Discovering the Best Lift
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, followed by pointing the glider in the right direction!
Attentive to Outside Clues
Learning how to observe information, be attentive, devoting more time to looking outside means more opportunities to first notice birds circling for example. Not only should you try to spot these birds, but identify them, is it an eagle that is known for being always in the best climbs, or the lazy group of pelicans flying around together? You’ll be able to notice the tendrils (or ‘daggies’ as we like to call them here in Australia) being sucked into the cloud.
Wind
Noticing the wind is equally important, try to assess the local wind direction with whatever tools you have available. Flying with Sergio in Spain, he would always say to me “The wind, it’s lazy boy”. Try to imagine it taking the path of least resistance up mountain ranges, or imagine it flowing like a fluid over the terrain below you, spilling around ridges or through narrow valleys over which you may be flying.
Sun
Sun, have you ever experienced getting into a nice rhythm during the day, then all of a sudden around lunchtime when the sun is at its highest, that things seem to go into a lull? This may be because the sun is casting a shadow directly over a very hot area that is feeding the thermals. So for sure use caution with this one, stay a little higher when you know this time is approaching!
Convergence
Convergences, effectively where two air masses meet. Surprisingly to me, they can set up with a wind change of even 20 degrees. Keep a keen eye on this, knowing what the day's forecast is, you may be able to exploit a developing convergence. Flying storm convergence lines can be a lot of fun too, but you need a good knowledge of how thunderstorms work otherwise you could get yourself into a lot of trouble – for example, dropping into a dust front yields only turbulence and the ground wind maybe 50kts, but they often push the air up into the front of the storm, this forms thick, dark lines of daggies in a line that can run for hundreds of kilometers. However, how close would you fly to a wall of lightning to get a solid 15kts of lift? Have you thought of your escape plan? (Editors note, FAA recommends never go closer than 5 miles to any visible storm cloud with overhanging areas, and strongly consider increasing that distance to 20 miles or more. You can encounter hail and violent turbulence anywhere within 20 miles of very strong thunderstorms FAA–P–8740–12)
Once you’ve gathered all your information, you then have to piece it all together, build your mental picture, build your theory, and action it. If you can do this, you’ll either have a really enjoyable days cross-country flying, you’ll easily outfly your mates at a competition, or you’ll learn something for next time – keep repeating this process, share your experiences with others, your own personal knowledge bank is building!
Banner photo by John Absolon, 'Got that shot' Images
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.
