How to thermal better
In Cross Country 160 (June 2015) we ask four experts how pilots can supercharge their thermalling and get better at it. The full article is in the magazine, but in the meantime here are 12 tips to help pilots of all levels thermal better.
Thanks to Armin Harich, Brad Gunnuscio, Gordon Rigg and Kelly Farina for their advice.
1. Be patient. Learning the art takes time. Don’t try to force your learning curve
2. When you hit a thermal wait three to five seconds before turning. This way you will stay in the lift as you go round. Pick a point on the horizon in clear air and measure how fast you turn a 360 in – 12 seconds is fast, 20 is normal for intermediate pilots.
3. Never stop working. Thermalling is not simply turning 360s. You need to be working your turn all the way round and all the way to base, adjusting it in response to feel and your instrument
4. Watch the birds: they always fly in the best lift. And keep a lookout: take in all the information you can, from ground sources all the way to the top of the clouds. Read the textbooks and learn about sources, triggers and reading the sky.
5. Turn tighter and react quickly. The idea is to stay in the strong lift and stay out of the weak lift or sink.
6. Make sure your hang glider is tuned to fly the same in left or right hand turns – otherwise you’ll be fooled. Keep your paraglider in trim.
7. Work on visualising the thermal, using the sound to tell you where the best lift is, not your screen. Connect the sound to a visual source on the ground, so you know which way to turn back to. Eg ‘Church: beepbeeepbeeeep; Farm: beep beep beep.’
8. Keep listening and feeling – don’t start flying the thermal by sight, it is not nearly as efficient. If you see other pilots up faster in your thermal, then it’s a sign the air is rising.
9. If you lose the lift don’t rush off too soon. Search upwind, look for clues, widen your search. If you really can’t find it again, head off downwind and there’s nothing in sight, head downwind – you cover more ground this way.
10. On a hang glider find what trim speed suits you and trim the glider at that speed. Your hang glider needs to be trimmed at the right speed for you to fly well.
11. In pod harnesses, make sure you are aerodynamic – don’t turn sideways as you thermal as it increases drag a lot.
12. Spend a day with the sound switched off flying only by feel and the visual indicator on your instrument. It is very instructive!
Read more in your copy of Cross Country 160 (June 2015).
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