below are the others? Who is there? Your main competitor & others? Will they get in their way & slow them down, speed them up, speed me up? Can you force those lower than you to start lower, equalling slower speeds & frustration? How do you get your speed - are you a follower or a leader? These are all questions that are running through my mind.
For me, because I trust my ability 100% now & have shaken my fear of failing, my key factor in getting overall speed out of the day is having clear air all around me. I like to deviate, I like to put the glider exactly where I want to put it. Having others close to me stops me from extracting the best out of the sky.
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.