Feel the Thermal

So what is feel?

This week Adam Woolley explains one of his most memorable lessons flying with George Lee at his camp at Plain Soaring.

"Adam, why are we thermalling in this 6kt thermal?"
"Because it's a good climb for the day George!"
"Really? But this thermal has no feel"

- I pushed on, found 8knts under the next cloud, felt great! So what is feel? Everyone talks about it, but what the hell is it & what does feel, feel like?!

That afternoon it hit me during our evening debriefs from George, a light bulb moment. Surely you've had one of those thermals that you've just known is the one! As the legendary Gleb Derujinsky said "you pull up, you turn to stay in it", all before any instrument tells you too (The Sun Ship Game). Nothing reacts faster than your backside, this is what I notice now & look for in every thermal (from an exaggerated 10kt climb perspective)..

..I'm cruising along, coming into an area of lift, my senses heighten, eyes outside, hand lightly on the control stick, I let the glider take me to the thermal, trusting myself, the glider will help take me to the best spot.

The first thing you'll notice when you're coming into a good thermal for the area with feel is, the tail will come up; followed quickly by the airspeed rising. The vario & audio are still down! Whaaat?! Your left-wing comes up simultaneously, the instruments are still telling you nothing but you just know it's a good one - well! What are you waiting for, rack it in & trust yourself.

As you're doing this, the needle & audio catch up & you've hooked a "little beauty" or a "rippa" as we'd say in Australia! Naturally, every climb isn't 10kts, but every thermal with feel has the same characteristics.

So if you've got 6kts but without any feel, it's probably trying to tell you there's a better core nearby or that a few clouds further on will have better. The same goes that if you're in 4kts with a good feel on a 6kt day, stay in it - there's probably nothing better in the soarable area until you move into a different airmass.

 Adam Woolley soloed in a glider on his 15th birthday making him a 3rd generation Sailplane pilot. Adam completed George Lee's camp in 2004 and shortly after won JoeyGlide (ahead of Garret), the Australian Junior Nationals. Crewing for Jay Rebbeck in the 2010 WGC Adam pushed harder then ever to make his way to the top of the score sheet. Flying in 30 contests since 2004. As a First Officer for ANA Adam has been able to schedule the glider pilots dream schedule. You can follow Adam Woolley's Gliding Adventures on Facebook..