Glider Falls Out of Deceptive Sky - Will I Make It Home?

[@chrisbaker951]

Loved it here in Uk. I was just about to start gliding when covid struck. I have joined my local club hopefully will get training underway next month, don't want to leave it much later as just had my 60th birthday.

[@tadeksmutek5840]

Thank you for sharing and your comments to this video - yes, it was quite interesting flight.

[@jimbakerforlinux]

I'm not a pilot -- at all! -- but I've been watching lots of powered and some glider videos just to learn something new. Whew -- You had me on the edge of my seat for 45 minutes!! Thanks!

[@jbjuggler]

Wow! Superb video and titles throughout the flight. You are obviously a very experienced and talented glider pilot. Beautiful scenery and great education video about what to do and how to find lift. I flew hang gliders from 1974 to 1980 and did a lot of cross country thermalling. We didn't have anywhere near the glide you have and it was interesting to see your decisions as the flight progressed. Excellent job making it back!!

[@JamesT65]

as a non-pilot I find this utterly amazing that you can keep the glider up with very little wind, I never realised they could fly so far on so little.

[@ChessInTheAir]

You don’t need any (horizontal) wind to keep the glider up. What you need is rising air. Most of the time that’s provided by thermals. The sun heats the ground, the ground heats the air (unevenly depending on the type of ground and how directly the ground is exposed to the sun), and if the air temperature is uneven, warmer air rises. We look for the rising columns of air to circle and gain altitude, then use that altitude to fly cross-country until we find the next column of air to rise in. It’s exactly the same type of lift that birds of prey use when they circle in rising air without flapping their wings.

[@jme104]

@@ChessInTheAir This isn't obvious for non glider pilots .

[@jme104]

You can compare a glider to a skier : to ski further you need to go down a slope .

[@ChessInTheAir]

@@jme104 yes, that’s a fairly good analogy. The glider always descends as it flies through the air just like a skier always needs to go downslope to keep moving. Thermals are like ski lifts where we stop, take a climb, and on e we get to the top, we keep going downhill. There’s one key difference though: when we are using ridge lift (wind blowing up along a slope) or wave lift (wind moving up and down in a wave-like motion in the lee of a mountain chain), we can fly straight and rise anyway. It’s as if the slope that a skier is moving down is itself lifting up as the skier keeps skiing down. This can go on for hours if we’re flying in the right area. :-)

[@rmay000]

thanks for sharing! this has happened to me way too often as well: i'm flying along under a cloud street and everything is going great and then the lift gets weaker and i start dropping away from the base. by the time i notice what's happened i'm too far down to connect back up to the street and have to change course 90° to find lift in the sun. i think it's worth it to circle a few times even in good conditions to give yourself as much time as possible to recognize mistakes like this and fix them. i'm pretty sure a more experienced pilot would know where the best line is and just stay up close to the base but i'm not there yet.

[@bradjackson9489]

Your videos are the most informative, which puts them head and shoulders above the rest. Keep it up. Very very educational.

[@brucemcfadden8778]

As someone who greatly appreciates soaring and will not be doing it himself, this video provided a feeling of what it is like to be making an advanced soaring flight by a skilled pilot. A wonderful experience made all the more educational by the comments you overlaid on the video. I have not subscribed on youtube but your video has motivated me to subscribe to your channel. THANKS!

[@ChessInTheAir]

Many thanks for the kind comment, Bruce!

[@francishook8767]

Brilliant flying. I’m not a pilot, but love these glider videos. I’d never have thought you’d make it back to Boulder.

[@peterphil9686]

Awesomely edited and riveting commentary... loved the proof in the pudding ... vario sounded happy too

[@neilc1078]

Well done Know what its like to lose all lift great description on what you were thinking

[@matthewperlman3356]

wow ! I am not a pilot but I could really feel the tension in the decision process each time you tested and weighed your options. despite the poor lift conditions that sounds like an awesome glide ratio your glider has.

[@wesk123]

Looks like a standard UK flight - scratching between 1500ft and 3500ft in 2-3knt thermals!

