thermalling
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March 16, 2023
This two-part article is about things to do (and not do) on a cross-country glider flight when you are well below your planned height band, have already selected a field or airport to land in, and are trying to stave off that landing. Within this subject, we must talk about thermaling low, which is a very dangerous practice - especially in windy and gusty conditions. It is also a controversial
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May 05, 2022
There are two ways of thinking, practicing until you get it right, or practicing until you can’t get it wrong. That’s the difference between amateurs and professionals in the end. First, we must arm ourselves with the knowledge, then add ongoing training and practice, this is a sure way to see success. Serious training must be aimed towards specific problems, whereas less ambitious pilots
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December 30, 2021
If you’re a winch pilot, you probably know this all too well, that if you haven’t built a small plan before take-off, your flight might end up with a circuit and another launch. For a flight to be successful we must first think about where to go once we release the cable or tow plane.
Plan before Takeoff
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November 18, 2021
There are those who are happy with a glider that is flown anywhere within the glider's center of gravity (CG) range, then there are the others, who think the glider performs best with the CofG as close to the rear limit permitted by the manufacturer. The question begs, which is correct, is there an optimum (& where is it?), finally, how does it affect the glider's performance & handling?
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August 19, 2021
When soaring in the blue it’s time to develop your maximum sensitivity to what the glider is experiencing and make subtle changes of direction toward the areas that make a wing lift. While you will generally fly a straight course, the glider will always want to fly away from thermals so if you find one wing lifting slightly make a minor course correction toward the area that made it rise. Resist the
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January 14, 2021
Thermal entry You're approaching an area of lift, you can either see it, or you can feel it approaching, you slow yourself down to heighten your senses, hear the air better, feel the wings coming alive, listen to that audio become more excited - but which way do you turn? How do you attack that area of lift?
Attack the Area of Lift
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October 17, 2019
In instrument flying, you have what is called the Primary Instruments. Which is the most useful instrument for that phase of flight? The heading indicator and the altimeter are primary instruments when flying straight and level. The idea is that you scan between the attitude indicator and heading indicator and the attitude indicator and altimeter. We are going to use other instruments, but those are
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May 02, 2019
We want to be slow and steep to get the smallest turn radius possible. However, if you get too slow, you do not have the control authority that you need. The sink rate increases as you get too slow or too steep. Plus when the wing stalls it is very inefficient. Thermalling too slow causes lower control authority, higher sink rate, and is inefficient.
Stall recognition
Because
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January 17, 2019
Last Week we looked at the weather forecast. Now to determine the best task for the day. This will depend on the weather, your schedule, your mood. However like any athlete you cannot take the easiest practice. You still have to have a plan to improve yourself. You improve by pushing yourself. If you never land out, you are not pushing hard enough. If you land out often, you are probably pushing too
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November 02, 2017
Thermalling in a Slight Slip
Dick Johnson wrote a great article titled "Circling the Holighaus way" Click here and log-in on the SSA website.
At Sky Sailing we teach spins with each student pre-solo. One of the entries we do with students is circling slow, then