Slope Soaring:
Also known as ridge soaring, slope soaring may be one of the easiest and most rewarding ways to
experience the thrills of RC soaring flight. The glider sustains flight by utilizing updrafts created when wind is
deflected upward by any sizeable land feature (hill, mountain, cliff, large building, row of trees, etc).
Below is a graphic which illustrates basic slope soaring technique.
Flatland Soaring:
Flatland soaring
with the Alula-TREK can be extremely rewarding; however, a certain amount of skill is
required to sustain flight at low altitudes using rising bubbles of warm air known as thermals (caused by the
sun’s heating of the earth’s surface). Navigating thermals that tend to be inconsistent and turbulent near the
ground makes for a good challenge. A good way to think of hand-launched thermalling is “sky fishing,” since
a typical flight consists of a quick launch to altitude, a nose over of the glider to level flight, and then off to
search for a thermal. The majority of flights tend to be short (15-30 seconds), but if you persist, you will
eventually hook a nice thermal and gain altitude for an extended flight, several minutes in duration. Next
are a few tips that make mastering the art of near-ground thermalling a bit easier.
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Tune into your surroundings
… Watch for birds and insects! Listen to and feel for sudden yet subtle changes
in the wind and air temperature. Soaring birds often appear miraculously when a thermal is present. Look
for groups of swallows or sparrows picking rising insects out of the air as a thermal passes by. Oftentimes
the wind will change suddenly and the temperature will rise a few degrees as a thermal passes through. A
thermal is like a large vacuum and will suck surrounding air towards it, so a sudden change in wind direction
usually indicates that a thermal is near and probably downwind of your location.
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