[@daveandrew589]

I first watched this video several months ago, before I had ever flown a glider. Now I've watched it again as a freshly rated glider pilot. There is so much in here. I have so many questions. I wish I could sit down with an experienced pilot (hint: Clemens) and extract the knowledge and learning opportunities that are in here. While we all love the flights where you don't have to turn for 100+km, there's probably more to learn from ones like this.

[@ChessInTheAir]

Congrats on your rating! Glad you find the videos helpful!

[@charlesethridge3533]

Thanks so much for taking the extra time to explain your thinking as you went along. Makes for great RL training for those of us with less experience. Excellent!

[@charlesethridge3533]

The only experience I have with the vario doing that rapid up/down/up/down pattern such that it is impossible to stay in the thermal, is in South Florida, when Dr. Jack forecast (i.e. www.drjack.info) shows good thermal updraft velocity but also low buoyancy/shear ratio, i.e. lots of B/S "stippling" dots.

[@ChessInTheAir]

@@charlesethridge3533 This wasn't one of those "stipple" days. The rapid up/down has more to do with the response time setting of the vario / speed-to-fly indicator. I'm not super fond of the 302 - it was in the glider that I bought earlier this year (it's pretty accurate but has a lot of limitations due to being 20+ year old technology) - I'll probably get a different one over the next winter - not sure which one yet.

[@ChessInTheAir]

Thanks for your kind feedback! I'm glad you find it helpful!

[@Rasta8889]

21:53 "Hey! I just got here! And this is craaaazy! But the vario's beeping, so lift me maybe?"

[@raysmetaltracks6782]

Best video EVER! Glued to my screen - this was fantastic! Learned so much, this was quite the adventure!! 👍

[@willsmith4950]

Much appreciate the time you spend adding text to the video, especially your thoughts, observations and strategy. Very helpful to less experienced pilots...learning much by watching - almost as good as cross country camp (which I need to complete). Also making me think more about moving to Boulder where about half my family now lives. Cheers from the Sierras.

[@ChessInTheAir]

thanks! glad you liked it! Boulder is special. Outstanding combination of excellent soaring conditions and living in a great town at the edge of a vibrant metro area. Hard to beat!

[@Johan-ex5yj]

Wow, that flight was almost *Checkmate* !!! 😁 You did well to find and use even the weak lift, and to make it back home. 👍

[@K3Flyguy]

WOW! I love everything soaring! Been building flying RC sailplanes for 40 years. I buy a full scale ride when I have time and extra cash whenever possible. I am given "driving privileges" regularly with the local sailplane clubs veteran instructor. As much as I can almost breath it I am just not confident enough to get my license. I envy those that have the confidence to go it alone.

[@graysonstetson7784]

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[@brendanzaiden2979]

@Grayson Stetson Instablaster ;)

[@graysonstetson7784]

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[@graysonstetson7784]

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[@brendanzaiden2979]

@Grayson Stetson Happy to help :D

[@jean-michellamarre8008]

From France, I enjoyed every moment o fthe video and the detailed explanations. And as everyboby, I'm jealous.

[@PureGlide]

11:51 cloud features! No cloud, no lift :) It's very rare I would ignore the clouds, although sure in some cases they show what has happened at your level a while ago. Awesome video, it's easy to be caught out by the big air mass changes or movement. I'm sure we've all done it at some stage!

[@henryleschen5141]

Hello, May I respectfully suggest that once you feel a real surge in the lift you can roll more steeply into the turn and back stick and increase your rate of turn to fly a smaller radius so better centering your thermal rwith a minimal increase in airspeed to offset your increased G loading now your angle of bank is steeper. I have found this works well for me having glided for over Sixty two years. Cheers Henry L. 🎉

[@tangoalpha6013]

Thank you! Very interesting explanations that helped me to understand better where to watch for right thermals! Looking forward for other content!

[@jimhunter4999]

I'm impressed.

