MacCready in the Mountains

You have proved my point by having to use an example of a climb that is cut
off due to cloudbase, and by assuming that the next thermal is in an
entirely different airmass with very weak lift.

In the more general case (the one we normally talk about), you are going to
try to match the climb rate at the top of the current thermal with the climb
rate at the bottom of the next one. That matching exercise will depend on
the nature of both the current thermal and the next one. So the cruise
speed depends on the nature of both thermals. Neither is more important
than the other in determining cruise speed.



"Todd Pattist" wrote in message
...
"Greg Arnold" wrote:

Don't you want your climb rate at the top of the current thermal to equal
your expected climb rate at the bottom of the next thermal, and won't
those
climb rates determine your speed between the thermals?

Yes, but the climb rate in this thermal only affects when
you leave it, not how fast you cruise, while the climb rate
in the next thermal controls how fast you cruise. If you
hit cloudbase while climbing at 10 knots, but can only get
to the bottom of a 2 knot thermal, then you fly M=2 to that
2-knotter, not M=10.

Todd Pattist - "WH" Ventus C
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