Notices
RC Gliders, Sailplanes and Slope Soaring Discuss rc gliders,rc sailplanes and slope soaring in this forum. Thermaling techniques, airfoils, tips, etc

Thermal Q's

Old 04-28-2008, 07:46 PM
  #26  
da Rock
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Near Pfafftown NC
Posts: 11,517
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Default RE: Thermal Q's


ORIGINAL: spiral_72

I actually found a thermal! A poster above stated "it's not as hard as you think". I'm not sure about that but it's definitely not as hard as I thought to find a thermal. Maybe I got lucky, but there was an area in the sky she just refused to fly. It "bumped" my plane off. I was able to circle around the perimeter of where I was supposed to be. I did extend my flight using it's lift, but I never did get hooked onto the thermal.
React to a bump fast. Turn into that bump, and you're there. How do you know? Well, the model will start to rise for one thing.

Is it easier to find a thermal with no wind? Or does it matter?
Depends on the wind speed. If the wind is steady and fast enough, it basically sweeps the gathering hot air away before it can create a big bubble. Sometimes the wind speed works for you and pushes the bubbles loose.

Don't try to work out too simple a theory of thermals. Some are columns. Some are single bubbles. Some are bubble trains. Depends on what's cooking (the topography that's generating the heat), and how fast it's cooking, and whether or not the wind is gusty or steady, and how strong the wind is.

Is there still Thermal activity at 6pm when I get to the field and unload my stuff, or is it useless by this point?
Depends on what's still cooking etc etc etc. Honest, don't try to come up with too simple a description.

Do you suppose a 2-lane road could generate enough rising air to lift a 2m glider? or maybe just to extend the flight time? The reason I ask is, as a kid I caught lift that extended my flight off a road, but Saturday there didn't seem to be any available over the road. I just wondered if it's a waste of altitude to try.
It's never a waste of time to try anything.

One thing to watch..... Clouds. If there are lots of cumulus (the round puffy clouds) you have two things going on. They create shadows that move along the ground. And let sunlight sweep all the rest. And what happens is the sunlight heats up say that hunk of road you want to try, and it starts building up heated air directly above it. Then a cloud shadow comes along and very often there is some cooler air in that shadow. Colder air next to warmer air gets things moving.

The clouds also tell you that the day is working making thermals. They're visible results of rising warm air.

Watch the wind and the clouds and the sun and the temperature of the day.

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.