Thermal right, land left

John writes
Is there safety benefits to thermaling only to the right, and landing
only with left turns? Will a pilot develop habits or preference for
slow speed right turns and high speed left turns?

What if there were already another glider in the thermal but running
anti-clockwise? Would you forgo the obvious thermal so kindly marked out
by the other aircraft rather than take it to the left, or take it to the
right regardless of the precedent set by the glider there first?

Is the pattern where you fly always on a left hand circuit? Even if it
is, approaching it in such a formulaic fashion can't be conducive to
safety. Keeping a flexible and open mind to the variation of
circumstance and being confident and competent to adapt and cope
accordingly is a much safer approach, IMHO. And the best place to
practice co-ordinated turns of any attitude is at altitude.

And in any case, from the little I've seen myself, some thermals require
as aggressive a turn as any final turn into approach might justify in
order to work them properly. And not every turn, or at least not every
adjustment in the pattern absolutely demands an aggressive a turn as the
final turn should be.

--
Bill Gribble

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