On Friday, January 24, 2020 at 2:48:34 PM UTC-6, wrote:
Jim H and Jim, I wonder if this generation of glider guiders could even find or center a thermal using a simple mechanical vario lol How far we have advanced but also how far we have digressed in skills.

Haha! For me, it seems like finding the sweet air is getting more difficult every year! And I don't even have a mechanical vario in my '26, not enough room in the panel, haha. I really ought to fly the other '26 (the club's 1-26) more often, and without a battery, to prove to myself I can still do it "old school"....

One thing I have always found difficult is sorting out what the airmass is doing when I am cruising at speeds above about 80 knots, and in the presence of gusts and turbulence. Enlisting new technology to help me here...

Cheers,
Jim J6