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Dynamic Soaring Observations
DS, like ramp turns require you to find sweet spots and hit
them with the proper attitude. You'll need to broaden your awareness
for DS sweet spots. There can be a handfull scattered over the
back of the hill- behind trees, low in the valley, above your
head in the laminar stuff. It will be a real fun adventure to
find these spots, and I'll mention a few things that will make
it easier on your plane.
Progression
1. Stand in the spot you'll be flying and note the features
NOT to hit- tree tops, ridgeline etc. Have a good idea where
these spots are when your back is to them. You'll need to get
a feel for the lay of the land. One way to do this is to fly
circles without your plane.
2. After locating the area that you want to DS, try a shallow
"dip" into the dead air. The more wind - the deeper
you'll be able to dip.When you first drop in do it with authority.
Half-assed entry speed WILL cost you a lot of repair time. Note
the speed your plane comes out from the backside with compared
to its entry speed. Dive deeper until you start loosing speed
on the way back out. Somewhere in there you will find the sweetest
depth, then proceed to abuse it.
3. Work into an eliptical pattern that drops into the dead air
then extends out and up into the compression side of the hill.
As your speed starts to build begin to punchout a little higher
on the front side of the hill. This controls your speed without
killing energy. Punchout through the same spot a few times and
feel how responsive your elevator is through the dead air. As
the plane approaches the dead air look for it to release. There
is an obvious speed change that is accompanied with a bit of
yaw. Anticipate this change and work your turn beyond it.
4. Steepen the angle of the pattern by diving lower (not deeper)on
the backside and over the top of the ridgeline. This will keep
your plane down in the dead air longer - lest drag , more speed.
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5. By now you know what it takes to get the plane zippin out
of the dead air. The next step is to round out your eliptical
pattern by turning at the ridgeline. This becomes a control line
pattern, and can quickly get out of control. The speed really
starts to pickup, and getting dizzy is a major concern.
6. The last step is to shift the control line circle to the
backside of the hill. This will keep the entire circle in front
of you and will take care of the dizziness. Continue to feel
around for the sweet spots.
Other Stuff
1. If the wind in glancing - drop in with the wind. Depending
on the topography this usually works well.
2. Keep the low wing down when pulling the low backside turn.
Enter the turn with an attitude that keeps the low wing down.
A real common error is letting that wing come up and allowing
the plane to pitch straight up into a stall - not able to crawl
back out in front of the hill. This pitch problem will also occur
if your dive is not deep enough into the dead air.
3. Keep the high wing up on your high turn in the laminar air.
When you hit the laminar stuff it wants to roll you towards inverted.
Anticipate this and you'll gain tons of energy.
4. You will be able to work rotor air that comes back up the
hill. Although this is not "DS" is sure is to me! You
will be able to really bang a hard turn off of this stuff. Be
aware that it can shift and go away, leaving you with a viscious
unrecoverable snap. Its all one big bunch of fun on the backside.
UPDATE:
After a trip to Parker Mountain I learned a few great tips
from the locals.
1) When a thermal move through it raises the separation layer.
2) If you are standing in the middle of the knife-edge ridge
line and feel the wind on your face the separation layer is low.
If you feel it on your ankles - don't even bother dropping in.
3) At the expense of roll and aerobatics, an F3B type plane
is the ticket for the hard banking technique.
4) With this type of plane you a shooting for a turn radius
of 40'.
Multiple planes
DS racing is more fun than you can believe. You're basically
flying NASCAR, except the cars don't get a diving start. The
basic idea is to lap the other guy... using similar planes. These
are planes that perform best in similar sized circles, and in
the given wind. Usually we don't plan that much in advance to
always use a diving start. You'll hear a plane beginning to wind-up
in the back and you'll ask if they have room for another. Drop
in behind the other plane(s) leaving a little distance, then
work your way up through the pack by gradually tightening up
your circles while using the minimum amount of aileron. If you
begin to lag and have a nice plane just bug-out to the front
of the hill. More than three planes is best left to foamies.
Figure eights with two planes is really cool. You have alot
of points in a cycle to hit smoothly while keeping track of the
guy you are flying with. If you trust your buddie ALOT try following
his plane with total disregard for your points. Just make your
plane look like his plane in the air. The set-up should be so
that right after he drills an oak tree ... you drill his plane.
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