Thermal Soaring Course

Subjects Covered in Thermal Soaring:

• What is a thermal?

• What is the structure of a thermal?

• Why does heating make the air go up?

• What causes all this heating of the Air?

• Does the sun warm the earth all over?

• The angle between the sun’s rays and the surface of the earth.

• What surface absorbs the sun’s heat most readily?

• How do wet surfaces respond to solar heating?

• Can a thermal be seen?

• What are the visible indicators of a thermal?

• How do birds help us climbing faster?

• What shapes are thermals?

• How high are thermals?

• Does the thermal continue inside the Cumulus?

• How fast does a thermal rise?

• Where does all that rising air come from?

• What becomes of the rising air of a thermal?

• Does a thermal stay in one spot?

• How does wind affect thermal formation?

• What time of the day do thermals start?

• When do thermals subside?

Thermal soaring for:
• beginners
• advance pilots

Searching for thermals at low altitude
Thermals on hilly terrain
Active piloting

Entering a Thermal
Centering and flight in a thermal
Methods of entering & centering a thermal
Importance of clean flying while thermaling
Bank angle and diameter of circle
Broken thermals
Exiting a thermal

Thermal soaring under cumulus clouds
Life cycle of thermals beneath cumulus clouds
Cloud size verses thermal strength
Frequency of clouds

Where are thermals triggered
Thermal lines and cloud streets
Flying tactics for thermal streets
Optimum flight under cloud or thermal streets

Flight in cloudless areas
Flying Blue thermals
Which is more important:
climb or glide
Initial and final rate of climb
Dolphin style flight
Use of water ballast
When to speed up and when to slow down.