On Mon, 15 Feb 2016 07:16:51 -0800, Eric Greenwell
wrote:


Maybe this is intended as joke, but the last thing you want is a very
low L/D "airfoil" like the fuselage involved in providing any lift.


Depends on the type of glider.

An open class ship needs a lot of sideslip while thermalling.

I learned that a long time ago from Uli Schwenk, who told me that he
learned that from a guy named Klaus Holighaus.

Thermalling with the yawstring 30 degrees outwards makes a huge
difference in climb performance. Huge.

Explanation:
The yaw costs a lot of drag due to the "low L/D fuselage" - but it
saves even more drag because you barely need any opposite aileron
anymore, therefore you get a much better lift distribution (and
therefore much less induced drag) on the wing.


One other glider that needs a lot of yaw in a thermal: Arcus.



Best regards
Andreas