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XC2020Extending local soaring and preparing for cross country flying
Chris Davison
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XC2020
What is it?
Coaching and training for cross country, extended local soaring and developing soaring skills.
Mixture of workshop, simulator training, dual and solo flights
Limited number of keen pilots. Progress card structure.
Aim to increase the XC flying from Saltby in 2020, measured by number of pilots with a flight on the BGA ladder.
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XC2020 Workshops
Date Topic Lead Support
Feb-08 Extended local soaring and developing your soaring skills Chris Roy
Feb-15 Elements of a cross country task - Part one Chris Phil
Feb-22 Elements of a cross country task - Part two Chris Phil
Feb-29 General Radio Usage Neil Roy
Mar-07 Elements of a cross country task - Part three Chris Phil
Mar-14 Elements of a cross country task - Part four Chris
Mar-21 Simulator training Chris
TBA Advanced topics (inc more radio) Chris Phil, Neil
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XC2020 Workshops
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Terminology
Gliding = Flying a glider
Soaring = Gliding in rising air to extend flight times
Cross-country = Soaring over the countryside, to extend distance
Racing = Flying a Cross-country faster than other people. Speed.
XC2020 focus is flatland thermal, soaring and cross-country flying.
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Developing soaring skills and extending local soaring.
This Workshop:
1) Extending your local flying
2) From local to cross country
Elements of a cross country flight
Planning a successful task to fit you, your glider and the day
Pre-flight preparation for you, your glider and crew
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Using lift to extend local soaring
Understanding your glider glide
10k, 20k and 30k locally
How to go away and stay local
Introduction to PDA & XCSoar
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Using lift to extend local soaring
Extended local soaring, a few questions:
What is local?
How far can your glider glide?
How do you know you are local?
Which of the following are ‘local’? Belvoir castle? The A1? Melton Mowbray? Newark? Rutland Water?
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How far can your glider glide?
Glider Claimed L/D Safety L/D
K7 26 20
K8 27 20
K6 30 25
K21 34 30
K18 34 30
Astir / Libelle 35 30
Perkoz (Tips) 42 35
Discus 43 40
30 feet along for every 1 foot down.
Allow 1,000 ft safety height for a circuit.
1,0
00 ft
Altitu
de (Q
FE
)
Usable
heig
ht
30 km
1 km
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How far can your glider glide?
30 feet along for every 1 foot down.
Allow 1,000 ft safety height for a circuit.
Assumes no wind!
K8 / K7 K6
Astir /
Libelle /
K21 Perkoz Discus
Glide angle : 1 20 25 30 35 40
Km glide per 1,000 feet 6.1 7.6 9.1 10.7 12.2
Height (ft) for 10km 1,640 1,312 1,094 937 820
Safetly Height for circuit 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
Total height for 10km 2,640 2,312 2,094 1,937 1,820
Total height 20km 4,281 3,625 3,187 2,875 2,640
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Ready Reckoner
Glide Distance Ready Reckoner - Assumes no head wind!Glider L/D Arrival height (ft)
Astir 30 1,000
Distance (Km) Altitude (ft) Altitude (ft) Distance (Km)
5 1,547 1000 0.0
10 2,093 2000 9.1
15 2,640 3000 18.3
20 3,187 4000 27.4
25 3,733 5000 36.6
30 4,280 6000 45.7
35 4,827 7000 54.9
40 5,373 8000 64.0
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How far? 10K? 20K?
Landmark Ready Reckoner - Assumes no head wind!
Astir 30:1 Km from SBY Height Required Ft
A1 (East of club) 6 1,656
Belvoir Castle 9 1,984
Grantham 10 2,093
Melton Mowbray 13 2,421
Bottesford Airfield 15 2,640
Rutland Water 19 3,077
Newark 28 4,061
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How far? 30K?
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Allowing for wind!
Downwind – need
more altitude!!
Upwind = safety margin!
Practice in upwind zone.
Efficient thermalling will
reduce downwind drift!
Caution (but
OK in light
wind)
Caution (but
OK in light
wind)
Wind
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Routing through lift and sink
Don’t just follow the pointy arrow!
Join the energy dots (clouds, wisps) to improve your glide angle.
Up to 30 degrees off track makes little difference to distance.
Fly at best glide speed, slow down in lift and speed up in sink.
Don’t circle unless it’s a really strong thermal!
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Things to think about when local…
Where is the airfield? How far away is it?
Airspace?
Conditions (sink / lift)? Rain showers?
Wind strength and direction? Changing?
Speed to fly at to get back?
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How far away am I??Landmark Ready Reckoner - Assumes no head wind!
Astir 30:1 Km from SBY Height Required Ft
A1 (East of club) 6 1,656
Belvoir Castle 9 1,984
Grantham 10 2,093
Melton Mowbray 13 2,421
Bottesford Airfield 15 2,640
Rutland Water 19 3,077
Newark 28 4,061
Eyeball – leads to staying very local
Ready Reckoner – simplish – no wind allowance
GPS – distance and direction – no wind
PDA – distance, direction, wind, airspace, other sites..
