Make a habit of continually scanning for every kind of information available, and you will find much vital detail you didn’t know to expect. Some will be welcome and some will not, but discerning and analyzing ‘all available information’ is key to success. By training yourself to THINK, continuously, incisively, and creatively, you can learn to perform little miracles, sometimes almost on demand!
Most soaring pilots put undue emphasis on their instruments instead of observing the much more useful information that’s everywhere, in the sky and on the ground. Don’t stare at the vario, it LIES to you! Yes, audio varios can be useful, but they mask the sound of the air, which itself is splendid information – and is pleasant rather than annoying. A good soaring pilot will feel the air and visualize mental movies of its flow.
Wind direction and strength are of primary importance when soaring in mountains, but changes in the degree of slope are significant too. Inconsistency in vertical profile can cause airflow to separate from the surface just as it does with roughness on the surface of a sailplane wing. A weakening of ‘orographic’ lift could suddenly draw you dangerously close to terrain directly below you at close range. The possible bright side: a place where upslope winds separate from the surface is exactly where thermals are most apt to do the same! Either way, whether you’re climbing by a change in slope or rushing by it horizontally, expect changes in lift rate – positive or negative – and feel for them.
Of course you must always clear an area before beginning any turn, and look straight down to establish a reference point on the ground and note direction of drift. But then what? Most pilots have an unconscious habit of looking almost constantly sideways in the direction they are turning. Some have been taught to, presumably to watch for traffic. But the one place you’re least likely to see surprise traffic is inside your circle. Looking mostly straight ahead, on the other hand, will provide a continual scan across the horizon while circling, about twice every minute - and looking straight ahead also helps in maintaining attitude and coordination by reference to the horizon and yaw string.
A common lament of inexperienced soaring pilots is: ”I find what feels like a good thermal and turn, but then it seems to be all sink!” Sometimes that is what happened, but neophytes often turn too gradually and fly around the lift in thermal sink. Unless there’s evidence that the thermal is very wide, it’s better to make your initial turn a tight one, to pinpoint where the lift is and avoid flying away from it. In good lift, a turn that is steeper than necessary doesn’t bring much penalty, but one shallow turn in sink can leave you out of the thermal – or even beneath it.
Upon entering a thermal, the standard rule of thumb says postpone that initial turn three or four seconds to bring you further into the rising air rather than immediately turning away, while also allowing time to decide if the lift is really worth stopping for. Most inexperienced pilots tend to turn for lift too soon even if they do go the correct direction, inadvertently swinging back and away from newfound lift. It’s generally best to wait until the lift peaks before turning. Depending on a thermal’s size, this waiting period could last ten seconds or more. When you’re cruising into the wind, thermals will be rising toward you from ahead on course, making it possible to delay that initial turn indefinitely. If you were to turn too soon you’d immediately be below the rising air and need to move further upwind to rejoin the thermal at a lower altitude. By delaying the turn, just slowing up on course may bring you to the top before you reach ther thermal’s far (windward) side. If you wait too long and fly beyond the lift, a quick reversal will put you right back in it.
When running downwind, it pays to turn sooner to avoid shooting through the lift and beyond it very quickly. If you find that you have turned too soon, you’ll know the lift is right there immediately downwind, while more is rising up from directly below you.
If you’re flying across the wind and find a thermal, but are unsure which side it’s on, turning into the wind by default will result in success more often than not. Here too, the air is rising toward you from the windward direction, so if you turned downwind and didn’t find lift you’ld be descending through sinking air downwind of the thermal – while it continues to rise – and you’d need to fly an upwind leg to relocate lift at some point lower in the thermal itself. But if you mistakenly turn away from the thermal in the windward direction, you will be descending into the airspace from which lower, newer pulses of lift are rising, and simply continuing your circle will probably bring you right back into lift without much loss of altitude or time.