[@GregoryBrown6283]

Great video!! Thank you for sharing

[@danielalbrecht8875]

Very interesting flight and ... comments !!! Very instructive. Many thanks.

[@jamesedwards7241]

Worst flight I ever had was on a day the sky was boiling, winch launch to 1800 feet and barely managed to make it around a very cramped and scruffy circuit in an orderly manner, flight time 3 mins and few seconds dead, never seen sink like it before or since, just shows you can get caught out even on a really good day if you hit it just wrong at the right time.

[@johnfoster1201]

Thanks for this video. It is really helpful to follow your thought process throughout the video.

[@jme104]

You should try the blue "holes", don't stay under those clouds, try the blue holes preferably on the leeward side of those .

[@rayswinfield8104]

It seemed to me that wave conditions were developing. I couldnt tell the wind direction so | dont know if he was flying across the wind or not. It was interesting how many times the found lift disappeared when he started to circle - again what you would expect if in a narrow band of hill or wave and it always seemed to happen when he turrned towards the ridge on the right. Many of the cumulus clouds were elongating and getting a bit curvy like lenticulars and the cloud streets may have been the formation of bars in a wave effect. He was surprised there was no lift under their centres but that is exactly what you would expect under a wave cloud. He noticed haze or something and then mentions there was an inversion which is often the prerequisite of wave. He did not seem to be an experienced glider pilot or something was keeping his mindset closed in a thermalling fixation and unable to open his mind to the possibility of different meteorogical conditions even when the thermals were petering out when they reached the inversion.. I also found it strange that he was not making tighter turns in what he thought was thermal lift. At the end he found a thermal well under the inversion but at that point I noticed many very wavy clouds beginning to look like lenticulars/ I feard for his life because If it really was wave developing and he unknowingly flew in the sink area trying to get home the inevitable early meeting with the ground could have been fatal.

[@ChessInTheAir]

Hi Ray, thanks for taking the time to write such a comprehensive critique and sharing your thoughts and observations. I appreciate that the onset of wave would have been a possible explanation for the change in conditions. However, I am pretty certain that wave was not a factor that day. Topmeteo shows a southerly wind of about 10 kts on that day at the Continental Divide (which would be the wave trigger) and even less wind in the area in question. On the last leg of my flight (the one covered in the video) the wind was 7-8 kts from the SSE (I just confirmed this by taking another close look at the flight trace). For wave to form we would need winds out of the west (the mountains run north to south) and a considerably higher wind speed. I fly regularly in wave (which is typical along the Front Range from late fall through spring); usable wave in our area tends to develop at westerly winds of 25+ kts at the level of the Continental Divide, provided wind speeds increase with altitude. In the summer, wave can sometime be observed in the mornings but it usually disappears by mid-morning with the development of strong mountain thermals which disrupt the wave flow. It would be possible (though quite rare) for wave to reappear late in the day when thermals weaken, and a different airmass moves in. However, I do not believe that this was the case that day because there is no evidence for it and the wind does not support it. There were also no areas with lines of lift or sink as would be typical for a wave day. I also appreciate your concern for my safety but I can assure you that there are numerous landable fields along the base of the hills along the final glide back to Boulder, and I was well aware of their locations and I had a landable field in glide at all times. Thank you again for watching and sharing your thoughts! Btw - I just published a video about a recent flight in blue wave conditions, look it up if you’re interested! Thanks again!

[@gfbprojects1071]

Wow. I admire your persistence and knowledge of the environment. Bravo.👍

[@ChessInTheAir]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@claythomas580]

Great video, good train of thought on your options as you got lower. Very informative.

[@jbjuggler]

I also wondered about tightening up your turns when in lift. That is what I did in my hang glider, but have never flown a sailplane.

[@ChessInTheAir]

Yes, good observation. Obviously the lift varies but one of my objectives is to fly tighter circles.

[@ronaldgadget]

great video - any idea why the clouds 'did not work' - what was the larger weather situation? Towards the end of the video the clouds indeed look completely useless. At the point where you said 'cannot believe there is no lift' some of the clouds nearby also did not look good (virga). Also, we typically try the sun side / wind side of the clouds to find the thermal below larger clouds (in the Alps).

