Dolphin Soaring
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 is clear to me why all the top pilots hate stopping in thermals, instead choosing to extract as much energy out of the sky while in the cruise.
Linking Energy Together
You’ll often hear the pilot tell their story of the day after achieving 130kph plus, “I just didn’t feel the need to stop and thermal today”. What do these pilots have in common? They are able to identify these highways in the sky, linking energy together, streets as they’re commonly called. So how do we recognise them and how do we fly them?
Streeting & Convergence
There are a number of reasons why thermals can align, streeting is by far the most common one heard of and seen, convergence lines are another one too. You can identify the likely hood of these two by pre-flight preparation with SkySight, alternatively by knowing the wind direction, typically you get streeting at least when there is more than 10kts of wind at ground level. Streeting is easier to fly when marked by CU, but it’s also there when flying the blue too – which is a useful skill in itself to master!
Listen to the Glider
We should try to align our flight or leg to be in line with the wind. Try to pay particular attention to the feel of the glider, fly relaxed, let the glider fly into the most buoyant part of the street. What do we do if the left-wing rises? We should listen to the glider and turn into that rising wing, if it goes up again, keep moving towards it, soon you’ll feel the nose going up, you’re entering the area of best lift. Either stop to climb if it’s an above-average climb, or keep listening to the feel of the glider and continue ahead repeating the process. The great thing about this is that your achieved LD will be greater than the best glide speed, and at a much higher speed too!
True Airspeed
On streeting days where I don’t have to stop so often, I try to stay higher to take advantage of the true airspeed. At 10,000’ while doing 90kts, I can achieve 195kph over the ground, extend this for a long time, the speed clocks up nicely & very quickly. Likewise, for an extended 70kt glide at the mid altitudes, we are still averaging 140kph plus!
That last sentence was important too, it’s not always about high altitude & fast-flying, quite often we are forced to fly on lower & slower days too. The good thing is that it’s all relative, extend your glides by linking up the energy, listening to the glider, this can really see you extend away from the rest. On these sorts of days I’m happier to deviate more, to ensure I can both stay high, but also to sample as many thermals as possible. If you’ve done a super long glide, then it’s ok to stop in a slightly weaker climb to stay in the better working band, the same can be said for taking a climb to get out of a low spot, make the deviation, climb in the guaranteed climb, then keep cruising with minimal time wasted.
Happy dolphining!
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.