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PDA - XCSoar
2529 ft above the ground
5km away from SBY
Should arrive back +917 ft ABOVE the 1,000 ft safety height => arrive at 1,917 ft
XC Soar is freeware.Runs on an Android mobile / Oudie / Kobo.
Best if used with external power source.Can be linked to the simulator via Bluetooth.
Can run on a PC to learn how to use it.As used on the BGC Oudies.
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PDA - XCSoar
2713 ft above the ground
13.4 km away from SBY
Might arrive back +107 ft ABOVE the 1,000 ft safety height => arrive at 1,107 ft
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PDA - XCSoar
Now 3814 ft above the ground
21 km away from SBY
Might arrive back +379 ft ABOVE the 1,000 ft safety height => arrive at 1,379 ft
Darlton (DRL) arrival estimated 104 ft ABOVE the 1,000 ft safety height =) arrive at 1,104 ft
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PDA - XCSoar
Now 3834 ft above the ground
26 km away from SBY
Might arrive back 104ft below the 1,000 ft safety height => arrive at 896 ft
Darlton (DRL) arrival estimated 577 ft ABOVE the 1,000 ft safety height =) arrive at 1,577 ft
You are now local to Darlton!!
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PDA - XCSoar
IMPORTANT!!
Learn how to use your PDA on the ground, in the bath, on your PC or in the BGA simulator….
NOT IN THE AIR!!!
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Linking extended local soaring…
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Summary
Understand your glider’s glide ability and trust it!
Follow the energy, not just the pointy arrow
Think about the weather conditions / wind
Learn how to use your PDA on the ground!
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Things to practice
Learn to trust the “glide” part of your glider.1. Climb high (or take tow) and fly 10km away from the site
2. Note your height and fly back to the club
3. How much height did you lose? Does it match RR or PDA?
4. Repeat but 15km out.
Don’t simply fly in a straight line, follow the energy, speed up in sink etc
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Cross-country flying - part one
The elements of a cross country flight
Planning a successful task to fit you, your glider and the day
Pre-flight preparation for you, your glider and crew
Assessing the day from the ground, when to launch and pre-start flying
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Cross-country flying
A few questions:
What is a cross-county flight
Where are the elements of a cross-country flight?
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Elements of a Cross-country flight….
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The elements of a cross-country…….• Spotting a good day
• Planning the task – Notams – weather – you – your glider
• Task types and rules for start / finish and turn points
• Marking the map
• Declaring the task
• Setting up IGC logger
• Getting the glider and you ready.
• Water ballast or not?
• Crew & trailer
• When to launch?
• Pre-start flying & sampling the conditions
• Making a start
• The first 10km!
• Routing through the air / follow the energy
• Climb or cruise?
• Height bands?
• Speed to fly?
• Navigation and using a PDA
• Turning a turn point.
• Strategies on different legs.
• Flying with other gliders.
• Using the radio.
• Human factors – hydration (in and out), food and heat / sun management.
• Getting low?
• Changing gear!
• Getting onto final glide.
• Final gliding
• The last 10km!
• Finishing and landing safely
• Field landing and retrieve
• Post flight activities
• Post flight analysis
• Tea and medals!
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Consider a 300km flight (same principle for 50km / 100km)
Cruising and climbing!
@60kt cruise, 300km takes 2hrs 42 mins! (111 KPH) ☺
But with an (Astir) L/D of 1:33 @ 60 kt, you lose approx. 30,000 ft
Average climb rate of 2kts of whole flight, 2hrs 28min to climb
Total flight time of 5hr 10min, XC speed of 58Kph
The elements of a cross-country…….
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Take away:
On task for at least five hours
Thermalling accurately for half that time
Decision making all the time
Significant physical and mental stress!
You need to be prepared, to focus 100% on the flight!
The more you can prepare, the easier the flight will be!
The elements of a cross-country…….
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The elements of a cross-country…….• Spotting a good day
• Planning the task – Notams – weather – you – your glider
• Task types and rules for start / finish and turn points
• Marking the map
• Declaring the task
• Setting up IGC logger
• Getting the glider and you ready.
• Water ballast or not?
• Crew & trailer
• When to launch?
• Pre-start flying & sampling the conditions
• Making a start
• The first 10km!
• Routing through the air / follow the energy
• Climb or cruise?
• Height bands?
• Speed to fly?
• Navigation and using a PDA
• Turning a turn point.
• Strategies on different legs.
• Flying with other gliders.
• Using the radio.
• Human factors – hydration (in and out), food and heat / sun management.
• Getting low?
• Changing gear!
• Getting onto final glide.
• Final gliding
• The last 10km!
• Finishing and landing safely
• Field landing and retrieve
• Post flight activities
• Post flight analysis
• Tea and medals!