[@stephencarlson6297]

Appreciate these videos, glad to watch.

[@Dzordzikk]

Hi, good fight, thx for sharing.

[@sblack48]

Wow totally different kind of flying than I do. It makes power flying seem too easy!

[@lamberto6405]

Never saw a glider flight before. I'm just a powered flyer! But that was very informative and very exciting! If I watch this again, I think I'll be hooked. Better not... I don't think I can afford it!!!

[@ChessInTheAir]

Lamberto R Hi Lamberto, are you a pilot? Flying gliders is much less expensive than flying powered aircraft. Costs vary based on your location. You should try it :-)

[@lamberto6405]

@@ChessInTheAir I am a pilot. I own a 92 Tiger and a 76 Cessna 150. Never flew a glider before. .. I'll check into it...

[@heavenadventure1226]

Wow Thank you so much for sharing this with us,) I subscribed, cant wait to see your next Video,)

[@aehsrose]

Brilliant, very informative vid, thanks....

[@MassimoPugiDelta]

Good vid and good job. Sometimes sky looks very good and promising yet in actuality very weak forcing you to work harder, , it's what makes our sport unique! In my experience at 23:00 especially toward the end of the day, if I'm in need of some lift and it seems to be a teasing air bubble while circling, as long as I'm not losing altitude I keep circling for 5 or 10 mitutes and, often within that period of time, the little and weak teaser had turned into a real thermal saving me an out-landing outcome... patience usually pays off. Cheers 👋 👋

[@fingerhorn4]

I notice that nearly all your turns when getting temporary lift are to the right, and quite late after you get the first hint of lift. But it does seem very flakey lift and there are equal amounts of sink very rapidly after the pockets of lift. It must have been quite stressful scratching your way home. Nice video - thanks for uploading.

[@timpalmer5805]

Amazing performance from modern gliders much better than what I flew. Grunau's glid angle 1/18

[@ChessInTheAir]

Indeed! I’ve flown a Grunau Baby too, in the mid 80s when there were still a few airworthy. We used them mainly for target landing contests. A lot of fun! I don’t think I would have counted on a 1/18 glide angle :-).

[@spencerhmoore2716]

I'm kinda late to this party, but this is a great video! I'm just starting to learn cross-country. I'm curious, it didn't look like you were banked at a very steep angle in the weak lift that you had; is that a strategy for weak lift? If so, why?

[@ChessInTheAir]

No, its not a strategy. It's just that weak lift often lacks a really well defined core. The pilot will be unsatisfied with the rate of climb and always try to find a better center. This perpetual search for improvement tends to lead to lower banking and may actually cause the climb rate to be worse than it could be. Conversely, if a thermal is strong with a clear core you can easily feel it and you will naturally bank hard to stay in the center. But I will also say there are days when thermals tend to be wider, and days when they are narrower. And they're not all the same anyway. So it's hard to over generalize. On average, the best climb rates tend to be achieved at a 40-45 degree bank flown a few knots above stall speed. But the best results differ from thermal to thermal. A good tool to see how you're doing is the "coach" feature of WeGlide (it's a subscription-only feature). It will analyze every climb in your flight and show you how tightly you turned (it will give the actual turn radius - the best measure since it is a function of speed and bank). Make sure you provide the correct weight of the glider as the best turn radius will be tighter the lower the wing loading. Hope this helps.

[@spencerhmoore2716]

@@ChessInTheAir thank you for the thoughtful reply.

[@Legalmachinist]

This was both fascinating and stressful. Why is the motor so unreliable?

[@ChessInTheAir]

Gliders are a very niche product and production runs are tiny when compared to other consumer products such as cars or motorcycles. There are a lot of moving parts and each of them is a potential point of failure. My engine is probably among the most reliable glider engines (because there were hundreds of them made, not just tens or even less) but it is never a good idea to entrust one's life to something that only works 95% of the time...

