Second Thermal?

[Chuck Glider]

Hi all,

I'm a newbie to RC. I've been flying a Fling 48" glider from a flat field site with mini bungee. Trouble I have at the moment is finding a second thermal. I can find the first one, climb until it's way downwind and quite high, then head upwind searching about for another bit of lift, but never seem to connect with any (or end up in sink!). So I can't get flights longer than about 6 minutes.

Help! Any advice on what to do after you've climbed and decided to head back upwind? Is there a preferred search pattern?

Thanks,

Chuck

Thermal in peace...... :cool:

[bobby legue]

Just keep trying. There really is no magic you just keep trying and look for the signals of lift. Thermals are very irregular in size ,shape, and duration.
Bopb

[2motheus]

I know the feeling.

What has helped me is to realize ahead of time when I am close to bailing out of the first thermal. Pay conscious attention to signs of lift and you can take a more direct route to the next one. Having the plane well trimmed helps a lot with this... you can look away to assess things.

Remember that coming straight back gives you only a random chance of hitting another thermal.

[neilmny]

This is an interesting theory

http://www.quicktechhobby.com/articles/thermal_surfing%20part%202.htm

[Chuck Glider]

Thanks guys, really helpful stuff! Exactly what I needed. I've gotta watch out though, cos this is really addictive...

[flyonline]

I really suggest you get Paul Naton's Secrets of Thermal Soaring, it has a lot of great info, diagrams and footage that helped me a lot.
Points that I've picked up on are
1. Watch for other signs of lift while flying. Birds thermalling, dust being lifted up etc. I'm always scanning around and upwind of my plane while flying, you can often pick (with experience) where the next one will be coming from. I've saved myself from landing out on a slope by listening to the birds, larks in particular are lazy buggers and love to sit in thermals and sing.
2. When punching out of a thermal to find the next one, head out at 45deg so you are running into new air, and away from the sink.
3. Thermals are oftened formed in the same place, during the day, and from one day to the next. Anything that traps heat is a potential source, grass, paddocks, ashpalt etc. Fly over, or downwind of them to hopefully find a thermal.
4. Watch the birds thermalling. When in good lift they use it as much as possible, while in sink, they move on ASAP.
5. My prefered search pattern is a 45deg set of dog legs. I usually fly slope so this always keeps me in front, and in new air. Don't be afraid to range out far though, it takes some nerve, but you can miss the best lift by only flying in one small area.
6. Practice thermalling on the slope, they are there as well and the slope lift can tide you over if you can't get to the next one on time.
7. When in sink, get out of it ASAP, don't hang around in bad air, its best to put your nose down and eat up some height. This will put you into new and hopefully better lift.
8. Practice, practice, practice and watch anything (plane, bird etc) to see how they fare and what their technique is.

hope this helps

Steve

[kentuckyglider]

I had the same problem when I was starting. It just takes some practice learning how your plane behaves when it hits a thermal. It sometimes looks a little different from the ground depending what altitude you're at, and thermals behave differently at different heights as well. It sounds like you've gotten good at spotting lift at hi-start altitude, but it takes a little while to learn to spot lift when your plane is already high.
I generally don't fly a pattern, but fly at a 45 degree angle upwind over likely spots (baseball fields, blacktop, roofs, etc.) Once you are in lift, you usually have to make larger circles the higher you are.

If there are birds around, especially buzzards or hawks, FLY THERE! You will find lift if there are birds; in fact, I have a scale: :D
1 buzzard: Decent thermal
2 buzzards: Good thermal
3 buzzards: Excellent thermal
4 or more buzzards: Monster thermal

All of my longest flights so far were when there were buzzards around.

Good luck!

KG

[rabidrue1]

I do the same as kentucky except around here we have hawks. Watch out for the hawks though Ive had them go after my 118" bird of time e power-dont get to close. If they are in a hunting mode they get real angry real quick, about a month ago one took a lenth of the pinstripe off my wing and left 3 small rips in the monocote.