Speed to Fly, L/D and Sink Rate
Speed to fly was the topic of our newsletter two weeks ago. One of our readers emailed us and pointed out an important aspect of speed to fly and achieved speed, which we will discuss today.
First, I would like to apologize for those of you that landed out last weekend because I may have told you to fly too fast. When I wrote it I more had the new pilot in mind where they want to float around at min sink, best L/D and only a little faster. However, when we are flying the correct MC setting you are setting it on your expected next climb.
The main issue of flying too fast is what is referred to as lawn-darting. Many of us have done it, the good news is we helped prepare your land-out kit in previous articles so it should be an enjoyable wait with some rum and a cigar.
You are not going to beat flying at the correct MC setting. However when you are flying that fast you end up losing more altitude and require more climbs, we all know not all thermals are equal. Flying faster pays off when you take the unusually strong thermal (and never a weak one), in which case you were probably flying the optimum speed, to begin with.
Many of us do not actually fly the appropriate MC setting. Because it is very aggressive and you will have to take a lot of climbs. Many of us fly at a lower MC setting, an MC=2 is very common even when we are taking 3-4knt climbs. Flying with a lower MC setting will allow you more altitude to find the next thermal, allowing you more time to find that unusually strong thermal. As Dick Johnson would say "Get High, Stay High".
Picking a better line, finding better thermals, and never getting stuck achieves the fastest achieved XC speed.
If you are flying in the GrandPrix this week, please fly a little faster and mark that thermal for me (I got really stuck on Day 2). If it is unusually strong and you get ahead of me, then follow XG you will get in his way and slow him down.
Banner Photo: Inaqui Ulibarri Garcia
EDS cannulas and masks are used with Mountain High (MH) oxygen systems. The nasal cannula is good up to 18,000 feet and masks up to 25,000 feet. These are commonly used by all high altitude aircraft.
The Mini Softie is an extremely small, lightweight and comfortable backpack parachute system designed for use in today's restricted cockpit environments. It is available in both a 15" and 16" wide versions*. The 16" reduces the thickness to about 2" which is ideal for cockpits with limited room fore and aft.
Garret Willat holds a flight instructor rating with over 8000 hours in sailplanes. His parents have owned Sky Sailing Inc. since 1979. He started instructing the day after his 18th birthday. Since then, Garret has represented the US Junior team in 2003 and 2005. He graduated from Embry-Riddle with a bachelor's degree in Professional Aeronautics. Garret represented the US Open Class team in 2008 and 2010 and the Club Class team in 2014. Garret has won 3 US National Championships.