Thermal mapping

"Duane Eisenbeiss" wrote in message news:3Q1hc.31080$yD1.92394@attbi_s54...
"Bubbles, toliet paper, and bent tow tickets seem to center thermals by
themselfs. Free flight model airplanes do a good job of centering thermals
by themself. Ever consider what might happen if we just trimed out our
sailplanes and kept our hands off of the controls?

Duane

Dick Schreder also suggested the idea back in the 60's. He used
Kleenex and I have tried it myself several times. The mechanics are
easy. Open the side window and with your free hand pull out a Kleenex
from the box (pop-up type), hold the sheet near the window and let go.
Out it goes and do another. In one circle in a thermal you can drop
ten or more. The sheets are fairly visible. You then continue flying
the circle and observe any sheets that are higher than you are. steer
toward them. In normal soaring it isn't much better than using the
vario but I used to think that when desparately low it might be a
useful last chance.

Rudy Allemann