"Bill Daniels" wrote in message
news:2bidd.499463$8_6.239366@attbi_s04...
Lets have a poll. Tell us how you thermal.

Bill Daniels


I do whatever it takes to make the averager number bigger! What that might
be depends on whether I am at Truckee or Ely or Williams; whether the lift
is turbulent or smooth, big or small core, alone or with other gliders, with
or without water, bugs on the wings, etc. The correct bank angle and speed
might change from one side of the circle to the other and is changing,
experimenting, trying to iterate the best possible lift.

When I see another glider climbing better in another part of the thermal, I
just go there!

It really matters that the climb rate is as high as possible in each climb
taken. When I fly with others in our DuoDiscus I am amazed at how carefully
many pilots follow the speed director (which is on a 30 second averager) in
cruise, but climb sloppily and lazily, accepting whatever comes and not
actively searching for the best thermals and using them to the max.
Maximizing climb and avoiding sink are the best ways to cover miles (or
km.). Interthermal glide speeds are relatively unimportant.

Of course, most of this is just experience -- many hours of flying and
thermalling -- and better learned in thermals than on Usenet...
-Bob Korves
5H DuoDiscus
5K LAK-17a