[@colinhadden6326]

Hi Clemens - I’m a glider pilot and tug pilot flying with the Dublin Gliding Club in Ireland. We bought a Super Cub from Piper in 1978 and had it shipped to Dave Johnson in Colorado to be re-engined to a 180hp 0-360. Your videos make me want to visit Boulder and try some of the conditions you encounter there. Gliding in Ireland is very tame by comparison and our climate does not do us any favours. I have a son living in Raleigh NC and have flown at a gliding club there so maybe when it’s possible to travel again I’ll wander over to Colorado. Is it required to hold a commercial licence to tow gliders in the US?

[@ChessInTheAir]

Colin Hadden Hi Colin, thanks for your comment. You’d love flying here - totally different from Ireland for sure! Reach out if you can make it! I am just a glider pilot and don’t know the licensing requirements for tow pilots.

[@KeithWhittingham]

At about 7:00 this feels like dropping at or below an inversion. It looks like there's an inversion haze but that might be a trick of the canopy - I can't tell looking at the video. The clouds don't look right though - for such handsome Cu's we should expect to see some mountains on top of the inversion. My best guess is that an inversion established itself somehow over the last 30-60 minutes though thermal activity. I might be wrong though - just thinking out of the box.

[@KeithWhittingham]

12:42 Left of the nose haze, right clear. I really think it's an inversion. Maybe something to do with the cont. div.

[@ChessInTheAir]

@@KeithWhittingham yes, there’s often inversion over the prairie (the flat area to the left of the nose). That’s why the climbs on the way back home where capped at such a low altitude. What’s quite unusual is for the inversion to creep up over the hills over the course of the day. Usually the opposite happens and it gradually burns off. That’s why I was taken by surprise that day. It didn’t conform with my experience and expectations. But the flight is now almost 2 years ago and I can’t recall all the details any more. Thanks for sharing your observations!

[@erdemonol]

I was a student glider for a few months but never did a solo. I had a question about the landing. I noticed a plane taking off from 08 as you were crossing the field. Couldn’t pick out a windsock in the video. Just curious why you went with 26 instead of 08. Thanks.

[@ChessInTheAir]

Winds on the ground were calm. Glider pilots tend to prefer to land on 26 later in the day because any storm outflow would almost certainly come from the west. Winds can suddenly pick up significantly and they would almost always come from the mountains. As you know gliders don’t have a ways to go around if that were to happen. Another reason is for convenience since we have our tie down positions at the west end of the runway - this way I can roll all the way to the tie down position and won’t block the runway for other gliders landing after me. (Gliders often come back from cross country flights at the same time - when the lift is dying ...)

[@erdemonol]

@@ChessInTheAir Thanks for the explanation. Local experience is the key. 👍🏼

[@alpha4You]

Great video, Clemens! But I have to admit that when it got dicy it hurt to see you circling with such a shallow bank that it takes ages to complete a turn, and having sink half of the time... Was that intentional?

[@ChessInTheAir]

Hi Alpha Mike - y, I noticed the bank angle also when I put the video together - is was about 35-40 degrees most of the time. I know it felt appropriate when I did it and I've circled quite a bit at much steeper bank angles when I thought it was needed. But you maybe absolutely right. I'm probably not alone in thinking that I'm circling steeper than I really am. I remember on my last flight there was a thermal that required 45-50 degrees and it was pretty hard work to maintain such a steep bank over a 5000 foot climb. Thanks for the observation!

[@ChessInTheAir]

yes, just timed it, just in case. It was 27 seconds per turn. 45 degree bank would be 20 seconds. So there is definitely room to tighten things up a bit. Thanks again!

[@alpha4You]

@@ChessInTheAir No need to thank me - I was just wondering (I usually fly Open Class and turn a lot tighter than you) and simply was curious. Rather I have to thank you! Always been trying to find out why you guys are flying that fast - thanks to your videos I know that your convergence makes a difference. ;)

[@alexandervanwyk7669]

Supurb flying. From x vintage hang glider pilot out of Africa.

