Thermal mapping

i´ve an old (70+) friend that used to launch small pieces of toilet paper or
even yellow pages from phone books, cut to pieces. It seems pretty effective
to him. Perhaps a good old habit from the 50's...

norbas
(lak12)

Norbas wrote:
i´ve an old (70+) friend that used to launch small pieces of toilet paper or
even yellow pages from phone books, cut to pieces. It seems pretty effective
to him. Perhaps a good old habit from the 50's...

I'm thinking it's not useful to have markers showing the lift where
you've already been - you know what's there, so why mark it? How about
something that disperses the markers over an area about two or three
times the size of a circle, so you can see what the lift is in places
you haven't flown through?

A toilet paper roll with a large firecracker in it, and a spring loaded
ejector would do the trick, but I sure wouldn't want to be in the
cockpit if the firecracker exploded before the roll was ejected!

I know! A trained flock of small soaring birds that you release when
desperate. They spread out over the area, circling when they find lift.
Once you start climbing, they return to the glider and crawl back
inside, ready for the next time you need their assistance.

Or, always team fly with 5 or 6 friends (buy them identical gliders if
you have to). Someone will find lift.

Or, do what I do: carry lift in the glider, and when you need some, turn
it on. It's a mature technology, available today from your glider
dealer. OK, maybe not available TODAY, but he'll be glad to order it for
you, and within a year, you'll have it. Or, buy a used one, and get it a
lot sooner.
--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 08:00:04 -0700, Eric Greenwell
wrote:

I know! A trained flock of small soaring birds that you release when
desperate. They spread out over the area, circling when they find lift.
Once you start climbing, they return to the glider and crawl back
inside, ready for the next time you need their assistance.

A month or so ago there was a nice piece on BBC Radio 4 about a hang
glider pilot who had a hen harrier that was trained to fly with him
and even to sit on a perch on his glider. He said that when lift was
strong he'd launch and gain height before letting his raptor fly with
him, but in weak, dodgy conditions the bird was flown first. He'd
launch and join her once she'd found a thermal.


--
martin@ : Martin Gregorie
gregorie : Harlow, UK
demon :
co : Zappa fan & glider pilot
uk :

Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 08:00:04 -0700, Eric Greenwell
wrote:


I know! A trained flock of small soaring birds that you release when
desperate. They spread out over the area, circling when they find lift.
Once you start climbing, they return to the glider and crawl back
inside, ready for the next time you need their assistance.


A month or so ago there was a nice piece on BBC Radio 4 about a hang
glider pilot who had a hen harrier that was trained to fly with him
and even to sit on a perch on his glider. He said that when lift was
strong he'd launch and gain height before letting his raptor fly with
him, but in weak, dodgy conditions the bird was flown first. He'd
launch and join her once she'd found a thermal.

That sounds better than the flock of small birds: one smart bird would
be easier to handle. Of course, you'd want one with sufficient top speed
to catch the glider and crawl back inside. Maybe a motorglider with the
motor removed, so there would be hatch on the fuselage for the bird to
travel in.

--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

In the spring and summer around lake Tahoe, there are flocks of American
White Pelicans that soar in groups of 4 to 6 or more.
They are particularly visible around Truckee, CA. I have joined them in
their soaring endeavors and managed to stay with them
for a while. I only wish that I could turn as well as they were able to.
We are talking here of soaring flocks of pelicans at and above 7000 ft.
Don't know why they do it but perhaps just for fun. They may be Jonathan
Livingston Seagull's distant relatives!
Looking for pelicans may be a new thermal indicator.

Allan




"Eric Greenwell" wrote in message
...
Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 08:00:04 -0700, Eric Greenwell
wrote:


I know! A trained flock of small soaring birds that you release when
desperate. They spread out over the area, circling when they find lift.
Once you start climbing, they return to the glider and crawl back inside,
ready for the next time you need their assistance.

"ADP" wrote in message
...
In the spring and summer around lake Tahoe, there are flocks of American
White Pelicans that soar in groups of 4 to 6 or more.
They are particularly visible around Truckee, CA. I have joined them in
their soaring endeavors and managed to stay with them
for a while. I only wish that I could turn as well as they were able to.
We are talking here of soaring flocks of pelicans at and above 7000 ft.
Don't know why they do it but perhaps just for fun. They may be Jonathan
Livingston Seagull's distant relatives!
Looking for pelicans may be a new thermal indicator.

Allan

We also have these in Colorado and Wyoming. They are very large and visible
at a substantial distance.

Hawks are a bit more prevalent though.

Frank Whiteley

In article , Martin Gregorie
writes
On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 08:00:04 -0700, Eric Greenwell
wrote:

I know! A trained flock of small soaring birds that you release when
desperate. They spread out over the area, circling when they find lift.
Once you start climbing, they return to the glider and crawl back
inside, ready for the next time you need their assistance.

A month or so ago there was a nice piece on BBC Radio 4 about a hang
glider pilot who had a hen harrier that was trained to fly with him
and even to sit on a perch on his glider. He said that when lift was
strong he'd launch and gain height before letting his raptor fly with
him, but in weak, dodgy conditions the bird was flown first. He'd
launch and join her once she'd found a thermal.

In the biography of Hanna Reich there was a story that the
German team who took some gliders to S America in 1937 used to join the
local vultures in thermals.
They decided it would be a good idea to take some home to
Germany so they could leach on to them there. But when the ship got to
Bremen, the vultures had got so fat and heavy they couldn't get
airborne.
--
Mike Lindsay