Any recommended books on gliding?Thermal technique
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The Glider Pilot's Manual by Ken Stewart
The Glider Pilot's Manual: Amazon.co.uk: Ken Stewart: Books
The Glider Pilot's Manual: Amazon.co.uk: Ken Stewart: Books
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There are plenty of books about gliding that will have a chapter or two on soaring, this book is purely about soaring:
Advanced Soaring Made Easy
Not really that advanced, it explains all the important stuff
Advanced Soaring Made Easy
Not really that advanced, it explains all the important stuff
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I think Ken Stewart's "The Soaring Pilot's Manual" is a great post-solo / early-cross country book. Written in the same style as the first book.
That, and Reichmann's epic "Cross Country Soaring" are worth getting.
Wallington's "Meterology for Glider Pilots" has a few sections on thermals and is a worthwhile addition to any library.
I think it's worth reading more than one book on the same topic, and discuss with instructors/pundits too, as theories change through the ages and sometimes new things disprove the old (and vice versa!)
Good luck
That, and Reichmann's epic "Cross Country Soaring" are worth getting.
Wallington's "Meterology for Glider Pilots" has a few sections on thermals and is a worthwhile addition to any library.
I think it's worth reading more than one book on the same topic, and discuss with instructors/pundits too, as theories change through the ages and sometimes new things disprove the old (and vice versa!)
Good luck
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Yes, do read more than one book.
Soaring in thermals is really hard to explain, maybe even impossible. I recall one dual flight with my syndicate partner, who was also an instructor. I was climbing us in a thermal, and after a bit he said "You're doing this all wrong - let me show you." So he took over, explained what he was doing, and the climb rate stayed exactly the same.
I then said "Let me show you how I do it" - same climb rate, but my explanation made no sense to him either.
When we tried each others' techniques (so far as we could understand them) the climb rate fell off. Go figure!
My CFI told me recently that he tells students to imagine that the thermal is a ping pong ball on top of a jet of water, and the pilots job is to fly the glider on top of the ping pong ball. Made sense to me, no idea how much it would help someone new to soaring.
FWIW, Ken Stewart's writing seems to work best for analytical types, Derek Piggott's for intuitive types. Read both.
Soaring in thermals is really hard to explain, maybe even impossible. I recall one dual flight with my syndicate partner, who was also an instructor. I was climbing us in a thermal, and after a bit he said "You're doing this all wrong - let me show you." So he took over, explained what he was doing, and the climb rate stayed exactly the same.
I then said "Let me show you how I do it" - same climb rate, but my explanation made no sense to him either.
When we tried each others' techniques (so far as we could understand them) the climb rate fell off. Go figure!
My CFI told me recently that he tells students to imagine that the thermal is a ping pong ball on top of a jet of water, and the pilots job is to fly the glider on top of the ping pong ball. Made sense to me, no idea how much it would help someone new to soaring.
FWIW, Ken Stewart's writing seems to work best for analytical types, Derek Piggott's for intuitive types. Read both.
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You can read about it all you like, but IMHO you also need to fly with other pilots to see how they do it, and also to start learning to read the sky. The most useful thermal skills flight I had was in the front seat, doing most of the flying, with a good instructor and thermal pilot in the back seat.
A properly compensated audio vario speeds up the process. Go up on a good day and practice going out and back into thermals.
Some varios are more intuitive than others.
Our club has two LS-4s, the newer one with a Cambridge, the older with an LX5000. My first flight in the Cambridge equipped glider was a 300 km. attempt that ended in a field 30 km downroute
I had another vario that was making cheerful noises while I was going down
Audio is extremely important as it keeps your head out of the cockpit looking out -- as I was reminded last week
Some varios are more intuitive than others.
Our club has two LS-4s, the newer one with a Cambridge, the older with an LX5000. My first flight in the Cambridge equipped glider was a 300 km. attempt that ended in a field 30 km downroute
I had another vario that was making cheerful noises while I was going down
Audio is extremely important as it keeps your head out of the cockpit looking out -- as I was reminded last week
