That photo/link are not available to us. Must be a password needed or something.

I noticed that too.

I figure its a bunch of cumulus clouds.

~john

sorry i just dont have a site to put them first, any recomendations or how do i make yahoo let you through

Attach it to a message you post to this thread...below the text box for typing a reply, there is a thing called "Additional Options" Go down and click "manage attachments" and then attach a picture.


~John

think i got it this time

Now that is a beautiful, thermal filled sky!

Thoughs clouds are Cirrocumulas, not Cumulus-whitch we look for. Cirros are VERY high level clouds that have nothing to do with thermal build up. They are just ice cristals that are being reflected by the sun.
The highest clouds that would benifit thermalers any would be Altocumulus or Stratus clouds. They are the ones that are partly formed by thermals taking that warm moist air up from the ground and helping it rise faster, and making it get cool and condincing. If you EVER see a big, puffy, Cumulus or Stratus that you can watch for a few seconds and accualy see it building and getting puffyer get under that cloud ASAP! Thermals are pushing air and condinced moisture into them as fast as they can and building them up. Just as hang4 had said, we like an unstable atmosphere for thermaling and this is the most basic sign of an unstable atmosphere..clouds building and starting to form thunder/storm clouds. Keep an eye up for that condition!
But also keep in mind to NOT get caught under or behind a thunderstorm. There are thermals(mostly boomers) but they are fast moving and VERY terbulant. And behind thunderclouds there is cooled air sinking witch is also fast and terbulant.
If you see a Nimbostratus(rain cloud) wait until it has passed and go up behind it. There is cold air infront and under them, but above and behind it is warm air that will rise after the cold air has passed.
I would suggest investing in "How To Become A Pilot The Step-by-Step Guid to Flying" from the FAA. Its got inmearusable weather conditions and such to look for and will teach you A LOT! It's $17.95 in the US and can be found in most(if not all) book stores and most likely on the i-net, just google search it.
Well, I think ive rabbaled on enough....
Thank you for your time and my you have a clear 6 and the winds in your face, grasshopper.
-Jake
P.S.: ROFLMAO!!

Jake, what aeajr said about the thermals being there all day long is true. You'll find them easier when there is a greater heating change going on though. When the sun starts heating the ground and air, there is a larger amount of rising heated air (thermals). Once the heating effect lessens there isn't as much movement upward, but it is still happening. I can't really say what the thermal result is in the late afternoon since I've never flown then. I do know that the wind tends to get pretty high in the Texas/Oklahoma panhandle in the afternoon and I expect it will be the same in Kansas (OOPS, I just noticed that it say KY under your name, not KS - I don't have the slightest clue about Kentucky afternoons). The buzzards don't seem to worry too much about the time of day, but they do flap their wings more in the late afternoon. Keep an eye on the big birds. They'll provide lots of information about when and where the best thermals occur.

Half the fun (well almost) of flying is trying and learning. Hang in there and have LOTS of fun.

I didn't mean that there wasn't thermal activity in the pic, just not as much as there would be if thaoughs had been Cumulus clouds.
I ALWAYS watch the birds. Its, in a way, fun!
The afternoons here can vary. But most often, the winds die off to about 5 or less(except on windy days-like today) and arent gusty, or nearly as gusty. The ground around here cools slowly and warms, probably moderatly, so once we have a hot spell, thermals arent as strong, and activity is slightly deminished. I have herd of a guy with a pico stick hooking one in the late afternoon(about 1hour away from sunset!) And almost lost the lil' thing, it was so strong! Even in a full power dive, he was still rising! He finaly got to the top and fell out and glided back home, as he was quit far away from his take-off point..
I just came in from fully testing my Aspire and re trimming it and didn't catch a thing(I was out from about 5pm to 6, and the winds were from 10 to about 26mph) I just had fun floatingon the gusts. I got an av. of about 150ft up-start launches and about 1min to 2min flights. Loops are REALY fun! I managed a rudder roll out of on from inverted flight!! Not too bad for a polyhedral, ehy?
I know the fun and excitment of learning and experimenting sence I taough myself 2 sommers ago to fly RCs and about 4-5 years ago teaching myself to fly full-sized aircraft. Its A LOT-O-FUN! And I would gladly do it again. And no matter WHAT situation(a crash and burn or a tramendus, perfect flight) I always try to find the fun and good of it. My felosofy(sp?) is: “When the crash is inevitable, relax and enjoy it. Everybody else is going to!”
-Jake

Ok, EP flight report for my Aspire. I think I have too much down thrust, but she flies great(or will when I get a proper battery pack)I have an Ni-CD 6cell, Sport/Racing Pack with 2400mAh. But it will NOT let me gain ANY altitude! I have trouble keeping her above the grass, but after I go traid it in for a the proper battery, I can tell she will do great!
The glides are even better then they were before the crash and I am timpted to just keep her as a glider the next time I take out the 550'! I about lost her again, though, the last time I put her up! The Rx got turned off somehow(I KNOW I didn't do it) and she went into a very fast and steep turn at the top of the launch and headed strait for the trees with the wind pushing it at a 50* angle(witch was just enough to keep it out of the BIG trees) and she "fell" into a small tree and her momentom kept her pushing through the branches to the ground. Fwheeoo! ~wipe browe~ The 3ft tall grass cept her just fine, but I was pritty scared when I walked upto her and the wing wasn't there(it was buried about 2ft away in the tall grass). The wing was ok and I would have cept flying, but I had 2 broken rubber bands and didn't want to risk her, again, on just 2.
Ya'll continue to wish me luck on finding thermals becasue I have yet to ride one(i have found several, but havent been able to get into a turn that cept me in it).
-Jake

Jake, great report! Sounds very exciting!

