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Old September 7th 18, 12:23 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Andy Blackburn[_3_]
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Default Vario Comparison

Mike,

I understand that the short period response to a step function in vertical air motion would damp out after less than a second, but normally thermal entry would have a positive gradient in vertical air motion as the glider traverses from zero vertical motion to maximum vertical motion towards the center of the thermal. This ought to create a more prolonged nose-down pitch attitude in addition to upward acceleration, both of which ought to be detectable to accelerometers and gyros in a modern vario. This would be quite distinct from an ever-so-slow negative acceleration and nose up pitch rate from a horizontal gust on the nose. I expect having a sense for the distribution of strength and duration for horizontal gusts would also help a bit.

That’s what I tend to sense in moderate to strong thermals versus gusts. Is that that a correct interpretation?

Andy