Video: Thermal Strategy for DLG

[sherchoo]

Thought I should share this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=...ture=endscreen

[VinCopter]

Vary good. Thanks for sharing.

[rt9]

some times we ponder over this..

looking from plan view.
i see weather report that typhoon turns counter-clock wise.
i remember watching a dlg training video and see thermal bringing up some dust and it looks to me that it turn counter-clockwise too.

i am a counter-clockwise flyer.
i fly with the thermal direction.

should we do clockwise or counter-clockwise in a thermal?
it there a difference?

thanks!

[Sunstorm]

got difference meh

sometimes, I do straight through, u turn, straight through again, u turn again

clockwise is more comfortable for me though.

sometimes I know something is in the general area I do figure 8s to detect

but I wont really know how I fare on a dlg.

[randomtask]

Hi Ronnie,

When in a thermal, circling clockwise or counter clockwise actually makes no difference. But being able to fly both ways is a good skill to have. This way you can immediately turn into a thermal wheather it is on the starboard or portside of the glider, instead of having to make a u-turn into the thermal.

Cheers,
Adnan

[Twyl]

Nice Video. Regarding thermal lift HERE's a good article that speaks about how thermals act. Basically due to what is called the Coriolis Force, thermals under really calm conditions will spin anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern. Now I guess that bit of information really doesn't work for Singapore now does it. Regardless though, which hemisphere you are in does not mean thermals will not spin in the other direction. Wind and surrounding features near where the thermal was formed can cause it to spin in a different direction.

At least according to this article if one is gliding in the opposite direction of the spin, the natural tendencies of the thermal will be to pull you into the core, whereas if you are turning with the spin of the thermal it will tend to push you out.

-Jonathan

[Hawkeye]

When in doubt which way to turn....follow the birds

[rt9]

Hahaha.. I did..
Thats why I do counter clockwise :p

Thanks for video and interesting article