On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 02:02:43 GMT, "Casey Wilson"
wrote in Message-Id: :


Agreed. Circling direction is more often dictated by other gliders in
the thermal than meteorological phenomena and physics.


The protocol I was taught was that unless you are first into the
thermal, you follow the left or right pattern of the gliders already there.
I've never had a preference of right or left. I was taught to turn into
whichever wingtip went up.

Turning into the rising wing is intuitive, and logical. I'm only able
to think of a couple of alternative techniques, but I would expect
neither of them to provide superior results.

I was also taught that the most efficient technique, that is the
highest rate of altitude gain, is in a 45-degree bank turn hopefully
"coring" the thermal.

That is consistent with what has been written in the past in this
newsgroup concerning the optimum bank in a turn-back to the airport
maneuver.

Up here in the Mojave Desert flying out of IYK, I've been in a couple of
10 Knot thermals but 5 to 6 is the most common. I can't ever remember any
kind of cyclonic rotation of any of them.

That said, I did once, inadvertantly fly into a dust-devil. I NEVER want
to do that again. If I had seen any dust indication that it was there I
would definitely have avoided it in the first place.


My soaring experience was also in the Mojave Desert, Antelope Valley
area around El Mirage and toward the east and west of there. In the
summer, dust-devils were as plentiful as columns at the Forum. They
visibly marked areas above which the chance of encountering lift was
virtually assured.

I'd be interested in hearing more about your dust-devil encounter.