We have two nuclear power plants within gliding distance of each other. One has as cooling tower. I regularly use it as a thermal.

The thermal is extremely narrow.. so banks of 90 Degrees are not uncommon. Additionaly you need a lot of speed around a 130 KM/h since the thing is so rough. An additional difficulty is that the downdraft around the outside is around the same as in the updraft.. so if you stick the tail out, expect to see just blue sky. Done right it takes you up a km in under a minute.

What is interesting is that it isn't always the same. Sometimes it doesn't work at all.. sometimes its narrow as described, sometimes you get moderate climb values from several Km away.

The thermal source is well known.. and its not uncommon to find the fields of entire competitions circling over that powerplant.

- Folken