[@ChessInTheAir]

Thanks Alexander! Glad you enjoyed the video. We have a bunch of former hang glider pilots in our club. Most of them are excellent in finding thermals. Enjoy the summer!

[@karlhansen635]

Nice airwork

[@ramiveiberman3182]

Thank you for your informative video! As a novice glider pilot from Israel I learnt a lot from your video and the informative and honest comments. I prefer the written comments to voice over. One question from me: Do you use your feeling in order to center or the vario? Recently I learnt that entering and centering thermal is better done using the "butt" vario and feeling. Only then using the vario for validation. Happy landings Rami

[@ChessInTheAir]

Rami Veiberman I think it’s best to use all available information whether it comes from your senses, the vario, visual cues in the clouds, etc. you’re right that the “butt” is the fastest vario and provides the most immediate information about changes in vertical speed. Once you’re established in the thermal the vario tends to be more helpful in fine tuning the circle and determining how fast you are climbing. While the butt tells you about changes in vertical air movement, the vario measures how fast the air is actually moving up (or down).

[@ramiveiberman3182]

@@ChessInTheAir Thanks for the answer. Of course you are correct. We cannot deterimne using our "butt" sensor wether the thermal is strong or not. That's what the vario is for. Do you have tips for centering? what method do you use?

[@ChessInTheAir]

Rami Veiberman as always it depends ... for major corrections (eg if I turned the wrong way upon entry) I will open up after 270 degrees and go straight for 2-3 seconds, for fine tuning I just vary the bank angle to move closer to the core. Sometimes it’s easier to identify where the lift is worst (I.e. sink!) than where the lift is best. In that case, moving away from the “worst” part can be more effective than trying to move toward the “best” part. Generally I will reduce the bank angle when the lift is increasing and tighten when I think It’s about to peak. But it’s not a purely mechanical process but rather based on what I feel/think will work best.

[@ramiveiberman3182]

@@ChessInTheAir Thanks for your help. I know the worst heading technique. Now just to practice.

[@vduault]

Sometimes the wind can move the clouds and their shadows on the ground too fast to let it be warmed enough by the sun.. this can lead to this paradoxical situation of a cloud street losing all of her lift when the wind get this specific level.. Maybe you experienced this phenomena on this flight ?

[@ChessInTheAir]

Salut Vincent, I think it’s possible that this was a contributing factor. It’s very difficult to pin down one reason when there are completely different air masses involved.

[@wiebebosman]

Interesting how quick different air mass can mess up the vario output😃. I missed the part overhead Boulder where you lowered the gear😄. Luckily it was a perfect end of the flight. Thanks for sharing from NL. P.S. I know Boulder from the semicon customers. Looks like a very nice place to live and fly. Take care.

[@dougfoster445]

Wow u have an engine on the glider? Didn’t know gliders have an engine

[@marketing-autopilot]

Tolles Video und spannend den Überlegungen im Flug zu folgen. Weiter so ;-)

[@TomKrajci]

For what it's worth, here's something I learned from a few years ago. Storm outflow was not strong enough that day to kill lift, but it altered winds aloft. Did you notice changes in winds aloft as you got close to the areas with widespread virga and outflow? facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153021155487616&set=a.149312792615&type=3

[@ChessInTheAir]

Tom Krajci Interesting observation. Thanks for sharing. I’m sure this can happen although I cannot recall if it happened on this particular flight. Virga outflow can be unpredictable in my experience. Sometimes there is great lift next to virga, sometimes great sink. I have talked to a lot of people to find out if there is a reasonably reliable way to predict where the lift and sink will be and I have not yet found a formula that works. Virga is a very common phenomenon in Colorado and it would be nice if it’s effects on the distribution of lift and sink were more predictable.

[@lautoka63]

"Deceptive sky" and other stories glider pilots tell. Interesting to watch with your commentary, thanks. As a Discus driver, I'd probably thermal at around 50 kts, particularly if needing to stay in a small core: why do you use 55 kts when you've got flaps, please?

