Thermal Flying

Thermal Flying is the world’s best-selling guide to the art of thermalling and XC flying. Cross Country’s team has been hard at work thoroughly revising and updating the title, line by line, and the design and photography has been refreshed to bring it bang up to date.

Learning to climb well is probably the most valuable skill of all in free flying, but it can be an incredibly frustrating experience. Burki Martens’ Thermal Flying has been written as a guidebook, and whether you have one hour or a thousand hours’ airtime, you’ll find it incredibly useful.

Hundreds of photos and illustrations make technical concepts come alive and easy to understand. Technical theory is kept to a minimum while real-world experience and practical advice help you grasp tricky concepts easily.

Thermal Flying Includes comprehensive instructions on:

• How to predict and find thermals
• How and where thermals form – sources and triggers
• Different types of thermal models
• Windward and lee-side thermals
• The theory of temperature gradients
• Vortex ring structure and lift distribution in thermals
• How to read clouds and weather

Plus hundreds of helpful tips on:

• Soaring, staying up and top-landing
• Coastal flying and sea breezes
• How to core thermals and get to cloudbase
• Valley winds, mountain flying and magic air
• Flying the flatlands
• XC tactics from first flights to 100km

Thermal Flying has been published in 15 languages and has sold over 50,000 copies worldwide. This third edition brings the art of thermal flying to a whole new generation of pilots. Burki Martens is a multiple XC League champion and an excellent coach and communicator.

“I love the style of this book – you can jump around and learn loads. It deals with both the science of how thermals are formed and also the art of how to ride them – plus what to do in between. Brilliant!” – Pete Logan