Learning How to Stitch…

Strange subject line. I’m a flatland pilot, some would say that’s easier, others would say that’s harder – how do you know where the thermals are or where the micro-energy is in the sky? In this article, I hope to describe how to do just this, though for the blue, or as some might like to say in a dry sky, no cumulus…

I first heard of the technique from a very experienced cross-country pilot at my home club, on a blue day Adam, have you tried stitching the air? Or today was a great day for stitching, how did you find it?  What on earth are you on about Hank? He explained…

Imagine you’re on course, tracking due North to a turnpoint miles away, you’re entering an area of lift, the glider, your backside and soon your instruments are telling you this.  You gently slow down to feel the sky, it’s evident that it’s not a thermal or something you want to circle in. What do you do now? It’s a blue day, just stumble along and wait until you blunder into something else? Start heading towards another area of hotter or higher terrain? 

There’s actually a street of energy there somewhere, you’ve just got to get onto it, just like you would on a cumulus day. To make it easier, assume this street is narrow and running slightly off course to our North track above.  You’ve entered the lift, now you’re leaving it direct on track, you fall out of the lift. Ok, now what? That’s your first mistake, you haven’t taken your calculated guess to improve your chances. You’ll either continue in the sink or you’ll just have no idea where the lift street is until you stumble into your next climb.

This is how ‘stitching’ comes in…

So upon exiting the area of lift, purposely head off track in a known ‘error’ direction.  In this case, head for the turnpoint on a heading of 350*, left of track. Almost immediately, the lift falls off – and that’s ok! You now know where the lift is, it must be on the right, so now turn to heading 020*, guess what, the lift increases again, bingo! Hold this heading, because it’s a known right of track ‘error’.  After a while, the lift will fall off again – and that’s ok! Guess what you do next?

You got it, turn back to the left, back into the lift – keep repeating. You can easily see now that if you were just to fly straight when you leave the lift area, it all comes down to guessing.  I’ve been able to do this for 20km before, which naturally pays in dividends with your overall joy of the flight, speed, and points

Enjoy the next chance you get to go to a sewing group…

 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.