Windshear/Dynamic soaring
I've had an idea for a while, but lack the math/aerodynamics to verify it's practicality.
I've wondered if the vertical wind-shear in the boundaries of jet-streams could be utilized to dynamically soar a sailplane over long distances.
The question I need a guru to answer is this- what rate of vertical shear would be needed to allow a high performance glider (lets say an L/D of 50-1) to maintain a sustained climb?