RE: [RCSE] HELP!!! flying in and out of thermals and thermal turns.
I have posted four articles on our club web site that are related to locating and flying thermals. To read/download them go to www.flyvam.com Click on 'Downloads' and scroll down to 'Training Topics'. Regards, Bob Johnson Fond du Lac, WI RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
Re: [RCSE] HELP!!! flying in and out of thermals and thermal turns.
Thanks for the info guys. I went out with my photon today and had a blast. I used to worry about being in the air for 30 seconds, now I can get a minute easy with the photon in still no lift air. I tried some of the suggestions like guaging each quarter of the turn, and while it helped I am STILL not that smooth on the sticks. The good thing is that I see improvement. It REALLY is about stick time... Jay On 10/10/06, Bob Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I have posted four articles on our club web site that are related tolocating and flying thermals. To read/download them go to www.flyvam.com Click on 'Downloads' and scroll down to 'Training Topics'.Regards,Bob JohnsonFond du Lac, WIRCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News.Send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED].Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off.Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
Re: [RCSE] HELP!!! flying in and out of thermals and thermal turns.
Jay, first off, as soon as you notice that you are in a thermal, start turning. Then figure out which side of the turn is better. Don't fly thru it and try to get back, you may not always be able to. Also you are probably on an edge when you see it, or in the core if it is light and you only noticed it when it really indicated. TURN... How to figure out which side is better. alti drop/ gain, sluggish control usually means sink, but may also mean booming thermal that you can't turn in (rare here in the east). Don't fly straight to correct, just oblong the turn in the better direction. You will stay with the thermal this way without loosing track of it. Guys that straighten out and try to come back often lose the thermal. If you are in a small thermal with a DLG turn tight, a big ship will depend on the amount of lift, sometimes you can't turn that tight so you would fly flat to get the most lift and fly in and out to get bumped up OR go find a better thermal. If it is booming and small a big ship can be put on a wing tip. Then gradually open it up. When your plane is climbing nicely and you have power all around you have probably cored the thermal. If it is not smooth all the way around you are on the edge or gowing in and out of the center of the thermal... and therefore it isn't cored. I'm sure others will chime in. Jay Hunter wrote: First off I am flying a photon II R/E dlg. No flaps, no camber mode, just simple RE poly... I am not sure if anyone can help me but I have been flying through thermals. I have progressed to point where I can tell I just flew through a thermal, and I can circle and fly BACK into the thermal, but I can not figure out how big the thermal is and I can see the plane 'falling' out of the thermal. Any thoughts on how to gauge the size of a thermal, so I know how tight to turn? Also any tips on doing thermal turns so that the circles are tight and so I don't stall then speed up, then stall then speed up. Thanks for any help you can offer... Jay -- Jeff Steifel RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
Re: [RCSE] HELP!!! flying in and out of thermals and thermal turns.
Congratulations. The first part is noticing you have lift. There is a diagram in the lower part of this page that visualizes what Jeff was saying. http://www.quicktechhobby.com/articles/thermal_surfing%20part%202.htm The first one in the series is: http://www.quicktechhobby.com/articles/thermal_surfing%20part%201.htm These are oversimpified representations of thermals. In general you wil always have to re-core the thermal, so always look for where the plane is going up the fastest (or coming down the slowest) and try to stay in that air. I sometimes reverse my circle if I find that I am skirting the side. By this, I mean that. If I am circling left, and notice that the plane is sinking on the left, when I get to the right side, I will start circling to the right. I still try to read these once a year to remind myself of what I am looking for and seeing. The only thing I will add is to be objective when circling. The hardest thing for me is to recognize when I am not in lift and should stop circling. Tom Koszuta Western New York Sailplane and Electric Flyers Buffalo, NY - Original Message - From: Jeff Steifel [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Jay Hunter [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: Soaring club soaring@airage.com Sent: Monday, October 09, 2006 9:28 AM Subject: Re: [RCSE] HELP!!! flying in and out of thermals and thermal turns. Jay, first off, as soon as you notice that you are in a thermal, start turning. Then figure out which side of the turn is better. Don't fly thru it and try to get back, you may not always be able to. Also you are probably on an edge when you see it, or in the core if it is light and you only noticed it when it really indicated. TURN... How to figure out which side is better. alti drop/ gain, sluggish control usually means sink, but may also mean booming thermal that you can't turn in (rare here in the east). Don't fly straight to correct, just oblong the turn in the better direction. You will stay with the thermal this way without loosing track of it. Guys that straighten out and try to come back often lose the thermal. If you are in a small thermal with a DLG turn tight, a big ship will depend on the amount of lift, sometimes you can't turn that tight so you would fly flat to get the most lift and fly in and out to get bumped up OR go find a better thermal. If it is booming and small a big ship can be put on a wing tip. Then gradually open it up. When your plane is climbing nicely and you have power all around you have probably cored the thermal. If it is not smooth all the way around you are on the edge or gowing in and out of the center of the thermal... and therefore it isn't cored. I'm sure others will chime in. Jay Hunter wrote: First off I am flying a photon II R/E dlg. No flaps, no camber mode, just simple RE poly... I am not sure if anyone can help me but I have been flying through thermals. I have progressed to point where I can tell I just flew through a thermal, and I can circle and fly BACK into the thermal, but I can not figure out how big the thermal is and I can see the plane 'falling' out of the thermal. Any thoughts on how to gauge the size of a thermal, so I know how tight to turn? Also any tips on doing thermal turns so that the circles are tight and so I don't stall then speed up, then stall then speed up. Thanks for any help you can offer... Jay -- Jeff Steifel RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send subscribe and unsubscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
