Here in NZ 30ft dunes with 18knots breeze produce a cruise of
around 100knots from gliders with LD of 40, that is
enough to pull up onto small headlands or seacliffs at the
end of a beach.Where I soar there is a lot of exploring of
this lift source to enable a 1000km distance.Once we
have practised on each section and how to transition from
one terrain type/area to another in the various parts of the
coastline our time estimate for the 1000kms is approx 7 hrs
Thats the serious bit ,the fun bit is with all that available energy
you can drop down off the dunes and fly past other beach and
cliff users and watch there eyes pop out at your sudden appearance.
This kind of soaring is for advanced pilots only as your margins
are tight and your flying over unlandable terrain at times and
you have to plan carefully ,this is why we are building time up
on the various "hard" sections learning the various "moods"of the
area from different launch points along the route.
The appearance of a half dozen high performance gliders and
a towplane at a country airfield which have not seen them before
for launching certainly makes for a good evening BBQ from the local
power pilots after return to the field.
gary

"David Pye" wrote in message
...
Ok, I've just about read enough 'across the pond' flak!
So here's a serious question:

I had a look at http://gliding.hoppenrath.com/index_en.htm
the Dune Running mpeg and found it fantastic. But.
.

How do they do that? Could someone explain the sources
of lift available please bearing in mind that I'm a
newbie solo pilot and haven't broken the apron strings
to the airfield yet!

I thought about ridge but the dunes are so small! I
also thought about sea breeze and the junction with
a land covering airmass but just don't know how there
is enough lift to allow aircraft to soar along the
beach! I could understand enough of a breeze to keep
the toy in the air (hang glider) hmmmm ducks quickly!

Any sensible explanations, based on experience would
be even better, appreciated.
Thanks

David Pye
Kent Gliding Club
Charing

Mob: 07946-302975
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