How big should you make your thermal turn?

From : Joe Hahn

Hi Paul.
Great question. In my experience it is GENERALLY best to turn tighter down low(say from 75 to 100 ft), increasing the turn diameter as you get higher. Thermals seem to be narrower down low than at higher altitudes. It is best to keep the turn as flat as you can, in any case. Tricky part about this generality is that it varies, sometimes GREATLY, from day to day, even hour to hour!!! I've been flying in conditions somewhat the reverse, also---seemed as if the lift was fairly wide down low(requiring wide, smooth turns), tightening up as altitude was gained(requiring a tighter turn to stay in the lift area!), then growing again at 300 feet or so!

I think the best approach is to try different turn diameters in lift, closely watch the ship, and continue the turn at the diameter that gives you the best rate of climb at any given altitude in the PARTICULAR thermal you've found. They all vary so much that I think it is best to avoid having a fixed mental image of what you think should be done, and adjust your flying to suit the actual conditions of the thermal you have found. The Monarch is nice in this respect in that the extra performance allows you to "experiment" a bit in lift to sort out the best climb rate without a huge altitude loss in case you guess wrong!!

Hope this helps--see you later!!

Joe

DJ Aerotech