Ye Gods, are we top posting or bottom posting in this thread :-)?

"Slippery" in the sense of elusive, ever changing, fiendishly difficult to calculate in real time.

2nd part: Yes, exactly, smaller circle (v min sink) yields better climb in most (classic small, round, columnar, strong at the core) thermals. Uncenterable lift or really huge thermals are typical exceptions.

-Evan Ludeman / T8

On Friday, September 28, 2012 10:39:21 AM UTC-4, (unknown) wrote:
Please explain in more detail. Not clear what you mean by "optimum is going to be very slippery." Are you saying that the benefit of slower flight and therefore tighter radius circles outweigh the losses from the higher sink rate? Not trying to be a smart alec, I seriously want to learn from you more experienced guys. thank you.



Robert



On Friday, September 28, 2012 9:25:17 AM UTC-5, Evan Ludeman wrote:



Best climb isn't achieved at minimum sink. Usually (90%), it pays (in climb) to fly slower than (load factor corrected) minimum sink speed. The optimum is going to be very slippery -- it depends as much on the thermal characteristics, turbulence, etc. as it does on glider performance. It's this sort of abstract, complicated, multivariable, analog "computing" that humans can still do better than machines (with enough practice). Enjoy it while it lasts!







-Evan Ludeman / T8