That first time you find yourself in the middle of a glittering column
of 20-30 long wings all trying to get the maximum out of a thermal you
will start to understand.

When you see traces of a once world champion rejecting a 4m/s thermal a
500m and flying on to the dust devil below the tops of the grain silos a
couple of km away, you may start to wonder at the sanity...

At some point you start enjoying it - at whatever level of commitment is
right for you.

Personally I tend to head off once a thermal gaggle gets past 5 or 6
gliders, and am happy to keep it up on my own. Others seem to need a group.

Bruce

On 2011/03/09 3:41 AM, Walt Connelly wrote:
hretting;764946 Wrote:
The fighter pilot note was how a newbie might describe max effort
competition thermaling (are you confuse again?) is. Remember, you're
the virgin and unlike being shot at (hmmm, potential gig), this will
be a good kind of scared (read thrill).
Also, I want to acknowledge Doug Jacobs and others, like Karl, who
have allowed so many to see what so few are aware of. I failed to
mention that in a previous post. All the ride-a-long stories would
make a great read.
R

R. I can't tell you how much I look forward to losing my virginity. I
just hope it's a BIG day and Karl can KEEP IT UP all day long. I've not
heard the term "max effort competition thermaling" before but I am ready
to observe and learn.

I hope to be one of the few who gets to see much of what so many are
unaware. Guys like myself are thankful for guys like karl and Doug
Jacobs and others who make such things possible.

Hope to have the story of my ride along (loss of virginity) in SSA
Magazine along with pictures and my thoughts on condom catheters.

Walt





--
Bruce Greeff
T59D #1771 & Std Cirrus #57