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Preparation!
• Spotting a good day
• Planning the task – Notams – weather – you – your glider
• Task types and rules for start / finish and turn points
• Marking the map
• Declaring the task
• Getting the glider and you ready.
• Water ballast or not?
• Crew & trailer
The elements of a cross-country…….
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Spotting a good day
Looking for a soaring window – geographic and time2-3 hours for 50-100K task, 5-6 hours for 300k taskWinds < 15 knots, cloud base > 3,500 feet1/8 to 5/8 cumulus coverThermals 2kt+ over day / geographyStart looking a few days out!
Tools such as RASP (see saltbyxc.co.uk )Lasham and Dunstable websites ( see www.soarmet.com )
The elements of a cross-country…….
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Planning the task
How long is the soaring window?How big is the soaring area?How fast (KPH) are you likely to fly?Which areas start early or finish late?Wind direction?Notams? (see saltbyxc.co.uk or jeffg.co.uk/gliding/spine )Airspace? ( asselect.uk )Waypoints? ( jeffg.co.uk/gliding/tpselect )What are other people flying? Why?Badge flight? If so, what are the rules?
The elements of a cross-country…….
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Planning the task
Task planning software
TaskNav – old but free! ( www.tasknav.com )
SeeYou – Modern ££ ( naviter.com/products/seeyou )
Combining weather, Notams, airspace, task rules and your requirements into a suitable task!
The elements of a cross-country…….
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Why these turn points?
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Task types and rules for start / finish and turn points
FAI Sporting code ( www.fai.org/igc-documents )
Badge claims have specific rules!
1km Start and finish line
0.5km radius barrel OR quadrants
Start height?
1% rule?
The elements of a cross-country…….
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Start lines, turn points and finishing
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Start lines, turn points and finishing
members.gliding.co.uk/library/competitions/bga-competition-rules
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Marking the map
Off-line navigation / legal requirement!
Fold to sensible cockpit size, keep it simple
• Big picture of the task
• Route details and direction
• Turn points
• Expected wind direction
• Notam areas / danger areas / jump zones
• Other gliding clubs / landing areas.
The elements of a cross-country…….
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Declaring your task
Required for badge flights
Paper (OO signed) or
Electronic (to IGC logger)
Please also verbally tell Duty Instructor!
members.gliding.co.uk/library/general/flight-declaration-form
The elements of a cross-country…….
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Setting up your IGC Logger / position recorder
• FAI approved IGC Logger - Badges and Diplomas (records?)• BGA approved IGC Position Recorder - Silver & Gold• PDA that creates an IGC file - only valid for personal / ladder use
Practice with your logger BEFORE the big flight!Power? Antenna position? Security?Check OO knows which logger you are using.Check requirements for your badge / record.
www.fai.org/page/igc-approved-flight-recorderswww.fai.org/page/igc-position-recorders
The elements of a cross-country…….
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Getting the glider ready.
Rigged & DI? Positive checks? Tyre?
Taped up?
Canopy clean?
Battery charged? PDA charged?
Logger installed? Switched on?
Map?
Water (to drink)?
Snacks?
Towed out to the launch point?
The elements of a cross-country…….
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Getting you ready.
“I’M SAFE” - Illness? Medication? Stress? Alcohol? Fatigue? Familiarity? Eating?
Clothing? Sunglasses? Hat? Footwear?
Water / food / peeing?
Phone charged / right numbers in it?
Any niggling questions?
Perfect Preparation Prevents Pathetic Performance!
The elements of a cross-country…….
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Water ballast or not? - NOT!
- Try nothing new on first XC…
Crew & trailer
Trailer roadworthy? Ready to roll? Rigging aids in / close by?
Crew? Who to phone? Do they know the trailer?
How to communicate your location? ( what3words.com )
Car? Insurance? Towing ability? Towing licence 750kg? Fuel?
Land-out bag in the glider? Clothes, food, money etc
The elements of a cross-country…….
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The elements of a cross-country…….• Spotting a good day
• Planning the task – Notams – weather – you – your glider
• Task types and rules for start / finish and turn points
• Marking the map
• Declaring the task
• Setting up IGC logger
• Getting the glider and you ready.
• Water ballast or not?
• Crew & trailer
• When to launch?
• Pre-start flying & sampling the conditions
• Making a start
• The first 10km!
• Routing through the air / follow the energy
• Climb or cruise?
• Height bands?
• Speed to fly?
• Navigation and using a PDA
• Turning a turn point.
• Strategies on different legs.
• Flying with other gliders.
• Using the radio.
• Human factors – hydration (in and out), food and heat / sun management.
• Getting low?
• Changing gear!
• Getting onto final glide.
• Final gliding
• The last 10km!
• Finishing and landing safely
• Field landing and retrieve
• Post flight activities
• Post flight analysis
• Tea and medals!
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The elements of a cross-country…….
Questions??