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Who Discovered Thermals?
I'm prepping for a presentation and was wondering: who was the first to
actually thermal. I assume that early glider pilots noted soaring birds and thought "there must be rising air where they're turning and climbing." I've read a few references as to WHEN it was achieved by glider pilots (but not a firm date). I haven't found details as to who genuinely went after one, where it happened and what they were flying. I'm guessing part of it was trial and error while slope soaring...followed by "ah-ha!" |
#2
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Robert de León wrote:
I'm prepping for a presentation and was wondering: who was the first to actually thermal. I read about Georgii who tried this in a motor plane. He shut down the enginge and flew circles under some clouds without losing height. I have no idea to when it was, but according to this book, it was Georgii. Greetings, Erik. |
#3
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Hi,
I'm prepping for a presentation and was wondering: who was the first to actually thermal. I would cite Max Kegel who more or less accidently got caught in a thunderstorm in 1926 and turned that into a record distance of 50km as one candidate. The incident earned him the nickname of "Gewittermaxe". Another candidate might be Robert Kronfeld who might have been first to intentionally seek out thermals. On August 6. 1928 he discovered the circling technique and managed to arrive back 500m above his takeoff point. Robert Kronfeld also is the first glider polit to use a vario. When asked about it he reportedly declared it as coffee pot to keep the advantage in contests. Ciao, MM -- Marian Aldenhövel, Rosenhain 23, 53123 Bonn. Fon +49 228 624013, Fax +49 228 624031. http://www.marian-aldenhoevel.de |
#4
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In article , Marian Aldenhövel
writes Hi, I'm prepping for a presentation and was wondering: who was the first to actually thermal. I recall reading about someone who flew in a BE2 (I think) from Issy Les Molineaux to Cambrai (I think it was Cambrai) with their motor idling. In 1916. From On Being a Bird, Phillip Wills. Sounds like someone discovered cloud streets. -- Mike Lindsay |
#5
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From the SSA website...
"These slow glides in rising currents probably hold out greater hope of extensive practice than any other method within man's reach... ....when gliding operators have attained greater skill, they can, with comparative safety, maintain themselves in the air for hours at a time in this way, and thus by constant practice so increase their knowledge and skill that they can rise into the higher air and search out the currents which enable the soaring birds to transport themselves to any desired point by first rising in a circle and then sailing off at a descending angle." --Wilbur Wright, Sept 18, 1901 |
#6
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On Fri, 25 Jun 2004 14:01:25 -0500, Robert de León
wrote: I'm prepping for a presentation and was wondering: who was the first to actually thermal. According to Martin Simons (Sailplanes: 1920-1945): - Prof Georgii declared thermals too weak to be useful in 1922 - Johannes Nehring soared over the Wasserkuppe in almost zero-wind conditions in 1926 and Max Kegel got sucked into a CuNim a few days later - Georgii and Nehring made a systematic thermal investigation during 1928 with a powered light plane and Alexander Lippisch adapted the vario from ones he'd used earlier in Zeppelins. - Robert Kronfeld was the first to use a vario in competition (in the Rhongeist) in August, 1928 and made the first intentional thermal-assisted xc competition flight. You could argue that Kronfeld's flight was the first undeclared out and return task to be flown because he had chosen his destination before starting (the Himmeldunkberg) and got back to the Wasserkuppe against the wind an overall height gain . BTW, Eqip tell me that the third book in the series, Sailplanes 1965-2000, is due out in July. -- martin@ : Martin Gregorie gregorie : Harlow, UK demon : co : Zappa fan & glider pilot uk : |
#7
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On Fri, 25 Jun 2004 14:01:25 -0500, Robert de León
wrote: I'm prepping for a presentation and was wondering: who was the first to actually thermal. I assume that early glider pilots noted soaring birds and thought "there must be rising air where they're turning and climbing." I've read a few references as to WHEN it was achieved by glider pilots (but not a firm date). I haven't found details as to who genuinely went after one, where it happened and what they were flying. I'm guessing part of it was trial and error while slope soaring...followed by "ah-ha!" Years ago I was involved in exhibiting some sailplanes at a mall recreation show. A friendly chap with a German accent came up and informed me that he had discovered thermals when he was flying in the Jugendsegelfliegerkorps. "I found zat you hang onto ze clouds"...I was pretty impressed, and had a long chat with him. ....and over the course of the show, two more people came up and told me variations on the same story. I suspect from this that no inidividual can accurately be credited with discovering thermals; once people were flying gilders, the thermals revealed themselves as a matter of course. rj |
#8
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Robert de León wrote in message ...
I'm prepping for a presentation and was wondering: who was the first to actually thermal. I assume that early glider pilots noted soaring birds and thought "there must be rising air where they're turning and climbing." I've read a few references as to WHEN it was achieved by glider pilots (but not a firm date). I haven't found details as to who genuinely went after one, where it happened and what they were flying. I'm guessing part of it was trial and error while slope soaring...followed by "ah-ha!" According to "The Story of Gliding" by Ann Welch (chapter 10 - First Thermals): "However, the first real thermal soaring, without either hills or thunderstorms, took place in the United States. An American, A. Haller, and a German far from home, Wolf Hirth, were the first to realise their opportunity." Hirth traveled to Elmira, New York to participate in the first soaring meeting there, bringing with him a Musterle glider. On the last day of competition, he and Haller made a thermal flight from Elmira to Waverly, NY. She mentions Kronfeld, Georgii and others at the Wasserkuppe as well, but the first practical use of thermals (which I'm taking as Bob's question) is as above. In any case, the book is a good read and I highly recommend it. Mike Brooks GE2 |
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#10
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According to "The Story of Gliding" by Ann Welch (chapter 10 - First
Thermals): "However, the first real thermal soaring, without either hills or thunderstorms, took place in the United States. An American, A. Haller, and a German far from home, Wolf Hirth, were the first to realise their opportunity." That was the 5th of October, 1930 - almost just over years *after* Robert Kronfeld's soaring flight from the Wasserkuppe. Also, according to Simons, once Kronfeld had made the first thermal flight at the August, 1928 meeting the secret was out and several other pilots made thermal flights at the same meeting despite not having varios, such as a 775 m height gain and a 35 km xc goal flight. They'd twigged that the cumulus was the key. ------------------------- Good information. From this it appears that between 1928 and 1930, Kronfeld and Hirth were the first to "discover" thermals as a useful means of sustained flight, and experimented with the basic circling techniques we use today. In Martin Gregorie's post I noted the adaptation of a variometer originally used in Zeppelins. Was this the first vario for gliders? I'm assuming the original development of varios for ridged airships was to give the crew rising and falling airmass readouts so that they could correctly trim and shift ballast to keep the ship relatively stable. I remember reading a story about either the U.S.S Shennandoah or the Macon traversing the southwest U.S. one day. They had a bad time of it as dessert thermals caused the airship to practically stand on its tale, causing mayhem inside the gondola. Thanks for the good answers to my posting. Bob |
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