Thermals - I flew Saturday. From 10:30-5:30

It gray and windy (10-12 mph) till around 2PM. Then the wind started to settle and the sun came out. Up till that time I had not caught a thermal all day. I got a lot of launch and landing practice which was fine.

2PM the sun comes out and the thermals started to flow. nailed a beauty around 2:30 for a 20 minute flight that I ended because I was drifting too far off field. Thermals continued right through 5PM, so thermals can be out any time.

Actually it was a great end to the day.

Keep up the good work Jake!

Just keep searching Jake.

This weekend there weren't clear thermals but there was bounds of lift. Just flying around anywhere and I was going up! I have no idea where the sink was but it must have been tremendous!

A fellow flyer's old timer model almost wouldn't come down...the guy had to dive and spiral it to get it down.

~John

Thanks, aeajr! That day(and the past couple) were great days for thermals, but I wasn't able to fly much sunday(only from 8:30 or 9 t about, maybe 10, then about 2-3 later, I would have stayed out longer, but my Dad had to run some arrins and such and is parranoid about snakes. There are a few out there, but they mostly stay in the woods where all the rocks are)
It was dead calm the first setion and I did find lift, but wasnt able to gain anything out of it and didnt catch it aftre it broke away and started to "drift" on the 1mph breeze becasue my parachoot on the up-start wouldnt detahc and slowed my glider down tramendusly! I dont knwo how to get it to come off unless I zoom off the top of teh launch and loose about 20-30ft in altitude. I do know my home made hook it too long(about 1"), but it shoudl still not ride on the hook through the duration of the flight! And its about 1" too far up becasue I didn't want it to become unstable on teh launch when I first started. Does it need to be on the CG(fore or aft?) for max hight?
Then I went back out and got about 3 flights before the "incedent".
The winds were realy too high to catch a decient thermal anyways.

John, i've had days liek that, but it wasn't enough to lift me, just keep me sustaining alt. I call it "Stagnite Air" sinply becasue its niether sinking, nor lifting(much). But papr gliders and FFs are fun to fly in that!
I'll be getting my GWS SS as soon as they get off back order and i'll be able to poke before school( if i get it before the year ends-only 8 days!) adn in the evening(I herd of a guy almost loosing his Pico-Stick in a boomer just before sunset!)
Any tips on how to see a thermal building(like the heat rising from a hot road) if I can get in that and just circle until it breaks off i can ride it for as long as its over the field?

Originally Posted by Mchone, Jake

It was dead calm the first setion and I did find lift, but wasnt able to gain anything out of it and didnt catch it aftre it broke away and started to "drift" on the 1mph breeze becasue my parachoot on the up-start wouldnt detahc and slowed my glider down tramendusly! I dont knwo how to get it to come off unless I zoom off the top of teh launch and loose about 20-30ft in altitude. I do know my home made hook it too long(about 1"), but it shoudl still not ride on the hook through the duration of the flight! And its about 1" too far up becasue I didn't want it to become unstable on teh launch when I first started. Does it need to be on the CG(fore or aft?) for max hight?

RE hook placement and release:

Having the hook in front of the CG when you are learning to hi-start is a very good idea. After you are confident of your launches you can do the following.

Assuming you are launching your plane out flat, you can start to raise the angle of the launch till you get to about 45 degrees. That will give you higher launches. Be sure to give it a good throw.

Then you can move the hook back to the CG, launching at about 45 degrees. You will get higher launches assuming your hi-start is strong enough. A little breeze will help as well.

For REAL competition launches you can move the hook a little behind the CG, say 1/4 to 1/2 inch. However the plane will be harder to control. I would not recommend it for sport flying.

As for hook release, I can normally just fly off at the top of the lauch however if you do a little down to help release tension, the chute will start to open, then you go up. If you get really good at the zoom you dive down about 50 feet being pulled by the hi-start, then turn suddenly up and you should actually end up higher than just flying off, but it takes practice.

"Stagnate Air".
One of the rules of soaring is that there is no neutral air! If you get in a thermal or other pocket of lift and you aren't gaining altitude, dont give up...lift will almost always increase with time.

If you want to see nearby thermals coming towards you, you might want to put thermal poles (20ft pole with 20ft of light ribbon tied to top) up in your field. This might be too much, though. You could also put a bubble machine (little kid type toy...or the type for parties...) upwind and watch how the bubbles are going...just straight with the wind or rising=thermal.

There is no fool-proof way, however.
~John