[@ChessInTheAir]

lautoka63 good question! Sometimes I will fly a bit slower but you’re approaching stall speed in 45 degree bank thermals. And each time you stall, you will lose altitude. My Ventus has a sustainer engine which makes it heavier than a pure glider, so the higher wing loading may be part of the story. But I may not have that part optimized yet.

[@lautoka63]

@@ChessInTheAir I used to angst about that too. However, stall at 38 kt in the Discus, add 20% for a 45 degree bank and you've still got a nearly 5 kt margin. In fact, I probably use 52 kt. It can be all about making your circle smaller.

[@chrishamilton4999]

@@ChessInTheAir that little bit of extra speed keeps you further away from the stall in gusty thermals and makes the controls a little firmer and gives the pilot more effective control over his aircraft whilst circling.

[@cfoc21]

Flying so close underside of cloud street, I wondered if 500ft rule was being used. Also, what if a (ifr)GA plane popped out of that street, in front of glider....then what?

[@ChessInTheAir]

Hi Dennis, thanks for your question. I am confident that I was approx. 1500-2000 feet below the clouds that you can see at the beginning of the video (and obviously much more later). (Cloud clearances are very hard to judge based on a video recording). That said, most gliders (including mine) are equipped with a range of technologies to ensure that I can be seen by other traffic and that I can see other traffic. E.g., I have a mode C transponder that broadcasts in real time my location and altitude at all times so air traffic control and other aircraft are aware of my position, heading, and rate of climb/descent. I also receive transponder signals as well as ADSB signals from other aircraft. There is a dedicated screen in my glider (right at the very top of the instrument panel) that displays those aircraft from many miles away including information about altitude, heading and climb/descend rate. It an aircraft might be on a collision course I will also receive warnings - fortunately this hardly ever happens because in most cases I and/or the other aircraft have taken evasive action long in advance. We fly at altitudes and locations where these is significant airliner traffic (e.g. in and out of Denver) and it would be foolish to rely on other aircraft to see you - even when there are no clouds at all. Hope this helps. Safety is a huge consideration.

[@ianskeldon6032]

Haha that takes me back 30 years, nice steady flying and always with a safe landing in the back of your mind. The glider has one hell of a GR, thanks for the trip, were your feet really cold when you landed?

[@ChessInTheAir]

Yes, the Ventus 2 flies really well. Best glide ratio is 48:1. I wear hiking boots on my XC flights so my feet don’t normally get cold unless it’s well below freezing and I fly in the shade most of the day. Thanks for watching.

[@GrantKify]

@@ChessInTheAir n

[@manfredseidler1531]

If flying were the language of men the gliders would be its poetry.....remember, trees are an excellent way of scrubbing speed... may not be good for your health or the well-being of the glider but very effective. Stay safe out there.

[@jasonmcconathy9254]

Hah! Looks like a typical day trying to climb out off a 1,500’ agl winch snap from Steamboat. You Boulder guys are spoiled with your high tows into the mountains and regular convergence. Great job and appreciate the video. I’m just jealous!

[@TheMikeeeCO]

I just soloed at Boulder airport yesterday in the 2-33 with 5.1 hours. I also work at Fort Collins airport, it would have been pretty cool to see you fly by if you had continued to lose lift. Your videos inspire me to become a better pilot. It’s also really cool to see how you read the weather and see your thought process. My solo video is here. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpWbdqaAjKtgq6c We flew into a strong rotor and it scared me so I disconnected from the aero tow. Turbulence in the pattern freaked me out as well causing me to overshoot on final and bounce the landing. I landed tho!

[@ChessInTheAir]

Hi Mitch! Congrats on your first solo! Solos are always memorable and this one will be especially so... Those were pretty rough conditions yesterday! I decided not to fly myself because the winds were beyond my own comfort zone... You could see the rotor clouds on the horizon. It was blowing pretty hard up there. (I live on Lee Hill and it was howling - the chairs on our deck were blown all over the place!) No wonder you got tossed around once the tow plane entered the sheer layer. You were lucky the rotor didn't reach further down (it often does). Boulder can be very uncomfortable on wave days and the wind can suddenly turn west on the ground (or it may even blow from one direction on one end of the runway and from another direction at the other end.) And there could be massive sink in the pattern. So my advice would be to maybe skip rotor days for now. (You probably didn't know.) As I said, I was not comfortable flying myself yesterday and I believe all but one of the SSB pilots cancelled their flights yesterday (there were 6 other people on the roster in the morning)... My main other tip: be careful on the turn to final; look were your yaw string is pointing. I have no experience with the 2-33 but I believe it is fairly forgiving if you're skidding through a turn - not all gliders are. Good thing you were fast enough. I wish you all the best with your soaring. It's an awesome sport but it can also be dangerous. There is a very wide range of conditions from benign to unforgiving and being able to tell the difference can be critical.

[@TheMikeeeCO]

ChessInTheAir Thanks for the tips. I think i was so jumbled from the wind shear that I stopped flying coordinated, I mainly focused on my airspeed. I’ll talk to my CFI about coordination. I soloed again today and it was a lot better experience!! Regarding weather information. Do you use Huckwing? What information are you looking at to make a decision to fly or not?

[@ChessInTheAir]

Michael Ford Hi Mitch, yes, I totally understand how the turbulence must have been unsettling. I was very surprised that they sent you on your first solo on that day. The first solo flight is best in benign conditions. Re: forecasts, I am not familiar with Huckwing. Personally I mostly use Skysight which I find to be the most in-depth and user friendly tool out there. It has a lot of features though so you may want to look at their video tutorials on how to use it. A lot of Boulder specific information is on my web site chessintheair.com. My Boulder flight prep page is here: chessintheair.com/boulder-co/. I obviously don’t look at all these things every time. But this will give you access to a lot of resources, both free and paid. Skysight is a subscription service, I think about $70 per year. You will want it when you go XC. For now it is probably overkill but it may be good to familiarize yourself with more advanced tools even before you need them.

[@tztz1949]

You have an engine. You will most likely make it home.

[@ChessInTheAir]

true, but never count on the engine working. there are as many fatal accidents with motor gliders than with pure gliders and in many of the motor glider accidents the reason was that the pilot relied on an engine to bail them out when there was no place to land, and the engine failed to start. A key safety rule is to always glide to a landable field first, and only then attempt to start the engine.

[@Thanospappy]

Less bla...bla...bla (news-caster style) and more explanations. Thank you for sharing !!!!!!

[@drmartinyoung3761]

I have 500 hours in gliders - I know the feeling too well!!! Seems your engine was more of a liability to you than a blessing? The front electric sustainer is a game changer IMO in terms of reliability and low risk. Great video! Makes me want to fly again.

[@crunchoyt]

Hi, why did you land with tail wind?

[@ChessInTheAir]

Good observation! Wind was calm by the time I landed. Our gliders are parked at the west end of the runway and landing on 26 allows us to clear the runway much more quickly, making space for others to land. (Another reason, obviously not relevant on that day, is that there can be sudden gust fronts from storms over the mountains, and those almost always come from westerly directions)

[@crunchoyt]

@@ChessInTheAir thanks fir the explanation. Good flights!

[@motionsiik4964]

This was excellent! Thanks for posting. In the southeast, we find high humidity kills the thermals. Perhaps this is because there isn't the buoyancy differential like you experienced on the ridge by the reservoir? Keep the XC masterclasses coming, please!

[@ChessInTheAir]

MOTIONSiiK thanks for the comment! I think the humidity difference between the very dry airmass and the slightly moister air near the lake is what helps the buoyancy of thermals near the lake. If the entire airmass is humid this won’t help.

[@christheother9088]

Cumulus clouds have much in common with women.

[@mnpd3]

Why I could never do gliders... you can never know whether or not the thing will stay in the air. It's like doing powered flight with engine thrust being a flip of the coin.